Kitchen Chat® – Margaret McSweeney

How special for Chef Jaime Laurita and me to recently interview Alice Waters' daughter, Fanny Singer about her new book, Always Home: A Daughter's Recipes & Stories. This book reflects upon Fanny's childhood memories of life with her parents and of Chez Panisse.

Fanny Singer is an accomplished editor, writer, and co-founder of the design brand Permanent Collection. Singer also earned a PhD.

Fanny explains how art and food are connected by the compulsion to create beauty in one's environment. Completed just before the pandemic, her book, Always Home, imparts an even deeper meaning during the quarantine. Fanny shares stories of her mother's tangible expression of love through creativity. Their relationship exudes joy, a shared respect for sustainability and an insatiable curiosity to keep learning.

Restaurants are the hearts and souls of each community. Comprising 10% of the overall workforce in the U.S. with eleven million employees and adding $1 trillion to the economy, the restaurant industry is an essential player in the economic health and well-being of this country. This industry is feeling the brunt of COVD-19 pandemic, both for the employees and for the restaurateurs, and the effect is even more far reaching as farmers, fishermen, beverage distributors, linen services and other food and service suppliers are impacted. Restaurants are uniting to find solutions to sustain the workforce through this time and strategize on how to effectively navigate the landscape for what the "new normal" of the industry will be going forward.

Chef Carla Hall is a bouquet of sunshine. Her genuine kindness and enthusiasm for cooking are her hallmarks. During this challenging time, we all need a little sunshine and encouragement. Chef Carla Hall shares what she is cooking during the quarantine and has words of comfort from her kitchen. Get inspired to try your hand at baking bread or starting a family cooking night! Join Chef Jaime Laurita and me for this special Kitchen Chat with Chef Carla Hall.

Let's connect in our kitchens! I know this is a difficult time, dear foodie friends. We can all feel a bit disconnected and discouraged. Please know that you are not alone. Please reach out to others in your community.

My dear friend and co-host, Chef Jaime Laurita and I recently had a Kitchen Chat by phone in our respective kitchens. How odd this felt not to actually be in person recording. Just a few weeks ago, we were celebrating on the red carpet in Los Angeles as Kitchen Chat was inducted into the Taste Awards Hall of Fame. Life can change so quickly. Yet connecting and celebrating are still important hallmarks of humanity, even though it might temporarily be in a different way.

Both Jaime and I had separate "Shelter in Place" birthday celebrations a week apart. Thank you for the many birthday wishes that you sent my way via social media.

Julia Child always had that special "joie de vivre." I so wish that I had met her. Through Kitchen Chat, however, I have been able to get to know her through the stories and anecdotes shared by our guests.

"Riding in Cars with Julia Child" will be the first in this special series. It features three wonderful chefs: Jim Dodge, Dorie Greenspan and Sanford D'Amato, each with a unique experience of riding in a car with Julia.

Join me on a delicious and healthy journey with Deepa Thomas, author of Deepa's Secrets. As Deepa says, "It's not rocket science that we are what we eat." As many of you know, I am a five year breast cancer survivor and have been trying to embrace a healthier lifestyle. However, the constant challenge is trying to find the balance of delicious and nutritious. Deepa's kitchen chat has literally changed my life. Her recipes empower and nourish and will expand your global palate and help satiate the spirit and the stomach.

Join Cowboy Kent Rollins and his wife Shannon on the chuckwagon trail as they share recipes for life, love and delicious meals in the new book Faith, Family & The Feast: Recipes to Feed Your Crew from the Grill, Garden and Iron Skillet. Kent's parents taught him an important lesson at a young age; "Faith, love, and food will get you through anything in life that might happen to you."

The plant-based lifestyle is quite trendy these days; however it's now a way of life for me. After an unexpected detour in my health, I began this green journey and am grateful for Robin Asbell and Chef Dave Choi for being my GPS. Whether or not you are fully making the change to plant-based or just adding a little more plants to your plate, Robin Asbell has some delicious dishes for you.

In her new book, Vegan Meal Prep, A 5 week program with 125 ready to go recipes, Robin provides a roadmap of recipes for your journey. Robin takes the mystery out of determining proper proteins and helps restructure your weekly approach to food prep.

Once you understand the basics of vegan meal prep, eating whole plant based foods will be easy. Beans, grain, nuts, greens, and roasted veggies can be easily and flavorfully adapted to any type of cuisine.

Vegan Meal Prep by Robin Asbell © 2019 www.robertrose.ca. Available where books are sold.

What is your favorite plant-based dish?

Savor the day!

Are you ready to keep it simple in the kitchen? Yasmin Fahr, author of Keeping it Simple will inspire and encourage you on today's Kitchen Chat. Yasmin is a food writer and recipe developer featured in Serious Eats, The Kitchen, Epicurious, Taste, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine and The Los Angeles Times. Her new book will build your culinary foundation and will provide a more organized approach for cooking.

Yasmin has curated over 60 easy weeknight one-pot recipes. These "one-pot wonders" will provide less stress and less mess in your kitchen. How does charred corn, avocado and feta salad with pan-seared fish and mushrooms and ricotta toast sound?

Come into my kitchen and join Yasmin and me for a delicious plate of inspiration.

Recipes excerpted with permission from Keeping It Simple by Yasmin Fahr, published by Hardie Grant Books February 2020, RRP $24.99. Flexibound.

Make holiday entertaining a little easier with tips from Rachael Hollis and Food Network's Michelle Buffardi. Rachel Hollis, celebrity event planner, entrepreneur and founder of www.thechicsite.com, and Hollis Co shares hacks for the hostess from her book Upscale Downhome. With clients including Bradley Cooper and many other stars, Rachel will help you make your guests feel like VIPs without breaking your budget. Michelle Buffardi shares tips from her book Great Balls of Cheese, giving us a new look at a holiday tradition. New flavor profiles and creative crafting will make your holiday cheese ball the star of table.