Rewrite Your Life Story Podcast
Episode 26: Creating A Legacy with Judith Keys
Ever felt stuck in the same old corporate routine, like it’s on repeat? That’s the moment many of us wake up and think, “Is this it?” It’s that lightbulb moment when the 9-to-5 grind starts feeling unfulfilling. But here’s the cool part: Some folks decide to flip the script. They ditch the corporate script and go after what they love.
In this episode, we sit down with Judith Keys, the visionary owner of My Food in France Ltd, who shares her inspiring journey from Northern Ireland to France, and how she successfully transformed her career and lifestyle. Initially venturing into virtual assistance and online business management, Judith eventually broke free from the corporate grind to pursue her true passion for cooking, overcoming language hurdles and self-doubt along the way. Judith describes her online cookery membership where they connect with people from different countries and share recipes and interviews with local producers. Plus, she opens up about balancing cultures at home, teaching her kids French while keeping a sprinkle of their Irish roots. We dig into her transition from a cooking enthusiast to a successful business owner, sharing some mouthwatering dishes from her classes.
Judith shares her journey of overcoming doubts and fears to start a culinary business, seeking advice from a mentor. Judit also shares some of the specific dishes that she taught in her classes, including Moroccan couscous and the French dessert “floating islands.” Judith discusses her aspirations for business growth, including offering retreats and adapting recipes to incorporate various flavours and cultural influences.
She talks about her passion for cooking and how it was passed down to her by her grandmother. She emphasizes the emotional connection food can create and the memories it can evoke. Judith also shares how she involves her children in the cooking process, allowing them to choose ingredients and try new foods.
Join us in this episode as we explore Judith’s inspiring story of leaving the 9-to-5 routine behind, pursuing her passion for cooking, overcoming language barriers, and building a successful culinary business.
Episode Highlights:
• Judith’s reflection on corporate job patterns and unfulfillment.
• Pursuing a passion for food and cooking in France.
• Judith’s online cookery membership connects with people globally.
• Sharing recipes and interviews with local producers.
• Judith’s experience in balancing cultures in her bilingual family.
• Overcoming barriers in pursuing a passion for cooking.
• Dishes taught in classes, offering retreats and sharing the love for cooking.
• Adapting recipes to incorporate different flavours or cultural influences.
• Importance of creating a legacy through cooking.
• Her passion for cooking was passed down by her grandmother.
• Emotional connection and memories are created through food.
• Involving children in the cooking process.
• Encouragement for others to pursue their passions.
About Judith
Judith Keys, the visionary owner of My Food in France Ltd, has seamlessly blended her passion for cooking with a profound sense of community. With a decade of residence in France and a keen eye for the finest seasonal ingredients from the vibrant local markets of Provence, she has cultivated a culinary journey that transcends boundaries. As the driving force behind My Food in France Ltd, Judith orchestrates a dynamic paid cookery membership, conducts engaging online cook-along classes for both teams and individuals and is on the verge of introducing curated retreats in the picturesque surroundings of Provence.
Prior to her culinary venture, Judith’s professional journey in France took diverse turns, from being a Virtual Assistant to serving as an Online Business Manager. The turning point came during her maternity leave in 2021 when the concept for her food-focused enterprise took root. With a deep understanding of family dynamics, having two children under 6, she skillfully navigates the realms of preparing nutritious family meals and crafting gourmet delights fit for special occasions. Beyond her culinary endeavours, Judith is the founder of ‘My Best Friend in France,’ an online haven for English-speaking ex-pats navigating the nuances of life in France. Here, she fosters a supportive community where individuals share experiences, seek advice, and build connections related to their move to or life in France.
