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  • Lodge Bread, Baking Bread and Shakshuka Recipe with Or Amsalam

    Lodge Bread, Baking Bread and Shakshuka Recipe with Or Amsalam

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with chef Or Amsalam, a two-time James Beard Award semifinalist and founder of Lodge Bread Co., which has three locations in Los Angeles.

    Amsalam, who served in the military before pursuing his culinary dreams at Le Cordon Bleu, says he has always been obsessed with bread.

    “Bread has always been a staple in my household,” Amsalam says. “Growing up in an Israeli Moroccan family, we ate bread with virtually everything: we ate bread with rice, we ate bread with potatoes, [we ate] bread with bread.”

    He continues, “Towards the end of my cooking career, I started doing some private cheffing and I just couldn't find the type of bread that I wanted, so I just started making bread.”

    Just as good bread has the power to elevate a dish, the opposite is also true “If you're eating shakshuka, and the bread is no good, it just kind of dulls it all down,” he explains.

    Or Amsalam shares his love of bread, bread making tips, and his thoughts on the value of failure. He also shares his shakshuka recipe, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

    Learn more at LodgeBread.com and follow @LodgeBreadCo on Instagram. Lodge Bread has locations in Culver City and Woodland Hills; the Pico bakery and cafe closes November 17. The new location in Beverly Hills opens November 22.

    * National Homemade Bread Day is November 17. For more on baking bread at home, Amsalam recommends “Tartine Bread” by Chad Robertson and “Josey Baker Bread.” *

    For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

  • Food Writing, Studying Citrus & Mojito Cookies with Aaron Hamburger

    Food Writing, Studying Citrus & Mojito Cookies with Aaron Hamburger

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with author, food writer, and recipe writer Aaron Hamburger. His novels include “Faith for Beginners” and “Hotel Cuba;” which is based on his grandparents’ immigration story. Hamburger also developed the babka recipes for LeslĂ©a Newman’s children’s book “The Babka Sisters.”

    While food informs all of his genres, cooking has not always been his thing.

    “I could barely boil water for a long period of my life,” Hamburger explains.

    Around the time his first book, a short story collection called “The View from Stalin’s Head,” came out, Hamburger’s publicist went on vacation to cooking school. He liked that idea, and decided to attend the Institute for Culinary Education in New York.

    Once bitten by the cooking bug, Hamburger started taking as many classes as he could, collecting cookbooks, and learning through trial and error. After a while, he decided to combine the two interests.

    “Food's [even] been present in all of my fiction, just in different ways, often depending on the places or topics that I'm writing about,” Hamburger says.

    Hamburger also believes that food writers, fiction and nonfiction, tend to over-write the food description.

    “Fiction writers tend to 
 describe [food] in lofty, elevated terms, rather than just dealing with it frankly and head-on, like what kind of food is it and how it functions in this world," he explains.

    So, if you're writing about food, either fiction or nonfiction, be direct, specific, and accurate.

    Hamburger talks about the advantages of being a former non-cook; the impact of food in history, relationships, and conversations; and how to really examine food, especially when you plan to write about it. He also shares his love for baking - particularly seven-layer cake and cookies (“almost anything can be made into a cookie”) - along with his recipe for mojito cookies, which you can find at Jewish Journal.com/podcasts.

    Learn more about Aaron Hamburger and his books at AaronHamburger.com. For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

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  • Matlock, the Magic of Food & Lentil Salad with Yael Grobglas

    Matlock, the Magic of Food & Lentil Salad with Yael Grobglas

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with actress Yael Grobglas. Grobglas, who played the series regular dual-roles of ‘Petra’ and ‘Anezka’ on “Jane the Virgin;” Hallmark Channel’s “Hanukkah on Rye;” and recently started an arc on the new “Matlock,” believes food is magical.

    “It can heal you, it can make you happy, it can bring people together,” she says.

    Grobglas was born in France and grew up in Israel, and loves the cuisines from both. Some of her happiest memories involve holidays and food.

    “You all sit at the table together, you sing songs and you eat,” she explains. “And the kids run around under the table and between everybody's legs, [while] the parents try to keep some sort of adult conversation going.”

