Conversations with the Inspiring Denise Milligan

Today we’d like to introduce you to Denise Milligan.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I grew up in a family of really good cooks, with farm-fresh meat and vegetables, and almost everything homemade, including bread and pastries. I started cooking with my Mom and Granny when I was 2 years old, and have loved it ever since.

I’ve always been a foodie, but culinary school never even occurred to me, since I just assumed that doing anything associated with food would mean working in a restaurant — and that just really didn’t appeal to me.

Then, about 20 years ago, we were asked to host an unofficial exchange student from Spain, which in turn introduced us to the incredible culture and food of Spain and the Mediterranean region.

My husband, Al, and I immediately fell in love with the town that our exchange daughter was from. Of course, it wasn’t just the castle that overlooks the village – it was a combination of warm people who quickly became close friends, the food, the wine, and the culture.

The “village” (although it keeps getting bigger) is called Dénia, on the Mediterranean coast between Valencia and Alicante. It was originally a Roman port, and continues to be a small fishing port, where many of the restaurants own their own boats — and the seafood is spectacular. The small town, in 2015, was declared a Unesco Creative City of Gastronomy, due to the high quality of the food here, and the unique red shrimp that are native only to the waters around this area.

Above all, the thing that keeps us coming back for several months a year is the cultural emphasis on sharing great food with others.

When I was a child, we always had holiday lunches with the extended family. My Granny cleared out the garage and set up tables to handle the obscene amounts of wonderful food and desserts, along with seating for several dozen people. I didn’t realize how much I missed those gatherings until I experienced a more intimate version, on a regular basis, in Spain.

Of course (and unfortunately), things are changing, but many families in Spain still get together at Mom or Grandma’s (Yaya’s) house on Sundays, and they eat, drink, and visit together until well into the evening. In this particular region, Paella Valenciana is often the main dish, with lively discussions about the corruption of their original recipes in the rest of the world. Well, and in some restaurants all over Spain that are catering to tourists…

A few years ago, by pure chance, we had the good fortune to meet some people at a special food celebration, who happened to be former restaurant owners. We struck up a conversation, and within a few days, we had a casual agreement that I would start advertising, via a new company that I’d call “Spanish Sunday”, to send English-speaking people to our friend and chef’s home near Dénia, for private, customized cooking lessons. Over the past five years, that venture has been quietly successful. Then, two years ago, I decided I wanted to bring everything that I’d learned in Spain, to Colorado. I wanted to share that “just sit down and relax with good food” experience with more people.

At just about the same time as I started expanding Spanish Sunday to Colorado, The Kitchen Company, a kitchen store in Longmont opened. Again, thanks to a little serendipity and mutual friends, I was invited to teach my Spanish Sunday classes in the new store’s kitchen. The classes are great fun, and I continue to teach there, with my husband as our official photographer and dishwasher. I couldn’t do any of this without his invaluable help.

The classes were so well received that I wanted to expand the concept beyond just private classes at our home, and public classes at Kitchen Co. I wanted to encourage people to cook more at home (and share time-saving tips to be able to do that) and share their creations with friends and family. So about 6 months ago I started the Spanish Sunday Cooking Club.

Each month (when we’re not in Spain), we send out an invitation to everyone on our Cooking Club email list (anyone can register on our website) and invite them to come to our house to cook together. Those gatherings are small, and loads of fun. And of course, we can have wine and beer because we’re not in a commercial space. The way it works is that we all share the cost of ingredients (local and organic whenever possible), everyone pitches in, and we prepare the entire meal together. Then we hang out all afternoon, Spanish style, and just relax. We absolutely love doing it. It’s been so popular that for the most recent one, a Spanish-style Parrillada – Spanish grill with local lamb, homemade Spanish sausages (made with our son’s locally pasture-raised pork), and all local veggies, the seats were taken within 30 minutes of opening registration!

People keep asking us when we’re going to retire – and our response is “Retire? We’re having wayyyyy too much fun to stop doing this!”

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The very toughest thing about getting Spanish Sunday started was spending years simply trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I’ve started (and failed) at 4 other businesses. Yes, there was one that was successful and paid the bills, but it wasn’t what I truly wanted to do.

My brain was stuck on doing business online (which I did), but it wasn’t satisfying. So for years, I spent a crazy amount of money hiring coaches, participating in “Mastermind” groups, and I even did some pretty “woo-woo” stuff to help me find out what my (excuse the term) “true calling” was. It was incredibly frustrating — and didn’t work at all like I wanted it to.

For young women, the best advice I can give is that the answer to what you really want to do isn’t going to be found with other people. Sure, talk it over with your best friend, or someone you trust. But nobody else has the answers. They’re inside of YOU. And the best way I found to dig up those answers is to simply spend as much time as you need, go back through your best life experiences (of all kinds, not just business-related) and find the common thread. That thread holds the key to how you will most enjoy creating your life. Whatever that thread is, do more of THAT! Once I finally acknowledged that sharing great food experiences was what motivated me, what made me love life, Spanish Sunday was born, and I’ve never been happier.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into Spanish Sunday story. Tell us more about it.
Spanish Sunday is much more than a cooking school. It’s about creating community, strengthening relationships, and acknowledging that cooking or simply enjoying great food with others is becoming more and more difficult — simply because of time constraints.

Women, in particular, are often still the ones who work full time, help care for others, and are also responsible for getting food on the table (even if it’s takeout). What I try to do is provide many ways to make cooking easier — like my 5 Minute Homemade Bread class. And also give them encouragement to just unplug once in a while, don’t watch the clock, and just hang out with friends and family and share great food. If you like to cook, sometimes you want to prepare a big feast. Sometimes you just want quick, simple, and healthy bites, that doesn’t require any cooking at all. Food is the one thing that we all have in common. No matter what your political, religious, or dietary preferences are, we all gotta eat. And when we eat together, it gives us an opportunity to connect face-to-face.

Looking back on your childhood, what experiences do you feel played an important role in shaping the person you grew up to be?
My Dad always wanted to start his own company. I grew up with him telling me, repeatedly “A man is better off standing on a street corner, selling popcorn than he is working for any other man.” Of course, “man” I took to mean ME. So, for my entire adult life, I’ve searched for a way to do my own thing. It took more years than I care to admit, but I finally did it, and I’m so glad that I did. THANKS, DAD!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://spanishsunday.com
• Email: denise@spanishsunday.com
• Instagram: Spanish Sunday

Image Credit:
Al Milligan

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