Fluent in French and married to a Marseille native, Judith brings a unique perspective to her discussions. Whether unravelling the intricacies of French foodie culture, sharing delectable recipes, or imparting wisdom on pur…
Welcome to the rewrite your life story podcast hosted by your favorite Duo Steven and Charlene they’re here to help you transform your mindset and create a positive outlook on life are you tired of feeling stuck and unfulfilled are you ready to take control of your thoughts and emotions and rewrite your story well
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Episode of the rewrite your life story podcast let’s rewrite our stories together and make everyday Count in this episode we interview Judith Keys who’s the owner of my food in France LTD where she runs a paid cooker membership holds interactive online cookalong classes for teams and individuals and will soon be organizing Retreats close to our home in proms join us as we delve into her
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Navigate life’s challenges and rewrite our narratives with strength and resilience hey everyone it’s stepen and Charlene and welcome to another episode of the rewrite your life story podcast and today I’m super excited we have Judith Keys who is joining us from Province France who is originally from
Belfast but totally changed her life and I’m so excited to dive into her story so Judith tell us about Northern Island Belfast and growing up and what made you make this life altering decision hi thank you so much by the way for having me on the podcast I’m excited too so I
Have made a couple of big changes the first one being to move from Northern Ireland to Scotland for my studies when I was time to go to university I wanted to get out of Northern Ireland I mean I don’t know whether you know the background but there was a lot of
Political upheaval and War for all intents and purposes going on when I was a kid and I was luy that I didn’t see much of that but it was just a constant on the news it was just something that was that we all lived through and it
Seems crazy when I think of that now that that was just part of our Lives we just all lived through that and it was just bunkers so Northern Ireland is also a very small place and I think I wanted to get away from that sort of inel everybody knows everybody type thing
Everybody’s commenting on what other people are doing and all that so you know there was that Vibe as well and I just wanted to change I think it just was really important for me to do something a bit different and the university that I chose was in Edinburgh
In Scotland and it had the best languages degree and that’s what I wanted to do so I’ve always The French Connection started very early because we always came to on holiday to France when I was a kid my dad’s a French teacher so there was all all that going on in the
Background and yeah I wanted to do I did French and Spanish and I did interpreting and translating degree so it was just really fun and interesting and useful as well it wasn’t studying lots of literature and all that type of thing I wanted it to be more practical
So I loved that side of it we learned how to do simultaneous interpreting so it was really cool we did translation lots of stuff so that was the first sort of big move and I spent probably 10 years I think in Scotland I ended up
Working there and I loved it and I still miss it very very much it’s a very special place for me and then yeah I was working I didn’t really do anything with my languages degree you know until now that I live in France obviously as big
French all the time but it’s such a shame yeah because I just got into a job as soon as I finished University just to start getting money and to be able to have my own place and that type of thing so I started working in a law firm I got
A temporary job there as a secretary started off and then they hired me permanently and then I became a manager and I sort of worked my way up it was fine for the first few years and I enjoyed it and then I started to see so
I think this is where it became a problematic for me I started to see all the lawyers move up and like go from being trainees to solicitors to Associates to Partners to whatever and I hit the management position and I couldn’t go any further it was like oh
This is it no I have unless I go and train to be a lawyer which I didn’t want to do so I watched all that happen and also the corporate environment just started to get really difficult it all was around 2008 when there was very when the whole crash happened the financial
Crash so you know there was just money saving going on all the time and which is I can understand that but it just became really difficult we lost lots of colleagues who were laid off and things and there was just a a lot of stuff that
I didn’t really like and was I can understand why they have to do all that it just became a bit of an excuse in the end I was there and there was just still no salary increase still no salary increase still year on year was all the lawyers I’m sure we’re getting their
Increase every year you know it just started to just feel really icky I didn’t like it anymore and it’s so strange though because I thought oh I have to do the right thing I’m in this good job I should buy a house and I know
I need to do all the right things and what Society tells us to do so I did I bought my own house and that was the moment that was the moment for me that made me realize I need to change it sounds so crazy but buying a house was
Like what have I done I don’t want to it was like the commitment like no that this is too scary I know have a heist this means I have a mortgage to pay I’m in this this is my life now and I just thought no I don’t want this I need to
