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Food for Body, Mind & Spirit
Making Memories: At Every Celebration - Maegan Brown Interview - Book Celebrating Boards
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There’s something special about gathering around a beautifully arranged board of food; the colors, the textures, the shared laughter as everyone shares it together. In her newest book, Celebration Boards: 50 Creative Boards to Turn Any Occasion into a Celebration, bestselling author and entertaining expert Maegan Brown (better known as The BakerMama) shows us that those joyful moments don’t have to wait for big holidays or milestones. This fourth book in her beloved series continues the fun, festive trend she helped popularize. It offers approachable, family-friendly boards, which we can’t wait to make and try. In our conversation, Maegan shares the love she expresses in her creations, and we’re excited to give you a closer look at four of her newest boards; just in time for those autumn get-togethers too.
Visit the Gloria Goodtaste's website to view the full stories and available recipes highlighted in this podcast with pictures and additional info to further enjoy this episode. Go to: https://www.gloriagoodtaste.com
Oh, hello, beautiful people. Welcome back to Host for Body, Mind, and Spirit. I'm Gloria Good Tost for another culinary adventure.
SPEAKER_00Co-host of this program still learning about a force.
SPEAKER_01Everyone enjoys together. Which is why the money with mega brothers and celebration for celebration.
SPEAKER_00So we're on a telephone with second round cookbook author with a robot book. Celebration boards.
SPEAKER_01It is so wonderful to be talking to you today.
SPEAKER_02Hi, Gloria. Thank you so much for having me.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Well, I need to know, you know, as a young child, how did you ever develop your love for celebrating in food?
SPEAKER_02Oh, well, it all started in the home that I grew up in. My parents were very um into celebrating often and hosting people all the time. Our home was always open to others. And so they really set a strong example for l letting everyone come in and celebrate no matter the occasion. And we've always just really appreciated food and the beauty that it provides and the joy that it brings to others. And so I just think that upbringing of appreciation and love for food and gathering people around it and started at a very young age, and I love that it's stuck with me all these years and continues to be a priority and a passion here in our own home.
SPEAKER_01Now I understand that in your house the kitchen is the heart of the home. Can you tell me a little about what that means?
SPEAKER_02Oh, yes. Our my husband and I are both huge foodies. We love to cook, we love to try new foods, we love introducing foods to our children from when they were babies to now I've got three teens and a and one preteen. Um and the kitchen truly is the heart of our home. It is always open, even though the hub of my business is all based in our home kitchen. They are welcome to come in anytime, ask questions, help out, try things, and boy are they some tough critics. So I can always trust them to give me their honest feedback. Um, and same with my husband. So we just have so much fun in our kitchen, and it just it brings us together in such a special way, and it's just truly from one meal to the next or one occasion to the next, um, a place that we just cherish and have the best time in.
SPEAKER_01Now, uh tell us just a little bit about why you launched your blog in 2012.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah. So this just it was an opportunity that uh Wonderful Opportunity guys took advantage of. We had been living prior to that in Boston in a 500 square foot apartment, my husband and I, before we had children, and we would host all the time. And we would just open our home to anybody who wanted to come. We would create these big spreads of like dessert boards and barbecue and whether it was game days, watching football, or game nights with our friends or somebody's birthday, we were always like, we'll host, we'll host. And so one of our friends who was um able to join many of those celebrations went on to work for General Mills, who owns Gold Medal Flour, and he overheard that they were looking for an everyday baking blogger to bring on. And he reached out and he's like, Megan, you have got to apply for this. And I was like, Oh my gosh, I have no idea how to take photos or blog, but I do know how to create some really good baking recipes. So I applied and was so fortunate to get selected, and it just has grown with me from there. So I started the baker mama within the gold metal flower um umbrella. And then after we had started having kids, and really um my followers grew, and my community was really interested in more than just my baking recipes, what our family was enjoying on a daily basis, what I was feeding my kids, and um I branched off and was able to start sharing so much more. And like I said, it's just truly grown with me, and I've never expected it to be where it is today, and I have no idea what tomorrow brings, but I'm along for the ride and I truly enjoy it. It's a passion project for me that um just brings so much happiness to others, and I just love inspiring people.
SPEAKER_01Well, I know that later you developed into your first book of beautiful boards in about what, 2019, and maybe popularized and saw what they called the whimsical snack boards. Did your trend setting surprise you and your family when that happened?
