Joanna Goddard on the Two Most Important Food Moments for Her Family
Who cooks and eats here: Joanna Goddard of Cup of Jo, Alex Williams, and their two kids, Anton and Toby
Where: Brooklyn, New York
Rent or Own? Rent
With a busy balance of work, travel, and family life, Joanna and Alex have a lot going on, but their schedule doesn’t stop them from making time to cook with their kids and eat together on a daily basis. Food and fun are major factors in what makes this family tick merrily along.
Joanna explained to me how their cooking has become an everyday ritual, focused on two moments at the beginning and end of the day.
First, Breakfast
The focus on cooking together starts at breakfast, explains Joanna. “Breakfast is a big (big) deal for my kids. As soon as they wake up, they start chatting about what we should have — fruit smoothies? Egg in a hole? Two-ingredient pancakes?”
The family takes the opportunity to engage the boys in the kitchen and have them help. “They stand on stools and help me cook and are so adorable asking to do things themselves. We have a lovely time together, and it’s such a sweet way to start the day.”
Dinner Time as Connection Time
At dinner time, the family is learning how to make the meal a centerpiece of conversation. “On the other side of the day, we make the boys dinner around 6 p.m., and my husband and I eat together around 9 p.m., once they’re in bed and we can enjoy a glass of wine and a slow-paced chat. But we all still sit down together at 6 p.m., and we do that cheesy thing where we go around the table and share our favorite parts of the day.”
“It is so, so, so adorable and surprising to hear our kids’ answers — sometimes it’s as random as ‘When we met the guy at the bike shop, he was like a champion,’ — that was tonight’s answer! — we would never have known otherwise.”
Check out all the posts in this series!
→ A Tour of Joanna Goddard’s Brooklyn Kitchen
Thank you so much, Joanna and Alex, for letting us peek into your kitchen!
Share your own kitchen renovation or improvement! We’re always looking for real kitchens from real cooks.