Get H I just had a total freak gu and yeah so the choice to move to France was a sort of easy one it sounds crazy and like oh my God how did you end up there but my parents had retired here France has been a love affair of my dad’s since
He was a young boy you know so he just loved it so they had retired here my sister had moved here with her husband so everybody was sort of here I was actually the last one I was the only one still back in the UK so I just thought
Well I’ll try it for a while I’ll go and see what it’s like and then here we are 10 years later I’m still here yeah quite the adventure yeah quite the adventure so what made you choose that particular part of France have you always been in that part of France we’d
Holidayed all over France but my dad as a French teacher he had assistants who came every year from France to be in his school in Northern Ireland and they would speak to the kids in French and it was like I’m sure that Happ happens where you guys are as well there’ll be
People come to yeah French assistance is what we would call it where I’m from but yeah so we got really friendly with this one particular French assistant and she said oh come and visit the next time you come to France come and visit where we live and it was this little part of
Provance that we didn’t know and we thought well yeah let’s go there and my dad just completely fell in love with this place so at first it was a holiday home for my parents as well they just bought it and then they decided to take early retirement here we all just sort
Of fell in love with it we got to know it we got to know the people here and yeah it just became a sort of whole family love story in the end and yeah when I wanted to move I did feel like it was a bit of a buffer you know it wasn’t
Too crazy a change because I did have family I did have a little bit of a safety net you know but as soon as I came here know I stayed with my parents for a while but I was 30 I was like getting quick need to like find a job
And get out of here so which I did did that quite quickly so let me ask you you’ve got children now and and a family and a young family is your partner French yeah yeah my husband’s French yeah and he’s amazing we have two little boys six I can’t believe the eldest is
Six now but yeah six and two so it is crazy and we’ve just got a puppy as well because we thought we’re a bit bored at home with all this going on let’s add a puppy into the mix so she’s uh she’s been very good actually I’m a little bit
Worried about her um starting to make noise but she’s sleeping so we’re fine so obviously you’re quite settled in France now and you’ve learned the French language which was prior to France you moving to France but then you start a culinary cooking school camps experience that’s quite different and different for
The fact that you’re promoting French Cuisine but that is something not native to you as well tell us about that so that was another big leap for me I think I get a bit bored when I’m doing the same thing for a while and I have this
Creative side of me um the cooking and baking thing has always been a thread throughout my life as well a bit like the French thing because I’ve always cooked and baked it was my grandmother who taught me I remember I still have these amazing memories time with her and
Her showing me how to make scon and shortbread and lots of traditional Irish things and I think when I moved here I started out working as a VA so because I had the sort of secretarial and managerial skills from when I worked in the UK I needed to find something that I
Could do here easily so I started out as a VA virtual assistant and an OBM online business manager so I did lots of the clients from home from the UK and did you know admin and marketing for them and really enjoyed it it was a really successful business and I was doing that
And it came to I was pregnant with my youngest little boy and I think it was another one of those realization moments of I’m doing the same thing again it’s like I’m back at a corporate job you know I’m at a desk every day I live in
This beautiful place and the south of France with all this amazing produce and we live in the middle of nowhere the countryside is just gor just all around us and I am at a desk every day back to sort of corporate world again and I’d done it myself I’m not at all ungrateful
For that because I still have that business and I still have quite a few clients who have been with me since the beginning I absolutely am so grateful for that and I love my clients and it’s just been fantastic but it was that time off when I was pregnant and then when I
Had my little boy that I just thought right the foodie thing is still there it’s like knocking on the door it needed to come out and wanted to try and do something with it um so having the time off was great because I was able to
Allow it to come like what am I going to do with this how can I make it work and in France doing anything with food or cookery here is very very difficult you need to have lots of qualifications and it takes ages and you need to invest an
Awful lot um in time and money and I just didn’t have that time or money so I thought right how can I do this and I thought well I could do it online you know the same as with the VA stuff I can help people online I can do classes
Online I can create a sort of way to connect through food online let’s do it and I can talk about French food and I can talk about all the am of produce we have here and the food that I ate and you know my French family teach me so
Much about the cuisine here and I just have it all around me you know I speak to producers and local farmers and there’s are amazing markets here we have farmers markets every day in a different place around us so it just felt like it was something that I could take that
