Night Cap with the Noras and our Guest Dee Dee Saracco

A lot of businesses claim they’re built on community. Dee Dee Saracco actually proves it, one tray of stuffed shells at a time. We sit down in her gorgeous new event space for a Nightcap With The Noras and talk about the real work behind a successful catering business, from parish life and early fundraising dinners to feeding packed schedules and building a brand people genuinely want to support.

Dee Dee shares the moment her side hustle turns into a full-time leap, how her family’s cooking culture shapes the menu, and why “Gravy Lady” isn’t just a cute nickname. We get into the less glamorous parts too: shared kitchen headaches, the growing pains of scaling, and the operational systems that prevent mistakes when orders get complex. Her partnership with Ann is a masterclass in moving from handwritten chaos to digital processes that free up time for creativity and customer care.

If you’re planning a baby shower, bridal shower, first communion, book club night, or any at-home party, Dee Dee’s advice is gold: start with headcount, avoid endless last-minute changes, and stop white-knuckling hosting. Her best tip is also the simplest one: hire a server so you can actually enjoy your own home, your guests, and your food.

Listen now, then subscribe, share this with your favorite host, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

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Right on the corner, right on the price! Head down to 93rd & Cicero & tell them the Noras sent you!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Hi, thanks for joining us today. It's Nora. And Nora. And the sunshine. Yes, sunshine. Finally. Do we think there will be no more snow? I don't know. My guys came today to do spring cleanup. Oh. That was kind of exciting. That is exciting. Ah. I mean, I guess when the 21st? Is that the official first day of spring? I don't know. So, but it's gonna be warm this weekend, so I'm calling it spring. Huzzah. It'll feel good. I even wore my brightly colored spring sweater. And I'm embracing the coastal grandma dress. But you know what?

SPEAKER_00 0:41

At this point it looks really nice.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

I like that dress. Oh, thank you. My dad called me last week, was like, Nora, I was about to call you about your podcast, but then you said in the podcast, only dad listens. I know he's gonna be out. Oh yeah, right. We kind of want a little. I know. But it's crazy that sort of stuff, and it needed to be mentioned. Well, people need to be made aware. On a more Nora and Nora type note, I came across a list of the top five most popular dog breeds in the United States. Oh. And you know, now that I'm now that you're a dog owner. A dog owner. You what did you say though? You're not a dog owner, you're oh I'm not a dog lady. I'm not a dog lady. I'm a lady with a dog. But this list kind of surprised me because I thought about our neighborhood and people walking around. And I haven't seen many of these dogs. Okay. So the wiener dog is number five. Really? Which is why I thought about this story right now. Good transition. My friend had one growing up. And so did mine, my friend Jen. Oh. And my grandma had a deer dochant named Charlie that lived a very long time. And then a German Shepherd. Ooh. Which I wondered when I read this, I was like, do you think that was on there? Because so many German shepherds are registered because of work. Oh, as a service dog.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Yeah, because Al's cousin, they have a German Shepherd who didn't like graduate service dog school. He's a sweet dog.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:18

But it's a big dog.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

Then a golden retriever, which I figured. Yeah. A Labrador retriever. Which I don't know the difference.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

I think Goldens are shaggier. Labradors have a like a more wiry fur. Oh. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

Such a dog expression. Your facial expressions are saying I have no idea. Your words are saying.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

Basing that off of context clues, like when I see people with a black lab, it tends to be like they're not shaggy. They're like short hair and kind of wiry.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

Maybe they just got a haircut. Maybe they've only ever seen a black lab on a haircut. Fresh from the salon. Remarkably well-groomed black lab. Very high maintenance. Only sea groomed labs. Don't let your lab out unless it is. Yes. Oh. And then the number one dog is a French bulldog. Really? Yeah. These are the top five in America. According to the American Kenneth Club. Well, they would know. What's their business? These breeds are all favored for their companionship, trainability, suitability for family life, and love of going to the groomer. Oh no. It's like, oh my God, I was right. They're not very fluffy and cuddly, those dogs. Well, right? Take it up with the kennel club. But that's no, no, no, no. I I I totally believe the kennel club, but that is interesting to me because if I were to get a dog, I would want a dog like Wilma. Oh, thanks. Who was soft and cuddly.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

I don't like the wiry haired dog fur.