SPEAKER_02Yes, I just kind of took off my creativity, um, just was really at its um it it found its place. I was able to really get extra creative with these boards, and it's so much more than charcuterie boards. So that's what they are whimsical, they're snack boards, their meal boards, their breakfast boards, dessert boards. And so really I my brain and still to this day I have a million ideas written down of ways that I can serve food on a board and um for any occasion, but it just is a wonderful way to bring people together, and if you make it like beautiful and creative, it just makes the occasion even that much more special. And so I yeah, I'm truly amazed with how popular they became, but I'm not surprised really because it does bring so much joy, they're easy to create. I've done all the hard work for you as far as the creative uh brain and and crafting behind that, and I give so much such good directions on how to recreate it or make it your own with what you and your loved ones enjoy most or what you have on hand. And so it's been just amazing to see how many people recreate these boards, make them their own, and then share with me what an amazing experience it was to both build it and enjoy it with their loved ones.
SPEAKER_01Well, you know, there's some people who might not be familiar with what actually a board is. All right. And they would say, you know, what do you mean you're gonna take a board? Okay, can you kind of just explain that a little bit?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. And really the board can be anything. It's your base. It's you're choosing your base. So it can be a sheet pan, it can be a woodboard, it can be a um platter, it can be whatever, a snack plate, like it really can be whatever you have on hand or whatever fits the occasion. And then from there, it's arranging food in a thoughtful, beautiful way. It's a good variety of foods for the occasion or theme that you want it to be, and then you serve it. It's it's very simple and it's just I think some people are so intimidated by it, but food in itself is naturally beautiful, and so if you select a variety of colors and textures and flavors and combine them on your base, which is what I call your board, um, and serve it, it's just truly impressive, no matter how perfect it is.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. Well, I know that you followed up by having two more books. And why did you select focusing on spreads in small bits or bites?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Bytes. Yeah, yeah, no, that's a great question. So boards, of course, took off, and it's like my my baby to start with. But what I what I noticed after that is with my boards, I would sometimes incorporate them into a larger spread, or I would have such a large crowd that one board was not enough to feed everyone. So I I expanded on that and turned a lot of my ideas into spreads of food. So it still incorporates some boards throughout, or maybe there's one in there that you build your own board. So you put out a variety of snacks and meats and cheeses and accompaniments, and each person can build their own mini board. So that has spectacular spreads that has over 250 recipes in it, but they're broken into um occasional spreads. So it's a spread for almost any occasion you can ever imagine. And then once you determine which spread is fitting for your occasion, you go and you can reference all the recipes, and I give all the tips on how to bring it all together, prep ahead, as well as source um pre-made foods if you need to, if you're uh if you're tight on time. So those just took off because it's such a great way to feed a crowd or a family of a six like mine, where you just want to put something out and let everybody follow through and make their own. And then from there, I really noticed within all of my spreads that I would have little bites. So I'd have like an appetizer spread where there's gonna be little bites of meatballs or pasta and um little cute dessert bites, because sometimes just a bite or two is enough to satisfy. And so people really enjoyed that small commitment, and um, there's still so much creativity to be had with Brilliant Bites. So I branched off and really put my creativity towards bite-sized food for Brilliant Bites. And you can incorporate those into a spread of food or you can put them on a board, which you'll notice in Celebration Boards. I have several bites um created that go on some of the boards. So that's where both of those took off. And then I still had from way back when I was working on beautiful boards, I had hundreds of ideas, and only I could put 50 in that book. So I still had all these ideas and have been adding to it for seven years now that I really needed um to put in another board book because this is that next edition that people need to have. It compliments beautiful boards so much, Celebration Boards does, and it has even more tips on how to bring these boards, easily bring these boards together, ways to easily shop for the for the ingredients on them, prep ahead, and bring something so magical together in a very short amount of time.
SPEAKER_01Well, with your new book, Celebration Boards, okay, there are so many new boards and so many, many ideas. Where in creation do you ever find your ideas?
SPEAKER_02Oh, I have I mean ideas pop in my head every single day. It's just like living life, whether I am traveling or just here at home and having um a snack or at the grocery store, it just sparks an idea and it makes me think, okay, this is a great way to serve this to a crowd or to a my family. And so let's bring it all together on one board. It gives people options. Um, and I just always been thinking of creative ways to serve it because honestly, people enjoy it more, I feel like, when when it comes to serving people food, and they tend to eat better and are able to make their own decisions and be really independent about what they put on their plate or what they smack on, and it just is a very brilliant way of serving people. So I try to turn all of my ideas of serving into a board creation or a spread and sometimes a bite.