Passion that I have I suppose and find a way of sharing it with other people and make it into business as well so yeah it’s not um turned into my food in France and I love it I have a cookery membership so there’s people in there
With me and we talk about food all the time and we have a cookery class once a month and I share recipes in there and interviews with local producers and local foodie people I know and I just love it it’s like a creative outlet for me and also a way of connecting through
Food I think this is what keeps coming up to me it’s such an amazing thing you know when I work with people online you sort of think how can that work we’re both cooking in a different place but it’s amazing how it still is we finish
Off the end of the class and they’ve got this amazing dish and so do I and then they’re really proud and we’ve had an amazing conversation throughout and they’re asking me questions and yeah yeah it’s just such a beautiful experience which I can’t believe how well it works online I wasn’t sure it
Would but it really does that’s pretty unique you know like you’re doing virtual cooking classes from the middle of France can I just ask geographically where are some of your members from so some of my members they started out as American citizens they still are American citizens but they’ve moved to
France it’s am amaz and I’ve got two women in the membership who have moved who have done the transition that I did and actually they know I live in not because of me it was on the cards anyway it was on the cards they had it um I’ve
Got a lady in Spar I’ve got a guy in Scotland mainly the rest of the members are UK based but yeah it’s just fantastic it’s really interesting going back to your family for a moment couple of questions that are just going through my mind you speak like as we said you
Established you spoke French before you went to France did you feel that was sufficient for you to get by or did you feel that you had to polish up more to become more fluent what was that experience of actually being immersed in the culture now it was really really
Tough for me yeah and I think I have to be honest about this because yeah I had a masters in French and I’d been to France loads but until you’re here speaking it all the time I had such a rubbish level of conversational French which sounds crazy but you’re learning
It on paper you’re not really talking French all the time obviously I had some time abroad during my degree but it’s just not the same you really do need to be in a place I think this is what I’ve learned I need to be here and speaking
At all the time um to really get that level of fluency and obviously I live with the Frenchman so that helps as well but the first couple of years here were really hard for me I’m so used to I’m such a talkative person I love that I
Love connecting with people and just I really lost a sense of myself in French because I couldn’t be myself I couldn’t talk the way I would speak normally so it was really hard and I felt quite isolated and I think that’s something we need to be really open about for people
Who change countryes so I mean I’m so privileged in that I spoke a little bit of French already and it was my choice to come here but it just makes me think of so many people who are displaced or who move for various other terrible reasons and who are left in the middle
Of this new place not been able to communicate it’s such a tough time and I was in this sort of dream place that I wanted to be in and it was still really hard so no it’s completely different I mean I am so fluent I feel completely E
I pretty much understand everything the only thing I don’t like doing is watching films in French because it’s like I want to have fun I want to just sit down and watch a film and switch off and when you watch a film and French I still have to think think a little bit
You know I have to try and I can’t pick up everything it’s a bit like work so I’m like no I just want to watch in English I tell you I understand that because I refuse to watch films with subtitles because I’m like I don’t want
To read while I’m watching a movie so I have to work I don’t to work so I get I get that just asked J this did you find when you first moved over and like even though you did have that Masters in French that people were generally
Helpful like in helping you to be able to learn like the conversational and willing to listen to you or talk to you it depended on the person really I do think it’s quite there’s so many people who were yeah kind and lovely to me and then there’s just people who don’t have
The patience or they’re not interested or whatever so it was very it was a mixed bag but I think I really do think it had to come from me because I had such a confidence issue I think I’m a a total perfectionist so if I couldn’t say
The exact right thing I didn’t want to say it at all you know I was so scared of making a mistake which is I wish I were different but I’m not I know that’s what I’m like that was so hard for me to just let go and just talk and it wasn’t
Until I was pregnant with my first boy that I just had to do it I had to phone and make appointments and that was so tough snotty French receptionists are not nice I will say that lots of really difficult times on the phone it was really hard because at
Least when you’re in front of somebody you can smile and you can see their mods move and it’s much easier to understand but on the phone it’s a whole other ball game but I was forced into it I had to make lots of Hospital appointments and midwife appointments and scan things and
You know so I just really do credit to my first boy with helping me feel more integrated here he didn’t do it on purpose but it’s what really changed things for me I think because I was just sort of thrown into it because it was
