WEBVTT - Luke’s Diner: Hamburger Help Me 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:04.120 I am all in again. 0:00:09.880 --> 0:00:22.000 Let's just do Luke's Diner with Scott Patterson, an iHeartRadio podcast. 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:25.159 Hey everybody, Scott Patterson, I am all and podcast one 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:30.400 of them productions iHeartRadio Media, iHeart Podcast another segment of 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:34.760 Luke's Diner. Joining us today is the one and only 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:38.560 Carla Hall. Let me tell you a little bit about 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:43.279 Carla here, a big celebrity chef. You know we're from 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:47.240 Top Chef the Chew Countless Food Adventures, where she brings 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:50.960 her signature energy and love of comfort food with a twist. 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:55.840 She's classically trained as a chef, champion of soulful cooking, 0:00:56.200 --> 0:01:00.200 and an advocate for bringing people together through food. She 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:05.080 has just launched her very own virtual magazine, Sweet Heritage, 0:01:05.120 --> 0:01:10.039 which you can find on her website at Carlahall dot com. 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:15.000 Without further ado, please welcome the one and only Carla Hall. 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:18.120 Carla Welcome, Thank you, Scott Gordon Tatterson. 0:01:18.640 --> 0:01:23.880 That is me, that is me. It's good to see you. 0:01:24.440 --> 0:01:26.720 It's good to see you too. First of all, are 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:29.400 you familiar with Gilmore Girls? 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:32.200 I am familiar. I didn't watch. I've watched a couple 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:36.800 of episodes. Everyone, I've spoken to from my niece who 0:01:36.840 --> 0:01:44.880 is thirty seven to my assistant's daughter who is twenty something. 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:51.440 Watched an avid Watchers like the entire series, like multiple times. 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:56.640 Yes that's yes, that's how they consume it. Yes, it's incredible. 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:01.600 So in season one, episode sixteen, Starcross Lovers and Other Strangers, 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:04.480 Laura I lead character is all about quick and easy 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:07.600 comfort foods. You know, she's not much of a cook, 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:11.520 but she does like to throw together some fun meals. 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:17.680 In this episode, she turns to yes, Hamburger helper. Have 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:19.120 you ever used it yourself? 0:02:20.160 --> 0:02:23.440 I use it. I grew I am sixty years old. 0:02:23.520 --> 0:02:26.000 I grew up like I was there when it was 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:28.360 made and put on the shelves in the grocery store. 0:02:28.440 --> 0:02:32.400 I feel like my mother's like, oh, RERAI jesus, here's 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:36.480 the hamberg that help me? So, yes, I've have eaten it. 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:41.320 I've put a version in my cookbooks. Yes, I'm very familiar. 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:44.680 And so how would you put a Carla Hall twist 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:46.560 on it to take it to the next level? What 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:47.360 would you do with it? 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:50.079 So I think, first of all, you're not going to 0:02:50.200 --> 0:02:53.040 use the box is like the difference between box macaroni 0:02:53.040 --> 0:02:58.040 and cheese and homemade macaroni and cheese. So you start 0:02:58.120 --> 0:02:59.960 with your ground beef, but it could be ground chick 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:04.960 these days, it could be a ground meat substitute. And 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:07.760 then you add your seasons. You have onions, you have garlic. 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:10.120 If you like it's spicy, you can add a little 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:14.480 bit of chili flakes. Then you're gonna add some tomatoes. 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:17.640 It could be tomatoes sauce, or it can be dice tomatoes, 0:03:17.680 --> 0:03:20.320 and you cook all of that up. Then you add 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:22.880 some liquid. It can be water, it can be stock. 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:25.600 And then you're gonna add in your noodle. So your noodles, 0:03:25.639 --> 0:03:29.840 your little elbow macaroni actually cooks in the liquid with 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:33.320 the meat, so everything is saucy and delicious, and so 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:38.640 you don't have this bland pasta floating in delicious meat. 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:45.600 Once that's all done and the elbows soak up that liquid, 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:49.480 they're nice and al dente ish. Then you stir in 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:53.400 your cheese. That's the like a sharp cheddar I would love, 0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:55.920 and then you dish it up and then you can 0:03:55.960 --> 0:03:59.160 put partially on top. You can put more cheese on top, 0:03:59.240 --> 0:03:59.600 and that's it. 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:06.640 What's your uncle, Well, you certainly answer that question. I 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:08.120 just had breakfast, but I think I want to go 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:12.360 eat some more. So also in the show, if you're 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:15.840 not familiar, we know about Rory and a lauralized obsession 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:18.800 with pop tarts. Oh my god, me too. Oh I 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:22.839 have to ask you about your butter tarts, which look amazing, 0:04:22.920 --> 0:04:25.600 by the way, I have to get my hands on those. 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:30.559 Walk us through this recipe and what inspired this unique 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:33.080 creation for it's a snack, right. 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:37.320 Yeah, So my butter tarts are at a fresh fresh market, 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:41.760 the fresh market, and I love I love pop tarts, 0:04:41.839 --> 0:04:44.800 I love pie. So this is a rustic tart. So 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:47.120 you just take a flat piece of dough. I love 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:51.080 cooked fruit. There are apples, there's cherry, and then there's 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:54.359 orchard fruit, which is a mix of apples and berries. 0:04:54.960 --> 0:05:00.200 And the because my grandmother loves almonds, she put and 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:04.840 extract and everything. These tarts have a layer of marzipan 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:09.200 or an almond paste, which makes it so succulent and delicious. 