Meet Dee Dee The Gravy Lady

SPEAKER_01 4:02

You know what I mean? Thank God it's not a video. For those of you that have one, I love that for you. Yes, I am very happy for other people to have that, if that's what they want. Because then I feel like if I pet it, like it's I'm going against the green. Oh, right. Like this is a one pet. It's like a one-way street. Gotta go head to tail. There's no tail to it. One direction only. One direction only. Remember those things when we were kids? They were like this tall. Like a foot tall. They had like needles kind of on them. Oh, the little like pinhead things, and you can put your hand in it. Yes. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, those were kind of one way. That's all I was thinking. Indeed. You know, that's straight. Oh my lord. Anyways, but really, we're not here to talk about nox today. You're not here to talk about it. Or one way streets. Or one-way streets. We're here because we have another long time coming nightcap with the Noras. And you guys are gonna love our conversation with Dee Dee, the gravy lady. I'm really excited. I'm really excited too. I think settle in. I'm very excited to talk to Dee Dee.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

It's been a long time coming, and I can't wait to hear about what she's been up to, her new event space, and all the delicious things she.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

Yeah, so settle in as we have a nightcap with the Noras with the Gravy Lady herself. And here we are with Dee Dee Siraco for another nightcap with the Noras in her fantastic new space. Thank you for having us. Oh God, thanks for being here. Cheers. Yes, it wouldn't be a nightcap without it, right? So looking forward to this.

SPEAKER_02 5:44

And a long time coming. Yeah, we've been at this for a while and trying to get together with you two. Wow. Well, you are a busy lady. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

But tell us. Okay, first talk about the one of the emails we got for you like, this week's not good for me. I'm catering for the sharks and for the arch dice. This was the best email I've ever heard. No, no, no, that is not what it's. No. No, it said I'm feeding the sharks. Feeding the shark. Feeding the shout out of San Jose. And we never discussed that. I assumed San Jose Sharks. And then it came up about the San Jose Sharks, and I said, come again. And she said, What did you think? I was like, I don't know. I thought maybe she was going to the Aquarium. And you didn't think to ask me about that? And you didn't think it was strange? I thought, you're a woman of Medikatales. Oh. Well, because I do the post-game meals for Chicago Blackhawks.

SPEAKER_02 6:37

So it's a lot of times I do the visiting teams. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

Oh.

From Church Dinners To Business

SPEAKER_02 6:40

Not the sharks actually. Yeah, yeah. And my our good friend is the uh performance director for San Jose. So we met him. Crazy. Yeah, well, we we met him. He called us for post-game meal, and and his name is Mike Potenza, and he's from Providence, but now he lives in San Jose. And he said, Okay, your last name is Soraco. Any chance you have super sad and you make homemade pizzas? And I'm like, Yes. And so literally we became friends. And so now when he's actually coming into town next month, we go to dinner and and I ship all kinds of food to his mom in Providence and to him in San Jose. And then when he comes into town, like he get goes home with boxes of food. Like he's because they don't have that kind of food in San Jose. Yeah. But how did you get started? Like, what is your background? Well, you two being Saint John moms are gonna love this story. So, gosh, 18 years ago, Father Rich Hines, our pastor, I always like I was on the women's club, and I would say, Oh, don't buy the food, just I'll go do it and I'll give you my recipe, my receipts. Like if we did like a mother-son event or a family skate, I would just do like all the food and then just give them our receipts. And so Father Hines said to me, was for the endowment, he said, if I say mass in someone's house, would you like to make dinner for them after? And I said, Yes. And so we our first year we did it, we sold four dinners for$7,000 each. Stop. Yes, and that's how I started my business. So then people started asking me. Someone, my son Jimmy, was a freshman in high school. He was my youngest. Yeah, I'm like, okay, I'm just gonna do this full time. So I started my business. Yeah, that's how I started.

SPEAKER_01 8:13

I know it's crazy, right? So you raised your family in the West Suburbs then.

SPEAKER_02 8:17

Yeah, we raised our family here, yes, in Lagrange and Countryside, actually. And um, and kids went to St. John. We uh they should have gone to St. Cletus, but we had so many friends at St. John that we kept them with a lot of our friends.

SPEAKER_01 8:27

Thank goodness you did. Yeah, yeah. You had to meet Father Hines and get the wrists going. Yeah, that's a great story. Yes, that's exactly how to start. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

That's how I started from Father Hines. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

Well, I think it might have started before that because on your website it says that you learned from your mom. Yeah, watching your mom.

SPEAKER_02 8:43

So were there family recipes that were passed down, or was it more just by feel, like looking and learning and learned from my mom, but my husband's an amazing cook, so like that's something we always love to do together. Yeah, he's amazing. He he keeps me on my toes, like he's always like looking over my shoulder, tasting things, tell me what doesn't taste right. Like sometimes I want to kill him. Yeah, but he actually his palette in my son's palette is amazing, but all three of my kids do cook really well. Like my my daughter Tony makes the best steak ever. Like she's amazing. So then are your recipes, did they come from your mom? Not really a lot of them. No, I mean, I don't make my mom's red gravy recipe just because hers is so it's so tedious. And to do mass batches, it's just a lot. Sure. So I kind of do it like she does, but we don't do neck bones because a lot of people don't like neck bones. She does a lot more stuff in hers. But she hasn't cooked since my dad passed away like 17 years ago.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Like we right when you were getting your start.

