Here’s the story: The culinary world imagined by Churchill is full of closely guarded recipes and secrets that can create powerful spells. We are taken inside the Brindille School of Culinary Arts and Magic where we are enchanted by magic, mystery…and recipes.

About the author: Marisa Churchill (an award-winning pastry chef) was a contestant on Top Chef (Season 2), constructed the city of San Francisco out of Rice Krispies and chocolate for the Food Network’s Edible Cities Challenge, and hosted her own cooking show in Greece. marisachurchill.com

Good Fortune Cookies: marisachurchill.com/good-fortune-cookies/

The Edible Cities Challenge: https://teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2025/12/10/where-recipe-meets-magic-a-guest-post-by-marisa-churchill/

Coupe du Monde de la Patisserie: cmpatisserie.com/en

and facebook.com/CoupeMondePatisserie/videos/1807091213369633/

Churchill will be at Tattered Cover Tattered in Denver on February 1st.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/marisa-churchill-with-allison-wagner-live-at-tattered-cover-colfax-tickets-1979361734230

Request from Irene Rawlings: If you enjoyed this podcast, please tell your friends. And send me an email. I’d love to hear from you. [email protected]

I don’t normally interview business leaders. There are plenty of podcasts that do.

But…

I was introduced to Garry Ridge by a mutual friend who said I’d love reading his new book—Any Dumb-Ass Can Do It. I was intrigued, read the book and could hardly wait to talk with Garry.

It did not hurt that Garry had served as CEO of the WD-40 Company for 25 and made it a household brand. I mean everyone knows WD-40 now. I also learned that he served on the board of Gorilla Glue.

Why am I so impressed by this?

I think you all know that I’m a member of Sisters on the Fly, the largest women’s group in the U.S. and Canada focusing on camping, fishing, riding horses, buying vintage trailers, and other outdoor activities. There are more than 26,000 members. And NONE of us (truly) leaves home without a good supply of WD-40, Gorilla Glue and bailing wire.

Forbes says: The book is part leadership playbook, part personal reflection, and all heart.  And I agree. Totally.

For more about Garry’s book: https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Garry-Ridge/

Or look on Amazon

For more about The Learning Moment:  https://thelearningmoment.net/

For more on Ken Blanchard: https://www.kenblanchardbooks.com/kens-bio/

The Inn Crowd: Artistic Getaways and The Modern Innkeepers who Crafted Them is a gorgeous coffee table book—written and photographed by the incomparable Jackie Caradonio. Each of the images gives us a privileged peek into more than 20 unique and stylish inns. The accompanying stories describe each of the innkeepers, every one passionate about creating memorable experiences in a beautiful setting—from quaint escapes to luxurious retreats.

For more about The Inn Crowd: phaidon.com

For more about Jackie Caradonio: jackiecaradonio.com

As dusk descends on Christmas Eve, my family gathers to hear a recording of Dylan Thomas reading, A Child’s Christmas in Wales. His baritone transports us—though time and across distance—to his childhood Christmases in Swansea, Wales.

It gives me great pleasure to share my story with you.

Thank you for listening and supporting my podcast.

I wish you an abundance of peace and joy in 2026.

You can see photos and read more of my story at Everett Potter’s Travel Report

https://www.everettpotter.com/2024/12/a-childs-christmas-in-wales/

More information about Swansea: visitswanseabay.com

More information about Dylan Thomas’ birthplace: dylanthomasbirthplace.com

More information about Laugharne: visitwales.com

To hear Dylan Thomas read: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFSs2IdDmuU

I am thrilled to talk with Don George. National Geographic calls him “a legendary travel writer and editor.” And he certainly is. He’s also the author of How to Be a Travel Writer and the founder of the annual (in August) Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference held in Corte Madera, California. It is a great conference for beginning travel writers to meet editors and for veteran travel writers to catch up with old friends.

Here are links for more information about topics we talked about in the podcast.

Geographic Expeditions trips lead by Don George:

Journey Through Ancient Japan (Kyoto and Shikoku): https://www.geoex.com/trips/japan-ancient-journey

Unexplored Japan: https://www.geoex.com/trips/japan-unexplored

Unexplored Greece: https://www.geoex.com/trips/unexplored-greece

Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference: https://www.bookpassage.com/travel

Lonely Planet's How to Be a Travel Writer: https://www.amazon.com/How-Travel-Writer-Lonely-Planet/dp/1786578662

The Way of Wanderlust: The Best Travel Writing of Don George!

 https://www.amazon.com/Way-Wanderlust-Travel-Writing-Travelers/dp/1609521056

Don George’s facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/don.george.travels/

For questions about travel, travel writing, Don George’s Paris Writing Workshops and anything else:[email protected]

It all happens at Gaylord Rockies Resort—now through January 2, 2026. The sugarplum dreams of childhood rolled into one.

