‘Brunch With Babs’ on Her Mom’s Best Advice: ‘No Matter What Age, You Can Do Something’ (EXCLUSIVE)
The ‘internet's favorite grandma’ also dishes about her new cookbook!
Life is full of surprises, and acclaimed author and TikTok sensation Babs Costello loves embracing each new day. “Somebody pinch me,” the Brunch with Babs star tells Woman’s World as our cover girl (Get your copy here!).
It’s been five years since her daughter, Liz, urged her to join TikTok, and Babs can’t believe how much her life has changed since taking that leap of faith. “I didn’t have a business plan,” Babs admits. “Life is full of surprises. I just go with it. I was not planning on having makeup done, having an interview, and then doing a photoshoot at the age of 76.”
Beloved as the “internet’s favorite grandmother,” Barbara Costello has developed a devoted following who love her tasty recipes and helpful lifestyle tips. On the day of the interview, she’s excitedly getting ready for her Woman’s World cover photoshoot, but despite the moments of glam, the Connecticut resident spends most of her time reveling in life away from the spotlight with her family.
“I’ve been a mom for almost 50 years. It gives you the whole meaning of life,” says Babs, who has four children and nine grandchildren ranging in age from 2 to 21. “Women are nurturers. If not to your own children, then we are nurturers to nieces, nephews, whatever. It’s a fulfillment of life, and it’s made me a different person, truly. Having children transforms you—you are of service to others, but it’s a joyful service. And then, to see them grow and flourish, words can’t even describe that!”
The life-changing advice Babs got from her mom
Babs learned to be a good mother and a good daughter from the example set by her mom, Minnie. “My mom was a wonderful cook and baker. She was also a very devoted daughter,” she says. “As the oldest girl of nine children, being the caretaker of her parents rested on her. I saw the love that she had for her parents and all the tender care she gave my grandmother, who couldn’t drive, who couldn’t read. But I saw that love of a mother through my own mother. She passed on her cooking skills, but the love of family and the cherishing of her mother really left an indelible mark for me.”
Her mom’s favorite saying? “‘Get out of the kitchen. If you mess up, you’re out of here.’ She was Italian. They don’t have a lot of patience,” Babs says with a laugh.
“The best advice my mother gave me was, ‘No matter what age, you can do something,’ because my mother went to beauty school when she was in her forties. She went into the restaurant business when she was probably in her sixties, so nothing was going to stop Minnie.”
How her grandmother’s faith shaped Babs’s outlook
Babs’s grandmother was a real go-getter as well, and very active until late in her life. “I was very, very close to my grandparents, and my grandmother was like a second mother. After my grandfather passed away, my grandmother was living on her own into her late eighties, she was still gardening. She was still cooking. She was so incredible.
“And then she became ill. They diagnosed her with ovarian cancer, and the prognosis was not good. I remember looking out the window when I heard that news, and the world looked different. Everything was almost bigger than life. When you feel like your world is changing, you become so aware of the world, of what’s around you. It’s almost like time stands still, because you know you’re going to go through this loss.”
Babs says her grandmother also learned to lean into her faith. “My grandmother was an extremely religious person. She walked to mass every day, rain, snow, sleet,” Babs recalls. “I think that deepened my faith. I don’t know how people get through this life without faith. When you’re going through something hard, you realize the preciousness of life and that every day is truly a gift.”
A legacy that lives on through Babs
Of course, Babs will always miss her grandmother, but that zest for life and can-do attitude she inherited from her mom and grandmother live on in Babs. Besides being a social media mogul she just released her second cookbook, Every Day with Babs.
“It’s organized by the days of the week. I don’t think there’s ever been a cookbook like that,” says Babs of her new book. “The week has a certain tempo, like Monday is difficult, right? So Mondays are the simplest meals. The chapter is called, ‘Get Your Sheet Together,’ as in sheet pan meals. There’s 12 amazing sheet pan meals that are so delicious and easy to assemble, and there’s a real variety. There’s something for everyone. The perennial stress is what’s for dinner, right? What am I feeding the people I love the most in the world, and I have helped answer that question.”
In addition to tasty recipes, Babs’ new book also offers other hacks to help in the kitchen, including the routine she uses to grocery shop. “I take a piece of paper and fold it into six squares, and then I write down the name of each department. Grocery stores are all organized the same way. You go from the produce to the deli, to the meats, to the dairy, to the frozen foods, to the dry. It’s the same,” Babs explains.
“So before you go grocery shopping, make up a meal plan,” Babs suggests. “Then look at your ingredients, check what you have, and then what you don’t have. Make up the list and put that ingredient into whatever column it fits. If you need onions, put that in the produce column. If you need eggs, put that in the dairy so that you’re not spending double time at the grocery store, because you’re going back and forth to different departments. If all your produce items are listed in the same column, you’ve got a streamlined grocery shop.”
Babs thrives on staying busy and organized, but faith anchors all she does. “I am a high-energy person. I’m just wired that way,” she smiles, “but my faith is my bedrock, and I get my strength from that.”
If she could go back and give her younger self advice, what would she say? “Don’t stress. It’s going to be great. Wait until you see. Hang in there,” she advises. “There’s a plan. Just have faith that it’s going to be good.”
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