For him I did it you know whereas I don’t know if I would have been so maybe would have hidden in my shelle a bit longer that’s so beautiful you had a purpose and that was just amazing that you us allowed that to be your reason to
Step out yeah do your children obviously your two-year-old developing his language skills now but your six-year-old is he bilingual yeah they both are unbelievable even the little one speaks n and will say things in both languages and understands I can’t believe how much he understands in English so when I say
Go and put that in the fridge or something he goes and puts it in the fridge I can’t believe it I’m like wow you’re only two he understands it and yeah my eldest he’s bilingual yeah I mean he has a French accent when he speaks English which is so fun for me
Because I speak to him with my accent so I don’t know where that why that happens but yes just I’m amazed does your husband speak English H this is a touchy subject not really okay I mean he can do a lot better than he thinks yeah but I
Think he must have that I think he probably has that same thing that I did when I first came here that confidence issue and he’s not he doesn’t have to do it so he doesn’t you know because when we’re here as a family together at the
Dinner table for example I will speak in French because was I want it to be easy and as the conversation to flow and if I move into English then he maybe won’t understand everything and it becomes a little bit more disjointed what happens when your mom and dad are over and your
Sister are over and the partners are over is that English is that French English yeah just full English Danny he just has to just sit back just it’s such a strange thing the whole cultural thing is such a bit of a mindfield you know because I feel like
We’re so surrounded by French France French culture you know my kids are my eldest in a French school obviously and so I’m really mindful of making sure that they see my culture as well it’s such an interesting thing you know I really want them to watch TV programs
That I watched or you know new stuff from home or you know I want to read in books in English and I’m quite careful about making sure that I only read in English to him and it’s his dad that reads in French and it’s really important for me whether I can try and
Influence that a little bit but there’s things that he’ll like and it sounds like you’ve got a really good balance I hope so it sounds like that you know like if you bring the English and your partner brings your husband brings the French and then they’ve got the surroundings and obviously they’ve got
Their grandmother and grandfather there and there’s a quite a lot of English influence there back to your cooking because this is about cooking from Passion you go to business what was the hardest thing from moving from a passion to a business because a lot of people have passions but they never make that
Leap it stays as a hobby or it just stays as that thing that they do on the side you had a passion for cooking even though it was you know your grandmother’s influence and it was more irishan English food you still got the skills you needed you developed the
Culinary skills you needed learned the French you learned the produ you learned everything and then you took that passion but I would say what’s so unique about you is if I can say well I don’t feel that you’re a foreigner in France anymore because you live there you’ve
Embraced that but probably seen as a non-french person cooking French cuisine so there was a lot of barriers there for you how did you move your passion to a business and how did you overcome those barriers the passion to business thing I think felt more scary than it was in the
End so I tried I mean I spoke with a friend of mine a lot who’s a business Mentor I’ll say you know and I chatted with her and I think she really helped me because she just said just try it what can go wrong just try it and see
And I think I was probably my biggest barrier because I was going from marketing a VA OBM business very much administrative desk job to something so wildly different that I thought oh my God people are going to just think what is she doing who does she think she is
What is happening so I was concentrating on that and thinking hi what am I going to do and she just said just do it and see what happens I’m aware as well that I had the buffer of my other business it wasn’t just a complete change again it
Was sort of right I’ll try it and see what happens so I had that but I think that’s what I would say to anybody thinking of doing this is it doesn’t have to be a big deal actually I just thought well let’s see what happens I’ll
Put a sales post out and say I’m doing this class do you want to come you know that’s how it doesn’t need to be I’m going to do a whole new business and I’m going to do a whole new website I need to get all this in place actually what
All you really need to do is say I’ve got this thing is anybody interested so that would be my best piece of advice say if any of your listeners are thinking I’d love to turn my passion into a business just try it give it a go if you can obviously there’s certain
Businesses where you do need to put things in place but this was an easy one I got the legal stuff my insurance was it I obviously needed terms and conditions and things I wanted to make sure I had it all properly done in that sense but that was just a quick
Conversation with somebody who said right what is it you need yep take the boxes okay give it a go just try it and I think probably another barrier for me is I got a little bit worried about it becoming like it wouldn’t be a passion anymore if I made it a business like
Would it become boring or would it become stressful or you know you want to do this thing as a passion then you think oh I have to do this class again oh God you know I have to get the equipment set up and that is