SPEAKER_02 9:40

Yeah, she hasn't cooked since my dad yeah, my dad passed away. She was done. Like she made him three meals a day, and she cooked for all of us. So she she barely really cooks. Like when we ask her for meatballs on Christmas Eve, she gets mad.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Do your kids then have your recipes? Oh, yeah, they will be fine-tuned or what is it?

SPEAKER_02 9:58

It's funny. When they were in college, my husband and I did this with all three of our kids, and we started my oldest, went to Cornell, and she was on the hockey team, and so she couldn't come home from Thanksgiving. And so her two captains, who are actually Canadian Olympians this year. Oh my god. The two captains said, Mrs. Recco, would you make us Thanksgiving dinner? So my husband and I like packed up two cars full of food and we drove to Cornell and we made the kids, we started cooking from like one o'clock in the afternoon until 10 o'clock at night was like Italian. Like we did four different meals, and so we do it, we did it then with all three of our kids. Every spring and fall, we went to one of their schools and we made the kids dinner like all day Saturday from like lunch to dinner. And like we would do it at the best parents ever. Well, we did our crush street neighbors are cooks too, and they're our kids went to dating together. Oh, we didn't.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

Oh god, so did you cook in one of those crusty ghetto houses? Yes, like houses. That was the best meal that house has ever seen.

SPEAKER_02 10:53

Disgusting. So but Blaze would bring uh like a um a flat top, and he would just start tacos at like 11 till 5, and then we would take a break, and then at like seven, we did like two eight-foot tables of Italian food. And then at midnight, I think at 10 o'clock, we stopped buying Tito's. And one of the tiny some little tiny girls walk around with a handle of Tito's. Yeah, and we're like, Can we have some Tito's? Because she was hammered and we're like, you cannot have any more. And she's like, No, no. And so one of Dad's like, how book for a hundred bucks? So we gave her a hundred bucks and she took it, and we were like dumping it down the sink. You're like, no more Tito's.

SPEAKER_01 11:29

You're doing a hundred bucks to see. Does Dayton keep getting better and better? I'm a diehard Arizona girl, but yeah, Dayton is a blast. Dayton is a blast. We call Jimmy Good Time Jimmy. I knew I'd liked yeah, yeah. Everyone I've ever met from Dayton is a good time. Yeah. End of story. Yeah. If one of my kids ends up there, how lucky I would be. I'll tell you go visit them.

SPEAKER_02 11:49

Dayton, we always say the Dayton family, we always say we're family. Like we always say, like, like honestly, one of my first people that walked in was my Dayton family from Libertyville. They they drove all the way here the first day opened to come and I mean, truthfully, we all say we're family. Yeah. We do, we say this. I mean My Dayton friends are really special to me. There's a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 12:09

We can't say it's all on the podcast. No, and I feel like whenever I like I have a Dayton Framer on my license plate. And that's how I met one of my friends. She's like, Did you go to Dayton? I was like, I did. So when did you go? My sister went there as well.

SPEAKER_02 12:20

Jimmy wanted to go there for the minute first time he visited. Yeah. Loved it. So you had Cornell, Dayton, and Michigan State. Oh, Michigan State. Yeah. She did hospitality. Both the girls did. Okay. I have them come to the final four. Oh, do you? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

I have Arizona. I like the Arizona wedding, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:35

Wait, I wanted to know how you got your name. Oh, Gravy Lady. Gravy Lady.

Family Food Roots And College Feasts

SPEAKER_02 12:39

So gravy, we call red sauce gravy. Oh, you guys are gonna love this. Sorry. So we call red sauce gravy. So I was gonna do gravy girl, and thank God I Googled it because it's a porn site. Oh no! Yes. So honestly, oh my god, Dee Dee. It's a porn site. So I had to do Gravy Lady. It's a good thing to Google there. Google. Thank God. Because you imagine my son's friends Googling get Gravy Girl. Tell me more about your girl. Yay. Oh, and then okay, then one time it was a Sunday, and I woke up and I told my husband, someone left me a message at four o'clock in the morning. And he's like, Who, who? And I go, listen to my message. It was this man that said, Hey, Did, I'm at the countryside motel, I'm lonely, I'm getting divorced, we want to come and keep. He thought I was a hooker. Oh, so my husband had a because a gravy is porn, I guess. Didn't know that. I you know what I really naive.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

I was like, I gotta brush up on my porn.

SPEAKER_02 13:33

Yeah, it's so gross, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:36

So yeah, it is porn psyched.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

Oops, so thank God for lady. And that's very dignified. Yes. So did you always plan on catering? Or was it just cooking? Or like how because you were over on in La Grange. Yeah, I started and we're just right by the end of the ship now. Okay. And that was was it a similar concept of catering or it was hard.

