Podcast appearances and mentions of judith fertig

Diet, nutrition and lifestyle are imperative components of a cancer journey, from diagnosis to treatment and survivorship care. Breast cancer survivor and author Barb Unell learned this firsthand after her own cancer diagnosis and treatment, and inspired by her experience, she founded Back in the Swing - a grassroots, non-profit organization with a mission to increase access to personalized, comprehensive clinical breast cancer survivorship health care, education, and medical research. Along with co-author Judith Fertig, they published the Back in the Swing Cookbook in 2013, filled with delicious healthy recipes, as well as evidence-based research in nutrition, exercise and holistic care from cancer experts across the nation. On today's episode, we invited Barb and Judith to join several of the cookbook's expert contributors from KU Cancer Center including Dr. Jennifer Klemp, Dr. Lauren Nye and Lori Ranallo, APRN, to discuss the 10th anniversary edition of the Back in the Swing Cookbook, the evolution of survivorship care and education, and how nutrition and lifestyle changes can affect your lifelong health. Links from this Episode:  Learn more about the Back in the Swing Cookbook Follow Back in the Swing on Facebook Learn more about survivorship care at KU Cancer Center  

ColombianaBy Mariana Velásquez Intro: Welcome to the number one cookbook podcast, Cookery by the Book with Suzy Chase. She's just a home cook in New York City sitting at her dining room table, talking to cookbook authors.Mariana Velásquez: Hello, my name is Mariana Velásquez and my most recent cookbook is called Colombiana. A rediscovery of recipes and rituals from the soul of Colombia.Suzy Chase: You're a James Beard award-winning recipe developer, a food stylist and native of Bogotá. This is your first cookbook devoted solely to Colombian food. Could you please read the author's note on page 295?Mariana Velásquez: This manuscript was submitted to Harper Collins on April 7th, 2020 during the first COVID 19 lockdown from our home in South Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York. More than ever, cooking has become a source of comfort and care, learning to cope with uncertainty certainly gave me the courage to write from a more personal place. Seclusion even inspired my husband Diego to cook by following recipes for the very first time. A newly found appreciation for the essential beauty and gifts of everyday, illuminates these pages. The vision of going on a 10 day road trip, from Bogatá to Cartagena, to photograph, the places food and people transformed, into shooting the book entirely in Brooklyn, due to a pandemic. Creative challenges can bring unexpected results. It is my wish, that these recipes give you as much comfort and joy as they gave us. Hopefully in brighter times.Suzy Chase: Creative challenges can bring unexpected results. You wrote this exactly a year ago.Mariana Velásquez: It's crazy to I mean, think about it, you know, to think how as a first time, as an adult to not know, you know, to not know know was going to happen next, nobody knew, you know, and so it was very raw and real and scary at the time.Suzy Chase: That was the worst part that you couldn't call anyone and say, Hey, what's going on? No one knew.Mariana Velásquez: Yeah, no one knew. I kept hoping somebody would know (laughs) ;and I kept hoping a wise friend would have some insights.Suzy Chase: Yeah, I kept asking my husband every night. He's really smart. And I kept saying, Bob, okay, what's going on? And he'd say, I don't know. I'm like, no! You have to know, this is awful.Mariana Velásquez: Oh my god, yeah.Suzy Chase: So what is one unexpected thing that came out of this cookbook?Mariana Velásquez: You know, the vision was to go to Colombia and photograph, and tell these stories of women who are essentially the carriers of our culinary traditions. And on these road trips that we had planned, I had already found incredible makers and cooks and chefs and we couldn't visit them. And so I thought, how about we find women here in New York who are Colombian, who tell this story of our country, through their food and celebrate them. And that was really unexpected, because I had such a different vision and a completely different plan. And that was a great gift because, it's the Colombiana's who are here and their story and, and what they share. So that was very special to me.Suzy Chase: I couldn't do this interview without asking about Aura Salcedo...Mariana Velásquez: Yes. Oh my gosh.Mariana Velásquez: She, Aura, has been with me, accompanying me, testing recipes, cooking up a storm with me every time, teaching me all of her tricks and Sazón and the way that she cooks is so it's so authentic. It's so real. There's no fuss. You know, she cuts up a plantain in the fastest way. She knows when are you guys in the perfect place to multitask. Like no one else. Yeah. That was incredible. And is, you know, I continue to work with her often.Suzy Chase: It's your first cooking job in America and you cook eggs and potatoes at the same time, in one pot, when the chef yells, who did this? Take me back to that moment.Mariana Velásquez: So can you imagine, I'm 17 years old in this very, very high-end kitchen and there's a million pots boiling over, there were port reductions and broths and soups, everything was being made. And it was kind of, I don't know, maybe 45 minutes before service began. And the chef ordered me to make the accompaniments for the caviar, which were these beautiful new potatoes and some hard-boiled eggs, that then you would separate the white from the yolk and pass them through a very fine strainer. So they would become powder. And my grandmother always cooked the potatoes and the eggs in the same pot, (laughs) because she was a very practical woman. She was a great cook and there was no need to dirty up two pots. So I did that, thinking I was being very efficient. And to my surprise, after chef Craig asked me, you know, ask who did this. And I was like, I did. He said, never stop doing it this way. He loved that. It was kind of, I don't know. It made sense to me.Suzy Chase: Imagine if he would have been angry, that would have changed your whole path of cooking.Mariana Velásquez: Completely, completely because it was, you know, it's, it's that thing that you feel it was instinct... Instinctual. That was the word I was looking for. So he celebrated that and I, you know, I'm forever grateful.Suzy Chase: What restaurant was this?Mariana Velásquez: This was Sierra Mar in Big Sur in California, in this beautiful hotel called the Post Ranch Inn. And Suzy, it was a magical place. You know, it was a new menu every day. This is 1999. When the expression "Farm to Table" was not even that, you know, it wasn't even called that, this restaurant had incredible ingredients, locally grown. We had our own garden, this lady would make our bread. Kids would