Flayvor Sessions

When Older Adults Stop Eating/When Eating Changes

Teree LeSueur — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0400

In this episode of Flayvor Sessions, Teree LeSueur sits down with Alexandra Covington, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with Open Hand Atlanta, to talk about what happens when eating changes as we age.
Appetite can shift. Memory can change. Familiar foods may suddenly feel different. And for families and caregivers, mealtime can become stressful very quickly.
This conversation explores how to support older adults with more patience, dignity, and understanding. We talk about appetite changes, cognitive impairment, food preferences, familiar routines, the MIND Diet, mealtime environment, and why the goal should not always be to “make someone eat,” but to better understand what may be affecting the eating experience.
Alexandra also shares practical insight from her years of nutrition education with older adults and her work supporting people with mild cognitive impairment.
If you are caring for an aging parent, supporting an older adult, or simply want to better understand the relationship between food, memory, and aging, this episode offers a compassionate and practical place to start.
Flayvor Sessions explores food beyond the recipe — how flavor, culture, memory, technique, and everyday experience shape the way we cook and eat.
Subscribe for more conversations about flavor, food education, caregiving, culture, and the way we experience food.
Click here to watch a video of this episode.

Flavor Identity: How Culture Shapes What We Consider Good Food

Teree LeSueur — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 11:05:46 -0400

Why do you like the foods you like—and why do some flavors feel “right” while others don’t?

In this episode of Flayvor Sessions, we explore the concept of flavor identity and how culture, environment, and early food experiences shape what we consider “good food.” From family meals and snack habits to school food culture and global flavor exposure, your palate is built long before you ever step into the kitchen.

We also revisit the idea of the anticipation gap—the space between what you expect food to taste like and what it actually tastes like—and how that gap shows up when your flavor identity meets something unfamiliar.

This episode breaks down how to move beyond simply liking or disliking food and instead begin to understand flavor. You’ll learn how to decode key flavor signals like salt, richness, brightness, depth, and texture, and how context, repetition, and intentional cooking can help you expand your palate over time.

Whether you’re a home cook, food enthusiast, or someone looking to develop a deeper relationship with food, this episode will help you see flavor differently—and give you tools to build your own taste with confidence.

Flavor Journal: Believe in Your Taste and Your Food Vision https://a.co/d/0cmZdgZb

The Table Series Supper Club Tickets https://flayvor.ticketspice.com/flayvor-sessions-the-table-series

Flayvor App www.flayvor.net

(00:03) - Introduction to Flavor Identity
(02:13) - The Impact of Snack Culture
(03:27) - School and Childcare Food Culture
(04:53) - Exploring World Culture in Food
(07:06) - Understanding Flavor Identity Expansion
(07:35) - Reframing Taste Experiences
(10:30) - The Role of Repetition in Cooking
(11:43) - Building Your Flavor Identity
(12:36) - The Essence of Flavor Beyond Taste
(13:04) - Conclusion and Upcoming Events

When Cravings Speak: Decode What You Really Want

Teree LeSueur — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 22:12:14 -0400

In this episode of Flayvor Sessions, we break down the anatomy of a craving—what’s really happening in your brain before you ever take a bite, why some foods hit harder than others, and why that meal you were looking forward to sometimes falls flat.

Using ramen as a lens, we explore how anticipation, memory, and sensory signals work together to create desire—and how that same system can either leave you unsatisfied or help you build food that truly hits.

But this isn’t just about food.

This episode goes deeper into how expectations shape our experiences, how to recognize what you’re actually craving, and how to close the gap between what you imagined and what you taste.

You’ll walk away with a new way to think about cravings—not as something to fight, but as something to understand, use, and even grow from. IStart turning your cravings into real dishes.
Use the Flayvor app at www.flayvor.net to explore flavor, understand ingredients, and build meals that satisfy what you’re really craving.

(00:07) - Introduction to Flavor Sessions
(00:57) - Understanding Cravings
(03:18) - The Anticipation Loop
(06:02) - Diagnosing the Gap
(06:50) - Recreating the Experience
(10:48) - Life Lessons from Cravings
(11:30) - Spiritual Reflections on Expectations
(12:15) - Closing Thoughts on Flavor and Feelings

Cooking in Anime

Teree LeSueur — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 13:36:27 -0500

Ever notice anime food looks better than real food?