SPEAKER_02 14:00

It was a lot of people shared. It's not fun. The share kitchen. It's not a share kitchen. It's a shared kitchen. Mm-hmm. You know, you come in and all your olive oil's gone or something like that. So it's like it wasn't fun. Yeah. So then I'm engaging your particular about your olive oil. Yeah. And yeah, it would bug me because people would just use your stuff and never replace it. And you can't lock there was nowhere to lock it up. We all had our own shelves, but I had to lug everything to and from. And then from there I went to Five Seasons, which is now Lifetime. And I was there for five or six years. And then when Lifetime bought it, they didn't renew my lease. And so we found this and we built this out. And then while this was getting built out, we moved to Downers Grove to another shared kitchen. It wasn't bad though. People were very nice. And the people that used it were respectful. So it was okay. It was just two other people. And so we moved there for like five months till this was done. This do you just feel like it's my forever home? Yeah. And then we we had another bench coming and then there. So this will sit like 15. Then we have another table.

SPEAKER_01 15:00

Listeners, you have to come and check out the space. It is so beautiful. Yeah. It really feels my girlfriend's dad's warm. I feel like the natural light coming.

SPEAKER_02 15:09

My girlfriend that just slept. Her dad, her dad owns a Bellevue, so her husband and I gave us all these tables, like wine, the wine cooler, the beer cooler, a dough sheater, a microwave. They give us all kinds of stuff. So our friends really stepped up.

SPEAKER_01 15:22

And you've been saying like how many of your friends have like, you know, given or donated. I I would think that just speaks to the type of person you are. I try. And so generous and so lovely and so warm that people just try to help you. Yeah. So and I I wonder if that's why the vibe in here is so lovely, is because so many people have come.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

Oh there I feel that heals, doesn't it? It's been nice, and I'll be honest with you, most of the people that have come are not my friends. Like it's a lot of people that have just heard about it, which has been awesome. Yeah. Yeah, like they those girls came today, but I mean, yeah. I mean, it's we're open two weeks now, so it's a lot of people.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

But the nice thing is, all the things that people have given you all have a story. Yeah. And so your space now all has a little bit of a story.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

Well, like that billion dollar construction company, FH Passion, they built our bar for us. It's gorgeous. Yes. How nice. So they actually they're awesome. They built me a kitchen in their building. So I do all their private events. Yeah. Actually, it was there today. So yeah. So they built me like actually like a huge kitchen there. And then the guys are like, we'll build the bar for you, Didi. Don't worry. So they built it for us, which is great. And then we got all this art is David G stuff. He's he's a beautiful Paris. He lives in Paris. He he he had our all over the city Lake Forest. He's like, go here and pick it up, go here and pick it up. So he just gave us all the stars to put on the walls. And then Anne, uh, my business partner was in Paris last week. She went to see her son and he met her from Barcelona. But Anne went and picked out like 15 more paintings and shipped them back. Oh my gosh. Yeah, yeah. You nailed it with the design in here. Well, this is my girlfriend, Margaret Nicholson and Sue Locke. They picked all the colors and helped me. Yeah, everything we picked, we we asked them and they said yes or no. But yeah, that's a good friend to have. I know, right? Isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 17:11

And they feel the same about you, I'm sure. You're a good idea. I do for them and they do for me. This is a question. Another question we had was what is a common mistake people make when they place their kids. Yes, because I get a lot of make a lot of changes and drive me crazy. Oh change.

SPEAKER_02 17:29

That's the only thing that drives me nuts. Because it's and not that I don't want to give customer service. It's not that. It's the mistakes that happen when there's so many changes. Every time I make a mistake on Sundays because the person has changed the order a thousand times.

SPEAKER_01 17:40

So, how like how do you place the ideal order as a customer? You start with the amount of people.

The Gravy Lady Name Origin

SPEAKER_02 17:46

Yeah, and then the amount of people, day, time, and then you take it from there. Well, they'll say what they want, and then I'll give send them menu ideas and then they'll come back. But usually some people will know exactly what they want. So then those are easy. Yeah. Because there's not a lot of back and forth. But when there's a lot of back and forth and changes, that's where it's a lot because we do kitchen reports and we do packing slips and we do stickers, and there's a lot involved in running a chip kitchen. And so if I don't have every detail down and give it to Anne, then the kitchen report's wrong. And that's when you make mistakes. So Ann's like behind the scenes. She does all the operations, she's amazing. And how did you meet Ann? Oh my god, you're gonna love this story too. So uh my next door neighbor Anne owned, and she's a badass, she's really smart, but she owned an instant tea company and she was on Peapod's Next Best. It was called 10th Avenue Teas, and she was on Peapod's Next Best, and she was set to win, but somehow they gave it to like a barbecue company or barbecue sauce company. But Alpana Singh was one of the judges, and Alpana had told Ann that she won. But anyhow, Ann was going through a competition and she had she had to make a savory drink out of her her tea. And so my next door neighbor, Tracy Beauregard, called me at like 11 o'clock at night and said, You gotta help my friend. I don't know, I don't know how she doesn't know how she can't come up with a savory drink. Yeah, so Anne came over and I made her a blueberry margarita out of her out of her blueberry tea. Oh yeah. So that's how we met. And then she sits, she's at my dining table. We're doing this recipe, and I had a stack this high of like invoices that I hadn't set, and it was all on paper and handwritten. She goes, What's this? So then lo and behold, her tea company she closed the door. She was in like 1500 retail spaces, but retail is really hard. It's yeah, it's it's a hard market. So yeah, she was in 1500 stores, and so she closed up, closed her doors and she called me. She goes, You want to go to breakfast? I want to talk to you about something. She said, Would you ever want help growing your business? And I said, Yes. She goes, because you cannot stay on paper, like it's got to go digital. You're getting too big. So that's when she did.