SPEAKER_01Uh-huh. Now, you I know in the book you give some top tips for building a board. Okay, and also for you know, design and presentation. Can you kind of guess it's a little teeny blob of exactly I'm starting off? What should I do?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. So I include in celebration boards what I call my boards method. And I really break it down on the process I use to build a board, no matter what board it is. And this is one thing that's so special about this book is because the front of it really it dives into that step-by-step process that once you have it down, you can truly build a board and make it your own, no matter what you want to serve. And you know, just to start, it's all about the base. Like I said, that you choose your base. What is it gonna be? Is it gonna be a round board? Is it gonna be a long board? Is it gonna be a sheet pan? Is it gonna be a small mini board? You choose your base and then you organize your options. So, what do you have on hand already that you're wanting to serve? What do you need to source from the grocery store, and or what do you need to make from scratch? So you just kind of organize your options, and then from there you get into the building process. And I really break that down on what to put on the board first as far as um visuals, or if it's a worm food, maybe you you save it for last. So I give all those little tips on how best to arrange it on the board so it looks beautiful, it's easily accessible when it comes to serving it and people can really enjoy it.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. Now, what about sizing the board to your group? How how do you take your ideas in the book and make them smaller? Because they have so many things on them. And I'd say, Well, I'm not going to be having a big party. So how do I make it from my small apartment?
SPEAKER_02Yes, and that's one thing I talk about in the book is I include as many options as possible on there to make it look and have a great variety, but you can pick and choose what you would enjoy the most or what your crowd would enjoy the most and scale it down from there. So, for example, there's a fall mood board in there that has an amazing variety of fall flavors and textures and meats and cheeses and sweet treats and crackers and dips. But if you wanted to scale this down for the this board that I have in the book, I have it serving 12 to 14 people. And obviously, not everybody's going to want to serve that to 12 or 14 people and it's on a 20-inch round board. So talk about how you can scale it down, say, to a 14-inch round board, and maybe you take away one or two of the dips and you scale back instead of just having the um cinnamon sugar donuts and the little mini pumpkin muffins, you just do the pumpkin muffins and you maybe just have uh one cracker selection instead of two cracker selections. So you just scale back. There's plenty of ways to do that. We still have a great variety and it still looks beautiful and um impressive, but you don't have to have all this food commitment to bring it together.
SPEAKER_01Well, now with fall and holidays coming, tell me just a couple of your favorites from the book.
SPEAKER_02Oh goodness. I mean, it's so hard. I have the hardest time choosing my favorite board because I really do love them all for different reasons. I mean, it's it's less about like having a favorite board and more about the occasion, who, who I'm gathering with, what we're celebrating, or even just what we're in the mood for. Um, some of the boards I think of, especially for fall, is that fall mood board I just referenced. Uh, of course, my I have a snack stadium board, which I'm gonna prepare this weekend because it's the kickoff of football season. And this one is so great because it serves a crowd, but you can also scale it back. The middle of it has a selection of sliders in the middle, burgers and chicken sliders and pulled pork sliders, then you can just choose one of those to create for that middle section and then it's surrounded by snacks and that are broken into little sections. And so it's great to serve and graze on during a football game. Um, another thing I really like around the holidays is the snackland game night board because the kids can get really involved in bringing that one to life by choosing our favorite snacks for game night and bringing it together in a creative way. So, I mean, they the holiday boards are certainly uh some of my favorite because they just make each of those holidays extra special and they're so um easy to bring together.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. Well, now I'm having a breakfast meeting at my house this month. What do you suggest that I put together?
SPEAKER_02Oh, well, it depends on the size of your crowd, of course. Um, but if it is a larger crowd, I would go with that loaded brunch board because it has such a great variety and it it you can put it out and people can graze on it for hours. And so it just keeps everyone um satisfied and and together as you're like trying new things or filling your plate with um a little something savory and then a little something sweet. It has little mini muffins and mini cinnamon rolls, it's got a frontata and some mini um croissants. So you can really, again, I talk about in the book too, you can pick and choose what um would satisfy your crowd the most or what you would need for the size of your crowd, and you can scale it from there or even make it a larger uh board to really feed a larger crowd.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. Now, are the boards in your book related to your real family life gatherings?