    Grobglas, whose mother and father are wonderful cooks, was destined to love food. When she moved out on her own, Grobglas knew she had to learn how to cook, so she could continue to eat good food.

    “Luckily I'm pretty creative,” she says. “I cannot follow a recipe to save my life [but] I have so many cookbooks 
 I'll look through them for inspiration. I feel like I'm making art.”

    When asked how her training as an actor influenced her creativity in the kitchen, Grobglas said it made her trust herself, and the creative process, more.

    “If you botch a take, it's fine; you do another one,” she explains. “You make mistakes, that's how you learn. It's okay, you get better.”

    On “Matlock,” Grobglas plays a jury consultant aka human lie detector. She previously worked with “Matlock” showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman on “Jane the Virgin,” which Urman created. “It was incredible to work together again,” she says.

    Yael Grobglas talks about her earliest food memories, how she creates in the kitchen, and the amazing craft (food) services on Matlock. She also shares the recipe for her mom's signature dish: lentil salad with apples and red onion, which you can get at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

    Follow @YaelGrobglas on Instagram and watch her arc on “Matlock” on CBS; her character arrives on episode three.

    For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

  • Jake Makes It Easy, Cooking with Love and Date Brownies with Jake Cohen

    Jake Makes It Easy, Cooking with Love and Date Brownies with Jake Cohen

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with chef, cookbook author and dinner-party aficionado Jake Cohen. The author of “Jew-ish” and “I Could Nosh,” Cohen believes cooking should be easy, fun, and shared with others. That message comes out loud and clear in his new show, “Jake Makes It Easy” on the FYI channel.

    “Going to the gym is difficult, but the hardest part is showing up, and I think it's the same thing when it comes to cooking,” Cohen explains. “The hardest part is deciding you're going to cook, and then from there, the rest is pretty easy.”

    In each half hour episode of “Jake Makes it Easy,” Cohen provides a step-by-step process for creating a main course and dessert that go together. He also gives tips on the order of preparation, rounding out the meal with a salad or a side and how to turn it into a dinner party.

    The show really exemplifies Cohen’s relationship with cooking, the importance of cooking with love, and the blessing of cooking for others.

    “It's why I love baking bread or desserts or cakes, because these are things that feel like alchemy,” he explains. “You're taking something - and you're truly just making it from the wildest things that should not turn into the final product - and all of a sudden people are eating something that you made with love.”

    Jake Cohen talks about what led to his love of cooking, the backstory behind “Jake Makes It Easy,” and how Fran Drescher inspires his contribution to the Jewish conversation. He also shares tips for making cooking easy and adding love to your meals, as well as his recipe for date brownies, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

    “Jake Makes It Easy,” premiering on the FYI channel on October 28, is a part of A+E Networks partnership with Rachael Ray’s Free Food Studios. Follow @JakeCohen on Instagram and TikTok and find Jake Makes It Easy on the FYI channel, the FYI app and FYI.tv. #JakeMakesItEasy

    For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

  • Food Poetry, Children’s Books & Latkes with LeslĂ©a Newman

    Food Poetry, Children’s Books & Latkes with Lesléa Newman

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with children's book author, fiction writer and poet LeslĂ©a Newman. Jewish comfort food showed up in one her first children's books, “Matzo Ball Moon,” and has been making appearances in her work ever since.

    “[Food is] part of our every holiday, every Shabbat,” Newman, whose titles include “The Babka Sisters,” “A Sweet Passover” and “Hanukkah.” says. “It's important to 
 literally break bread; it's a way to show love [and[ nourish each other, literally and figuratively.”

    While these books are fiction, they are rooted in Newman’s own experiences. Characters are based on family, such as her grandmother, who taught Newman how to cook many of her favorite Jewish comfort foods.

    “My grandmother was from the old country, and she was a real balaboosta, which is someone who really runs the kitchen well’” Newman says. “She used to say [that] she could make a meal out of a potato and half an onion.”

    Newman’s books guide the reader through this history of holidays, along with family traditions.

    “It’s really important for kids to see themselves in books and 
 for kids to see families and kids, who are not like themselves, so they learn about the world,” she explains. “I hope 
 Jewish children will see themselves in these books and feel proud, excited and like they have a place to belong.”