come to the back of the kitchen with backpacks filled with Chanterelles and Morels, that they had foraged. It was really an exquisite first experience in the kitchen.Suzy Chase: So, you learned method and the minutiae that goes into making a recipe trustworthy at Eating Well and Saveur magazines. How is the recipe development in a restaurant, different from recipe development for a food magazine?Mariana Velásquez: Well, for food magazine, it has to be tried and tried and adjusted. And it has to be really exact, you know, it's so disappointing when a magazine publishes something that doesn't work, right? I mean, especially if it's something that you bake and the cake doesn't rise, or it implodes, it's different because you are giving the person instructions without you being there. You know, at a restaurant, things can change. Things can be replaced by ingredients that are in season or each moment that you go to a restaurant. You may have that food, but it's influenced by so many other elements. You know, it doesn't always have to be exactly the same, but when you're doing it for a magazine, it has to be precise. So there's so much more that goes into it specifically because of that. And the way that you explained the recipes and give directions.Suzy Chase: I'm curious about how you use your country as a muse for your cuisine?Mariana Velásquez: So, Colombia is all about color is all about bounty, et cetera, fruits and traditions and music. And for me, cooking is not just cooking, you know, it's everything that goes around it. It's the ritual of the table it's the music you listen to when you invite people over, it's the dress you wear. It's how you decorate your home, and Colombia, because we're a country that's so biodiverse. We have all the climates, we have, we have so much abundance in culture that I take all of that and translate it into my cooking. So, I like to say that more is more but not in excess, but just generosity and flavor.Suzy Chase: From Argentina to the Philippines, to Ecuador, to Colombia, the empanada is the same. You say making empanadas is a simple process. Can you walk me through it?Mariana Velásquez: I think it's all about getting organized. You know, you make your filling and it could be chicken. It could be beef, it could be just cheese. It could be jam. So you have your filling and you make your dough. And the only thing that is a little bit more labor intensive is putting the empanadas together. And that's when I suggest having people over to help you do so, you know, and having an empanada party, kind of like having a dumpling party, one person rolls out the dough. The other person cuts it, everybody helps fill and assemble and you can bake them or deep fry them. And you can have some as you're there and then freeze the rest.Suzy Chase: Okay, that sounds easy. I can do it. If you had to pick a Colombian feast to make and eat forever, what would it be?Mariana Velásquez: I would say the food from the Caribbean Coast because of our Syrian and Lebanese immigrants and the communities that have settled there, and have really taken those flavors and combined them with the local cuisine, with the indigenous food, with the Afro Colombian food. And to me, it's my favorite because imagine it's braised meat and the sweet and savory sauce, sweet plantains in coconut milk, very crisp cucumbers with herbs. I just love it.Suzy Chase: Arepas are corn meal patties that resemble an English muffin that are now widely popular, both in Colombian cuisine and American. Can you talk a little bit about the dough and the fillings?Mariana Velásquez: Yes. So in Colombia arepas are usually only stuffed with cheese, but when we do, we use it as a vessel for butter, for salt, and they accompany other savory foods, uh, arepas are usually in for breakfast. And in the book, I actually give a couple of recipes, one for sweet corn arepas, arepas chocolate, uh, which are my favorite because the corn is very, very sweet. They're yellow and they're delicious. And then I give a recipe using pre cooked masa, which is very quick. And you just add water and form the dough. You can do a little salt, a little oil or a little butter. And then the third option is when you buy the corn, that's been dried and then you cook it and then grind it and form the arepas yourself as well. So different stages, different versions, but arepas are such a common, they're kind of like a unifying factor in Colombia. I was explaining in the book that Colombian cuisine is very, very regional, but arepas is one of those foods that you see across the country. And I really love this poem by a Columbian scholar. And he says, arepas means family, means mom, means Homeland and means history. It means strength. It means perseverance. And that's an excerpt of something he wrote. And I imagine that that's what arepas means in our country. It's all of that.Suzy Chase: Are you familiar with the arepa lady who used to have a cart under the seven train in Jackson Heights?Mariana Velásquez: Yes, Yes, yes. I've read her stories on the papers for years and talk about a Colombiana, a very persevering Colombiana.Suzy Chase: Yes. I wonder what she's doing now. I hope she's doing okay.Mariana Velásquez: I hope so.Suzy Chase: So Colombia is a country with rich biodiversity, as well as cultural diversity. Bogota, where you're from in particular is an epicenter of the diverse food traditions from all over Colombia. What are some of your favorite street foods?Mariana Velásquez: I absolutely love Merengon, which is a meringue like pavlova-ish dessert that you find on, on the roads on the streets and basically the square meringue with cream and strawberries. And it's so simple and so delicious. So, you know, when I go for my hunting for fabric or for flowers in this one neighborhood in Bogota called San Andresito, like little San Andres, they have these roast pork sandwiches that are heavenly, you know, the pork is roasted very slowly and it's a little bit sweet and then they slice it really thin and serve it in these sweet rolls sandwich with kind of like a cucumber relish, but it's delicious. And it always makes me think or fabric hunting in Bogota.Suzy Chase: Over the weekend I made your recipe for smoky lentils with chorizo on page 95.Mariana Velásquez: Yay!Suzy Chase: Lentejas ahumadas con chorizo?Mariana Velásquez: Perfecto!Suzy Chase: What? Really?Mariana Velásquez: Yes!Suzy Chase: So on that recipe, you write lentils tend to be either loved or hated and your husband hates them, which made me laugh.Mariana Velásquez: Yeah, Diego hates them. I have to wait for him to travel, to make lentejas. You know, because it's kind of hard to make, just lentils for yourself. Right. I mean, you kind of have to make a large pot.Suzy Chase: It's a lot..Mariana Velásquez: I also don't want to eat lentils all week so I have to wait for him to be away.Suzy Chase: I'm dying to know why he doesn't like lentils.Mariana Velásquez: