- Hey guys, so today we're gonna take a little bit
of a break from the recipe content and I'm going to do
something I've never done on this channel, a Q and A.
(laughing)
I actually never thought of doing this,
but it wasn't until Remy, hi Remy, (laughing)
one of my longstanding subscribers who I've know for years
recommended it and I started laughing, thinking,
well maybe I should do it, I don't know.
So now I'm doing it.
So Remy, even if you're the only one
who watches this video, this is for you.
Okay, so there were lots of questions around
where do I get my love of cooking from
and what is my training?
So my love of cooking really comes from my dad.
Some of my earliest memories of us
in the kitchen are some of the fondest.
My parents really entertained a lot,
so my mom and my dad used to have these awesome parties
when we were little and we would become
the waitresses, my sister and I.
(laughing)
And there we were with our little party trays
willing to help out and I just loved that.
We were so much a part of it and I think
that that also really instilled our love of it.
And my parents always prioritized meals as a family.
Even if we were eating spaghetti and tomato sauce,
there would be candles lit, we would be sitting
in the dining room and it just was
such a happy, wonderful memory.
But I think that's where my love of eating came from,
I didn't actually start a love of cooking
until I was about 12 or 13 and my parents would always
let me handle dessert during their parties
and that just was such a place of honor.
I think I felt like, wow, they're gonna trust me with this.
It better be good, and for whatever reason,
I had a Martha Stewart cookbook and I would just make
this fruit tart out of it every summer.
It was like my go to thing, and because I only made
one thing, I ended up actually learning
how to make it pretty well.
I think when you do one thing over and over and over,
you actually get pretty good at it.
So I could make a really great fruit tart,
but that was about it.
(laughing)
And then it wasn't until I was about 16
that I got my first real job at the Hay Day Country
Market Store in Westport Connecticut.
There was a bakery and that's where I worked.
And they hired me with no experience.
The only experience I had really was making my fruit tarts.
But I guess that was good enough because it was
the month of November where they were super busy
because they were making all of these Thanksgiving pies.
And my sister worked there at the time.
She was a cashier and she said,
"Beth, they have an opening in the bakery,
"this is perfect for you."
And it was and I just loved it.
I worked in the bakery making pies and breads
and all kinds of things, in fact there were two cookbooks
produced from this market and it's in my Amazon shop
if you guys wanna check it out.
But the food was just so fantastic and I think
that that's where my inspiration of kind of farm-to-table,
making things look beautiful and rustic,
using seasonal ingredients.
I never really put it together until somebody asked me
in the Q and A and I was like, oh yeah,
it's totally coming from Hay Day.
Then I think I really cooked things up a notch
when I got married and I had someone to cook for.
I think that really inspires anybody to cook.
And so, I just really learned by doing
and just cooking three meals a day,
every day for my husband.
And his family is French and they live in France
and nobody speaks any English.
So the only way that I could really kind of communicate
and feel like I was spending time with people
was in the kitchen, that's just the easiest way
to really kind of bond with people.
I would be peeling the carrots and cutting up this,
and cutting up that and learning through my mother-in-law
all these foods that my husband enjoyed growing up.
And I think there's something really special
when you spend time with people in the kitchen
and you get to learn about their culture in that way.
So actually spending a lot of time with my in-laws
also really helped my love of food and knowledge of cooking.
Especially the French dishes.
I have taken a few professional cooking classes
over the years, but I find that I really learn the best
by doing and all of my mistakes.
So you'll find in a lot of my videos,
I'll give you the tips, but then I'll also say,
don't do this 'cause here's what happens.
(laughing)
Mainly because I've done that and I've seen what happens
and I find that that just makes you a really good cook,
just keep cooking and keep making mistakes
because you learn the most sometimes from mistakes.
Okay, so Andy wants to know if I'm still gardening
and if the garden channel is coming back.
Yes it is coming back, in fact, my newest episode
just posted last weekend, so if you didn't get to see that,
you can hop on over after this video and check that out.
I'm giving you a little before and after
of how we put that garden together
and what it looks like now.
Then a lot of you asked, what is the favorite meal
that I make for my family on a busy weeknight?
There are two meals in fact.
There's one that is called Feed Me Fast Chicken.
That is always in the weekly rotation.
That is just a funny little recipe that I came up with
one time when my kids were really starving
and they were headed on their way home.
The funny thing about that video though,
is there's horrible audio in it, not because it was recorded
poorly, I do have professional crew that records
all my videos, but I did something in the editing.
And so, anytime people watch that video,
they're like, "The audio, what's going on with this?"
So you're better off actually heading to my blog.
You can print out the recipe there
and then you don't have to listen to the video.
(laughing)
The other recipe that we make a lot is Slow Cooker Tacos.
That's a recipe that's buried on this channel.
I'll link to it in the description.
It is one of my kids' favorite meals.
However, it didn't start out that way and this is
for any of you guys that asked me about dealing
with picky palates, I find you have to give your kids
the same meal seven times, not in a row,
but at least seven times is what I say.
You have to try it seven times.
And then if they really don't like it, okay.