Andrea Lawley, Public Relations Manager at the Gaylord Rockies Resort—joins us to talk about Christmas at Gaylord Rockies. Always magical. Always fun.

ICE! Christmas is an immersive experience…much anticipated every year. The resort’s signature 17,000-square-foot attraction carved from more than 2 million pounds of ice by 30 master artisans from Harbin, China. Hand-carved icy scenes from Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! complete with interactive slides, tunnels, and the iconic moment when the Grinch’s heart grows three sizes. The event also features a life-sized gingerbread cabin, Candy Cane Mountain snow tubing, the Gumdrop Gliders Ice-Puck Challenge, and the popular Mistletoe Village.

For more information: ChristmasatGaylordRockies.com

Discounts for AAA/CAA members, seniors, teachers, first responders, and Colorado residents. 

Stranahan's Whiskey Distillery & Cocktail Bar is having a big party—Stranahan’s Snowflake Village Festival—December 5th and December 6th to celebrate the release of Snowflake 2025. The party is at the distillery in Denver. (200 S. Kalamath Street).

Hundreds of Strana-fans from across the country come to Denver for this event. They camp outside at the distillery to secure a bottle of the coveted Snowflake whiskey—released on Saturday morning and sells out in just hours. It may be cold outside but there are food trucks, bands and DJs, dancing, and whiskey tastings, of course.

If you are listening to this podcast after Saturday, December 6th, this year’s party is over. You’ll want to mark your calendar for the first week of December 2026.

But you can always stop by Stranahan’s for a distillery tour, a cocktail in the cocktail bar and (for sure) sign up to be part of the volunteer bottling crew. This is such a cool thing. You work on the bottling line, have a nice lunch and get to take a bottle home as payment for your labors. Nice deal, no? Happens a few times a month. There is a waiting list.

We talk today with Justin Aden, Head Blender at Stranahan’s American Single Malt Whiskey who tells us how whiskey is made and how to drink it. Turns out there are no rules on how to drink it—with ice, with water, with soda, in a cocktail or just straight up.

For more information: stranahans.com

The lowly apron is making a comeback.

The Guardian (British daily newspaper) notes: Emma Corrin wore a pink apron to a recent premiere, while Richard E Grant looked like a kinky fishmonger in a leather apron on the Miu Miu catwalk. Everyone on The Bear wears aprons. Younger generations have embraced the Cottagecore aesthetic—gardening, bee keeping, pie baking—and that usually involves wearing an apron.

Best-selling author of The Apron Book and ultimate apron collector, EllynAnne Geisel (she’s an apron archaeologist), chats with us about aprons. She’s collected more than 600 aprons and says that each one tells a story about the woman who wore it.

And…she’s created Tie One On Day, a national holiday for the day before Thanksgiving. https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/national-day/national-tie-one-on-day-day-before-thanksgiving

Connect with EllynAnne @ellynanne_apronluv or https://www.facebook.com/ellynanne/

I wrote a piece about EllynAnne for The Saturday Evening Post. Here is a link: https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2023/11/aprons-the-ties-that-bind/

Beloved chef Jacques Pepin joins us. He’s 90 and still cooking up a storm. And he has a gorgeous new cookbook THE ART OF JACQUES PEPIN—full of his favorite recipes and his own artwork. He likes to paint chickens…and to cook chickens and eggs. When asked “Which came first…the chicken or the egg?” He doesn’t hesitate. “The egg, of course.”

We caught up with him in his kitchen. He was sitting in front of a wall of pots and pans—all different sizes and shapes. There must have been 30.

As a young man in the French Navy, Jacques was chef to three French presidents, including the formidable Charles de Gaulle. What did de Gaulle like to eat. Simple food…like chicken.

Toward the end of my chat with Jacques, I wished him a happy birthday. He thanked me and said “I wish I were 80 again.” 

You can catch up with him and follow his easy recipes (in and out of the kitchen in 15 minutes of less). Especially his “budget Tuesdays” posts.

On facebook. https://www.facebook.com/jacquespepinfoundation/

To see Pepin’s art:  https://jacquespepinart.com/

Recipes written on tombstones. Who knew this was even a thing?

Most headstones list names and dates, in rare cases they include something much more personal: beloved family recipes permanently etched in stone.

Rosie Grant traveled the world to research and write a cookbook full of culinary epitaphs from across the globe—spritz cookies from Brooklyn, chicken casserole from Wisconsin, tea biscuits from Nova Scotia, fudge from Salt Lake City, meatloaf from Texas….

The list goes on—40 recipes--from soup (from Buffalo, New York) to nut rolls (from Israel).

On this journey, Rosie discovered that food is a love language and that memories of meals shared as a family are passed down through generations.

Just in time for the holiday season, TO DIE FOR invites us to gather round the table, celebrate the legacies that live on in family recipes and to ask ourselves the question at the heart of it all: If you could be remembered through just one dish, what would it be?

Check out Rosie’s popular @Ghostly.Archives on Instagram