SPEAKER_01 19:43

Like the Cappy cartoon, you know, like where she had like all the papers in her on her desk.

SPEAKER_02 19:47

Yeah. Yeah. So that's how, and so then we went my computer and it's been growing since. That's amazing. The rest is history. Yeah, she's been a lot of help. She's amazing. Yeah, she does all the she does all the reports, she does everything.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

So that also gives you the time it gives me the time to cook and to create.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

Well, you don't really cook anymore. And she said you're never gonna grow if you don't get out of the kitchen. So I barely cook. I cook lunch. That's about it. What's your favorite thing to cook?

SPEAKER_01 20:14

Like if you like if you had to pick one thing.

SPEAKER_02 20:18

God, what do I love to cook? I don't know. I love to bake like a cheesecake or something. We just actually came up with a strawberry shortcake cheesecake. It's amazing. Yeah, we should I should pull it. There's one that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 20:30

So are you always just kind of trying different?

SPEAKER_02 20:32

Yeah, I if yeah, well, that's what all those books are for. Like I take my recipes, like I take like three recipes and then make one out of it. Like I could read it and then adjust it. And that's usually what I'm good at. That is such a gift. Because I cannot sew a button.

SPEAKER_01 20:45

If I sew a button, it falls off. But you can look at something and be like, this could work.

SPEAKER_02 20:50

Yeah, and just add something to it. I'm really good at that. I'll say that about myself. I'm really good at that. That's and how does your husband cook?

SPEAKER_01 20:56

Does he cook from a no he's throw stuff? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:00

He can read the recipe. He's really good though. Like the everybody loves when Anthony makes lunch. Like his shrimp and broccoli with pasta is so good. Like no one can make it as good as him. Yeah, he's really and it is mac and cheese. It sounds like your whole family is a whiz bang. Yeah. Yeah. Jimmy's really good. He's starting to run the kitchen, so it's good. Like I've been stepping back a little bit. Well, more so I handle the phones and emails and the creative side and you know, getting things going. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

There's so much involved. There's a lot. It's a lot because we're busy. And I would imagine people who want to come and rent out the space, you're taking them around and showing them what's possible. Yeah. When will that all happen? Like when will you see that?

SPEAKER_02 21:38

We don't have full occupancy yet. We only have for retail and uh kitchen because the sprinkler heads failed. So they actually replaced them yesterday. So we're gonna work on that. Yeah. We just have to it's like one final inspection, and then we'll get full occupants. How many people will you does your space hold? Uh forty nine. Give or date.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Yeah, beautiful place for a shower.

SPEAKER_02 22:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:03

We can move all this furniture out.

Shared Kitchens To A Forever Space

SPEAKER_02 22:05

Yeah, we can we're we're actually yesterday we're shopping apart tables and chairs and dishes and forks and all that. So somebody did that yesterday. Oh, that's fun. Yeah, yeah. It is the fun stuff. Yeah, and then yeah. And then I all uh my girlfriend Sue Locke, she did that little uh what is it called? Succulence. That's from Shaf Vagabond, but those are from Sue's yard. And then she did all the other flowers.

SPEAKER_01 22:27

Yeah. They warm it up, not uh You and your friends are like the Avengers, it was like a disassemble and it all created this magical, beautiful space. That's really cool.

SPEAKER_02 22:37

So then my my customer is Lauren Smantana. Do you know Lauren? Her husband's name? Smetana, S-M-E-T-A-N-A. Well, they own an audio visual company. So the first Saturday we were open, it was like 5 15, and Ann said, Why don't you go home? And I said, No, we're open till six. Like I don't want to piss people off. Well, Dave Smantana comes in because they're having last-minute peep uh people. And he and I said, Well, come in the kitchen. Why? Because he wanted stuff shelves and they were still warm. Yeah. I said, Come in the kitchen because there's the only place there's a TV. And he said, He goes, Where's your other TVs? I go, We didn't buy them yet. He goes, Well, I'll donate them. And I said, You will? He said, Yeah. He is an audio visual company called 257 Digital Labs. Oh. So he gave me the 98-inch TV for free. It's an LG. It's a sample he can't do anything with, can't sell it. 55 inch, 43 inch, and 83 inch.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

But this is the power of food. I mean, this is the power. I just love your village. I own people.