Not the case at all like I love doing the classes they are so fun I’m getting to do the thing that I love but sharing it with other people like that is just so cool so sometimes I’m a little bit like oh God I get a bit stressed and
Hope that it all goes okay but in it and doing it it just is total flow and EAS and fun and yeah and connection with brilliant people who are wanting to do the same thing um so it doesn’t have to be for people who are amazing at cooking
I’m not saying it’s a cooker class either like I don’t think it would be for completing newbies either but somewhere in between like if you’re interested in good food and interested in learning some new dishes then come along it’s really good fun okay so I’m coming along what can I expect take me
From appetizer right through is what we cook so in a class normally we do one or two dishes maximum and we’ll usually always do something quite seasonal so I have to be mindful of that when I’m deciding what the class will be each month because we are based in different
Places something could be seasonal for me and not seasonal for someone back in the UK so I do try and S make sure that it’s suitable for everybody but I do try and make it French maybe there’ll be a bit of a Twist or it’ll be something
From my childhood I’ve cooked for French people but generally I try and make it French and we’ll always do something seasonal so but what we’re going to do this month is one of the top 10 favorite French dishes which is unbelievable because it’s a Moroccan dish it’s a
Couscous or a Tajin it always comes up in the top two or three favorite dishes in France every year and it is something that I absolutely love to cook and it’s not really known about it obviously tajine people cook that quite often but a French cuscus when you go they call it
Cuscus the whole dish so not just the grain the whole dish is called cuscus it’s like a big beautiful meat vegetable stew with Gorgeous Moroccan flavors so that’s what we’re going to do this month last month though I know what we did for dessert we did IL flant I don’t know if
You know if you’ve heard of Il flant IL flant is a gorgeous classic French dessert the translation is floating islands so they are little merang Islands floating beautiful vanilla like a thin vanilla custard underneath with some caramel on top and little flaked almonds over it it’s absolutely gorgeous
It sounds quite difficult to do but everybody on the class did it and it turned out amazing because we’re doing it together step by step using really simple ingredients so for that dessert it’s literally eggs and sugar and milk I think it’s all that’s in it like three ingredients and got this absolutely
Beautiful oh my goodness it’s so beautiful and this Hast yeah I was like I want to watch the rebounds so yes that’s a good point actually because what I do is I record all the classes and anybody’s in the membership if they can’t come along to
The class all the recordings go into the Vault plus all the recipe cards plus all the interviews and the everything is all in the VA so if you come along and join the membership you get access to all of the past stuff as well very clever yeah
Where do you see this going in the future oh my goodness I’d love to have like a hundred people cooking along with me all at the same time all over the world joining from everywhere that would be amazing I just want to grow it I feel
Like there is so much potential it isn’t where I would like it to be at this moment I have to be honest I’ve got a small family it’s really hard to do everything I still have my other business priorities with my clients if I could just drop everything I would put
My all into it and grow it so fast if I could but yeah I just hope that in the next couple of years once my youngest is at school and things are a little bit more settled CU having a tornado two-year-old in the house it’s quite
Difficult but yeah I just don’t I can’t wait to grow up more and I’d love to eventually so I talk about doing Retreats and we haven’t done one yet but that is the next Edition so I’d love to have people come just a really small group and I would take them around our
Local markets we’d do tastings of local project take them to Farms stay in an absolutely gorgeous uh place so I’ve already got please put us on that waiting list i’ would love to have you yeah and we’ll do like maybe some wine tasting and things so I mean it’s all just here
So that would just be so amazing for me that’s the next step yeah I’ve got a couple of questions that’s just burning in my mind at at the moment you mentioned one that you had a favorite Irish traditional Irish dish that you just make into French tell me how do you
Turn something into French cooking so I would say something like an Irish Jew as a good example where you can take something that is typically Irish but maybe add French fadge instead or instead of so we have a big a really traditional Irish de is traditional no
But it’s a beef and Guinness stew and I would maybe just change that into more of a French thing with some red wine instead of the Guinness so make it more of like a both Bor something more classic like that my husband is not into sweet things in Savory recipes so I
Can’t think of an example but a lot of curries that I would make in things like GL they’re not traditionally Irish at all but just think of we have such a diverse cuisine at home I think when you’re a small island so the UK and Ireland have so many influences from
Everywhere so there is a huge Indian and Pakistani influence and Bengali influence where I lived in Northern Ireland so we did make curries and we would often make them with raisins in there or apricots in there that type of thing and I come here and I have to