    LeslĂ©a Newman talks about her food-centric children’s book, food poetry inspiration, and more. She also shares her poem about knishes, as well as her recipes for latkes and applesauce. Find the recipes at JewishJournal.com.

    “Essen en gezunt,” Newman says. “Eat in good health!”

    Learn more about Lesléa Newman - her books and poems - at LeselaNewman.com.


    For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

  • Sabor JudĂ­o: The Jewish Mexican Cookbook & Brisket Tacos with Ilan Stavans & Margaret Boyle

    Sabor Judío: The Jewish Mexican Cookbook & Brisket Tacos with Ilan Stavans & Margaret Boyle

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Ilan Stavans and Margaret Boyle, authors of “Sabor Judío: The Jewish Mexican Cookbook.”

    “The book is a celebration of Jewish Mexican identity, but it also is a celebration of all diaspora identity and how people connect with culture and movement through food,” says Boyle, director of Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx Studies at Bowdoin College and associate professor of Romance Languages and Literatures.

    Featuring 100 personal recipes, enjoyed by Mexican Jews around the world, “Sabor Judío” shares the vibrant history of Jewish immigration to Mexico from 1492 to the present. Organized by meal, and including dishes made for Shabbat, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, Hanukkah, Shavuot and other holidays, it connects the past to the present and the future.

    “It's really a book about how different generations have migrated with food from one region of the world to another,” Stavans explains. Originally from Mexico, Stavans is Lewis-Sebring Professor of Humanities and Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College and the publisher of Restless Books.

    “The extraordinary story of immigration is that it is never static 
 and food is [a] wonderful opportunity to understand those changes,” he says.

    The authors spent a decade gathering recipes and personal narratives from Jewish Mexican households. The result: the ultimate comfort food cultural combination.

    “Put the [food of the Jewish and Mexican] cultures together, [and] there's so much warmth, you might never stop eating,” Boyle says.

    Stavans and Boyle talk about how they met, the evolution of the project, and how they hope people will use their cookbook. They also share food memories, some of their favorite meals, their combined recipe for brisket tacos - which you can find at JewishJournal.com - and more.

    Learn more about “Sabor Judio,” Ilan Stavans at RestlessBooks.org and Margaret Boyle on the Bowdoin College website.

    For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

  • Opulent Nosh, Breakfast & Matzo Brei with Ken Albala

    Opulent Nosh, Breakfast & Matzo Brei with Ken Albala

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Ken Albala, author of Opulent Nosh: A Cookbook for Audacious Appetites and other books about food.

    A professor of history at the University of the Pacific, Albala’s other books span from Eating Right in the Renaissance to The Great Gelatin Revival: Savory Aspics, Jiggly Shots, and Outrageous Desserts. He has written historical cookbooks; books on fine dining, banqueting, and individual ingredients; and more. Albala is currently working on an atlas of fermentation, as well as one on carving spoons, which is something he taught himself to do.

    Opulent Nosh, which includes more than 100 recipes that transform simple dishes into memorable feasts, actually began as a breakfast book.

    “I love breakfast because it's the one meal I get to cook whatever I want,” Albala explains. “And, if I make something that doesn't taste good, it doesn't matter; I'll eat it the next day.”

    Albala sent the breakfast version to a half dozen agents, who called breakfast "passe." He considered going the self-publishing route, but that didn’t work out either. In the end, Albala replaced the word "breakfast" with "nosh," made a few other changes, and had success getting it out into the world.

    “One of the messages I've been trying to promote in most of my books is that cooking is inherently fun, that everyone should do it, as often as they can,” Albala says. “It's one of those fundamental things about humanity that gives us pleasure, like making music or dancing or running around in circles, whatever you do to make you happy.”

    Albala, whose mother's side is Ashkenazi and father's is Sephardic, talks about his background and how it led to his deep dive into food. He also shares Opulent Nosh’s origin story, examples of his unique cooking style, and his recipe for Matzo Brei, which you can find at JewishJournal.com.

    Learn more about Opulent Nosh, follow @KenAlbala on Instagram and find his food groups on Facebook.

