February 26, 2025 • 6 mins
Julia Collin Davison of the TV show "America's Test Kitchen" is coming to the Omaha Home & Garden Expo this weekend (2/28-3/2) and joins Gina Melton for a looking inside her mind-where somthing is "always cookin'"!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, one of the biggest signs of spring is the
Home and Garden Expo and that is coming to the
Chi Health Center Omaha this weekend. Every year they have
some really cool celebrities that come, and this year is
no exception. Joining us this morning is Emmy Award winner,
host and executive director of America's Test Kitchen, Julia Davison.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Julia, Welcome, Hi, good morning, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Absolutely, We're so excited to see you at the Home
and Garden Expo. But first I want to ask you,
where did your love of cooking come from from somebody
in your family?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, you know what, I started cooking because I love
to eat, you know, I think, and I think that's
true for most people. If you like to eat, you
want to start to be on the on the cooking
end so you can be a little more in control
of what you eat. And yeah, I come from a
long line of really good cooks, my mother, my grandmother,
(00:54):
my aunt, and so I was at their elbows and
learned a lot early on. And I think that's part
of it. You know, if you eat good food growing up,
you just naturally fall into cooking. And so, yeah, I
went to college, but after college, I realized I really
wanted to work with my hands, and food was calling me,
and so I just kind of went down that path.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
And here I am, and here you are, a big
star and Emmy Award winner.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
I love. Yeah, yeah, it all worked out.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Now for people like me. I love to eat, but
I'm very intimidated by cooking. What's one piece of advice
that maybe you could offer to me and others out
there who had the same feeling.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yeah, two things. One is if a recipe doesn't work,
don't necessarily blame yourself. It could be the recipe. In fact,
you know, we test a lot of recipes here at
the Test Kitchen. When we developed them. It cooked them
anywhere from thirty to fifty times to make sure that
they work. And we didn't send them out to home
cooks across the country before we publish them or put
(01:53):
them on TV because we want to make sure it
works in a home cook scenario. A lot of recipes
that are free on the web don't do that. You know.
It might have been someone who kind of ripped it
off and they cooked it once and it worked for
them and their stove, but they didn't really test it,
you know, so don't take it personally if something doesn't work.
(02:13):
The other thing is buy yourself an instant read thermometer
and a good one. The ones there are really expensive ones,
but there's there's one by a company by Therma Works.
It's an American company. It's called Therma Pop. I think
it's about thirty dollars, which is a little bit of
an investment, but it'll serve you in the end because
once you start temping things. TEMP your fish it should
(02:35):
be one twenty five. TEMP. Your chicken should be one
sixty five if it's white meat. TEMP your burgers, temp,
your bread, temp whatever you're cooking. And because once you
know when things are done, you know, things just taste
so much better because nothing's over or undercooked.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
That's so funny because I was just getting ready to
ask you what it's one cooking item that you really
can't live without? So I'm going to have to buy
one of those.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Maybe that'll help me, Yeah, absoluteolutely. And you know, if
you go to our website or you know, you go
on the web. Just what I love to do is
I created for myself. I've done this chart you know
with what medium rare beef is, what salmon should be
if it's farm raised versus wild, what chicken should be,
what bread should be. I laminated it and I put
(03:19):
it on the inside of one of my cupboards so
that if I ever forget or some of my daughters
learning to cook, she can just open that cupboard, remember
what temperature she's supposed to go for. And it's just
it's just that easy. And I thinks taste so much
better when they're not overdone, you know, for.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Sure, for absolute sure. Now, what's one recipe that you
love to cook for your family and people just universally?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Like, well, I could talk to you about roast chicken
for hours. In fact, I've done this before, and I've
got pulled off stages by my dear friend Bridge at Lancaster,
who's my co host. I love talking about roast chicken.
I love roast chicken, and I think everyone does. It's
just a really home me meal. And my I had
(04:02):
a friend who was terrified of making roast chicken, and
I just kind of looked at her and I was like,
you just put the chicken in the oven. That's kind
of it, Like it doesn't require much more than that,
but then you have all those drippings and off you
cook potatoes and those drippings and they get all schmaltzy.
It is just the beas knees as. Like I said,
I could go.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
On, yeah salty A cooking term is that schmeltzy?
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yeah smaltzy Yeah Yeah. Schmaltz is just some of the
best that you could ever work with chicken fat. It
just makes everything taste good.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah. Now, Julia, you're going to be at the Home
and Garden Expo Friday. You're going to be on the
main stage at seven, Saturday at four, and Sunday at
one thirty. What types of cooking tips are you going
to be giving folks at the Home and Garden next.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Fo Yeah, well, I'm going to demonstraight a really quick
skillet pasta dish. So that is you take raw pasta
and you cook it in a skillet with broth and
other and it's a really it's my favorite, like less
than thirty minute meal when you have no time but
you have pasta and broth in the cupboard. Just everyone
(05:10):
likes it. You can add whatever you have really an
the refrigerator. So that's the recipe I'll be cooking. I'm
also going to be talking about kind of behind the
scenes of what it's like to film a cooking show.
And of course we are known at America's Test Kitchen
for testing equipment and tasting ingredients. So I'm going to
(05:30):
bring along with me some of our favorite ingredients, like
our favorite olive oil, our favorite chicken broth, our favorite pasta,
and some of our favorite pieces of equipment, our favorite tongs,
our favorite nonstick skillet and so on, our favorite knife.
So I'm going to give a kind of a little
overview of what we do at ATK and give this
a snapshot of some of the more important things that
(05:52):
I think you know, our importance to the season.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Anyway, wonderful, Well, Julia, we can't wait to see you
at the Homeland Garden Expo that's going on this weekend
at the Chi Health Center. Thanks so much for taking
time with us.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Oh my pleasure. Nice talking to you.