He associates them with kind of boring food.Suzy Chase: Mmmm, yeah! So in this recipe I thought the smokiness of the lentils and the saltiness of the chorizo worked so well together.Mariana Velásquez: Oh, thank you. And you know, this was a recipe I really enjoyed putting together because it's that satisfying tastes of the smoke that makes them different and, and really yummy. And they, you know, they're the kind of food where you can invite many people. You can have plenty, it's generous. So I love it.Suzy Chase: Now to my segment called "Last Night's Dinner," where I ask you what you had last night for dinner?Mariana Velásquez: Oh, great. So last night we had friends over and I made roasted cod with asparagus and zucchini and some herbs, not very Colombian at all, but then to start, I made a cold soup. I made, I gazpacho with papaya and tomato, which is in the book. And it was a hit, you know, last night was so warm in New York city that it was a great appetizer.Suzy Chase: You collaborated on more than 20 cookbooks, probably most notably with Michelle Obama. But I noticed that you worked on Red, White, and Que by Karen Adler and Judith Fertig, and I used to be Karen Adler's cookbook publicist at her cookbook publishing house called Pig Out Publications in Kansas City and I credit her with my love of cookbooks, and I actually had them on my podcast to chat about that cookbook.Mariana Velásquez: That's amazing. And, you know, as a stylist, when I have worked with different authors to prepare their food, to style their food, for their book project, I mean, I know how intimate and personal it is, and it must be hard to have someone else make your food for images that will remain forever. It's always kind of like getting, getting to see how they put the recipes together, reading their head notes and plating that food to really honor what they envisioned.Suzy Chase: It's a lovely cookbook and Karen Adler, she's a real trailblazer.Mariana Velásquez: Oh, wow.Suzy Chase: Before we wrap up, I'd love to hear a little bit about your aprons and your podcasts.Mariana Velásquez: So our aprons, you know, I designed them because I wanted to wear something in the kitchen that was utilitarian and appropriate, but also something that made me feel put together and well dressed on set. You know, when you're in photo sets, you're with creatives, you're with the agencies, you're with clients. And so even though you're cooking and, and it's all very real cooking, I wanted something to make me feel organized. And so I designed these aprons many years ago and people always ask, is that an apron? Is that a dress? It's so pretty. It's just like a layer. And you know, it's across back apron that has a longer tail. My husband said, Marie, we should make these aprons. We should sell them. They're beautiful. And everybody always asks. So we started the company about seven years ago, it's called Lumanarium. And it's all about luxury for the kitchen. You know, something special that you wear when you're cooking, when you're working on your florals, when you're gardening. And it's a project that I, that is really dear to my heart. I really enjoy doing them.Suzy Chase: They're really pretty and super feminine.Mariana Velásquez: Yeah.Suzy Chase: And so tell me about your podcast?Mariana Velásquez: So our podcast is called Buenlimon Radio and we do it with heritage radio network. It's their first podcast in Spanish. And our idea was to really tell the stories of the backbone of the kitchens in the U.S you know, the cooks, the dishwashers, you know, the arepa lady, people who really do really hard work and don't really have a voice. Yeah. So when we recorded our podcast in the studio, we would have musical guests over and it was really, really fun, but this is a project that Diego and I have been doing for the last five years now. And we're taking a little break now through the book tour and everything this summer, and maybe we'll start over in the fall.Suzy Chase: Where can we find you on the web and social media?Mariana Velásquez: So, my Instagram is MarianaVelazquezV and lumanarium_ is my apron on Instagram. And through there, you'll find the links to my website, Marianavelasquez.com and our aprons lumanarium.comSuzy Chase: This cookbook teaches us creative challenges can bring unexpected results. Thank you so much Mariana for coming on Cookery by the Book podcast.Mariana Velásquez: Suzy, thank you so much. It was an honor.Outro: Follow Cookery by the Book on Instagram. And thanks for listening to the number one cookbook podcast, Cookery by the Book.

Today we celebrate the man who inspired National Simplicity Day (It's dedicated every July 12th). We'll also learn about the tragic death of a Scottish botanist and prolific plant collector. We celebrate the friendship between Charles Darwin and his mentor. And, we also celebrate a woman who started botanizing late in life, yet made a significant impact on the world of horticulture. In Unearthed Words, we celebrate the fern. By this time in July, you are either loving them or digging them out of your garden. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a grilling guide for gardeners. And then we'll wrap things up with a sweet little story about the botanical name for San Francisco. But first, let's catch up on some Greetings from Gardeners around the world and today's curated news.   Subscribe Apple|Google|Spotify|Stitcher|iHeart   Gardener Greetings Wedding Tulle from Amazon   To participate in the Gardener Greetings segment, send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes and so forth to Jennifer@theDailyGardener.org And, to listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to play The Daily Gardener Podcast. It's that easy.   Curated News I feel as if my garden has finally come of age | Nigel Slater | The Guardian The title of this post definitely caught my eye:  I feel as if my garden has finally come of age.  I thought Nigel did such an excellent job of capturing why he felt that way and what that meant in terms of the evolution of his garden. I wanted to give you a few excerpts that I thought were particularly touching and relatable. "Getting rid of the rectangle of mown grass that passed for a garden was almost the first thing I did when I moved into my new home on a bitterly cold New Year's Day, 20 years ago.  