LIVE AT HY-VEE, 7:00 PM in the CLUB ROOM

One of our greatest pleasures in life is starting off several days each week with a cup of black tea from India, Ceylon or Africa.  Rachel adds a touch of milk and a little sugar to our cups.  We stir, smell, taste, sigh, and sip.  It’s a magical experience. 

A great espresso is just that, but it’s not tea.  The only other liquid that brings me a simillar type of pleasurable experience is when I am lucky enough to enjoy a special glass of wine.  Fascinating.  A realization just clicked inside that I connect both tea and wine with romance, which means they are  intimately intertwined with peak experiences Rachel and I have enjoyed together-quiet, leisurely breakfasts at home, a tea shop in Paris, afternoon tea at the Four Seasons, a dinner in a corner booth at Vetri, dinner with friends in Rome, and many other entrancing moments.

LIVE AT HY-VEE ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27 AT 7:00 PM

The Club Room lights up with a Chanukah celebration featuring music, food, and fun.  Sheila Ross is making chicken soup and latkes. Tom Allen and ladies from Beth Shalom will provide the music, Beverly Merson joins us for her CineBites feature, and who knows what else might happen!  Don't miss this live happening!

ON THE KRUU STREAM-WEDNESDAY AT 7:00 pm and FRIDAY AT 7:00 am

LIVE AT HY-VEE

Join us in the Hy-Vee Club Room for an exciting food-filled hour.  Leading off the show we’ll welcome to Fairfield, Liana Werner-Gray, founder of The Earth Diet.  Liana, along with our health coach, Emily Rose Shaw, will help you set the proper parameters so the holiday season is both delicious and healthy.

The stellar Indian Hills Culinary Crew featuring Kelli Kuenzler, Savannah Strode, and Jesse Juran will prepare a Thanksgiving feast of spiced cranberry dip, brussels sprouts, basil garlic green beans, and turkey stir fry.

Noah Loin is bringing lots of his rock’n raw chocolates for us to taste.  His cacao-powered business is really rock’n, and I can’t wait to hear about it.

Tom Allen will play us a tune, and share his rather dry wit.  Beverly Merson is back with Cinebites, providing insight into a food film we should put on our “watch” list, and I really hope that is about it!

A really exciting 60 minutes of radio at Hy-Vee this Wednesday.  Come on by.

Click READ MORE for this week's streaming show on KRUU and recipes!

GREAT TASTE ON THE KRUU STREAM-WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY

Last week in the Club Room we explored the holiday food of Germany with Karin Hauring.  Karin is a long-time resident of Fairfield, but she was born in Hechingen, Germany in the Black Forest region of the country.  Her food sensibilities were developed with a multi-fold of influences from the surrounding countryside, including the nearby Rhine river, Italy and Switzerland to the south, Austria to the southeast, and on the west the Alsace region of France.  

I am a great pasta lover and spaetzle is a type of egg noodle found in Karin’s home city and in the neighboring areas including Alsace, Switzerland, and Austria.  She taught us how to make it, and prepared another dish-red cabbage and apples-that was and still is a standard in her home.  For dessert she made a pumpkin cheese cake, which I think is an influence from her adopted country.  It’s simple-no crust-and delicious, so it’s an easy addition to a holiday menu.

Click on READ MORE below for recipes and information on the LIVE show this week!

THIS WEEK ON GREAT TASTE

LIVE AT HY-VEE, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 7:00 PM

Join us in the Club Room where we’ll explore the holiday food of Germany with Karin Hauring.  Karin is a long-time resident of Fairfield, but she was born in Hechingen, Germany in the Black Forest region of the country.  Her food sensibilities were developed with a multi-fold of influences from the surrounding countryside, including the nearby Rhine river, Italy and Switzerland to the south, Austria to the southeast, and on the west the Alsace region of France. 

I am a great pasta lover and spaetzle is a type of egg noodle found in Karin’s home city and in the neighboring areas including Alsace, Switzerland, and Austria.  She’ll teach us how to make it, and prepare another dish-red cabbage and apples-that was and still is a standard in her home.  Finally, she’ll make a pumpkin cheese cake, which I think is an influence from her adopted country.  It’s crustless so it’s an easy addition for a holiday menu.

Click READ MORE for complete details on the Live show and THE KRUU STREAM this Wednesday and Friday featuring Liam Scheff.

LIVE at Hy-Vee on Wednesday, October 30 at 7:00 pm

Join Liam Scheff for an entertaining cooking lesson featuring the foods of fall and winter.  If you missed Liam last time he was on the show, don't miss him again.  Not only does Liam have a unique sense of humor, but he excells at teaching how to prepare simple, healthy, tasty food.

