Food Network Magazine - (09)September 2020

Star Diary

The Kitchen’s Jeff Mauro starts

his day before dawn—and ends it

with whipped cream from a can!

Catch Jeff on

The Kitchen

Saturdays at

11 a.m. ET/PT.

.. My wife Sarah
and I are awakened by the
tweeting of a songbird (pretty
sure it’s a grosbeak). We
immediately make double
lungo black coffees with a little
cinnamon. Our son, Lorenzo,
wakes up and pours himself a
giant bowl of Cheerios.

.. We set up our
outdoor gym and blast through
a full-body bootcamp beatdown
courtesy of Kate Lemere’s
Barry’s At-Home classes. Sarah
forms a nice dewy glow, while
I need full resuscitation.

.. We take our
Labradoodles, Pinot G and
Jojo, on a walk. Sarah and I
discuss the day’s schedule.

.. I have my first call of
the day: I go through recipes
for the Italian Beef in my Mauro
Provisions butcher box, a package
of Chicago-style sausages,
meats and meal kits sold
through our family butcher at
mauroprovisions.com. I fire three
people on the call. Just kidding!

.. I sit down

to record voiceovers for

The Kitchen: Family Style in

my basement music lab and

“jamnasium.” My costars

and I have been recording

episodes from home during

quarantine. Lorenzo comes

down after and we get in

a quick jam session. Our

band TwoMauro is currently

perfecting a cover of “Iron

Man” by Black Sabbath.

..

It’s my

first meal

of the day

(I’m a big

intermittent faster). I feast

on a house favorite, Power

Butter: unsweetened

peanut butter with coconut

oil, toasted pepitas and

sesame seeds, chia seeds,

poppy seeds and honey. It’s

ridiculously good on rice

cakes with fresh blueberries.

I feel sensational.

.. I have a call with

my wonderful editor,

Cassie Jones, on the

marketing strategy for my

first-ever, long-time-coming

cookbook, Come On Over,

out next year. I fire her, too...

jk! She’s the best!

..

I pour Short

Fuse Brewing

Company’s

Loosey Juicy

Hazy IPA,

and record an

episode of my podcast

Come On Over with my little

sister/producer/cohost, Emily.

We talk about food and pop

culture and give a glimpse into

the quirky and hilarious world

of the Mauro family.

.. We begin

prepping dinner. Tonight

is Detroit pizza night (half

pepperoni, half meatball). We

send Lorenzo to straighten up

the basement and take out

the garbage, recycling and

compost—and because it’s

pizza night, he complies with

minimal grunting.

.. We sit down to

eat at our kitchen island. We

love a super-early dinner in the

Mauro house—4:30ish is ideal.

.. I have my last

bite of food of the day: a nice

bowl of caramel Halo Top ice

cream with crushed cashews,

cocoa nibs and whipped

cream, straight from the can.

.. We take the

pups on an after-dinner walk. I

realize that I have yet to ’gram

anything, so I quickly post a

pic of the familia.

.. Couch time in

the basement. I finish up some

final recipes for Come On Over

and shut the laptop for the day.

.. We also love an early

bedtime, so we head upstairs.

I complete my 14-stage

evening skin/hair/dental

regimen, tuck Lorenzo into

bed and flip on my Kindle. As

usual, I last about six pages

before I fall asleep in a puddle

of adorable drool.

Vacuum sealer

“Nothing preserves frozen food

like a good ol’ vacuum seal!”

FM2000 Vacuum Sealing

System, $100; foodsaver.com

Takamine guitar

“This beauty was gifted to me

by Trisha Yearwood and Garth

Brooks.” Taka-mini GX11ME NS,

$400; esptakamine.com

Gaggia Anima coffee machine

“This brings us so much bean-

to-cup joy and caffeine.” Super-

Automatic Espresso Machine,

$600; wholelattelove.com

Nerf Dog Nylon Flyer

“Tossing the ’bee around

with my pups always

calms my nerves.”

$8.50; chewy.com

What Gets Jeff Through the Day

in the know

20 FOOD NETWORK MAGAZINE ●SEPTEMBER 2020

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