I learned quite quickly that every disaster in the garden is an opportunity in disguise. Then, he writes about how he uses the Chelsea Chop in his garden. This is just a technique where you cut back your perennials to delay bloom time, and you also make the plant a little less leggy. Of late, the garden has settled into a gentle rhythm. Once a year, on a dry spring day shortly after the Chelsea Flower Show, everything gets a serious trim – the "Chelsea Chop" as it is known. Hedges are clipped, topiary is shaped, and overhanging branches of the fig and medlar tree are pruned. A tidy-up that might appeal to the sort of gardener who power-washes their flagstones and scrubs the moss from their pots, but, to me, it feels as if a much-loved and elegantly aging friend has gone in for a round of cosmetic surgery. Not unrecognizable, but slightly cold and distant and, to my mind, a little dishonest. For a couple of weeks a year, the garden doesn't quite feel like mine." I love Nigel's description of how  Chelsea Chopping  his garden makes him feel. It can be tough for gardeners to Chelsea Chop their gardens. New gardeners, especially, will feel a pang of uncertainty as they cut back perfectly good plants for the first time. I know it seems counter-intuitive. I thought it was hilarious that Nigel likens it to a round of cosmetic surgery. Now, I will forever think of the Chelsea Chop through Nigel's eyes.  Finally, I wanted to share Nigel's perspective on his garden today. I found it particularly touching: I would like to say that the garden I have now will probably be my last. Twenty years on from digging up the lawn, I have a space that is more inspirational and restful than I could have ever imagined. I feel the garden has come of age. Yet the space still refuses to stand still. Even now, there are changes afoot. This year I reintroduced the vegetables and sweet peas that I missed so much. Tomatoes and calendulas now grow in huge terracotta pots on the kitchen steps, and there is an entire table of culinary herbs. There are tubs of marigolds and stands of bronze fennel. Next year there may be more. The garden will never be "finished." I have no idea what will happen next. All I know is that there won't ever be a lawn."   July is the month of the lotus in China. This reminded me of a video I shared last year in the Facebook Group for the Show from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, which shows Senior Horticulturist, Pat Clifford, teaching their intern Hazel, how to remove the older leaves of the Giant Water Lily, so the pond does not get overcrowded. Using a pitchfork, Pat carefully folds the giant lily pad first in half, then quarters, and then once more. Then he stabs the large folded pad with the pitchfork, hoists it in the air to let the water drain out, and then flops the beast down on the edge of the pond. The camera zooms in to reveal the most savage thorns that grow on the underside of the lily pad and all down the stem of the plant. It was so surprising to see how vicious the thorns are - rivaling the thorniest rose.   Propagate Pelargoniums Through Cutting If you've never taken cuttings of your pelargoniums before, you will be delighted with the results. Pelargoniums are also known as cranesbills or hardy geraniums. All you need to do is snip off short lengths of your favorite pelargonium, remove any leaves from the lower part of the stem that will get pushed into your growing medium, dip the stem in some rooting powder, and then place it in the pot. Pelargoniums root so quickly - you'll have many new plants in just a few weeks.   Alright, that's it for today's gardening news. Now, if you'd like to check out my curated news articles and blog posts for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There's no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.   Important Events 1817   Today is the birthday of the American essayist and philosopher Henry David Thoreau. An advocate for living a simple life, National Simplicity Day is observed every July 12th in Thoreau's honor. Thoreau said: "Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed. Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders." "Gardening is civil and social, but it wants the vigor and freedom of the forest and the outlaw."   1834   On this day, about a month before his 35th birthday, the Scottish plant explorer David Douglas and his little Scottish terrier named Billy arrived at the northern tip of Hawaii.  After landing, David met up with a man named Ned Gurney. And I know it's hard to imagine, but Gurney actually made his living by trapping feral cattle in large pits. As a young man, Gurney had been convicted of stealing and had been shipped to Australia. But, somehow, he had made his way to Hawaii. It was on this day in 1834 that Gurney's path crossed with Douglas. That morning, Gurney told authorities that he had breakfast with Douglas, gave him directions, and sent him on his way. Tragically, by noon, Douglas's body, along with an angry bull, was found in one of the pits. And sadly, Douglas's dog Billy, who traveled with him on almost all of his expeditions, was sitting there, above the pit, all alone by his master's pack. Today we realize that how Douglas ended up in the pit remains a mystery. We will never know for sure what happened. But, we do know that Douglas was responsible for the identification of over 200 new plant species in North America, including the famous Douglas-fir. Despite his lack of formal training, Douglas sent more plants back to Europe than any other botanist of his time. There is a memorial to Douglas in Honolulu which says: "Here lies Master David Douglas - an indefatigable traveler. He was sent out by the Royal Horticultural Society of London and gave his life for science." And on the second bronze tablet there is a quote by Virgil: "Even here the tear of pity springs, And hearts are touched by human things."   1835  On this day, Charles Darwin wrote a letter to his friend John Stevens Henslow. He wrote: "In a few days' time, the Beagle will sail for the Galapagos Islands. I look forward with joy and interest to this, both as being somewhat nearer to England and for the sake of having a good look at an active volcano." Throughout his life, Darwin exchanged many letters with Henslow, who was a professor of Botany and Mineralogy at Cambridge University. His correspondence was a powerful influence on Darwin, shaping his thinking about the natural world. When they were young men, Henslow and Darwin had walked the Cambridgeshire countryside together. Their walks inspired Darwin to study the natural world and to travel. And, it was thanks to Henslow that Darwin received the invitation to join captain Robert FitzRoy on the HMS Beagle. Henslow had recommended Darwin for the journey because of his likable personality. Once Darwin was officially part of team Beagle, Henslow gave him a gift, a copy of Humboldt's Narrative, an account of Humboldt's travels in South America. In it, Henslow had inscribed these words: "J. S. Henslow to his friend C. Darwin on his departure from England upon a voyage around the world. September 21st, 1831." Well, needless to say, Darwin treasured this gift above all others. At his death, the book was safely brought to Cambridge University Library  - where it remains to this day.   1938   Today is the anniversary of the death of the botanist Ynes Mexia ("EE-nez Muh-HAY-ah"). In terms of her botanical career, Ynes was a late bloomer. The first half of her life was turbulent, but at the age of 50, Ynes