SPEAKER_02Oh, yes, yes. I mean, they we we get the people our my kids and their friends beg for these boards over and over again. So I really have to uh keep keep on it when they're when the requests come in. So yes, everything I do with my brand, the Baker Mama, is what I'm what we're enjoying together, the family and with our friends, and um it's just so special to get to share it with others and hopefully inspire them to create these same memories with their family and friends.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. Now, how how do you get the kids involved though with this activity?
SPEAKER_02Oh yes. Oh yeah, they love it. They can help sort and and gather ingredients, of course, and then I let them put it on the board. They will put it um put the smaller foods in little mini bowls on the board, and then they'll help me arrange some of the larger items first, and then um we we love to garnish it a little bit no matter what it is, uh, whether it's some we almost every week enjoy the build your own Mediterranean rice bowl board. And so the kids really love helping that. Like someone will cut the pita, someone will um put the dips in the little bowls, I'll be cooking the chicken and the meatballs, and um my daughter will get the rice all set. So everybody can kind of help and bring that one together. And then, of course, there's the more creative, like kid-friendly boards that they really enjoy, like the snackland game night board I talked about, and then we have a pajama party board which is so adorable. My daughter is obsessed with having her friends over to spend the night, and her friends really enjoy it as well because, of course, I serve fun treats and we have fun boards and breakfasts each morning. But this one is so cute because it has little mini pancakes and mini donuts, and then we have these adorable little um Pop-Tart palettes on there where I take a little mini Pop-Tart and I I stick a little tetigram in the top, and we put some little sprinkles for the like it looks like they're in a sitting in a sleeping bag, and the kids go crazy over this one. They're just thinking so cute, and I let the girls all help make the little Pop-Tart palette while I'm um heating up the pancakes and little mini waffles and stuff. And that's another great one. Like, we've done this board really skilled back when uh my daughter's only had one or two friends over, where we just do a little small, tiny um board or platter, and I put a few pancakes on there, a few mini donuts, and then we do lots of fruit and a little bowl of yogurt, and then we make the uh the pop chart palettes and put those on there, and they just have so much fun. It's a great activity to include the kids in, and it makes them really appreciate um the process and just the enjoyment of it all.
SPEAKER_01Well, what lessons have you learned since you started really entertaining with boards? What are the big lessons that you've learned?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's such a great question. It for me and why it all started is that it lets me enjoy being with our family and friends. I can prepare this board in advance and serve it and actually get to sit down and or stand around it and enjoy it with everyone else. I found that like when we were hosting before I really started using boards as my main entertaining um uh thing we would serve, is that my husband and I would be kind of stuck in the kitchen. We were prepping the main course, we were grilling the steaks, making the salad, doing doing all this stuff to like get everything um to the table fresh or get it all set out. Um and I just really missed being able to go and out and actually enjoy the occasion with our family and friends. So we both were like, let's just set everything ahead and make sure everything
SPEAKER_01Do you hope that these boys really create the food is gone?
SPEAKER_02The people that they enjoyed it with they were gathered around with. It is true. They're not gonna remember they're gonna remember the people that they gathered around it with, and that's the goal is to bring bring your loved ones together and use these boards as a way to make it even more special.
SPEAKER_01Well, I can hardly wait to try some of them for my affairs. Thank you so much. It has been such a pleasure talking to you.
SPEAKER_02Oh, thank you so much, Gloria. Same to you.
SPEAKER_01Wasn't that just lovely? You can hear how much joy she puts in every board.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, makes me want to run into the kitchen right now. Gloria, you've been eyeing a few of the newest ones, especially with autumn gatherings right around the corner. Give us the highlights.
SPEAKER_01Happily. First up, let's take a look at the fall moon board. Now picture a warm baked brie right in the center. Anytime you put brie in the center of anything, it's going to be good.
unknownOkay.
SPEAKER_01Surrounded by a little pumpkin bowls of seasonal dips, plus fruits and cheeses and meats and all those sweet fall treats. Well, Megan calls it fascinating for a party, yet simple enough to sprinkle a little autumn magic at any gathering. I'm just calling it pretty cozy.
SPEAKER_00Bake three as the star. I'm already wrapping myself in my college sweater. Next.
