Around the Table with Katie Stearns

on her love for eggs, eating on a Spanish schedule, and the kitchen tool she can't live without

Welcome to our new interview series: Around the Table. I couldn’t be more excited to introduce you to Katie, the co-author of this newsletter! I met Katie in Sevilla, just before we both became moms. And though we ran in the same circles and crossed paths often, it was a post-COVID world, and we both had busy lives. Then, we had babies, and became even busier. Still, whenever we got together, there was something to talk about—life abroad, momming, working from home, default parenting, and above all: food. I actually think I tricked Katie into being friends with me because I bribed her with food. She had just given birth to a baby who needed some time in the NICU, and I met her outside the hospital with a container of cozy meatballs and ziti. Food (and maybe specifically, meatballs) is our love language.

A little bit about Katie

Katie has lived in Spain since 2010. Her journey started in Córdoba, before living in Sevilla, Madrid, then Sevilla again. Once she had her first daughter, Clara, she and her husband decided it would be best to live close to family, so they moved back to Córdoba. Since then, they’ve welcomed another daughter—Noelia—to the family, bought a house (which they’re currently renovating), and started to plant their roots in the Spanish city where it all started for Katie.

When Katie first moved to Spain, she was shocked by the food culture, in the best possible way. It shaped who she is today–everything from the way she views food and diet culture, to the recipes she chooses and the way she cooks for her family.

Katie’s little girls Clara and Noelia on pajama-clad pancake duty.

Cooking & Food

What do you typically eat for breakfast?

If we’re talking weekday breakfast, I almost always have a piece of sourdough toast with butter or olive oil, and scrambled eggs. And the olive oil is always, always, always Andalusian, and the best butter I’ve found here is a salted one from Portugal.

What’s the one kitchen utensil or tool you can’t live without?

I love my immersion blender for its ease of use and fast cleanup, but when Noelia was just starting with solid foods last year, I couldn’t get her to eat ANYTHING homemade. I thought maybe it was the texture, so we ended up buying a countertop blender that blends veggie soups (a staple for us in the winter) and cold Spanish soups like salmorejo and gazpacho (literally on daily rotation in the summer!) beautifully. So velvety, and so worth the small extra hassle of cleaning the glass attachment.

What did your kid’s school serve for lunch today, or what did you pack them?

This is a snapshot of my 3-year-old’s menu.

Yesterday, her first course was a broth-based soup with chicken, ham, hard boiled egg, and pasta. And her second course was grilled salmon with mushroom sauce. I love that our school’s menu suggests dinner to balance out the day. For yesterday’s dinner, they recommended salad, meat, and fruit.

What’s the most surprising thing about grocery shopping in Spain?
Grocery shopping in Spain is now what’s most normal to me, and when I go back to the U.S., I’m completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of options. It’s shocking every single time I go back! But if I take myself back to 2010 when I first got to Spain, here were some of the things that stood out to me: seeing whole rabbits and suckling pigs for sale at the butcher’s/meat counter, shelf-stable milk, eggs not stored in the refrigerated section, and so many whole fish at the fishmonger/fish counter.

What’s a food you’ve come to love that you’d never tried before moving to Spain?
SO many things! Jamón ibérico (which we keep in vacuum-sealed packages in the fridge for quick, tapas-style dinners), pork cheeks stewed in wine, snails in a spice-spiked broth, lentils with chorizo, cuttlefish, squid-ink rice, and fried fish, just to name a few.

What’s your go-to meal when you don’t have time to cook?
EGGS! Whenever I don’t have time, energy, or ingredients, I pull together an omelet or scrambled eggs. A Spanish potato omelet (tortilla de patatas) traditionally requires frying potatoes and onion in tons of olive oil on the stovetop, but I do a short-cut version in the microwave. And if I don’t feel like eggs, then other quick go-tos include stovetop quesadillas, grilled chicken sandwiches, fried rice with leftover bits, or just a big salad with random veggies, canned chickpeas, and cheese.

