Best People

Danae Hendrickson turns the interviewing tables and starts interviewing me! So if you've been wondering what about what my answers to some of the standard questions that I ask guests would be look no further than this episode!

Danae Hendrickson is the Chief of Mission Advancement & Communications for the organization Legacies of War. Legacies of War is an educational and advocacy group working to address the impact of the American Secret War. This work includes the removal of unexploded bombs and munitions. Danae's mother was from Laos. She immigrated to North Dakota as a refugee in the late 1980s early 1990s. Sadly Danae's mother passed away when Danae was a young adult. This has led Danae on a journey to rediscover her Lao culture through food. In this episode we talk about this journey and the path that brought Danae to working for an organization like Legacies of War.

To learn more about the work that is going on at Legacies of War please visit their website. https://www.legaciesofwar.org/

Rachel Horton is a medical cannabis advocate who has had a long journey with food allergies. On this episode of Best People we talk about Rachel's self discovery of healing through food, her work in the cannabis industry and her vegan lifestyle.

Today on Best People we have two of the most talented Pastry Chefs in the Cincinnati area! Owners and Operators of Sebastian Bakehouse, Laura Kate Adelman and Randy Sebastian met while opening the Horseshoe Casino in 2013- in downtown Cincinnati. After a few years they decided to move back to Randy's hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada. Where Randy took on the role of Executive Pastry Chef for Caesars Palace and Laura Kate was the Executive Pastry Chef for Chef Nobu Matsuhisa at Nobu-Las Vegas. After a few years of various roles on the West Coast and in the peak of the COVID-19 Pandemic the couple decided to move back to Cincinnati to pursue their Viennoiserie dreams. Viola- Sebastian Bakehouse was born- from pop ups to a brick and mortar. Today we talk a little about their culinary journey and some of their favorite earthily delights. 

Samantha Ferraro is a celebrated cook book author, extraordinary self taught home cook, aficionado on all things Mediterranean and all around good person. This week I catch up with her as she finishes final edits on her upcoming cook book One Pot Mediterranean. She talks about moving from Brooklyn, NY to Hawaii as a teen. Her cooking influences and how our patron saint of cookery (Julia Child) inspired her. 

After an extremely long absence from the airwaves I'm bringing the Pod back! And I'm looking for fun foodies to join me! If you have a story you want to tell. Maybe you're a chef, maybe you're a gourmand with a small business you'd like to promote? I'd love to hear about you and the projects you're working on. Maybe you have a Julia moment that inspired you to be a better person? Come one come all and lets talk about food and the human condition. Bon Apetite! 

Ciara Sana-Clark and Cylene Sana are sisters of an island nation. They are Chamorro but,  they are also Washingtonians. It can be isolating to move away from you home. Especially when that move takes you to an entirely new world.  That experience can cause a shift. Not just in the way others see you, but in the way that you see yourself. In this episode we talk about the ideas of food and home. How those ideals shape our family. 

 Often in life we try to place people into boxes. Joe is a lawyer, Shawn a writer, Ciara an artist. But, none of us are just one thing. We are all made up of many different experiences. No one more so than my guest today Sara Holodnick aka Sara Galactica. I met Sara when she was my supervisor for AmeriCorps. Then when she opened her own historical walking tour business, I started working for her as a tour guide. Through the years we’ve partnered on many different projects, from hosting a coffee cocktail event, to working different charity events together. She’s a dear friend, and I’m excited to have her on the podcast. Several years ago Sara took over Bellingham Cocktail week as an annual project along with the folks at Happy Chap Creative Co. In that time she has grown Bellingham Cocktail week from having a few bar participants, to a city wide event with a tasting expo and a gala. It’s a week that I look forward to every year in our city of renewed excitement. In this episode we're I sit down with Sara to talk about Bellingham Cocktail week (February 1-February 9) and we discuss her favorite cocktail The Gibson. 

If you'd like to learn more about Sara Holodnick go to https://www.saragalactica.com/

Psychologists say that once a person has been in your life for seven years they will always be apart of your life. I’ve known Charles “Chuck” Crooks for almost 10 years, and I think it’s safe to say that our lives are pretty intertwined. We did our AmeriCorps Service together. He’s also been my friend, roommate, business collaborator, shoulder to cry on, and life coach. My husband and I joke that Charles is our son even though A. he is not B. he is older than us. C. he is no longer my roommate. We’ve been on many adventures together, both food and non-food related. Charles’ life has taken him the scenic route to his current path, currently working as an intuitive energy coach, meditation guide, and healer. A tarot reader and more traditional educator of things like literacy, English as a second language, Japanese but also ballroom dance. He is definitely one of the most interesting people I know. He is also one of the Best People because he loves to eat. Though Chuck and I could talk about any delightful food topic for hours, today he wanted to talk about his passion for gravy. This felt like a good idea for this time of year.