You don't like it, but they didn't like that
from the beginning, but now they love it
and it's their favorite thing and you can make it
in a slow cooker, which makes it so easy for weeknight.
Then a lot of you guys asked about a house tour,
you'd love to see a tour of the house.
I would love to share a tour of the house,
but there are a few little projects that I need to complete
before it's ready for Primetime, but I will tell you this,
I'm going to be doing a kitchen tour.
So I've been working on this kitchen for years,
it's finally done, I can finally show you guys
what this kitchen actually looks like,
including shots of what it looked like before,
which is nothing what it looks like now.
Melia, you wanted to know what my job was
before I started doing YouTube full-time.
Well, technically by trade, I'm a video producer,
so I used to produce a lot of content
for Home and Garden Television, Food Network,
Fine Living Network if you guys remember that back then,
and for a big part of that time,
I was producing my dad's show.
So you guys know my dad, he's been on my channel a few times
usually around Christmastime, he's an interior designer
and was on HGTV for many years.
I was his producer, directing the cameras,
telling him what to say, what to do and we would go
through all of these countries shooting
these incredible interiors and gardens.
We went to Spain, we went to Japan, we went to Australia,
France, Germany, Sweden, we had such a blast
and those are some of my most favorite memories with my dad.
But then after producing for cable television for a while,
I really wanted to get into the digital world
because I saw everything going online.
So I worked for a few startups here and there,
but then I finally found my way to Kin Community.
Many of you know Kin Community, they have a channel here
on YouTube, they have a great brand.
They're still producing lots of content.
But I was running the production and programming department.
And then I started to appear in some of the videos.
Really more as just sort of like a problem solving dare.
We need more food content and I said, you know what?
I really think that we should do menu shows.
I think that people like really need to know
how to throw a party, and everybody sort of looked at me
like, "Hmm, is someone gonna watch
"a 20 minute video on YouTube?"
And I was like, well if we give them great information,
I think they will (laughing), so my boss at the time
was like, "Okay, give it a try."
I said, I cook, you know, I entertain all the time.
I have recipes I can share, let's give it a go.
And it really was just something that I totally enjoyed.
I found that a lot of people were just learning to cook
and didn't really know how to put all the dishes together
or work out the timing and the organization
which can cause so much stress
when you're entertaining, I get it.
So after doing that for a while, my boss said,
"Do you want your own channel?"
And I said yeah, I think I kinda do.
I thing there is a need for entertaining.
So then we launched Entertaining With Beth
and I worked on it for seven years
and that brings us to where we are today and yeah,
that's how I started the channel.
Hannie, you wanted know what direction
do I want my channel to go in?
I would love to have three channels.
So I'd love to keep this channel as like the main channel,
continue with my garden channel, but just commit more to it
and then there is a third channel that's a little dream
that I'm sort of nurturing which I've set up a masthead.
I'll put a link in the description.
You guys can see what that's all about.
It's called The French House Project
and this is a project that my husband and I
really wanna make happen for our family,
which is to buy an old house in France and fix it up.
And then I would just do vlogs and show you guys
kind of what the house looked like before
and take you through the process as we shop
through the flea markets and fix it up and turn it into
what I hope would be a really fun family home.
So if you wanna follow along with that adventure
when I finally decide to do it, you can subscribe
to that channel and you can see what that looks like.
Okay, so Black Tulip wants to know,
how did I meet my husband?
Well this is a bit of a funny story
because my dad is like the eternal matchmaker
and if you are single and he knows you're single,
he is going to go out and find you the perfect person.
He's had a bit of a success rate, I will say that.
He's pretty good at it.
(laughing)
But he had met Philippe, my husband, and came running
down the hall one day and said,
"I have met your husband and he's coming for Easter."
I was like, Dad!
This is, was something you have to know about my parents.
They sill invite random strangers to holidays
any chance they get, they do this all the time
and it's so funny because we really loved it growing up
because we would always meet all these interesting people,
but he invited him and I didn't even know him
and it was so like awkward because my dad
was like, kinda push us together.
We thought it was funny, we got a kick out of it
and then we were friends for a long time
because I think the pressure of like,
ooh, we gotta get together, was just too much.
But after I spent time with him and we would go out
on our little rollerblading dates or we would go
to the movies or we would just hangout together, I was like,
Dad, you really know how to pick 'em, he was right.
(laughing)
Yeah Keisha, you wanna know do I speak French
and could I ever envision doing a tutorial all in French.
(laughing)
Well, (speaking French).
Keiran, you wanna know what was the worst dish
I ever made, my real cooking fail,
and I have to go back to the time that we did
a family ski trip in Deer Valley for Christmas
and I was just newly married, probably two years in or so.
Hadn't really had that much experience cooking
for a large gathering like that.
And for some reason, I wanted to make roasted lamb.
So in this rental apartment that we were in,
I put in the lamb, everybody had been skiing all day,
so they were like starving.
They're waiting for this lamb to be done and I'm like,
yeah, a couple more minutes, couple more minutes.
I bring it to the table, we slice
into it and it's completely raw.
