When you think of Valentine’s Day, you think of cows, right? You will after our conversation with chocolatier Kimberly Thorn, co-owner of Thorncrest Farm in Goshen. We talk with Kimberly about her very pampered cows and her amazing palate. Plus, we share a few favorite romantic restaurants, take you to one of the state’s newest vineyards, and talk to Southington chocolate maker Rosie Mariano about hot cocoa bombs.

Join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and email at [email protected].

Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski produced this show. It originally aired on February 10, 2021.

Guests:

• Kimberly Thorn – Farmer and chocolatier at Thorncrest Farm and Milk House Chocolates in Goshen, Conn.
• Neviana Zhgaba – Co-Owner of Aquila’s Nest Vineyard in Newtown, Conn.
• Rosie Mariano – Owner and chocolatier at Rosie’s Royal Chocolates in the Factory Square Building in Southington, Conn.

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We spend the hour with Michelle Tam, the cook and content creator behind Nom Nom Paleo. Michelle has degrees in nutrition and food science, and even though she has a doctorate in pharmacy, you won’t find strict prescriptions in her approach to paleo cooking and eating. She and her husband Henry Fong just published their third cookbook, Nom Nom Paleo Let’s Go! Simple Feasts + Healthy Eats. Michelle explains her paleo approach to eating and cooking and walks us through the ways she’s adapted everything from bread and pizza to dumplings.

This show was produced by Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski.

Guest:
Michelle Tam - James Beard Award-nominated creator of Nom Nom Paleo, a website and cooking app. She and her husband Henry Fong are the authors of three cookbooks. Their latest is Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! Simple Feasts + Healthy Eats.

Featured Recipes:
Paleo Pot Stickers
Instant Pot Duck Carnitas
Wonton Meatballs

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We’re in the mood for love this week on Seasoned. Ned and Ariel Fulmer, the husband-and-wife team behind The Date Night Cookbook, join us for this live episode. They talk us through recipes for every stage of a relationship from spicy cocktails to their Netflix and Chili recipe. And, listeners shout out their favorite romantic restaurants in the state.

This show was produced by Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski.

Guests:
Ned and Ariel Fulmer are the content creators behind the online cooking video series Date Night. The Date Night Cookbook is their first book together.

Featured Recipes:
Sage Butter Roast Chicken
Netflix and Chili
Chocolate Soufflé

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The Sun Wine & Food Fest, held at Mohegan Sun, is just around the corner. This week on Seasoned, we preview the foodie event with two featured chefs: Rocco DiSpirito and Adam Young of Sift Bake Shop in Mystic. We talk with Rocco about the 20th anniversary of his first cookbook, why cooking for yourself is an act of kindness, and reminisce about his earliest cooking influences. Then, we talk with Adam about his passion for baking, and get tips for making crème brûlée at home. Chef Plum’s ingenious hack involves ice cream.

This show was produced by Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski.

Guests:

• Rocco DiSpirito – James Beard Award-winning chef, frequent host and guest of several TV cooking shows, and the author of 13 books about cooking and wellness. His latest cookbook is Rocco’s Keto Comfort Food Diet.
• Adam Young – Chef/owner of Sift Bake Shop, Mix and Young Buns Doughnuts in Mystic, Connecticut. Author of Adam Young’s Sift Cookbook.

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We talk with a food scientist Julian McClements about what we might eat in the future. Think: tastier, healthier versions of plant-based eggs, seafood, and meat. And fun stuff too, like 3-D printed meat. Plus, we learn about meat grown from the cells of animals still mooing and clucking at the farm. COO Amy Chen of Upside Foods in California joins us. We also talk with Chase Purdy, author of Billion Dollar Burger: Inside Big Tech’s Race for the Future of Food. And, Chef Plum experiments with grasshoppers and bakes a batch of gluten-free chocolate chip cookies with green banana flour.

This show was produced by Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski.

Guests:

• Julian McClements, Ph.D - Distinguished Professor at the Department of Food Science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is the author of Future Foods: How Modern Science is Transforming the Way We Eat.
• Amy Chen – COO Upside Foods, a food technology company in Berkeley, CA.
• Chase Purdy – New York-based writer and author of Billion Dollar Burger: Inside Big Tech’s Race for the Future of Food.

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Joanne Lee Molinaro is a content creator and writer known as “The Korean Vegan.” She’s been sharing stories about food, family, and culture since she started a blog in 2016. Her TikTok videos exploded in 2020. Her first cookbook is a New York Times bestseller, and it’s called The Korean Vegan Cookbook: Reflections and Recipes from Omma’s Kitchen. Joanne talks with us about her how her family’s immigrant experience influences her work and her journey from lawyer to content creator to cookbook author.

