Several weeks ago, Juan welcomed me into his chic, beautiful coffee shop, La Coop Coffee in Northwest DC. (I was there to take photos for the episode with Andy Anderson, curator of the hugely popular accounts @humansofcoffee and @manmakecoffee on Instagram.)

Juan invited me back to the roasting room, and as he taught me how to tell a lightly roasted bean from a dark simply by listening to the beans, he also began telling me the extraordinary story of his life. I asked question after question about his journey - always taking the road less traveled, always taking the difficult and risky path.

At 12, when his classmates had completed their education and were beginning to contemplate marriage, Juan begged for the opportunity to leave his father’s coffee farm at 2am every Sunday night to travel over a rushing river and two mountain tops to school. From that first difficult choice, with his parent’s unfailing support, Juan won a coveted spot in a school for agronomists.

After that, he returned to his region to affect change - not only as an agronomist but as an entrepreneur. Juan, and the 30 brave farmers who risked everything to try his plan, founded the ONLY coffee cooperative in Guatemala that is financed and led by Guatemalans.

Leading with transparency and sacrifice, Juan never took a salary from the cooperative, although he found a way to provide insurance, disaster relief, loan assistance, and grew the profits of the farmers over 40%.

Most recently, he came with his American wife to the States, learned English, and followed a new dream: to open a coffee shop selling cups made from the beans grown on his father’s farm. When I got home that evening, I gathered my family, sat them down, and told them they had to hear his story right away - and now, I’m equally excited to share Juan’s story with you.

Instagram: @lacoopcoffee

Website: www.lacoopcoffee.com

Lenka is not one to shy away from BIG changes.

After spending over a decade earning a PhD (with highest honors) in neuroscience, Lenka decided to pursue a career centered around her love of food. But this wasn't the first time Lenka calmly made a big change.

After high school, Lenka left her home country of Germany for Barcelona, just to try something new and maybe to enjoy living near beaches for once. 17 years later, she still resides in Spain with her partner and 2 children.

As easily as she makes big life decisions, Lenka says she struggles with the little decisions - like the perfect place to eat on a day off. That’s how after a neuroscience conference in Florence, Lenka (a vegetarian at the time) accidentally found herself in a little restaurant that served only intestines. She chose the one dish on the menu that was vegetarian, and today she’s sharing that recipe with us, not only because it is delicious, but also because it’s a sort of intersection point between these three themes in her life: travel, neuroscience, and food.

Instagram: @lenkas_lens

Website: www.lenkaslens.com

Between when Haniyeh and I chatted in July and today's release date (October 6th), she has moved with her husband and small daughter to Berlin, Germany. When she left Iran a decade ago, she thought she was going abroad for a year. The plan was to earn a Masters in Photography in Strasburg, France, then to return to her homeland. Instead, she fell in love, married, and moved 6 times over the following 10 years - and when she looks at the facts, she knows it is not her destiny to settle anytime soon. All this moving, adjusting, and learning new languages has given Haniyeh a strength and perspective that few of us can claim. Most significantly for me personally, Haniyeh challenges me to reconsider and redefine the word “home”. For Haniyeh, home is a collection of mindfully chosen things, both immaterial and material. And of course, I’m sure you won’t be surprised to hear that food holds a significant role in this curation, including the smoked eggplant dish she discusses from the place of her happiest memories, the North of Iran.

Instagram: @haniyeh.nikoo

Website: www.haniyehnikoo.com

All together, the Instagram accounts curated by Andy Anderson boast an audience of well over a quarter-million followers.

As a food photographer, I was introduced to his most popular accounts @manmakecoffee and @humansofcoffee via the account @foodfluffer, whose bio quite simply states: “the most beautiful food in the world”. I happen to agree with Andy’s assessment of his curation and have looked to this account time and again for inspiration.

The more I looked at the accounts Andy curates (but never shows up on himself, either in person or with his own work), the more I wondered - “Who IS this guy?”

Through this remarkably vulnerable interview, Andy Anderson, a South African born resident of Dubai, reveals himself to be highly introspective and so much interesting and inspiring than he gives himself credit for.

Andy is a humble and generous introvert who deeply loves his wife and children. He is driven by a passion for bettering the lives of others through coffee. And just like his remarkable mother, Andy has a gift for spreading happiness through beauty and helping us reassess what’s most important.

On Instagram: Andy Anderson

On Twitter: @manmakecoffee

On Instagram: Kaldi App: An app to find the best coffee shops in the world.

On Instagram: @manmakecoffee

On Instagram: @humansofcoffee

On Instagram: @foodfluffer

As many of you know, I lost my Facebook and Instagram accounts two months ago, in July 2020. They have not been recovered. You can hear all about that hack in this episode: The ISIS Flag Hack.