    For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

  • From Ballet to Food, the “Iron Chef” Influence & Meringues with Ariel Kanter

    From Ballet to Food, the “Iron Chef” Influence & Meringues with Ariel Kanter

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with food and lifestyle writer Ariel Kanter, whose Substack is called Rel's Recs, and who fell in love with food by accident.

    Growing up as a ballerina, food was not part of Kanter’s lifestyle. Then in high school, she discovered the original Japanese version of “Iron Chef” on the Food Network. Kanter loved the experimentation and all of the wild ingredients. Mostly, though, it was the warmth, something Kanter was missing in ballet.

    “The ballet studio is beautiful, but I always felt like it was cold, whereas in the kitchen, there is warmth, fulfillment, experimentation,” Kanter explains. “I think that's why I love cooking so much now, and writing about it.”

    After college at NYU, and working in an editorial department, Kanter attended the Institute of Culinary Education. Armed with a background in food science and food preparation, she dove deep into writing about food. She has written for “The New York Times,” “Vanity Fair,” “InStyle,” “Serious Eats,” and more.

    There were not a lot of food moments in Kanter’s youth. However, there was one exception: the Kanter family meringues.

    “We had a family recipe passed down on my mother's side,” she explains. “These were the cookie that we made for every birthday, every Jewish holiday.”

    Meringues are magical, fluffy and fun. Get the recipe at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

    “That sense of whimsy has never really gone away for me,” she says.

    Ariel Kanter talks about her two childhood food memories, her career journey and food philosophy, and the love of cooking and baking she shares with her niece and nephew, and more.

    Subscribe to Ariel Kanter’s Substack, Rel's Recs and follow @arielkanter on Instagram. For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

  • Pastabilities, Pressure Luck Cooking & Kasha Varnishkes with Jeffrey Eisner

    Pastabilities, Pressure Luck Cooking & Kasha Varnishkes with Jeffrey Eisner

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Jeffrey Eisner, founder of Pressure Luck Cooking and the bestselling author of the “Step-by-Step Instant Pot” series of cookbooks. “Pastabilities,” is his fifth and first non-Instant Pot-centric cookbook.

    Filled with his signature user-friendly style of instruction – and chapters that include farm and garden, soups, salads, stir frys, one-pot dishes and more – “Pastabilities” is a comfort-food palooza.

    “A big bowl of pasta on the couch [is] one of my favorite things,” Eisner says.

    While Eisner has always loved to cook–something he learned from his Grandma Lil–it wasn’t until the Instant Pot started becoming popular in the mid-2010s that he decided to try something new. His previous career as a video producer kept him behind the camera. Eisner filmed himself making mac and cheese in the Instant Pot and put it on YouTube just for fun. He had no expectations; he just wanted to see if people would find it when they did a search.

    “Everyone started seeing my video and then I very quickly got a following,” Eisner explains. “The next thing I knew it was just building, like a pressure cooker, and I started getting television appearances, then I got a cookbook deal and it became my career.”

    Eisner believes cooking should make you feel accomplished. And anybody can do it!

    “All it takes is to follow a recipe and prep your ingredients ahead of time,” he says. “If you read [the recipe] properly and do everything [it says], you're going to have an unbelievable meal in your hands.”

    Jeffrey Eisner shares his career evolution, his amazing Instant Pot timing, and his love of pasta. He also talks about some of his favorite recipes, his user-friendly style of cooking, and his recipe for Kasha Varnishkes, which you can get at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

    Learn more at PressureLuckCooking.com and follow @PressureLuck on YouTube, and @PresuureLuckCooking on Facebook and Instagram.

    For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

  • Spice of Life Catering, Gourmet Kosher Cooking & Chilean Sea Bass with Chef Jeffrey Kollinger

    Spice of Life Catering, Gourmet Kosher Cooking & Chilean Sea Bass with Chef Jeffrey Kollinger

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Jeffrey Kollinger, of Spice of Life Catering in Dallas. He’s a celebrated chef, kosher caterer, and CEO with more than three decades of experience.