SPEAKER_01Alright. How about this one? BBQ. You know what that is, Tom?
SPEAKER_00Barbecue.
SPEAKER_01Right. Baked potato board. You know how you like baked potatoes?
SPEAKER_00Yes.
SPEAKER_01And barbecued baked potatoes, that's one even better, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_01Well, this one is a crowd pleaser. Russet and sweet potatoes, smoky barbecued meats, and all the classic fixings. So everyone builds their own ultimate potato. And I love that making my own potato. Megan says, it tastes like a backyard barbecue with no grill required. Interactive yet really effortless.
SPEAKER_00And remember when we used to go on picnics and bury the potatoes and wrap them in aluminum foil and put them under the fire and then cook, cook uh the rest of the food on top, and then dig those potatoes out of the thing and scrape all the dirt off. And they were the most delicious potatoes you ever ate in your life.
SPEAKER_01You know, people don't think you could actually make a potato board and it would be that big of a thing. All right. So I mean, if you think, if you have barbecue really on the table and you have a potato board there, would that not be beautiful?
SPEAKER_00Yes. No grill required. Music to my ears. All the cleaning of the grill is my least favorite job. Game day or weeknight. I'm all in.
SPEAKER_01I bet you are. Well then, for a little playful spirit, how about the Halloween ghost board? Oh, you know this one is my absolute personal fave. Alright. It's all white and black and orange treats, and you're arranged in like the cutest ghostly kind of spread. And Megan promises that it's easy to assemble and even more fun to serve. No tricks, just treats. Now, let's just tell them a little bit about what this looks like. Folks, you have to go to the website and see what this one looks like.
SPEAKER_00It says boo in the center. So it's hard to miss.
SPEAKER_01It is so cute. Absolutely so cute. And so easy to make. Really easy. I mean, you can imagine that she used white uh pretzels.
SPEAKER_00White chocolate pretzels.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. And then she probably, it looks like popcorn that she put in there, but and then she has like white little, I would say ghost candies. All right. And she uses the word boo.
SPEAKER_00Made out of jelly beans, black and red ones.
SPEAKER_01I know they look neat. And of course, she has these little, I want to say, cookies. They're like Oreo cookies that she used to make a hat with. And it really is so cute.
SPEAKER_00It really grabs your attention when you see the picture. Absolutely. Communicates very much. This is Halloween.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00Beautiful vibes all the way. Our visiting friends. And let's be honest, they'll all go wild.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yes. And finally, all right, the turkey sandwich board. Well, you know, right around the corner is going to be turkey time. And you need to think ahead of time because you're going to have what the family come over, or you're going over to the families, whatever it is, you know that that's going to be what's happening. And this one would fit in perfectly, especially if it's something at your own house that you can make the board up ahead of time. And it's built right in the shape of a turkey, if you want to believe that, with sliders and festive Thanksgiving favors. It's just great. But this is one, again, you have to go to the website and see the picture of this, right?
SPEAKER_00It's very colorful. And he has the feathers made out of lettuce leaves.
SPEAKER_01Right. And endive is right in between for the color.
SPEAKER_00Yes. And then slider buns circling the uh lettuce.
SPEAKER_01Right. And there's red onions, and there's tomatoes, it looks like. And it looks like there's pieces of turkey in there and cheese. It almost looks like she put little pieces of stuffing, little circles around there. And on the bottom, it looks like she has, I want to say, flowers that almost look made out of grapes. Probably green grapes and red grapes with dips in them. And it looks like the little turkey nose is looks like it's a what? Pear, maybe? Yeah. With little eyes. Yeah. I mean, cute. Cute. Go. Go look at it because it it is just adorable.
SPEAKER_00It's the shape of a turkey, colorful, and a low-stress presentation. Genius. Great idea, Megan.
SPEAKER_01All right. These boards remind us that celebration is really about the shared moments. Laughter, good food, being connected and ready. Anytime we choose.
SPEAKER_00Whether it's a big party or just because we can have an evening, she makes it feel easy and joyful.
SPEAKER_01So anyway, grab her book, all right? It's celebration boards. Pick the one that calls to you, just like I was picking the ones that called to me, and start making those memories.
SPEAKER_00We can't wait to hear which one you will try first.
SPEAKER_01Well, and that's all for today's episode for Food for Body, Mind, and Spirit.
SPEAKER_00And until next time, remember always put a little good taste in your life.