Hello my friends! Welcome to this month's episode of The Becoming Podcast! I'm really excited because although most of the episodes of this pod are with folks that I am just getting to know in the context of our interview, this one is with someone I've known for a really long time. Nicholetta and I met almost a decade ago, in what, for me at least, was another lifetime in which I was a food blogger. Nic and I traveled in the same circles of food loving writers, and it was such a fun time. While my writing and work took a turn away from the culinary world, hers only deepened. I still love Nicholetta's writing, and when I read a post from her Substack, Story Salt, late last year, I knew I had to have her on the podcast. The piece that Nic wrote was a searingly tender account of her first days and weeks as an empty nester, and what it was like to transition into "mothering from a distance." I know so many of you are anticipating or are in the midst of this transition yourselves, and so I just had to have Nic on the show to share her experience with you. But first, let me tell you a little bit about her! Nicholetta Bokolas is a wife, mother, recipe developer and writer from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her work sits at the intersection of food and story, exploring how recipes carry memory, family history, and identity. She completed her MFA in Creative Nonfiction at the University of King's College, where she began writing a culinary memoir about her Greek grandparents' journey to Canada, the restaurant they built from the ground up, and the recipes that continue to connect generations of her family. Today, Nicholetta develops recipes and writes stories that celebrate everyday moments, family traditions, and the memories we make around the table. Here's some of what Nic and talk about in this episode: ✔️ Nic's experience of her first year of being an empty nester. We talk about the difference between the identity shift into motherhood, or matrescence, and how it compares to the change in identity that occurs once our intensive mothering years are over. ✔️ We talk about the truth that "the days are long but the years are short," and how there's so much Nic couldn't fully appreciate about mothering until those long days were over. We talk about not only wanting to return to those days to experience their sweetness, but also about all the things we might have done differently. ✔️ Nic shares that, ultimately, as she asked herself who she was becoming now that her intensive mothering years were behind her, she gave herself permission to follow dreams that she didn't have time for or didn't prioritize when her kids were younger. This led her to her current work at and passion for the intersection of food, culture and identity as she explores the culinary roots of her family and shares amazing recipes with the world! ✔️ We have such an interesting conversation about how our identities can be wrapped up in the foods we eat (or don't eat). ✔️ Nic and I muse about what it means to nourish our loved ones, and that the food we feed ourselves and our children – along with the stories and connections that fosters – are such an important part of what it is to mother. Show Notes Nic's company, North House Social Nic's Substack, Story Salt The writing on being an empty nester that made me reach out to Nic to record this episode Nic's Instagram (you're going to want to check this out!) The piece Nic wrote for Jenny magazine The pasta recipe I raved about on the show Andy's East Coast Kitchen The Becoming Podcast episode with Estelle Thomson on fashion and identity shift