    Whereas kosher food sometimes gets a bad rap–you can’t mix milk with meat, you need separate kitchens, you can only eat fish with scales–Kollinger believes kosher can be gourmet, delicious and fun.

    “There’s so many distinctive flavors now that you could use that probably weren't available 10, 12 years ago,” he says. “There's truffle oils [and] all kinds of different spices.”

    You can put a fancy sauce on pretty much anything. For instance, you can do fish with a beurre blanc and fancy vegetables.

    To uplevel your kosher cooking, Chef Kollinger said to stop thinking of it as kosher. It’s just regular food. After all, an aioli, a demi glace or a sauce made from a rich stock can be done in the kosher world because you can use them in both dairy and meat.

    “I think a lot of people [let] the heckscher (kosher certification) throw them off,” he says. “What you need to do is seek out ingredients that match or come close to what you're trying to [create] and play around with the dish.”

    Chef Kollinger talks about his love of food and cooking, along with his personal connection to kosher catering. He also shares tons of kosher cooking tips and his recipe for Macadamia Nut Crusted Chilean Sea Bass, Basmati “Confetti,” Cippolini Onions and Carrots and Lemon Beurre Blanc, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

    Learn more at TheSpiceofLifeCatering.com.


    For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

  • Braided, Breaking Bread & Challah Recipe with Beth Ricanati

    Braided, Breaking Bread & Challah Recipe with Beth Ricanati

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Dr. Beth Ricanati, author of “Braided: A Journey of a Thousand Challahs.”

    More than 15 years ago, Ricanati started baking challah on Fridays as a self-care ritual. Now, she gives challah workshops–both in person and digitally–around the country to people of all faiths, and speaks about the teachings in her book.

    “When you're mixing flour and sugar and watching the yeast bubble, you can't be doing anything else,” Ricanati explains. “I wasn't worrying about my patients, I wasn't worrying about my kids.”

    Ricanati says the experience was utterly transformative. Before she knew it, she rearranged her schedule, so she could continue her Friday challah practice. A board-certified internist, Dr. Ricanati now sees patients at the Venice Family Clinic in Los Angeles.

    “Particularly since October 7, it has been so meaningful, so resonant, to be able to build community [around] this beautiful ancient ritual,” she says. “When you're standing next to someone and your hands are literally in a bowl of dough, you can really come together and talk.”

    Ricanati talks about her challah origin story, the impact of baking challah, and so much more. She also shares her challah recipe, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

    Learn more at BethRicanatiMD.com and follow @BethRicanatiMD on Instagram. For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

  • Snibbs, Hospitality & Matzo Pizza with Chef Daniel Shemtob

    Snibbs, Hospitality & Matzo Pizza with Chef Daniel Shemtob

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with chef/restaurateur Daniel Shemtob, The Lime Truck, TLT, and Hatch Yakitori. The all-star winner of Food Network's "The Great Food Truck Race," Shemtob is also co-founder of Snibbs, the world’s most comfortable non-slip shoe.

    About two weeks before opening Hatch, Shemtob had a nasty fall in the kitchen.

    “I herniated and slipped my L5 and L4 disc, which is pretty much the lowest part of your vertebrae,” Shemtob explains. “I'm 23, 24 years old, and I'm watching someone else open my line, which, as a chef, is a very difficult thing to do.”

    Shemtob went down a rabbit hole of wondering, ‘Why isn't anyone making good footwear? Why isn't there anything that actually speaks to the worker, to the chef?’

    As a result, he partnered with renowned orthopedic surgeon Jason Snibbe and entrepreneur Haik Zadoyan, his high school best friend. Snibbs footwear was born!

    Outstanding service sets a restaurant apart, and that is something that has translated well to Snibbs.

    “Because we're hospitality people 
 whenever customers need something, we go above and beyond,” he explains.

    While there are nuances, whether you are developing a recipe or a great pair of shoes, you start with a product and then you reiterate, perfect, test and reiterate again.

    “My two loves have always been food and fashion and now I get to exercise both muscles,” Shemtob says. “I'm just having a lot of fun doing it. “

    Daniel Shemtob shares his career journey from soup to Snibbs. He also talks about his love of food, his first cooking memory–hence, the matzo pizza, Food TV, Food on TV (“The Bear”), and the joy of entertaining.