joined the Sierra Club. Nature had always been a balm to her. Eager to get some formal training, Ynes decided to enroll at Berkeley to take botany classes. She would take classes there on and off over the next 16 years. Ynes's goal was not to graduate but simply to learn more about plants. When she wasn't in school, Ynes fell in love with fieldwork. She said, "I found a task where I could be useful and really produce something of lasting worth; while living out among the flowers." Ynes was especially drawn to unique plants, and she absolutely adored sunflowers. In fact, on one of her botanizing trips, she discovered an entirely new genus of Compositae. And, Ynes's ability to speak Spanish came in handy as she botanized in the southwestern part of the United States, Mexico, and South America. Ynes's collecting efforts proved extraordinary. Many scholars argue that she was the most accomplished plant collector of her time. Ynes's first botanizing trip alone netted 500 specimens - the same number that Darwin brought back on the Beagle. Over Ynes's career, she collected 150,000 specimens and discovered over 500 brand-new plant species. Now, her botanist peers were well aware of her staggering amount of work, but not many liked her. Still, she did work closely with botanists Alice Eastwood, John Thomas Howell, and Agnes Chase. In 1938, Ynes had returned to Mexico in search of new specimens. But the pain in her stomach got the best of her; she was forced to return to the United States, and she died at Berkeley from lung cancer. Ynes' estate was donated in part to the Redwood Preserve in California. And there's a forty-acre grove there that has one of the tallest trees on the planet. Today, if you visit, that grove is named in Ynes's honor. Today, some 80 years after her death, scientists are still processing the plants she collected. And there's an excellent PBS short about Ynes Mexia ("EE-nez Muh-HAY-ah") that was narrated by narrator Julianna Margulies.   Unearthed Words Here is the fern's frond, unfurling a gesture, Like a conductor whose music will now be pause And the one note of silence To which the whole earth dances gravely – A dancer, leftover, among crumbs and remains Of God's drunken supper, Dancing to start things up again. And they do start-up – to the one note of silence. The mouse's ear unfurls its trust. The spider takes up her bequest. And the retina Reins the Creation with a bridle of water. How many went under? Everything up to this point went under. Now they start up again Dancing gravely, like the plume Of a warrior returning, under the low hills, Into his own kingdom. — Ted Hughes, English writer and Poet Laureate, Fern   Grow That Garden Library The Gardener & the Grill by Karen Adler and Judith Fertig  This book came out in 2012, and the subtitle is The Bounty of the Garden Meets the Sizzle of the Grill. Dr. Mark Knoblauch said, "Americans have become so accustomed to firing up their backyard grills for all sorts of meats, from large joints to everyday burgers, that they forget that vegetables, flourishing in the nearby garden, profit equally from the punch of flavor that barbecuing bestows. Grilling potato slices before tossing them with strongly herbed French vinaigrette adds a level of flavor often lacking in mayonnaise-dressed potato salads. Grilling green tomato slices before sandwiching them with cream cheese delivers a somewhat less heavy alternative to frying. For all their imaginative ways of grilling greens, Adler and Fertig by no means ignore fish and meat. Fish tacos brim with leafy greens and blackened fish pieces, and there's even a comforting burger. The authors advocate grilled slices of bread, and they present examples from Afghan, Indian, and Italian traditions. Searing fruits such as peaches, apples, and figs underlies a number of sweet desserts." This book is 224 pages of recipes and tips - all shared with today's gardener in mind. You can get a copy of The Gardener & the Grill by Karen Adler and Judith Fertig and support the show, using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $1.   Today's Botanic Spark 1969   During this week in 1969, newspapers across the country were sharing this little snippet about San Francisco. "San Francisco was originally known as Yerba Buena. Spanish for "good herb," a small mint-like plant early explorers found." Over the years, people have left their hearts in San Francisco. As the author Rudyard Kipling said, "San Francisco has only one drawback –' tis hard to leave."

Everyday Monet A Giverny-Inspired Gardening and Lifestyle Guide to Living Your Best Impressionist LifeBy Aileen Bordman Suzy Chase: Welcome to Cookery by the Book podcast, with me, Suzy Chase.Aileen: Hi. This is Aileen Bordman, and I'm the author of the new book Everyday Monet.Suzy Chase: Describe the beginning of your journey at 23 when your mother sent you an envelope.Aileen: Ah. Well, you know, I had entered graduate school, and I was sitting in my apartment and received this envelope, which is your typical kind of envelope that comes, at the time, that was sent for email, not email, but for airmail from England and France and the like. I opened it up just as if it was any other correspondence of the time. I actually had been dating a man from England and was receiving many of the same similar configuration, and then realized this one was from my mother.Aileen: I opened up this envelope quickly, and then quickly stopped opening it quickly because I realized that she had placed a beautiful sprig of, at the time of course, fresh lavender in the envelope. I immediately could smell the gorgeous scent, and thought, "Oh, this is just so lovely."Aileen: It took me a few moments to realize, or to take it in, that this wasn't just any sprig of lavender. That this was a sprig of lavender that came from Monet's garden at Giverny, a place where my mother was now residing. A place where she and a number of other Americans were busy trying to restore what had fallen into ruin for many, many, many, many decades.Aileen: I was so overwhelmed by the significance of it at the moment. I'm not the most sentimental person in the world, and I am proud of myself, because I maintained this envelope and this sprig of lavender to this day, and happily I got to take a little photograph of it and place it into Everyday Monet as a sort of representation of history, and a spanning of the decades, and the beauty of Giverny and also stewardship of preserving. That's really what I'm trying to do is help ... I'm one of the people. I'm just one of the people who's out there trying to preserve the legacy and the beauty that Monet created for all of us.Suzy Chase: And your mother is one of the Americans responsible for the renaissance of Monet's home and garden, too.Aileen: Well, she is the most significant in the duo, that's for sure. My mother has been the American representative at Monet's garden at Giverny since 1980. She has resided there