SPEAKER_02 23:31

And he's like, You're sitting in my garage and my wife yells at me all the time. So you'd be doing me a favor. He literally brought me that 98-inch TV. I know that's crazy. Yeah, don't put that one in the Bible.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

But that's just, I mean, people don't do that for someone unless they really love and care about them. And I would imagine for all the people that you have told a sweet, kind, generous story about, they have the same stories to tell about you. Like I showed up at 5 30 and wanted stuffed shells.

SPEAKER_02 23:57

But if you mess with me, it's another story.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

There you go. That's so Bob Ross, the painter, would talk about happy little accidents and painting. Have you ever had any happy little accidents in cooking where you're like whoopsie, but then it turned out really well.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

I do, but I can't think of them right now. There are, and we just had one. We just had one, literally. It was a mistake and it turned out better. And I gotta see what it was. Yeah, we didn't do it. And I gotta, I wish Carlos was here because he did it. I could I'd probably have like 10, and I can't think of them right now. Yeah, I can't I'm gonna think of it because it just happened last week. Yeah. Oh, I know what it I know what what we did. Carlos used to put the uh pork tacos and uh short rib tacos in the pressure cooker, and I'm like, I just don't like them. And then we didn't have room because we had too much to make to fit in a pressure cooker, and we put it in the oven and like never using a pressure cooker again. Yes, yeah, yeah, that was one of them, but there's another one we have to do with taste. I can't remember what it was. Carlos did something he wasn't supposed to, but taste better because I like to bake because I like to follow directions, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:00

Because it baking's a science to be very extremely, so I appreciate that. But cooking cooking, you could be reckless. Oh, I get nervous. Like, I asked Nora how to make something once, and she sent me. I was like, this is not a recipe, these are ingredients. And I said, This is all I got. I was like, I don't know what to do with this. My husband made it because he's good at it.

SPEAKER_02 25:18

Baking is a science, though. You can't improvise. Like we're cooking, you can. You can improvise, you could be reckless, you can do all that with cooking, but baking, no way, it's never gonna come out. Which is why I think I appreciate baking a little more.

SPEAKER_01 25:29

I know exactly what I'm gonna get. I just want to know what piece of advice do you give people who are catering a party or an event?

SPEAKER_02 25:37

I always tell people make it a party and then relax. So we always insist that we can't try and push servers because why are you gonna spend all this money, clean your house, do all this stuff, and not relax? Why not enjoy it? We always say have a server come, have her pick up the food, heat the food, serve the food, clean up, and you relax. And people, I can't tell you how many people have said I never enjoyed my house is this much because I forced them to get a server, and it's true. Why? And take your time with it. Why everybody's don't have a timeline, just let it flow. Don't don't say, oh, ebbs at six, dinner at seven. Don't say that, just let it be. You don't know who's gonna be late. Don't it there? The timelines are what sometimes are a pain. And that tend takes the pressure off the host if you're gonna be able to do it. Yeah, it's not even it why why wouldn't you relax? I'm not even kidding you. I've had doctors' wives tell me I've never enjoyed my house so much. Um because they never had a server, or they have one.

SPEAKER_01 26:32

I get very stressed like beforehand, like setting everything up and getting it going. But then usually once it starts, I'm like, it's in God's hands, you know, like I'm able to kind of relax. But then my husband gets real stressed about cleanup where he is like cleaning up in front of our guests and it drives. But that's why you have a server. Yes, where I'm like, can you please stop? Because people feel like they have to leave. Well, then as you're cleaning up, it isn't easy for him to be there. I mean, it's great the next day, but in the moment it's like that's rude. Stop.

SPEAKER_02 27:00

Well, remember one of my customers, Jenny McQuaid, lives in Elmhurst, and her husband is uh has a group for Northwestern Mutual. So they had the whole group at her house, and she has four little boys. Now they're actually now they're in college, which is such a long time ago. But I remember she kind of pushed me. I kind of nudged her on the servers. And so I at 10 o'clock that night, it was like a Sunday. At 10 o'clock at night, she goes, I'm in my pajamas, I'm under my covers, and I don't have to clean one thing. I go, I told you.

SPEAKER_00 27:28

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 27:29

She goes, I cannot believe I'm in my pajamas and I'm under my covers and my house is immaculate. I'm like, I told you. Yeah, I'll always remember that because she was like, you know, she kind of thought it was she didn't want to waste the money because it was for girls and all that.

SPEAKER_01 27:41

You know, you're like, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 27:42

If you think an indulgence, people say like it's like, you know, don't we want to look like like no, it's for you to relax and enjoy yourself. And we our servers are really trained really well. I'm very, very good. You so you have servers that work for you that you would recommend. Our tenders are we have a we have a roster of 38.