    Learn more at Snibbs.co and Danielshemtob.com and follow @snibbsfootwear on @daniel.shemtob Instagram. For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

  • Subarz, Switching Careers and Brisket with Daphne Subar

    Subarz, Switching Careers and Brisket with Daphne Subar

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Daphne Subar, founder of Subarzsweets. Subar launched her company–a unique online bakery and gifting service–in 2016, after practicing law for 26 years.

    “I love to bake, I love to cook and I would always be experimenting in the kitchen,” Subar explains. “It was really my [three] daughters who encouraged me–almost challenged me–to leave the practice of law and launch a bakery.”

    The business offers one signature treat in a variety of flavors and sizes. Subarz combines the sweetness and fun of a cookie with the crunch of mandel bread, which is often described as Jewish biscotti.

    “We have chocolate almond, peanut butter, matcha, lavender, all sorts of really fun flavors,” Subar says.

    While Subar feels like the mandel bread component is a bit of a tribute to her heritage, her baking experiments were a result of her oldest daughter’s severe food allergies; she wanted her daughter to have something she could eat. Not only did Subar succeed, she created a treat everyone in her family loves 
 and embarked on a fun and fulfilling entrepreneurial adventure.

    Subar talks about her career change, cooking experiments, and more. She also shares her brisket recipe, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts. Even though Subar is a vegetarian, she still makes brisket four times a year, usually for Jewish holidays and celebrations. It’s everyone in her family’s favorite.

    Learn more at Subarzsweets.com and follow @Subarz on Instagram.

    Get Rabbi Jo David’s vegan brisket recipe mentioned in the ep.

    For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

  • The Narrative Method, Library Dinners & Cinnamon Surprise Cake with Shari Foos

    The Narrative Method, Library Dinners & Cinnamon Surprise Cake with Shari Foos

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Shari Foos, founder of The Narrative Method. The nonprofit addresses the crisis of loneliness by connecting people to their stories and creative expression.

    Now in its tenth year, The Narrative Method offers free online salons, interviews with interesting people, programs for communities in need, and more. One of the events they offer is called the library dinner, which can happen at a library, in a public space or at someone's home.

    “Everyone meets at this space and goes away for one hour and learns something, anything,” therapist Foos, MA/MFT/MS, explains. “[Then] everyone has a lovely dinner and goes around and shares what they've learned; it’s a fascinating experience of just exchanging what seems to be impromptu knowledge and information.”

    Foos, a former punk rock musician, radio and TV writer, comedian, university professor and co-founder of IKAR-LA, adds, “It's really fun, and it's a great way for people to get to know each other on a whole other level."

    “I love what meals do,” she says. “Enjoying [food and conversations] with other people
 is such a thrill.”

    Foos talks about her connection to cooking and food, as well as the Library Dinner experience and how to curate your own. She also shares the recipe for Cinnamon Surprise Cake, which her son and his cousin created in 2001; they were six and seven at the time. This inexact recipe, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts, really illustrates the joy and creativity that can go into cooking and baking.

    Learn more about Shari Foos and sign up for the programs at TheNarrativeMethod.org and follow @TheNarrativeMethod.com on Instagram. For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

  • Philanthropy, Food in Entertainment & Chicken Chilaquiles with Patricia Heaton

    Philanthropy, Food in Entertainment & Chicken Chilaquiles with Patricia Heaton

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with actor, writer, and philanthropist Patricia Heaton. While Heaton has created relatable characters on TV over the years (“Everybody Loves Raymond,” “The Middle,” “Carol’s Second Act”), she is also known for her commitment to philanthropy, as well as a love of food.

    As founder of an organization called O7C, which stands for October 7th Coalition, Heaton has been organizing a series of unity dinners, designed to bring Christians and Jews together in conversation. Recently, Heaton and O7C partnered with Maman Nonprofit for an event with The Dream Center Foundation in Los Angeles.

    “Sharing a meal together is a sign of peace and of unity ,” she says. “It's the perfect way to start helping our communities get to know each other.”