every spring since then. She's at Giverny right now, in her 38th year. The garden will celebrate its 40th year obviously in two years, but this is the 30th year that Giverny has been opened to the public since it was restored.Aileen: In the early days, she actually slept in Monet's home before she had her own accommodations. I'm happy and very proud to say, and this is the first time I've said it in an interview, that we received very special news. Meryl Streep had nominated my mother to receive the highest cultural award from the French government. It's the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres. It's the subset of the French Legion of Honor in terms of cultural aspects, and we just got notification that my mother has been awarded this tremendous honor, that's special.Aileen: It's just, she's been very quiet about what she's done all these years. I'm the one who's out there now singing her praises. She's done this under the radar, and done it simply as a journey of love and devotion also to the beauty that Monet created at his home and gardens in Giverny. I'm happy to see that she's getting some of the recognition I think she didn't want, but she so deserves.Suzy Chase: So, Claude Monet, a founding father of the French Impressionist movement, but a little known fact is that his family wanted him to be a greengrocer in the family business. Isn't that interesting?Aileen: It's very interesting. And it says a lot about one always following one's own heart and one's own inclinations. Another little known fact is that Monet started out as a caricature artist. He did caricatures of, whether it was people on the street, or the local baker, or the president, prime minister of France Clemenceau, he would do these little caricatures. That started the process of art for Claude Monet.Aileen: His family obviously over the years became more supportive of his endeavor, because after all there are very few artists that in their own lifetime have success. The word "starving artist" is the norm. Unlike many of his cohort, Monet was successful. I'm sure, of course, this led to a lot of pride with respect to his family, and I'm sure they forgot quickly that they wanted him to be in the grocery business.Suzy Chase: He had a lifelong obsession with color. Talk a little bit about Monet's palette.Aileen: I will, and again, wow, what a great question, because Monet's palette was a departure from the other palettes, P-A-L-E-T-T-E, in the world. One of the things that happened at the time of Monet was a development in the field of artwork, and that was that they, you used to always have to mix your pigments and create your paints, and all the sudden there were tubes of paints. All of the colors were now being sold whereby you could purchase them, and Monet did also purchase these in tubes.Aileen: It allowed for two things. One, it allowed for the real burgeoning of the Impressionist movement. Being able to get out en plein air, which means in the outside air, under the sun, in the sunlight, with your palette and your paintbrush and your canvas, and get out there and do a landscape. Paint a water lily. All of the wonderful things that Monet did. But it also allowed for the mixing of colors to be much more accessible and easily done in the moment.Aileen: Monet took considerable advantage of this. One thing in particular about Monet's palette, painter's palette, is that he never, ever used black. He always created the feeling and the shadows, because of course Impressionist painting is all about the light and the beauty of the light, and how color resonates based on how the light is hitting it. So, Monet never had black on his palette. I don't think a lot of people know that. And that he created the sense of the shadow, the sense of lack of color, lack of color of the palette, with the use of the shadows and the light on the canvas.Suzy Chase: And then it's been said that late in life he had cataracts, and he painted colors by memory. Is that correct?Aileen: He had horrible cataracts. Obviously he was spending a lot of time outdoors and there weren't sunglasses at that time. He had two significant surgeries to help restore his light, his eyesight. In fact, a lot of his later paintings that may look a little bit more Impressionistic may not be due so much to Impressionism, but Monet's eyesight deteriorating as much as it did.Aileen: At the end of the day he was able to find, friends brought him eyeglasses that actually contained these lenses by the very prestigious and amazing lens maker Zeiss, Z-E-I-S-S, out of Germany, and that in his later years helped restore Monet's ability, at least for the last two years of his life, to see.Aileen: What you mentioned about memory is not something that I'm particularly familiar with. I've not ... I would not say that's correct, but I have heard it, and there are many urban legends about Monet.Suzy Chase: I bet.Aileen: There's a wonderful urban legend about him winning the lottery. That he won the lottery and that this afforded him the ability to purchase the property at Giverny, but just like his cataracts, another urban legend.Suzy Chase: One of my favorite Monet's is his first wife Camille in a traditional Japanese kimono. It demonstrates his passion for Japanese style. The Water Lilies series is the most iconic series of works, which he cultivated and was very influenced by Japanese art. Did he also have a passion for Japanese cuisine?Aileen: It's interesting. Cuisine in particular I would say he wasn't familiar with. He never did get to visit Japan, although there were many Japanese visitors that came to Giverny and still do because of Monet's passion for Japaneseism, which was not unique only to Monet. There were many of the Impressionist artists, and at the time they were collecting the wonderful Japanese woodcut prints, but in particular he didn't get to enjoy Japanese cuisine.Aileen: Having said that, and knowing a little bit about Monet's palate, the P-A-L-A-T-E part of palate, he would have loved Japanese cuisine, the freshness and the preparation, and of course how it is displayed on, plated, for lack of the better word of saying it. How they artistically plate their dishes. It would have been something that would have appealed to his sensibilities very much. And of course he loved fresh fish, without question, and was interested in spicy foods.Aileen: I have no doubt, in fact, I include in my book Everyday Monet, a little take on a steak sandwich, and I created a dressing, and I used wasabi in the dressing, because Monet loved spicy foods, and this is my way of introducing, or bridging, his love of Japanese culture and art and integrating it with his own tastes and sensibilities with food.Suzy Chase: All throughout the book you have neat little Everyday Monet ideas, like line your kitchen walls with copper pots, bowls and pans. Monet had quite an affinity for copper. Talk a little bit about that.Aileen: They're not