This show was produced by Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski.

Guest:
Joanne Lee Molinaro – Content creator and author of The Korean Vegan Cookbook: Reflections and Recipes from Omma’s Kitchen

Featured Recipes:
Omma’s Korean BBQ Sauce
Mushroom Bulgogi (카레떡꼬치 Grilled Steak)
Pecan Paht Pie (피칸팥파이 Sweet Red Bean)

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Lots of you will be popping corks and drinking something bubbly on New Year's Eve. But, how much do you actually know about Champagne and sparkling wine? This week on Seasoned, we’re live with wine expert Zachary Sussman. He’s the author of the new book, Sparkling Wine for Modern Times. Plus, professional bartender Chelsea Solkowski shares ideas for festive sparkling cocktails to sip while you’re waiting for the ball to drop. She’s the bar manager and bartender at The Charles in Old Wethersfield.

This show was produced by Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski with help from Meg Fitzgerald.

Guests:

• Zachary Sussman – Author of Sparkling Wines for Modern Times: A Drinker’s Guide to the Freewheeling World of Bubbles
• Chelsea Solkowski – Bar manager and bartender at The Charles in Old Wethersfield, Conn.

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

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We’ve talked to some wonderful people in the food world this past year. This week, we’re listening back to some of our favorite conversations from 2021. We got lots of baking tips from Vallery Lomas and we revisit our time at The Beardsley Zoo, where we learned so much from zoo educators about what the animals in their care eat. Plus, we’re sharing the inspiring conversation about foraging we had with Connecticut chef Bun Lai.

This show was produced by Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski.

Guests:

• Vallery Lomas – Author of Life is What You Bake It (@foodieinnewyork)
• Chrissy Shore – Zoo educator at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, Bridgeport, Conn.
• Jim Knox – Curator of education at Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, Conn.
• Chef Bun Lai – Chef and pioneer of the sustainable food movement. Host of culinary and educational experiences at Miya’s in the Woods in Woodbridge, Conn. Learn more about Bun Lai's journey by watching the documentary, Little Fish, by Edward Columbia.

Featured Recipe: Olive Oil-Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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What gadgets, treats, spirits, and kitchen crafts do you have on your wish list this year?

This week on Seasoned, we talk about the kitchen gadgets that end up in every cook’s stocking. James Hines, co-owner of Cookshop Plus in West Hartford, tells us what’s flying off the shelves right now and what local, highly giftable items he loves. And Emma Wartzman, writer at The Strategist shares her top gifts. We also talk to local folks who make handmade things we think anyone would be proud to give and happy to receive: beautiful cutting boards and wooden spoons, beer-infused brownies and blondies, and Poire Prisonniere, a pear brandy distilled in Ashford, Connecticut. There’s a sweet green Bartlett pear floating in the bottle.

This show was produced by Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski.

Guests:

• James Hines – Co-owner of Cookshop Plus in West Hartford, Conn.
• Emma Wartzman – Kitchen and dining writer at New York magazine’s The Strategist. Co-author of “35 Best Gifts for Every Type of Home Cook”
• Steve Yopp – Owner of Timbercraft Designs in Bristol, Conn.
• Stephania Halverson and Jessica Oen – Co-owners of The Drunk Alpaca (mobile)
• Louis Chatey – Co-owner of Westford Hills Distilling in Ashford, Conn.

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Author and activist Bryant Terry has curated a book unlike his previous cookbooks. It’s called Black Food. It’s a deep dive into Black culture: art, essays, history, poems, and recipes, of course. This week on Seasoned, a conversation with the always-inspiring chef and creative force, Bryant Terry. We also talk with the book’s designer, George McCalman about his experience crafting the book.

This show was produced by Robyn Doyon-Aitken and Catie Talarski.

Guests:

• Bryant Terry – James Beard Award-winning chef, educator, and food justice activist. He is the Chef-in-Residence at the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco (MoAD). He is the author of several cookbooks. His latest book is Black Food: Stories, Art & Recipes From Across the African Diaspora. Bryant is the editor and curator of the collection.
• George McCalman – Artist and creative director based in San Francisco. George is the designer of Black Food. In 2022, you can see more of his beautiful work in the forthcoming, Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and the Unseen.

Featured Recipes:
Cocoa-Orange Fish by Nicole Taylor
Jerk Chicken Ramen by Suzanne Barr

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