Shortly after that episode, I started to question the words that I was using to describe the hack: "I lost everything. I had to start over." Considering the community that rallied around me, I certainly had not "lost everything"! I wanted to really question what the numbers on Instagram truly give us. So, I committed to journaling my return to Instagram with a fresh, new account. I told everyone that I would journal in an attempt to answer 2 questions: "What did I lose?" and "What did I GAIN from this hack?" Today, I'm answering that question to the very, very best of my ability.

Today, I’m so pleased to introduce you to Karishma, an Indian-born woman who relocated to Australia when she married, 2 years ago. Today, Karishma is teaching us about halva, a Indian sweet served at celebration times, made from whole wheat flour, ghee, and simple sugar water. Although the ingredients are simple, the process is not, but Karishma’s grandmother, who cooked many years for a household of 20 people, perfected this recipe in a way Karishma believes very few have perfected it. Karishma’s grandmother often brought this dish to the temple as an offering, where others would receive it and bring it home as a symbol that “no one who seeks blessing will leave empty-handed.” Now, to Karishma, Halva is an embodiment of nostalgia and the love of her grandmother, and like her grandmother, Karishma now makes the dish in large quantities not only for celebrations, but whenever she or her family crave it.

Instagram: @food.rumblings

"You never know until you try.” These are the words Britney’s grandmother used to coax Britney into eating her veggies. And after hearing Britney’s story I wonder - did Nanny know that these words would change her life, that they would become her mantra? I’m not sure. But “Just try” has lead Britney to many of her best experiences - learning piano, then bassoon, finally adding in the cello. Britney’s been to 33 countries, sampled many new cuisines, and most of all learned to live with a curiosity and fearlessness that many of us may envy. Britney’s “why not” attitude led her to begin her blog, titled “Britney Breaks Bread” (also an nod to her grandfather, as we’ll hear) and today, she’s sharing with us a hugely popular dessert from that blog - Apricot Cream Tart with a decadent caramel cookie base. 

Website: www.britneybreaksbread.com

Instagram: @britneybreaksbread

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/britneybreaksbread

When Yessica left her home country of Venezuela forever and arrived in Holland (the same country, funny enough, that her mother always dreamed of living), there was one thing she had to do first - find the correct cornflour to make Arepas. As Yessica’s candid speaking style made me laugh out loud over and over, she also taught me about the recent history and struggles in Venezuela and how she has leveraged - one step at a time - a job at her local McDonalds into a graphic design career, a paid education at some of the finest culinary institutions in the world, and finally settled in as a freelance food photographer with her own studio. I’m so honored to introduce you to Yessica Duques!

Website: www.yessicaduque.com

IG: instagram/yessica_duque_photography

There’s a surprise to every interview, and what I didn’t expect from this one was to be so smitten by the beautiful love story of Helen and Billie's (the sisters who blog at Mia Kouppa) parents. Today we meet a courageous, trailblazing woman who made a path in Canada, then returned to Greece to marry a man who knits, gardens, shops, and loved his wife so much, every day for 10 years, he left his job at a factory to join her at her job, so she could finish more quickly and return home with him. And what did they do when they returned home together? Why, they cooked, of course. Their story may be humble, but just like their food, it will nourish and uplift your soul.

Before I knew their parent's story, I was itching to know the Mia Kouppa ladies for a while. There’s a lot to appreciate about sisters Helen and Billie. They are warm, friendly, and funny ( and on that note: I highly recommend the opening paragraph to their post on today’s recipe, for Stewed green peas) and they blog with a mission: They take the delicious, healthy, flavorful simple Greek dishes of their parents generation, which have only ever been measured in relation to “Mia Kouppa” - a coffee cup in a cupboard - and translate them to actual recipes, with measurements the rest of us can use and replicate. 

Website/Blog: www.miakouppa.com

Facebook: facebook.com/miakouppa/

Instagram: @miakouppa

Twitter: https://twitter.com/miakouppa

YouTube: Mia Kouppa on YouTube

Pinterest: Pinterest.com/miakouppa/

What can a wildly successful strength and fitness coach, who has helped tens of thousands of people lose fat, bring to a podcast all about a love and reverence for food? A lot of common ground, it turns out.

Starting with a story about eating Shakshouka during a hike in the Negev Desert, Jordan Syatt shares about the approach to food, life, and family in the home of his heart, Israel, as well as his home of origin, in Boston.

He tells us how the experiences and challenges in both places led him to so much success in his current calling, and so much focus and clarity in what he wants next in his life.

Finally, we discuss how American culture forces a conflict between loving food on the one hand and being healthy on the other hand, and Jordan helps us understand how to reconcile and resolve that conflict - how we can love food, keep our bodies healthy, and most importantly, forge bonds while doing both. 

Instagram: @syattfitness

YouTube: Jordan Syatt on YouTube

Website: https://jordansyatt.com/

Twitter: Jordan Syatt on Twitter