ON THE KRUU STREAM-WEDNESDAY-7:00 PM CDT & FRIDAY-7:00 AM CDT

“The Frugal Traveler” for The New York Times, Seth Kugel, is our guest during the first half of this week’s show.    After graduating from Yale and Harvard and doing public service work, Seth began writing pieces for The New York Times in 1998.  In addition to the Times, Seth has written for O, the Oprah Magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, Food and Wine and numerous other publications. 

In June, 2010, he took over the “Frugal Traveler” blog for the Travel section of The New York Times.  His first “road trip” lasted 13-weeks as he made his way mostly by bus from São Paulo,Brazil to New York City.  Seth is on the road about 50% of the time, and I'm certain you'll discover his insights fascinating and useful next time the road beckons.  You can find Seth's articles at www.nytimes.com/frugaltraveler.

I try to keep up with Seth's coming and goings and over the summer he embarked on a trip to explore the USA “Heartland.”  His August 14 column, “Eating in Iowa:  Farm-Fresh, Fried and Frugal,” not only drew me in immediately, but numerous listeners to Great Taste sent me the link attached to a “Can you believe he was in Iowa” email.  Reading the article I admit feeling a bit of a pleasant shock when I came across this paragraph:

“Back to lean and green: Fairfield, home to the Maharishi University of Management, which calls itself a “home of consciousness-based education,” has more than its share of vegetarian cafeterias and restaurants. I went to the Golden Dome Market and Cafe, near (but alas, not in) the campus’s two golden domes. The vegetarian buffet ($7.50 a pound) yielded some saag paneer, a bean taco loaded with vegetables, some tasty artichoke lasagna and a piece of fresh peach blueberry pie.”

NO LIVE SHOW THIS WEEK! | ON THE KRUU STREAM

This episode of Great Taste is dedicated to Jerry Deprey.  Thanks for hanging out with us.  We're going to miss you.

The amazing Gisella Isidori returned to the Club Room last week.  As always, she brought with her the collective knowledge of Italian culture and cuisine, pouring it out during every encounter in a never-ending flow in exchanges always full of surprises. And she did surprise me several times. 

During the show Gisella was assisted by Indian Hills Culinary Arts students Savannah Strode and Kellie Kuenzler.  She had nothing but praise for their perfect rendering of her recipes into food reality-Halloween panini, pumpkin soup, grape mostarda, roasted chestnuts, and pollo schiachiatta.

(A few recipes are at the end of the post.) 

Also, Emily Rose Shaw, our health coach, gave us an inside look at the Blue Zone initiative, and Tom Allen provided the musical entertainment.

LIVE Show-Hy-Vee Club Room-7:00 pm, Wednesday, October 16

The live show will feel a bit empty this week and in succeeding weeks because of the passing Sunday of Jerry Deprey.  Every week, with rare exceptions, Jerry was in the front row, usually with his son Jason.  He always met me with a smile and handshake before the show, and expressed how much he enjoyed the experience (and food) after each program concluded.  Thank you, Jerry, for hanging out with us.  I hope your Red Sox make it to the World Series. 

The amazing Gisella Isidori returns to the Club Room this week.  As always, she brings with her the collective knowledge of Italian culture and cuisine, pouring it out during every encounter in a never-ending flow in exchanges always full of surprises. 

I write this blog post pleasantly full after making a dish tonight-riso sconcho (dialect)- she recalled from her childhood  in Valtellina, about as far north as you can go in the Lombardia region of Italy before crossing into Switzerland. 

"My grandmother used to make this.  Maybe it's been 20 years or more since I've thought about it," mused Gisella.

GET READY FOR HALLOWEEN THIS WEEK LIVE AT HY-VEE ON GREAT TASTE-7:00 PM IN THE CLUB ROOM

We are going to have a scary good time this Wednesday in the Hy-Vee Club Room.  The Indian Hills culinary crew featuring Savannah Strode and Kellie Kuenzler have a spooktacular Halloween bash planned.  Featured on the menu are:

Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup

Mesculun Meanies-a salad full of surprises & Pumpkin Bars

Now, here's the challenge:  Put on a costume and join in the fun.  Best costume wins a prize!!!!!!!!!! Join Hy-Vee's Dennis Lopp, our health coach, Emily Rose Shaw, and musician Tom Allen, for 60 minutes of delicious radio.

ON THE STREAM THIS WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY-A REBROADCAST OF ONE OF MY FAVORITE INTERVIEWS

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Maintaining a healthy physiology is an important objective for most people, and a physiology in good shape is a critical element for enjoying all aspects of life.  Unfortunately, a universal system that works for everyone to achieve and maintain "good health" doesn't seem to exist.  Our physiologies, though basically the same, have their own peculiarities.  A diet and lifestyle that work for one person is another person's nightmare.

Liana Werner-Gray, founder of The Earth Diet may have hit on some strategies that make it easier for a good portion of humanity to live a healthy life.  Before developing the myriad of programs that make up The Earth Diet, Liana went through her own battle with poor health, and we'll have the opportunity to hear her story during this week's show.