just utilitarian, they're gorgeous. They're stunning. And the way he had them displayed in the kitchen, and the way ... even if you cannot afford a full range of 20 copper pans, perhaps, as Monet had in his home, even a very small little copper dish or a small little copper pan in your kitchen or anywhere in your home can connect you to Monet's love of copper.Aileen: Also copper, getting back to Monet's art and his love of and appreciation of how light plays off of different items and plays off of landscape, copper has such a beautiful way of reflecting light. In Monet's kitchen, in the early morning, the way the light dances off of the copper pans that are hanging across from the windows, Suzy, it's beautiful. What can I say?Suzy Chase: Didn't he acquire Giverny because of the light?Aileen: It is said, and it's true, that Monet and the other Impressionists first saw the light going to Normandy, taking the train from Paris. Clearly, at the time, Monet was successful and could have lived in Paris, could have lived anywhere. But there was something about Normandy, the mists, and the light that was so attractive to him. It wasn't just that it was where he was born, it was something that was really, really special to Monet.Aileen: He found the property, and it was an old cider press that he, over time, developed and renovated and put additions on, and created the water garden, and really created this magnificent oasis that we get 8,000 people a day now during the months that the garden is open visiting, because it's a place of wonder. It's a place of magic, and it's really a place to make a pilgrimage. It's not just any other place in the world.Suzy Chase: Monet was very interested in the layout, equipment and design of his kitchen, which happens to be your favorite place in the home.Aileen: Yes.Suzy Chase: Please describe the kitchen.Aileen: The kitchen is not very large. It's a country farm layout. There are two very, very large windows which allow significant light to come in. There's a large iron stove. There's a lovely kitchen table. There are orchids in the kitchen, which Monet would always have and we, to this day, make sure that there are orchids. There are the copper pans, and there are tiles that lined the walls and often visitors mistake these tiles as being from Holland, and they're not.Aileen: They're actually from Rouen. They're French tiles, blue and white tiles. They're so beautiful. Rouen is about 40 minutes north of Giverny, and it's where Monet did the wonderful series of the cathedral at different times of day and in different light. So, these beautiful tiles line the walls, and it's just, it's welcoming, it's beautiful.Aileen: It's got just ... the color. There's a blue in areas where there's paint required. There's a blue that I have actually identified in the book if somebody wants to paint their kitchen blue, all they need to do is drop the color swatch, or bring the book to their local paint shop and they can match it up and have that same sort of dreamy, eggshell blue that Monet had in his kitchen.Suzy Chase: Now in this gorgeous kitchen, Monet did not like to cook. Talk a little bit about Marguerite, his chef.Aileen: Yes. Well, Marguerite was with Monet almost from the get-go, when he moved with the family to Giverny, and she was a dedicated ... she became part of the family. She was a dedicated chef for Monet, and the family, and helped with all of the entertaining. He had many quirks in terms of his eating habits which I discuss in Everyday Monet.Aileen: Every day she would go to, because in Monet's time, as we're trying to do today, they wanted to eat what was fresh and what was seasonal. We're all trying to do that more and more, and thankfully that's the case, to eat locally and eat fresh. They would both, together, Monet and Marguerite, just go up the road to where Monet had planted a kitchen garden, a potager. This is where he had all of his vegetables and herbs.Aileen: Some of them were seeds that Monet brought to Giverny, and had never been planted before in Normandy. I'll give you an example. Zucchini, which he had enjoyed in Provence while he was painting there, didn't exist in Normandy. Monet had never had them before, and he collected the seeds and he brought them back to Normandy.Aileen: Giverny is Zone 8 for those that are interested in zones, when planting flowers and the like, and Zone 8 was conducive to having the zucchini grow as well. So Monet, besides being the father of Impressionism, can be credited for bringing many flowers and vegetables to Giverny, to Normandy, that had never grown there before.Aileen: Getting back to Monet and Marguerite, every day that Monet was at Giverny, because of course he traveled a lot to paint, when he was at home, he would visit the kitchen garden with Marguerite, and they would plan the menu with her suggestions and with his suggestions based on what was fresh that day in the kitchen garden. Marguerite remained at the house after Monet passed, but she couldn't live there for much longer, she was just so sad. Eventually she left. But it was a wonderful relationship, friendship, and she really, really became part of the family.Suzy Chase: What were a few of his food quirks?Aileen: Monet's food quirks were many. And that's okay. Look, you know, he wanted what he wanted in terms of many things in life.Suzy Chase: He was an artist.Aileen: He's a good artist, yes. And you know, he was a Renaissance Man. His quirks were he had to have ... Something so silly, like how well his asparagus were cooked. They used to have to watch over the pot to make sure that they didn't go limp. He would send them back from the table if the asparagus weren't properly cooked. Of course, he loved pepper, and he actually had his own little dish of pepper. Instead of the pepper mill or the pepper and salt at the table, there would be that for everybody he was entertaining. But then, in addition to that, Monet would have to have his own little dish of pepper.Aileen: It was not unusual, Suzy, for Monet to all the sudden be entertaining people at lunch, at a beautiful lunch with many courses, and the wine was flowing, and champagne, and there were going to be desserts, for him to all the sudden stand up and literally run out of the dining room. He did so because all the sudden he saw the light change upon the table, and he knew that the light had changed in the garden, and there was something he wanted to capture on a canvas that he had left. So, he would literally leave.Suzy Chase: Oh, my goodness.Aileen: Yeah. All these guests, that some of them had made a long voyage to be received by Monet, for him to go out and paint. But hey, you know, when you're Monet, and-Suzy Chase: You can do it.Aileen: ... you're the father of Impressionism, people got it. They understood.Suzy Chase: It's funny that you brought up the pepper, because a cookbook author friend of mine, Judith Fertig, who knew I was going to talk to you