    For Heaton, growing up in an Irish Catholic family was a world away from the food she discovered, as a result of working in entertainment. She explains how she got a food education after moving to New York City; working with Phil Rosenthal (“Somebody Feed Phil”) only amplified it. (Deb previously interviewed Phil and Lily Rosenthal on Taste Buds for their children’s book, “Just Try It!”)

    “Phil Rosenthal, who created “Everybody Loves Raymond,” [also] had a mom who wasn't a great cook,” she explains. “Even as a starving actor/writer in New York, he would save up money all year, and then for his birthday, he would take himself out to a very high end restaurant.”

    Rosenthal brought that same sensibility to “Everybody Loves Raymond.”

    “He also introduced me to the finer things in life, as far as cuisine was concerned,” Heaton explains. “It didn't start out that way, but eventually my adventures in the entertainment industry took me to all these great food places.”

    Heaton, whose books include “Your Second Act” and the autobiographical “Motherhood and Hollywood -- How to Get A Job Like Mine,” also has a cookbook: “Patricia Heaton’s Food for Family and Friends.” Get Heaton’s recipe for Chicken Chilaquiles at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

    “For someone who works in an industry where everything is sort of ephemeral - you go in front of cameras, you do stuff, but the editor takes it away,” Heaton says. “You have no idea how it's going to turn out, you don't know if anybody's actually going to watch it.

    “It's great to be able to go into a kitchen, pull some ingredients together, start cooking,” she explains. “At the end of it, you have a meal and it actually is nourishing yourself and others; it's a very tangible thing.”

    Heaton talks about the O7C and her other interfaith experiences - including her first seder, her food and cooking evolution, and so much more.

    Learn more about O7C at october7coalition.com and follow @PatriciaHeaton on Instagram.

    For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

  • Life’s a Feast, French Food & CrĂ©met Nantais with Jamie Schler

    Life’s a Feast, French Food & Crémet Nantais with Jamie Schler

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Jamie Schler, a Jewish American writer, hotel owner, and jam maker, who has lived in France for decades. Schler specializes in food and culture, and loves sharing the traditions and history behind French food, which she does on her “Life’s a Feast by Jamie Schler” Substack.

    “Once I had kids, I started to be fascinated by the cultural aspects of food,” Schler says. Schler and her husband’s two sons are American, French, Jewish, and Catholic. They also have a little bit of North African, where her husband lived before they married, Eastern European from Schler’s family, and some Italian heritage from the years they lived in Italy.

    “They had all of these cultures that made up who they were,” she explains. “It just made sense to use food 
 as a vehicle to teach them about all of the different parts of who they are.”

    Schler talks about her love of the history and traditions of food, how easy it is to cook many French foods, the backstory of French onion soup, and so much more. She also offers her take on French desserts and shares the recipe for one of her favorites, crémet nantais, which you can get at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

    For more recipes, subscribe to Life’s a Feast by Jamie Schler’s on Substack and follow @LifesaFeast on Instagram. For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

    #FrenchFood #FrenchCooking #Jewish #Olympics #TasteBuds

  • The Effects of Pickled Herring, Food, Family & Vegan Meatloaf with Alex Schumacher

    The Effects of Pickled Herring, Food, Family & Vegan Meatloaf with Alex Schumacher

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with author/illustrator Alex Schumacher. While you would expect Schumacher’s graphic novel “The Effects of Pickled Herring to be about food - and it is - it’s not in the way you think. While the title dish is only mentioned a couple of times, the love and joy of food is a theme found throughout.

    Schumacher’s semi-biographical work is a coming-of-age story about sibling dynamics, faith and family. As 12-year-old Micah and his sister Alana prepare for their B’nai Mitzvah, the family deals with his grandmother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

    “[“The Effects of Pickled Herring”] is an exploration of the strength and the love of families, what can bring them together and keep them grounded in one another,” Schumacher explains. “A big part of that is food; it's the meals that you have together and it's the foods that give you comfort and heal.”