In this episode of Flayvor Sessions, we break down why.

From monster stews to competitive culinary battles, we explore how anime captures real cooking principles — flavor layering, ingredient behavior, communal learning, and the emotional power of food.

If you love food, storytelling, and understanding how flavor really works, this episode connects it all.

Because flavor isn’t magic… but it can feel magical when you understand it.

(00:04) - Welcome to Flavor Sessions
(01:48) - The Magic of Anime Food
(05:22) - Exploring Ingredients with Curiosity
(09:36) - Simple Techniques, Powerful Flavors
(12:27) - Reverence for Ingredients
(15:03) - Community in Cooking
(16:57) - Real-Life Inspirations from Anime
(18:33) - Cooking with Confidence and Joy

Acid Culture to Global Slurp: How Food Will Taste in 2026

Teree LeSueur — Sun, 25 Jan 2026 10:24:01 -0500

Welcome to Flayvor Sessions' 2026 forecast: a look at trends like layered heat, browned and caramelized notes, low‑sweet desserts, acid culture, hybrid bowls and global slurp that make cooking smarter, more intentional, and emotionally resonant.

The episode also builds a recipe example — a tea‑smoked guajillo and roasted‑tomatillo blackcurrant wing sauce finished with butter — showing how to layer a savory backbone, jammy dark fruit, smoke and lacquered shine to create a versatile sauce for meats, vegetables and more.

(00:07) - Flavor Trends for 2026
(00:58) - The Rise of Layered Heat
(01:18) - Comfort Food with a Twist
(02:49) - Evolving Dessert Trends
(03:21) - Global Slurp Culture
(04:00) - Modular Meals and Flexibility
(05:10) - The Power of Acid
(06:05) - Emotional Connections to Food
(06:43) - Blackcurrants and Flavor Innovation
(08:08) - Recipe Ripoff Challenge
(12:26) - Building Flavor Intentionally
(19:18) - Adding Tea Smoke
(21:41) - Versatile Sauce Applications
(22:53) - Ingredient Substitutions
(23:36) - Designing Flavor Like Architecture

Unlock Umami: Simple Steps That Makes Food Taste 'Finished'

Teree LeSueur — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 21:58:52 -0500

This episode explains what umami is, why food can taste flat even when seasoned, and how umami creates depth and satisfaction in dishes.

Teree gives practical pantry anchors, step-by-step fixes for soups, beans, and tomato sauce, common mistakes to avoid, and a simple homework to try one umami anchor tonight.

(00:03) - Introduction to Umami
(01:36) - Understanding Umami
(06:02) - Umami in Your Pantry
(07:21) - Why Restaurant Food Tastes Better
(08:26) - Real-Life Umami Examples
(12:39) - Plant-Based Cooking and Umami
(14:07) - Mistakes with Umami
(15:51) - Flavor Homework Challenge

Expanding Your Palate: How Taste Is Learned — and You Can Change It

Teree LeSueur — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 14:41:15 -0500

This episode explores how our palates develop from the womb through old age, shaped by family, culture, and repeated exposure.

Learn why children often reject unfamiliar flavors, how adults can continue to expand taste, and simple, gentle steps—like using balance with fat, acid, and aroma—to grow flavor confidence.

Practical tips and encouragement make it clear: it’s never too late to expand your palate, one bite at a time.

(00:13) - The end of last year and the beginning of this year.
(02:02) - Understanding Flavor and Palate Development
(03:50) - The Role of Childhood in Taste
(04:51) - Adult Palate Development Challenges
(06:30) - Food and Cultural Connections
(07:31) - Expanding Your Palate
(09:27) - Resources for Palate Growth
(10:57) - Closing Thoughts and Future Topics

Why Comfort Food Feels Like Home: Food, Memory & Care

Teree LeSueur — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 10:11:56 -0500

In this episode of Flayvor Sessions we explore why certain foods make us feel steady — how predictability, repetition, and memory turn dishes into comfort. We discuss the differences between comforting meals and emotional eating, and how cooking can ground the nervous system.

