Interview with #SundaySupper founder, Isabel Reis Laessig

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I am doing a special post today for you, introducing you to a fabulous lady and a wonderful group of food bloggers!!! The mission of #SundaySupper is to bring back the family table in every home. Our lives are busy, full of distractions and with endless running but #SundaySupper wants you to slow down and enjoy each other over a meal, bringing back the tradition of breaking bread with your family members. 

 

Isabel Reis Laessig is the founder of #SundaySupper. I had the privilege to interview her and I am sharing this with you here today. 

 

1.When did #SundaySupper start and how did it originate?

As a mother of four, I was touched the day my oldest left for college. It was an emotional time for our family and when asked what she would miss most about home, Alexandra responded “the time we spend in the kitchen and around our family table, I can’t imagine not being home for Sunday Dinner.”  This response had such a profound effect on me, that it prompted me to start a blog, Family Foodie. That realization that the things that mean the most to us parents, actually mean the most to our children when they are ready to leave home — had a profound effect on me. I saw first hand the benefits that shopping, planning, cooking and spending time around the family table had on my family. My first blog post was a post about pancakes. We celebrate birthdays, special accomplishments and victories with pancakes. I sent my daughter off to college with a bag full of pancakes.

 

2.Tell us about #SundaySupper, how is it structured, who are the members?

One of the things that you realize as a new blogger is that it is very lonely. Your family and a couple of friends visit your site but you are trying to figure it out on your own and you are sitting behind the computer by yourself. I was so passionate about my Sunday Supper mission – to bring back Sunday Supper around the family table in every home that I realized I couldn’t do it alone. I started reaching out to other bloggers I had met online and asking them if they would like to do some joint event to promote the Sunday Supper Movement. Our first joint event was in January of 2011. There were only 8 of us and we planned a fun Progressive Dinner. The Movement has grown in leaps and bounds since then.

      

3.What is your favorite part of #SundaySupper? 

Our Community of Contributors. Although we are known as a community of bloggers, we are much more.  We are a family that is bound not by blood, but by passion.  We enjoy virtually spending time around the family table every Sunday.  The Inaugural Food and Wine Conference in July of 2013, gave many of us the opportunity to meet in person for the first time.  

 

4.What is one of your favorite recipes you have shared on #SundaySupper?

I love sharing recipes that bring people together around the family table. My Easy Italian Wedding Soup and my Tomato and Mozzarella Appetizer are two of my favorites. 

 

 

6.Where do you see #SundaySupper in two years?

Our vision for the future: We strive to create a better future for families, by partnering with brands and services that help families feel good, eat better and interact with each other.  We want our mission to reach the homes of all families and inspire people across the world to spend time around the family table. 

 

7.What are your childhood memories of your  #SundaySupper? 

I was born in Portugal and when my parents immigrated to the United States, I lived with my grandparents until they were settled. I have wonderful memories of living in a small village, eating off the land and my grandmother’s amazing meals.

 

8.How do you balance a busy blogging life with family life?

I think as mothers, that is our biggest challenge. I try to incorporate my children as much as I can into my business. We shop together, cook together, photograph our food. They inspire me every day. I love that my daughter who is a Junior at University of Florida works with me. We touch base on a daily basis and she does all my photo editing, creates spreadsheets and helps me with social media. I couldn’t imagine a better situation for a mother – daughter. 

 All four of my children volunteered at last year’s Food and Wine Conference and there was no better feeling than looking out at them and seeing how proud they were of me. It was a total role reversal. 

 

9.Does your family have a favorite dish that they ask you to make again and again?

Yes. I would say Dad’s baby back ribs are an absolute favorite. They ask for them over and over. Dad does almost all the bbq’ing at our house and he is a darn good cook. 

10.What is your favorite memory of #SundaySupper?

There have been so many moments that are my favorite — how do I choose? One moment that stands out in my mind, possibly because it was so recent, is the trip to NYC to celebrate Gallo’s Hearty Burgundy 50th Birthday. Gallo Family Vineyards is the Official Food and Wine and Sunday Supper Movement Sponsor and one of our contributors had the opportunity to represent the Sunday Supper Family at the Birthday Bash. Instead of inviting a friend or a family member, she chose to bring another contributor who had never visited NYC. I cannot begin to tell you how touched I was. It truly solidified that we are a community, but we are family.

 

ABOUT ISABEL:Isabel Laessig better know as Family Foodie is passionate about her family and believes that we can empower our families by nurturing them around the family table. She is on a Mission is to Bring Back Sunday Supper around the family table in every home. It starts off as one day a week and soon becomes a way of life. As the mother of four, she realized the impact that Sunday Supper had on her children the day her oldest left for college.When asked what she would miss most, Alexandra her 18 year old daughter, responded that she would miss the times they spent around the kitchen table. Isabel is spreading the word of her mission by working with a group of bloggers that are as passionate about #SundaySupper as she is. Every week they blog about a #SundaySupper theme and now reach over 1.5 million followers with their recipes every week on twitter, facebook, pinterest and instagram. When she is not on social media, you can find her at her boy’s, Ronnie, Reis and Riley, football games. Isabel also has a much less important job as Social Media Consultant to Brands.

Join us for #SundaySupper on Sunday’s at 7pm ET.

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CONTINUE READING IN THE KITCHEN