    Schumacher, an author/illustrator whose work has also appeared in picture books, webcomics and graphic novels, talks about his book’s origins, the food-family connection, and his artistic approach. He also shares his recipe for vegan Impossible meatloaf, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

    Learn more about Alex Schumacher and “The Effects of Pickled Herring” at AlexSchumacherArt.com and follow @ajschumacherart on Instagram. For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

  • Cooking in Israel, Sharing Recipes & Overnight French Toast with Chef Shawna Goodman

    Cooking in Israel, Sharing Recipes & Overnight French Toast with Chef Shawna Goodman

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Chef Shawna Goodman. Among other endeavors, Chef Goodman combines her love of cooking and living in Israel with her philanthropic work; she also leads a yearly tour for women, called Shefa.

    “The incredible initiatives that are coming from everybody's regular kitchen [in Israel] and the capacity for giving is [amazing],” she says. “There's no greater comfort than someone's home cooked meals.”

    Goodman, who grew up in Canada, graduated from the Natural Gourmet Cooking School and in pastry arts from the Institute of Culinary Education (formerly, Peter Kump’s Cooking School) both in New York City; she also trained at the Cordon Bleu School in Paris. She loves the abundance of fresh produce in Israel.

    “As a Canadian, eating local would have meant eating apples and maybe some potatoes and some onions, because most of the year we're under mega snow,” Goodman explains. “Being a chef in Israel 
 I really appreciate when something comes in bloom and something becomes ripened, and it's usually from my backyard or my friend's backyard; the sharing and the partaking in what's around me is inspiring.”

    Chef Goodman talks about living and cooking in Israel, her food-loving origins 
 and how that love continues to shine, culinary school adventures, and more. She also shares why you should always share your recipes, along with her favorite comfort food recipe - overnight French toast - which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.


    Connect with Chef Shawna Goodman on Facebook. For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

  • Pico Union Project, Nourishment & Spicy Asian Noodles with Craig Taubman

    Pico Union Project, Nourishment & Spicy Asian Noodles with Craig Taubman

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with singer and composer Craig Taubman. The founder of the Pico Union Project (PUP), a multi-faith cultural arts center in downtown Los Angeles, Taubman is passionate about food and nourishing the community.

    “Food is deep: it's cultural, it's philosophical, it's spiritual, it's nourishing,” Taubman believes. “[You] can use food to build community, to build relationships and to feed people's minds, hearts and souls.”

    According to Taubman, every week they distribute fresh produce that would have otherwise been thrown away. PUP provides 19 people in the community with jobs, offers cooking, nutrition and mental health classes, health services and more.

    “The food's great; the conversation is invaluable,” Taubman says. “Each time that we break bread together, we discover something new about each other, something powerful 
 we give the community the opportunity to flourish, and it's usually around food.”

    Taubman shares his background, and how the Pico Union Project came about, along with food memories, a food song, and his recipe for spicy Asian noodles. Get the recipe and read the article at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

    Learn more about Craig Taubman PicoUnionProject.org and Craignco.com. For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

  • Food Appreciation, Everything Seasoning & A Recipe for Writing A Recipe with Amy Rogers

    Food Appreciation, Everything Seasoning & A Recipe for Writing A Recipe with Amy Rogers

    · Taste Buds With Deb

    On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with food writer Amy Rogers, who has covered topics ranging from pie contests to public policy, Her books include “Hungry for Home: Stories of Food from Across the Carolinas” and “Red Pepper Fudge and Blue Ribbon Biscuits.”

    Rogers, who has been a contributor for The Food Network, Salon and Business Insider, among others, says it was inevitable that her passion for food and stories would meet. She had been working as a journalist for a long time, when she noticed that food kept showing up in her work.

    “I will always tell people that I'm not a chef and I'm not a fancy cook,” Rogers explains. “I'm just someone who appreciates good food.”

    Everything is a food story, and everybody has a different perspective from the way they love, appreciate, or approach food.

    “Most people have in their family legacy, a person who 
 made the best pie or made the best something,” she explains. “Those kinds of little snapshot recollections become very, very meaningful.”

    Rogers talks about her love and appreciation of food, her favorite ingredient (it’s everything bagel seasoning), and how food - and food stories - connect us all. She also shares her recipe for writing a recipe, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

    Learn more about Amy Rogers and connect with her at AmyRogers.net. For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

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