said, "You have to ask about the ground pepper he put on his salad."Suzy Chase: I was like, "Judith, what are you talking about?"Suzy Chase: She said, "Just ask."Suzy Chase: So, that's so interesting that you bring up the pepper.Aileen: Absolutely. I mean, it was like coated with the black pepper. And he grew, in his kitchen garden peppers, many of the spicy, hot peppers, chili peppers that we are aware of. Again, that's not necessarily French Norman cooking.Suzy Chase: No. I made your recipe for green garden potato salad on page 87.Aileen: Oh, lovely.Suzy Chase: Talk about Monet's love for hearty meals that included potatoes.Aileen: Hearty meals were not unusual at Monet's time. That was really sort of how people ate. He loved the root vegetables, all kinds of potatoes were grown, and of course his love of the root vegetables and his love of potatoes inspired my wanting to do the potato salad.Aileen: I wanted to do something that if you took it to a picnic, you wouldn't have to worry if it was laden with mayonnaise. On top of that, I utilized many of the fresh herbs that Monet grew in his kitchen garden. So, I think coupling these fresh herbs with these beautiful, hearty potatoes that Monet would have loved in a dish that's as friendly on your dining room table as it would be on your picnic blanket was very, very much the way to be everyday Monet.Suzy Chase: Definitely. It was so fresh.Aileen: Ah, yeah. That's the premise, and that's what I was going for, and I'm so glad that you enjoyed it.Suzy Chase: Where can we find you on the web and social media?Aileen: I would love for people to learn more about Everyday Monet, his lifestyle, and I always post additional pictures to what we're talking about on any given day at monetspalate.com, W-W-W-dot-M-O-N-E-T-S-P-A-L-A-T-E-dot com. I also have a very wonderful, engaging Facebook page that I think your listeners would love to visit. Every day we bring something new to the table, to the palate, to the canvas. As we say in Everyday Monet, we try to bring the aesthetic of Monet's beauty and the world at Giverny into your home.Suzy Chase: Even if you can't live with a Monet painting in your home or travel to France, you can experience it through the pages in this beautiful, beautiful book. Thanks, Aileen, for coming on Cookery by the Book podcast.Aileen: Suzy, thank you so much, and as we say in the world of Everyday Monet, a toast to Giverny and a toast to Claude Monet.Suzy Chase: Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, and while you're there, please take a moment to rate and review Cookery by the Book. You can also follow me on Instagram at CookerybytheBook. Twitter is IamSuzyChase, and download your Kitchen Mix Tapes, music to cook by, on Spotify at CookerybytheBook. Thanks for listening.

Red, White, and 'Que Farm-Fresh Foods For The American Grill ​​​​​​​By Karen Adler & Judith Fertig

Claire “Neely” O’Neil is a pastry chef of extraordinary talent. Every great chef can taste shimmering, elusive flavors that most of us miss, but Neely can “taste” feelings—cinnamon makes you remember; plum is pleased with itself; orange is a wake-up call. When flavor and feeling give Neely a glimpse of someone’s inner self, she can customize her creations to help that person celebrate love, overcome fear, even mourn a devastating loss.  Judith Fertig is an award-winning cookbook author whose food and lifestyle writing has appeared in more than a dozen publications, including Bon Appétit, Saveur, and the New York Times. Judith attended École de Cuisine La Varenne in Paris and the Graduate Summer Workshop at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She teaches cooking classes across the country and lives in Kansas City. Join Judith Fertig and me on Tuesday, August 11, 10-11 A.M. CT US. We will be discussing her latest novel, The Cake Therapist.

A rebroadcast with Veggie maven Judith Fertig, who talks about her book "The Gardener and the Grill." Who knew? Bunches of grapes on the grill (and much more).

Listener Feedback. This week on Sharp & Hot, Emily Peterson addresses feedback and future changes she plans on making to her show. Don’t worry! Sharp & Hot will still have it’s same old friendly tone, but the format is going to be a little different. After going over some of the feedback that her viewers sent her, she reviewed the novel “The Cake Therapist” by Judith Fertig, and also questioned what it even means to assign a book the genre “contemporary women’s fiction”. Although Emily does not think that she fits the audience that this book was trying to reach, she still recommends it! “If you feel like your beloved Sharp & Hot is changing, it’s for the better.” [16:00] “I’m trying to imagine exactly who she is talking to, because I don’t feel like it is exactly me.” [22:00] “If you want a beach read, this is right in the beach read category.” [23:00] –Emily Peterson on Sharp & Hot

Welcome to episode 17 of the Barbecue Secrets Podcast! Click on the icon to the left of the episode title above to listen to the show. You can subscribe to it for free on iTunes here. You can also get a handy Android app to hear the latest show and dive into the back catalogue for only $3.99. You'll need the free Amazon Appstore app, which you can get by visiting this link on your Android phone. From the Amazon Appstore, search for Barbecue Secrets, pay using your Amazon account, and you're good to go! SHOW NOTES FOR EPISODE 17 This show features a conversation with another barbecue icon, the wonderful, wise and funny Karen Adler, who has written some fabulous cookbooks, many of them in collaboration with her friend and fellow Barbecue Queen Judith Fertig. Their latest is The Gardener and the Grill: The Bounty of the Garden Meets the Sizzle of the Grill.  In the show I asked Karen to name some of her favorite cookbooks. She recommends: Michael Chiarella's Live Fire America's Best BBQ Homestyle: What the Champions Cook in Their Own Back Yards, by Ardie Davis and Paul Kirk Smoking Meat: The Essential Guide to Real Barbecue, by Jeff Phillips, and Championship Barbecue Secrets for Real Smoked Food by Karen Putman and Judith Fertig.  You can get all these books online through the usual sources, but I recommend that you buy them directly from Karen's book distribution business, Pig Out Publications.  I also asked Karen to share a couple of her favourite recipes for the grill, which I posted on the blog last week. I encourage you to give them a try! I'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! Write me at rockinronnie at ronshewchuk.com, tweet me @rockinronnie, or post something on the Barbecue Secrets Facebook page.   

A rebroadcast with Veggie maven Judith Fertig, who talks about her new book "The Gardener and the Grill." Who knew? Bunches of grapes on the grill (and much more).

Veggie maven Judith Fertig talks about her new book "The Gardener and the Grill." Who knew? Bunches of grapes on the grill (and much more).