Before opening her restaurant, Lyndsay Taylor did not know much about cooking.

“I thought cooking a hamburger with salt and pepper was a very big deal,” she said. “I’ve come a long way.”

Taylor and her husband, Jamie, shared a few tips on spicing up recipes with unusual ingredients at Wednesday’s Female Factor.

More than 100 women learned how to spice up their lives at the noon luncheon, which also included tips on revamping make-up applications with a fresh palette of spring colors.

The Taylors said they came up with their restaurant menu by trial and error. The pair researched red sauces for their pizzas and settled on one with coffee as an ingredient.

“We use a really rich, dark brewed coffee – pour two cups for us and add the rest to the sauce,” said Jamie Taylor.

He also suggested adding coffee to chocolate dishes to give them a more robust chocolate flavor.

Tracey Koch is an independent sales director of Mary Kay Cosmetics. She suggested women spice up their make-up routine with new colors.

“Even a lipstick, something as simple as a lipstick, can spice up your wardrobe,” she said.

Koch said shades of blue, green and tan could be used as neutrals, blended with other colors or stand on their own.

“Hemlock (green) is a beautiful background color because it works with any other color in the spectrum,” she said.

The next Female Factor will be March 12.