I have one of those professions that, once people learn what I do, they want to talk about it. I feel lucky, because my psychotherapist friend has the same problem, but I’m pretty sure my conversations are more fun than hers.

The way my conversations about food start usually follows a similar pattern: after a brief moment when we share names, interests, and other niceties, the inevitable question always pops up, “What do you do for work?” To which I respond with a huge smile of satisfaction and pride: “I run a culinary program for kids and food-centered events for adults.”

I must say, that answer has never ever been met with anything but interest and (dare I say) a touch of jealousy. In those conversations, we inevitably land on one of the main issues that comes up for families: “What do I cook for dinner tonight?” A common variation for singles is, “I’d love to cook more, but I never know what to make, so I just order out.”

In fact, it’s often not the act of cooking that discourages people from making meals at home, but the mental load associated with choosing what to cook, coordinating schedules, and adapting to everyone’s preferences and sensitivities — usually all inside one tired brain. Throw small kids into the mix and things can become overwhelming, fast. Suddenly the only way out seems to be pre-processed meals and ubiquitous, cheap, easy takeout. Nobody needs to feel bad about that. It’s a fact of modern life.

But today I’m here to talk about a small contribution we’re making to lighten that mental load: the Culinary Artistas’ Recipe Match Quiz. Over the last 10 years, we’ve created, tested, and enjoyed hundreds of recipes with our kids in the kitchen, and over the last year, we’ve developed a quiz that lets families share their preferences and instantly get recipes that match their skill level, tastes, and energy for the day.

The Recipe Match Quiz might not always be the place where you’ll find tonight’s main family dinner, but it is a place where you can find recipes to cook with your kids, and where older kids can discover dishes they want to cook on their own. Little by little, you’ll both build an arsenal of familiar recipes you can tweak, remix, and lean on when your brain is too tired to decide.

Our intuitive cooking approach is just that: use what you have, think about who you’re cooking for, check how much time and effort you can spare — and let that be the foundation for your choice for dinner tonight. That’s problem-solving in the kitchen, sprinkled with a little creativity and perhaps some wine.

But seriously, we’d love for you to give our quiz a try — and we hope it makes life (and mealtimes with your kids) a little easier and a lot more fun!

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