Well, one of the biggest signs of spring is the
Home and Garden Expo and that is coming to the
Chi Health Center Omaha this weekend. Every year they have
some really cool celebrities that come, and this year is
no exception. Joining us this morning is Emmy Award winner,
host and executive director of America's Test Kitchen, Julia Davison.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Julia, Welcome, Hi, good morning, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Absolutely, We're so excited to see you at the Home
and Garden Expo. But first I want to ask you,
where did your love of cooking come from from somebody
in your family?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Yeah, you know what, I started cooking because I love
to eat, you know, I think, and I think that's
true for most people. If you like to eat, you
want to start to be on the on the cooking
end so you can be a little more in control
of what you eat. And yeah, I come from a
long line of really good cooks, my mother, my grandmother,
(00:54):
my aunt, and so I was at their elbows and
learned a lot early on. And I think that's part
of it. You know, if you eat good food growing up,
you just naturally fall into cooking. And so, yeah, I
went to college, but after college, I realized I really
wanted to work with my hands, and food was calling me,
and so I just kind of went down that path.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
And here I am, and here you are, a big
star and Emmy Award winner.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
I love. Yeah, yeah, it all worked out.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Now for people like me. I love to eat, but
I'm very intimidated by cooking. What's one piece of advice
that maybe you could offer to me and others out
there who had the same feeling.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Yeah, two things. One is if a recipe doesn't work,
don't necessarily blame yourself. It could be the recipe. In fact,
you know, we test a lot of recipes here at
the Test Kitchen. When we developed them. It cooked them
anywhere from thirty to fifty times to make sure that
they work. And we didn't send them out to home
cooks across the country before we publish them or put
(01:53):
them on TV because we want to make sure it
works in a home cook scenario. A lot of recipes
that are free on the web don't do that. You know.
It might have been someone who kind of ripped it
off and they cooked it once and it worked for
them and their stove, but they didn't really test it,
you know, so don't take it personally if something doesn't work.
(02:13):
The other thing is buy yourself an instant read thermometer
and a good one. The ones there are really expensive ones,
but there's there's one by a company by Therma Works.
It's an American company. It's called Therma Pop. I think
it's about thirty dollars, which is a little bit of
an investment, but it'll serve you in the end because
once you start temping things. TEMP your fish it should
(02:35):
be one twenty five. TEMP. Your chicken should be one
sixty five if it's white meat. TEMP your burgers, temp,
your bread, temp whatever you're cooking. And because once you
know when things are done, you know, things just taste
so much better because nothing's over or undercooked.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
That's so funny because I was just getting ready to
ask you what it's one cooking item that you really
can't live without? So I'm going to have to buy
one of those.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Maybe that'll help me, Yeah, absoluteolutely. And you know, if
you go to our website or you know, you go
on the web. Just what I love to do is
I created for myself. I've done this chart you know
with what medium rare beef is, what salmon should be
if it's farm raised versus wild, what chicken should be,
what bread should be. I laminated it and I put
(03:19):
it on the inside of one of my cupboards so
that if I ever forget or some of my daughters
learning to cook, she can just open that cupboard, remember
what temperature she's supposed to go for. And it's just
it's just that easy. And I thinks taste so much
better when they're not overdone, you know, for.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Sure, for absolute sure. Now, what's one recipe that you
love to cook for your family and people just universally?
Speaker 2 (03:41):
Like, well, I could talk to you about roast chicken
for hours. In fact, I've done this before, and I've
got pulled off stages by my dear friend Bridge at Lancaster,
who's my co host. I love talking about roast chicken.
I love roast chicken, and I think everyone does. It's
just a really home me meal. And my I had
(04:02):
a friend who was terrified of making roast chicken, and
I just kind of looked at her and I was like,
you just put the chicken in the oven. That's kind
of it, Like it doesn't require much more than that,
but then you have all those drippings and off you
cook potatoes and those drippings and they get all schmaltzy.
It is just the beas knees as. Like I said,
I could go.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
On, yeah salty A cooking term is that schmeltzy?
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Yeah smaltzy Yeah Yeah. Schmaltz is just some of the
best that you could ever work with chicken fat. It
just makes everything taste good.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Yeah. Now, Julia, you're going to be at the Home
and Garden Expo Friday. You're going to be on the
main stage at seven, Saturday at four, and Sunday at
one thirty. What types of cooking tips are you going
to be giving folks at the Home and Garden next.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Fo Yeah, well, I'm going to demonstraight a really quick
skillet pasta dish. So that is you take raw pasta
and you cook it in a skillet with broth and
other and it's a really it's my favorite, like less
than thirty minute meal when you have no time but
you have pasta and broth in the cupboard. Just everyone
(05:10):
likes it. You can add whatever you have really an
the refrigerator. So that's the recipe I'll be cooking. I'm
also going to be talking about kind of behind the
scenes of what it's like to film a cooking show.
And of course we are known at America's Test Kitchen
for testing equipment and tasting ingredients. So I'm going to
(05:30):
bring along with me some of our favorite ingredients, like
our favorite olive oil, our favorite chicken broth, our favorite pasta,
and some of our favorite pieces of equipment, our favorite tongs,
our favorite nonstick skillet and so on, our favorite knife.
So I'm going to give a kind of a little
overview of what we do at ATK and give this
a snapshot of some of the more important things that
(05:52):
I think you know, our importance to the season.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Anyway, wonderful, Well, Julia, we can't wait to see you
at the Homeland Garden Expo that's going on this weekend
at the Chi Health Center. Thanks so much for taking
time with us.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Oh my pleasure. Nice talking to you.
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