Change that a little bit my French family just they don’t understand that why would you put something sweet he says that and then I think well you do have like Duck Al orang you know there’s lots of French dishes where there’s sweet stuff so anyway I would encourage
Anybody to adapt if you have a French recipe that you love but there’s something in it that you don’t like have a think about what else you could put in or add herbs that you like give it a go and my main thing is I think you know
I’m a cook I’m not a chef I’m not making these perfect little histories or perfect French ptis or I want it to be accessible I want it to be simple ingredients I want it to be something that you can do with your kids or something that can impress your partner
Or something but that it’s simple and it doesn’t take hours of pray that is so important to me that it’s more about the connection through food and then let’s make some a big beautiful dish that is easy but tasty and you know yeah SS that’s just so important yeah yeah so
The other thing I had with my mind was like you know a lot of books have this one moment where they’ve tried something from a particular culture and it’s just set them on that path can you describe for us there’s if there was anything in the French cuisine that made you just go
Wow this what I want to do why can I pick one thing I think because do you know what this is going to sound weird but I suppose the thing that’s coming to mind is goats cheese salad or a goats cheese tart and I think for me as a kid I was
Quite open to exploring new flavors and new things so and maybe that’s just I don’t know where that comes from in my family so that need to change or get away from Northern Ireland or even moving then over to France I loved trying the new things when I came to
France I love trying new dishes and they make an amazing goat cheese salad so just loads of really fresh lettuce with little toasts so little pieces of baguette that have been toasted with just a slice of gos cheese on top and they put those little toasts under the
Grill so that the go cheese gets all nice and bubbly and warm and then they add those to the dressed salad with sometimes a few little bits of bacon in there and it is just the most beautiful fresh simple tasty dish and I remember that as a kid and thinking wow just
These simple flavors and done so sort of quickly and easily because in Northern Ireland they would give you salad but there would be no dressing on it you know you get a piece of dry lettuce and a tomato had no taste so I couldn’t believe that something that so
Simple could be so tasty so yeah I would say that and probably the French Patisserie for me was just yeah just out of this world I mean you can’t deny that I did a ptis course when I lived in Scotland and learned how to make little shoe bands for pereral and the really
Good pastry although pastry is my Nemesis so on the day it worked really well but it’s still something that it’s not my best thing so I’ll have to be honest about that but yes French pastry is just I think um one of our we have not been well we have been to
France but we went to Strasburg cuz we were in Germany and one of the best cafes we have ever been to in all our lives like a little Hidden Gem like right on chocolate shop so you wouldn’t know what was there because it was right
On top you had to go right through the back and then up the stairs and it was hidden but it was the best pastries I have ever like entering another world I hear you on that one you know what something that Charlene and I are involved in and it’s
Got absolutely nothing to do what we’re you’re doing so please don’t take this the wrong way but it actually does because Charlene and I are what we call death cafe facilitators so we run workshops and free workshops called death cafe where we normalize the discussion around death and dying and if
You’re looking after someone but one thing that we talk about is a legacy will and a legacy will is about your recipes like how are you writing down your recipes for when you pass away and while you’re talking I’m like my mom she knows my nness because I’m Italian
Recipes but I’ve never taken interest to learn any of them so what’s going to happen there Charlene’s mom is an excellent cook because Charlene’s grandmother was Tai so even though my mother-in-law was born in Singapore she brings a lot of Thai flavors wow but even though you can cook Thai probably
Not to the of your mother what you are creating is not only for this generation you’re creating a legacy and what we actually talk about in death cafes but never done that and you’re creating such a powerful Legacy for your children and your children’s children by doing this
So I applaud you for I hadn’t thought about it like that before that’s so true I’ll try not to get emotional but I think it’s the legacy of my grandmother it’s going to go right through and right down from her because it is thanks to her that I think I have
This passion So when you say that it’s really emotional for me because I hope that I can give my children that same passion that she gave to me and it’s not always easy because you know cooking with a young kid you know there’s fla everywhere and you just have to be so
Patient and she was so patient with me and let me learn and gave me the opportunity to learn so that Legacy is really important and I’m so glad you mentioned that thank you no you’re welcome and you’re creating memories with your children that’s what’s so beautiful about it because I remember
Like I never got involved with the cooking but I remember my grandmother cooking all the time and it’s so the impact that our grandmothers have on us is quite significant it always seems to be around food doesn’t it yeah Grand one of my first food memories was like sharing just as simple as