We also look at holiday rituals, caregiving, and how taste and smell carry memory. Listen for practical reflections on food as care, and an invitation to notice the flavors that hold your stories. As a bonus this December, we have a gift from Flayvor to you. If you are taking care of a family member or want to record some of your comfort food relections we have created tools that you can use, download for free. Scan the QR code or follow this link: https://blog.flayvor.net/2025/12/21/bonus-christmas-gift/

(00:08) - Comfort Food and Connection
(04:19) - Stress and Food Regulation
(08:39) - Holiday Food as Memory Anchors
(09:56) - Cooking and Eating as Grounding
(12:03) - Caregiving and Food Memory
(14:53) - Reframing Comfort Food

Fat: The Quiet Architect of Flavor

Teree LeSueur — Sun, 14 Dec 2025 15:17:05 -0500

In this episode of Flayvor Sessions, we explore fat not as indulgence but as the architect of flavor — the carrier of aroma, a builder of texture, and the ingredient that connects and completes a dish.

Learn how fat “blooms” aromatics at the start, transports fat‑soluble flavors, smooths and lengthens taste at the finish, and shapes mouthfeel. We cover core principles for using fat intentionally, the main categories of fats, and when to add them.

A practical tomato‑sauce example shows the order to layer flavors: fat + aromatics, spices, watery ingredients, dried herbs, then finishing fats and fresh herbs — a reminder to use fat sparingly but purposefully to make food feel whole.

(00:12) - Understanding the Role of Fat
(02:09) - The Power of Aroma in Cooking
(04:39) - Sensory Experience of Fat
(06:21) - Using Fat Intentionally
(07:44) - Types of Fat Explained
(09:25) - Building a Tomato Sauce
(13:05) - The Importance of Order in Cooking
(14:05) - Incorporating Herbs
(16:12) - Flavor Layering Order
(18:09) - Fat as the Architect of Flavor

Why Bitter Matters: The Hidden Power of Taste

Teree LeSueur — Sun, 07 Dec 2025 13:08:15 -0500

This episode explores bitterness — one of the five basic tastes — explaining its biological purpose, cultural uses, and how it shapes digestion and flavor perception.

Using winter greens as an example, the host shows how bitterness can be balanced with fat, acid, sweet, salt, and heat, offers practical cooking tips, and reflects on how learning to appreciate bitter parallels emotional growth.

(00:11) - The Taste of Bitterness
(03:02) - Winter Greens: The Bitter Side
(05:51) - Sweet vs. Bitter Greens
(07:16) - Nature's Balancing Act
(07:42) - The Role of Bitter in Cooking
(09:26) - Balancing Bitter Flavors
(12:33) - Introducing Bitter into Your Cooking
(13:22) - Life Lessons from Bitterness

The Secret Superpower in Your Kitchen: Acids

Teree LeSueur — Fri, 28 Nov 2025 21:45:19 -0500

In this episode, we explore how everyday acids — like citrus, vinegar, yogurt, and tomatoes — transform flavor, texture, and balance in cooking. Learn the four culinary acid categories, the basic food science behind how acids work, and simple, practical ways to use acids to brighten dishes, cut richness, and reduce reliance on salt.

We also cover why acids are especially helpful as we age, how restaurants use acid to elevate dishes, and easy tips you can apply at home to make your cooking more vibrant and satisfying.

(00:08) - Welcome to Flavor Sessions
(02:35) - The Power of Acids
(05:49) - Categories of Culinary Acids
(08:40) - The Science of Acids
(10:09) - Acids and Aging
(10:44) - Why Restaurant Food Tastes Better
(12:04) - Easy Ways to Introduce Acid
(13:22) - The Heroes of the Kitchen

Flavor is Freedom

Teree LeSueur — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 21:55:22 -0500

In this second episode of the Flayvor Sessions, we dive deeper into why flavor knowledge is essential in today’s uncertain world. As food prices shift and access becomes less predictable, this episode explores how understanding ingredients, substitutions, and simple flavor principles can give you confidence and resilience in the kitchen. Flavor Is Freedom invites you to think differently about the ingredients around you — and discover the empowerment that comes from knowing how to use them.

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/92elm/jasmine

License code: RPNTA5MGUBZD7KK8

The Most Misunderstood Ingredient — The Cranberry

Teree LeSueur — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 22:24:33 -0500

Cranberries are bold, a little wild, and full of life — just like the holidays themselves.
When you understand how to balance their tartness, they’ll reward you with layers of flavor that wake up any dish.

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/92elm/jasmine

License code: RPNTA5MGUBZD7KK8