SPEAKER_01 28:00

So if we were hope if we were to use you as our catering, you would be able to walk us through everything from like menu planning to quantity to drop off to servers to bartenders to flowers, to balloons, to desserts.

SPEAKER_02 28:15

Full package, yeah. Yeah, to rentals, like one stop topics. Everything we have people that do all that for us. Yeah, we have a whole staff. And we uh we have tablescapes, we have somebody that does they'll come and set your table. I mean, we have everything. Yeah, we have uh we use uh Marguerite Lutz from my Hinsdale table.

SPEAKER_01 28:34

We have all yeah, she loves a few. She was here to baby. Oh, she did. Yeah, she was here to baby, and she has such beautiful things. She has a great like origin story. Yeah. Yes after COVID. Where she kind of just when she had like a side of us, like a passion budget to collect China. Now she has a whereabouts. Now she does, yeah. I love looking at you guys found each other.

SPEAKER_02 28:55

Oh, yeah, we've been I always I mean I've known her for a few years now, but she's gonna be my go-to girl here. I love looking at her Instagram because the tables are so beautiful. She did is it Molly or Jimmy? Molly, Margaret, she Molly's daughter just got married and she did Molly's table. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

How The New Space Came Together

SPEAKER_01 29:12

Oh, I bet it was stunning. Yeah, it was beautiful. So pink and orange. Oh, it's this summer. That's a cool event. Yeah. How can our listeners get in touch with you? That's way the website.

SPEAKER_02 29:21

The website or my cell phone or my email, D D D E E D E E at Gravylady.com. Or my cell phones, uh, my work phone is 708-715-9544. You could text me, email me, call. You can also email Ann A-N-N at Gravylady. She'll help either one of us. I say call now. Get in now because we're gonna be totally booked up. The space we already have done some dates booked, so it's been great.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

It makes everyone happy. I'm like, what am I a freedom? We've booked worry about it.

SPEAKER_02 29:54

Book club ticked, book club. We have uh first communion, book club baby showers, bridal showers already booked. We have like a shopping night. Like girlfriend of mine, Katie DeGrazia, she sells Jay Hilburn uh men's clothes, and I I don't know the woman company yet, but she's do she's gonna have like just like half-hour or half hour hour things for her customers to come and look at the clothes, and then she's gonna use this. She has a little office, like if it's only like a hundred square feet, so she's gonna spread out and do that.

SPEAKER_01 30:23

Yeah. Have you ever done a shardy party? What's a shardy party? So it's every so my husband and Nora share a love of Chardonnay. Oh, yeah. So we did not care for Chardonnay. Yes. Well, thank you. I love Chardonnay. You're in for the Shardy party. So every summer that we host, this will be our seventh annual Shardy party where we celebrate Chardonnay. And we invite all, well, it started out that we invite all of our like near and dear Chardonnay lovers, and it's just expanded to like sharing Chardonnay with everyone. We love.

SPEAKER_02 30:53

What's your favorite shard? I love a Rombauer. Oh, me too.

SPEAKER_01 30:58

That's El's favorite as well.

SPEAKER_02 31:00

I love Sonoma Katrina from that guy doing Rombauer.

SPEAKER_01 31:03

Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 31:04

Unless you were Rombauer.

SPEAKER_01 31:06

We did. We got a I love Rombauer. It was five liters. It was huge, whatever it was. It took two of two of us to hold it. Really? But yeah. Where'd you get Dan at? From a friend of ours. There you go. Oh, yeah. My daughter works for Reyes.

SPEAKER_02 31:21

Okay. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Sulaki did it for us. Her husband's vice president of Midwest for Gallo.

unknown 31:26

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 31:29

Yeah, they're right on 47th.

SPEAKER_01 31:30

Who's a listener of the pod? Well, Sorrentino is Paul here. Paul says parties. How do you guys know Paul? Paul is one of our most loyal listeners, which we really do need to do. Oh my gosh. My daughter graduated with our kids at St. John's, and Liz helped me with the I do the musical at St. John's. Oh, dude.

SPEAKER_02 31:50

I just did a party for her. Wellness. I just think their Christ I do their Christmas party. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01 31:56

Yes, and Paul, if you're listening, thank you for all the support. And for the Rama. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:01

Paul's Paul's good friends. He's good friends with the biggest part.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

They lived in Bridgeport for a while. Oh, they did? They lived in Bridgeport before they lived in London.

SPEAKER_02 32:10

Where where did they live in Bridgeport?

SPEAKER_01 32:11

Their kids went to BCA. I don't know. Oh, really? Because they know my aunt's friend, who is the principal whose name now I'm forgetting. Yeah, it's a small one. It's a small world. And I know you're a busy lady. Should we get to our rapid fire? Okay. Okay. So it's just this or this kind of so coffee or tea? Coffee. Right. Early bird or night owl. Early bird. Text or talking. Talking. Guac or salsa? Guac. Pre-party or after party? Pre-party. And you can say both. Yes. Pre-party and after party. Pre-party? Like pre-party before you go out or after party after.