Something as sharing our first nectarine together that’s just like we never tried something like that before so it always comes back when she came to Australia England my dad tells the story a similar story of because we didn’t have or well he didn’t have like that in
Northern Ireland and it wasn’t until he was in France for the first time at the age of 17 that he tried his first Peach and he will always remember that he tells a very similar story wow just seems wild doesn’t it that to wait till 17 and you’ve said throughout it
Connecting through food connecting through food and the more I reflect on you saying that right at the beginning like you want to connect through food Our Lives food is so part of who we are and so part of that connection loves food or just about everyone that we know of yeah I think
For the kids I love I always talk about this when I talk about how to get kids involved in things like eating we always talk about trying to get them to eat fruit and veg or veg especially it’s quite hard thing you know get them to
Like it so one of the best ways I’ve found is to take my son to the market with me and say right what looks fun what would you like to try you know and he’s looking at all the shapes and colors and the best example I have the
Best one that worked so well was fennel a big huge bulb of fennel I mean it looks so funny you know you’ve got the white bulb and the green funny fronds at the top and he wanted to try that so I said okay let’s get one and we brought
It home and we cut it up and he had some raw and then I cooked it you know I baked a little bit and I also did some in the pan and he tried it all and I do not think he would have tried that if that had just been me bringing fennel
Home and saying right this is what you’re eating for dinner tonight but because he was involved in the process he chose it he was there when we cut it off and looked at it all he was so excited that he at it all just you know
So simple but it worked so try that if you have you’re doing a great job Judith you really are creating a legacy so well done for that thank you so we have two main questions that we ask at the end of every podcast Judith and one of those is
What advice would you give to someone who wanted to rewrite their life story I think like I said earlier just try it give it a go what’s the worst that can happen I moved to France and I knew I could go home if it didn’t work I could
Go home I could find another job it would be okay obviously that’s not possible for everybody but have a think about what it is you’d like to do and you know if you can put things in place take one step at a time and just try it
Absolutely so Judas if you were to go back and Rite your life story now what would that look like wow what a question I think maybe I would just go straight to the cooking thing I would just like move to Paris whenever I was 17 instead of going to University and just get
Straight into some amazing Michelin starred restaurant and maybe I would be a Top Chef right now but you’re doing that now and that’s what’s amazing yeah You’ come back to that passion Judith it’s been wonderful having you on this show and I’ve really enjoyed this conversation with you if you want to
Know more about Judith and join her membership group or know more about what she does get some recipes or her socials are going to be in the show notes but you can also head over to her website which is my foodin france.com and she talks about all her programs on that
Website so Judith thank you so much again thank you so so much for having me it’s been really fun now that we’ve interviewed our guests join Charlene and I as we recap today’s episode I had a lot of fun in that episode how cool is it that she’s
Leaving such a great legacy with her recipes her food and creating that Library like you said yeah and a few things that stuck out for me was one she said it at the beginning when she was in Scotland she felt that she had to do
What was right yes yeah so by Society by Society she was like when she’s made this food Journey she’s like I’m just going to take my passion and share it and you can see her love of The Culinary experience food and sharing that food but also the emotion and the Legacy that her
Grandmother left absolutely and I love that OD to her grandmother that she’s like really honoring that Legacy that she’s lived and really running with that sharing with her children getting her children involved in picking the vegetables that they’re going to try as well yeah I thought that was a
Yeah how many times would you think of getting the children involved in actually picking the food that you want them to try yeah and I think being in a food market would be such a great experience obviously we have some of them in Australia we’ve got those
Farmers markets that are popping up now everywhere but yeah that would be such a cool experience but I want to go on that tour oh no that Retreat that that Retreat that she’s talking about that sound easy I think one of the key things that Judith really portrayed was just
Have a go yeah if doesn’t work out what are you going to lose thing that can happen right yeah absolutely and that’s one of the like the big key factors of like even just rewriting your life story in any situation right just give it a go what are you going to Lose thank you for listening to our podcast today we hope you found it informative and inspiring if you enjoyed this episode please like and share it with your friends and family also make sure to visit our website at www.re your life story.com Au to learn more about our mission products and
Services and remember you have the power to rewrite your own life story so go out there face your challenges head on and create the life you’ve always wanted we’ll see you in the next Episode