(laughing)
Like inedibly raw and everybody is being polite
and they're kinda like working around it and everything,
and come to find out that the oven in this rental
was not really operating properly.
So my two tips for you any time you're roasting meat
is get an oven thermometer, I always rely on it
because even though you set the oven for like 375,
sometimes it does not run at temperature
and an oven thermometer will tell ya that.
And then also, use a meat thermometer.
So before you cut into it, you'll know if the meat is done.
But I didn't know these things back then
and everybody was super polite and to cut the tension,
'cause I just felt so badly that this meat was so raw,
by brother looked at me and started laughing and said,
"Don't worry Beth, we can take this down to the zoo,
"the lions will love it."
(laughing)
Emilyanna, forgive me if I'm not pronouncing that right,
you asked me lots of really good questions
and I think I probably answered a few of them,
but the one that I think is a good one to answer is
about my daughters and how to encourage them to cook
and are they enjoying cooking and entertaining?
And I have found that the best way to get your kids
involved in cooking is just make
the kitchen an open door policy.
I think it's really hard as moms, 'cause we're stressed
or we're trying to get things ready,
especially around the holidays when the pressure is on
and that's when the kids really wanna get in there and help,
I always say, okay, knowing that oh my gosh,
this could be a disaster but I want them
to always feel comfortable in the kitchen.
I don't wanna be the mom that's like,
no you can't, no, this has to be perfect.
For me, I kinda take that risk knowing
that what I'm investing in is hopefully,
a lifelong love for them to cook and entertain.
So, it's super cute every year around Mother's Day,
they make their little breakfast trays for me
and I always laugh to see how they put
the little garnishes on or they'll put the jelly
in a little ramekin, which is not something
that I would have taught them to do,
but I think they see me do it, and I think as parents,
we are the best models for our children.
So, they pick up everything 'cause they're watching us.
So Neesa, you wanna know if I shoot
my videos myself or if I have a team.
Well let me tell you this, I have done both.
I definitely prefer having a team.
I have a DP who shoots all of the interviews that you see
as well as shoots the tight shots, all those moving shots
that you guys love of the food,
and then I have a second cameraman that gets all
of my wide shots for me and shoots
kind of more the process parts of the video.
I also have a production assistant that does
all the slating of the videos,
so that all of my files are well organized.
That makes such a difference because I do edit
most of the videos, unless I have a brand deal.
Which you know, I'm really happy when I have a sponsor video
because that means my DP can edit it for me.
I can afford to do that and that's so much better.
And then I also have a digital media manager
that takes care of all of the camera footage
and labels it and makes sure that we're not
recording over things and that everything is organized.
And then lastly, I also have a really talented multi-tasker
who helps our cameraman with all of the grip
and the lighting, but then also does the dishes
because you can imagine how many dishes pile up when you're
shooting anywhere from four to five recipes a day.
I call him the secret weapon, Nick.
And Wesha, you would like to know, do I like Indian food?
I love Indian food, and in fact, it's one of the cuisines
that I am most intimidated by.
I think mainly because I have not been to India,
so I don't really know what authentic
Indian food tastes like.
I know what we get here in the States in restaurants,
but I have a feeling that's probably not very authentic.
(laughing)
So I would love to go to India one day.
It's the one place I've never been
that I'm really curious about.
Cindy, you wanna know if my husband knows how to cook.
Bless his heart, but he doesn't.
He has no interest in it, it's so funny.
He loves to taste and he is a great person
to taste anything because he loves everything.
But he really doesn't have any interest in it.
It's pretty funny, although what he does do,
and he's very good at this, is ironing.
(laughing)
I know this sounds crazy, but he loves to iron.
He will take a stack of laundry and sit in front
of some soccer match and sit there ironing everything.
And I'll come in and all my shirts are ironed, my jeans.
He irons jeans, I mean, who does that?
Crazy, so I love him for that.
Erica, you wanna know if I would ever try out
for the Food Network Star, no!
Those shows give me such a panic.
I get so stressed out when I watch people compete.
For me, the kitchen has always been a happy,
peaceful, loving place where there's no competition involved
and when I think of cooking at that level
and the competition and the pressure,
oh it just makes me break out in sweats, so no.
No competition shows for me!
Jen, you wanted to know, what is the best dessert
to make for a large summer party?
And I really love this Campfire Cake.
I think I shared it last summer, or maybe two summers ago.
It's so easy to put together, you can make them in skillet,
bake ahead and then all you have to do when you sit down
to dinner, pop them in the oven to reheat them
and then people can serve themselves.
You don't have to slice it and it's just so delicious
and so summery and so easy, love that one.
And then finally, I got a lot of questions around,
what's the one meal that I cook
when I really don't feel like cooking?
And usually that's on a shoot day
when I'm really exhausted, it's an omelet.
And if you wanna know how to make a foolproof omelet,
you can click this annotation and I'll meet ya over there
and I'll show you all my tips.
All right you guys, thanks for watching.
I hope that this has told you a little bit more
about me and my background.
If I didn't get to your question,
leave me a comment and I can answer it there.
All right you guys, I'll see you back here next week.
Until then, bye.