SPEAKER_02 32:52

Oh, pre-party.

SPEAKER_01 32:53

Yeah. I like the whole thing.

SPEAKER_02 32:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:55

And we can't end the podcast without asking, what's your favorite podcast? Not the consumer. That's funny. All of our guests have said that so far. Well, thank you. For sharing some of your day with us. And listeners, now you know where to go for all your party planning needs and a good bite in the neighborhood. Yes. Thanks, TD. Alrighty. Thank you. Nora, can you believe that it's already March Madness? March Madness? More like March Markdowns. Oh. Tell me more. If you head over to 93rd and Cicero, my Kaggity Buick GMC, you'll find plenty of March Markdowns on all their new cars. The new cars? The new cars. I mean, they have bargained cars for under$20,000, but we're talking Buick Envisions, GMC Sierras, the GMC terrain. Wow. They've got something for everybody. Oh my gosh. Well, it's like they say, right on the corner, right on the price. So head on over to Haggertycars.com to take a look at all their inventory or give them a call.

SPEAKER_00 34:02

Sounds like a plan.

Ordering Tips And Avoiding Changes

SPEAKER_01 34:03

708-423-35000. And there's nothing mad about that. And now back to the show. Oh my goodness. She exceeded expectations. What a doll. Amazing. What a treat. Yes, indeed. And just I appreciate her taking the time. She's so busy right now, but just delightful. And everyone go to her website and check out her new event space and the food that she has available that you can get for your own events you're hosting in your home. Or if you just need a little something. Yeah, she did a terrific job of bringing something to the community that I think we all need.

SPEAKER_00 34:42

A hundred percent.

SPEAKER_01 34:43

Which is good old-fashioned home cooking, right? An event space, a carry out. She really checked all the boxes, a bar. And she's just a lovely, lovely woman. Yeah. So thank you to Dee Dee for taking some time out of her busy day to chat with us. And hopefully, if you are in the neighborhood, you have a chance to check her out yourself. Absolutely. Yeah, should we launch into highs and lows? Let's do it. All right. My low is that my ceiling is still leaking.

SPEAKER_00 35:11

Still in the kitchen and Ryan's closet.

SPEAKER_01 35:15

So they mentioned maybe replacing the whole part of the roof over there, which is frustrating, but hopefully it will get rectified sooner rather than later.

SPEAKER_00 35:25

So we're praying for no rain.

SPEAKER_01 35:27

Yeah, I was trying to come up with another low, but I mean that's a pretty significant low. Yeah. How about you? Oh geez. My low is continuing to have eye problems. Remember I had red eyes for three months? And that was I do remember that. That's gone.

SPEAKER_00 35:45

And then for the first time in my whole life, I got a sty. I can't see it. It's almost gone now, but it's been about two weeks.

SPEAKER_01 35:53

But the good news is my eye doctor, whose bedside manner is myth, but she's a smart lady.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

She uh recommended a better eye makeup remover. Oh, what'd she recommend? I love it. I don't know what it's called. I can't pronounce the name, but I'm happy to share.

SPEAKER_01 36:08

Okay. Did you buy it off Timu or Shein? It's paint thinner. I thought it off Amazon. Okay. But it's great. It's almost just like a, I think it's like a micellular water kind of thing. And it's, I just put it on one of those cotton rounds and it works amazing. Oh, great. Well and it's not harmful. And I feel like I'm at because have you ever had that like you take your makeup off and then you wash your face and you're like, wait, my makeup. Oh, yeah. Yeah, like your makeup is still there. And I guess that's how you get a sty is if you have like clogged eye pores. Well, you're not really one to wear a lot of makeup. I know. Huh. So whatever. But, anyways, yeah, a sty is no fun, but the eye makeup remover is great. That's not my real high. My real high was Irish dancing, watching Rose Irish dance this past weekend.

SPEAKER_00 36:57

You guys she was a trooper. These girls, these Irish dancers work their tails off. Like gigging around all weekend. And having the best time. Yeah. She was exhausted. She and I were both in bed at 8:45 on 6.

SPEAKER_01 37:15

And now, does she have a little break? Yes, she does. We were both like, I was like, Rose and I are going to bed. And I like brought her in my bed with me, and we're just like, um, and so fun, so fascinating. Yeah, it was fun, and I was very proud of her. She did a great job, and there we go. Love it. My high is uh we've had a lot of positive sports stuff go down at our house, which is always awesome for the girls, the boys too, but soccer season is in full swing. So a couple big celebrations for Elle and for Catherine Grace. Oh, yay! Yeah. So I was happy that all that hard work paid off. That's awesome. Yeah, so trending in the right direction, and yeah, that's about it. All right. Well, thanks for joining us. Yeah, catch us next week and go visit again. Uh catch us next week and go check out Dee Dee's website and her new space. Bye.