If you had to describe your cooking style in three words, what would they be?
Spanish-influenced, cozy, and simple.

What’s one “kitchen hack” you’ve learned since becoming a mom?
Make extras and freeze! We give our kids dinner before we eat by ourselves, and a lot of afternoons we pick up the girls from school and take a walk or go to the park, getting home with just enough time to bathe them and have dinner. So it feels like a little kitchen miracle to pull out a batch of chicken noodle soup or stewed pork cheeks to thaw while Pablo gives them a bath and puts them in their jammies.

What’s one food you miss from the U.S. that you can’t find or recreate in Spain?
Freshly picked corn on the cob from my grandparents’ farm in Iowa. It doesn’t need anything other than a quick boil and a thick slathering of salted butter. Absolute heaven.

Family & Community

What’s a local food custom or tradition that you’ve adopted into your own routine?
We’ve completely adapted to a Spanish eating schedule. The day starts with breakfast, of course, but then a later and heavier lunch than most Americans have. And then for dinner, we have something light, like a quick salad, omelets, a plate of jamón and cheese, or something along those lines.

What’s your go-to meal or dish for hosting friends and family?
Up until now, we’ve been in a pretty small apartment without much room to host! I can’t wait until we move into our new house early next year for the hosting possibilities alone. Still, we have hosted, and I love showing Spanish people how delicious American food can be, especially since they really only associate it with burgers, hot dogs, and pizza. Some things I’ve made in the past include pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, spinach and artichoke dip, and chili and cornbread. For me the most important thing when hosting is making something that’s hands-off so you can simply serve it and enjoy the day as much as your guests.

What’s the best food-related memory your family has made since moving to Spain?
Food here is so integrated into our daily lives and habits, it’s really hard to choose just one. Before we had our girls, we’d often enjoy a late and lazy weekend breakfast of freshly fried churros and thick hot chocolate. And now it warms my heart when my oldest wakes up on the weekend asking if papi can go and get us churros. It’s no longer a late breakfast for us, thanks to the girls’ 7 a.m. internal wake-up call, but it’s delicious and sweet nonetheless.

How have you built a village where you are?
We’ve been in Córdoba since 2021, and it’s been a wonderful change. I love our Sunday lunches with my in-laws, and I know that if my kids have a fever or if we have life admin to take care of one afternoon, or we’d like to have lunch out just the two of us, we can count on them. I’m also lucky to say that I’ve formed lovely friendships in every city I’ve lived in, and thanks to the voice note function of WhatsApp, I’ve been able to keep in touch with many. And last but not least, childcare is so affordable here, and we have a wonderful woman who picks up the girls and takes them to the park or library to give us a few extra hours one afternoon a week.

Just for fun

What are you loving reading / listening to / watching right now?
Reading: I just finished reading “We All Want Impossible Things,” and found myself laughing out loud in the face of a devastating diagnosis. 10/10 don’t recommend if you don’t want to think about facing mortality under unfair circumstances or feel like a good cry.

Listening: If I’m not listening to friends’ voice notes in the morning, then it’s a podcast! I love Armchair Expert, especially the Friday episode called Armchair Anonymous with listener stories. I often have to listen in the comfort of my own home so that strangers don’t see my hysterically laughing on the street. I’m also currently going through the archive of The Recipe by Deb Perelman and J. Kenji López-Alt.

Watching: I just finished Schitt’s Creek! I know I’m late to the game here, but it was laugh-out-loud good, and bonus points because Pablo loved it, too! (Other people in multicultural relationships can probably relate, but it can be challenging to find something with a sense of humor we BOTH appreciate.)

Where else can I find you on the internet?
I document my favorite recipes on another Substack called Always Olives, and you can also follow me on Instagram here!

If you could only eat one cuisine for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I’ll see your cuisine, and go even narrower: PIZZA. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and repeat. Truly the greatest food ever invented. I like making my own dough once a week for a little homemade pizza party, and we have two or three really great Italian restaurants here in Córdoba, too.