Episode 201: A Midwestern Mom’s Coming of Age Breakfast

Step back into the kitchen of your childhood. Try to picture it: the color of the cabinets, the pattern of the linoleum, the feel of the counters—laminate, tile, or perhaps stone. Was the room warm and lived-in or neat and spare? Was it a place of noisy gatherings or quiet afternoons? Kitchens hold memory in the details: the small rituals, the smells, and the people who stood at the stove. For many of us, those early kitchen moments shaped how we cook, eat, and care for others.

When you place yourself back in that space, what was the first dish you learned to make? Maybe it was as simple as cracking an egg into a pan, stirring a pot of pasta, or spreading butter on toast. That first accomplishment in the kitchen often carries more than flavor—it brings a sense of independence, a flash of pride, and the tender recognition that you are capable of feeding yourself and, sometimes, others.

I think about my own first memory in the kitchen, and my mom is there. Likely she is in yours too. Certainly she appears in the story shared by today’s guest, Erik Fabian. Erik remembers a mother who was both practical and deeply invested in the household—someone who worked as a nurse, who cooked Midwestern staples like chili, spaghetti, and chicken soup, and who quietly taught important life skills. There is no smallness in that: handing a child an egg and saying “you can do this” can change how someone sees themselves.

Erik’s mother taught him to make an “egg in a hole”—a piece of bread with a circle cut from the center and an egg cracked into that space. It’s a humble dish, but that simplicity is precisely its power. One gesture—cutting a hole, guiding a youngster to crack an egg—opened a door to competence and confidence. From that small beginning come countless meals, many shared, some solitary, but all carrying the echo of that first encouragement.

As we grow, those simple recipes evolve. For Erik, the memory of egg in a hole becomes something more deliberate: sunny-side-up eggs, mashed avocado, microgreens, and a thick slice of sourdough. The modern version still honors the original lesson—food that is approachable, nourishing, and full of meaning. Erik has taken that appreciation into his work with Sourhouse, a company devoted to tools and resources for baking, where the craft of bread meets home cooking and everyday rituals.

This episode is an invitation to remember the ordinary things that make life richer: bread, eggs, and the people who teach us. There is beauty in the everyday, and a reminder that universal, wholesome practices remain precious precisely because they are shared and accessible. Whether you learned to cook in a bustling family kitchen or a quiet apartment, those first dishes still connect us to home and to the people who showed us how.

Listen to Erik Now

Tune into the conversation to hear Erik talk about his earliest kitchen lessons, the role of family recipes, and how simple techniques can turn into a lifetime of joyful cooking.

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Erik’s Storied Recipe:

Erik’s recipe is a modern take on a childhood classic—an elevated egg-in-a-hole that highlights fresh bread, a perfectly cooked egg, and simple toppings that add texture and brightness. It’s a reminder that great food often begins with the basics.

Connect with Erik Fabian

• Visit Sourhouse.co
• Download the free Sourhouse Sourdough Cookbook from the Sourhouse site
• Listen to Bake the Book on Apple Podcasts

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