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:13.120 And then there's real butter in the crust itself and 0:05:13.279 --> 0:05:15.920 you just fold it there, fold it over. So it's 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:19.839 a snack. It can be a dessert, it can be breakfast. 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:24.560 If that's how you roll and they're so good, they're 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:28.159 not too sweet. I think there's something for everybody. Some 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:31.159 days I like the tarts. I like tart cherries, you know, 0:05:31.240 --> 0:05:33.760 and some days I like the apple. This is very traditional. 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:39.440 Okay, you're Southern girl. Where are you from Nashville? Nashville? 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:42.039 Yeah, I thought you were in Tennessee. You were in 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:44.840 Tennessee at some point, I think last year. Yeah, I'm 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:45.599 from Nashville though. 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:48.200 Yeah, I went down Yeah, I was down there. I 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:50.320 was down there for a couple of days. 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:51.440 Yeah. 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:55.240 So your Southern roots play a huge role in you're 0:05:55.240 --> 0:05:57.920 cooking gobbage. Let's talk about some of your most famous recipes. 0:05:58.320 --> 0:06:01.640 Feel free to add what you think is your most 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:06.279 famous recipe, but your your perfect buttermilk biscuits, four cheese, 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:10.000 mac and cheese. Yeah, chicken pot pie, Oh my. 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:12.120 Gosh, yes, chicken pot pie. 0:06:12.040 --> 0:06:16.200 Sweet potato. It's our tean. Can you walk us through 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:20.240 your secrets to making these dishes so good? 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:22.520 I think, you know, a lot of people think about 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:27.000 Southern food just being overly sweet. Maybe it's overly fatty, 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:31.440 overly salted. I think there's a difference between celebration dishes 0:06:31.560 --> 0:06:34.080 and every day dishes. You you happen to name a 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:36.839 lot of everyday dishes, and I think there's technique in 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:39.919 making them, like my biscuits. I used to make biscuits 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:41.960 with strangers in New York. I would walk up to 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:43.640 people and I would say, do you know how to 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:45.600 make a biscuit? And if they said now, I'm like, 0:06:45.640 --> 0:06:47.440 can I come near your house and make biscuits with you? 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:50.560 Because that's the equivalent of being a. 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:57.520 Buster right right exactly the street. I love that, And 0:06:57.640 --> 0:06:59.960 mainly it was because people would send me to place 0:07:00.040 --> 0:07:01.560 because they knew when I was from the South, and 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:04.800 they send me to places that they said they have 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:07.360 great biscuits and they were terrible. And I'm like, you know, 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:08.839 either you need to know how to make a great 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:11.080 biscuit or you need to know how to recognize one 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:13.560 at a restaurant. And for me, a great biscuit is 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:17.040 sort of crunchy on the outside and really light and 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:19.520 fluffy on the inside, and when it cools down it 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:22.640 is not hard as a stone. And so there's their 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:25.720 techniques involved. And so I think a biscuit is a 0:07:25.760 --> 0:07:30.560 blend between shortening, which keeps it soft after it cools down, 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:33.080 and butter and you grate the butter to make it flaky, 0:07:33.120 --> 0:07:35.760 and then you don't use bleached flour. All the people 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:37.880 out there who love white lily, I love you for 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:39.920 loving white lily. I'm from the South. That's why they 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:42.400 do white lily. But I like a hard winter wheat 0:07:42.440 --> 0:07:44.840 like King Garthur because it browns nicer and you get 0:07:44.840 --> 0:07:48.080 that crunchy golden top and fluffy in the center. 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:54.800 M in your opinion, do you have any recipes or 0:07:54.800 --> 0:07:56.920 dishes that are perfect? 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:02.960 Yes, I think so I would be. I mean, this 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:04.840 is not a humble brag, but if I don't think 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:07.160 my food is good, then I shouldn't be cooking them, right. 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:11.880 I had. I had a fried chicken restaurant, Pearl Hul 0:08:11.920 --> 0:08:17.640 Soul Cookion for for a very short time, Curlhule Soul Food, 0:08:17.880 --> 0:08:21.040 and it was a love letter to Nashville. And so 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:24.160 I did hot chicken and I didn't make fried chicken 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:27.240 for the longest time. And once I started to perfect 0:08:27.360 --> 0:08:29.840 my fried chicken, it really was one of the best. 0:08:29.960 --> 0:08:32.839 It was succulent, it was juicy, it was tangy. And 0:08:32.880 --> 0:08:36.120 the secret I'm going to share this. The secret is 0:08:36.200 --> 0:08:39.480 not the buttermilk where you add some liquid in and 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:41.880 then it gets the skin gets all flabby, and it 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:45.320 creates this pocket of air and moisture. But to use 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:49.640 all dry spices, so dried vinegar powders. If you want 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:52.320 to do buttermilk, do a buttermilk powder, and you put 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:55.080 that everything into the flour and you press it in 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:57.280 there and then let it sit for only a few minutes. 0:08:57.320 --> 0:09:00.880 But vinegar powder creates this tagginess into the flower. It 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:04.319 goes and then into the fryer. So the skin stays 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:07.800 on the chicken and it and it is really hunchy 0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:11.520 and delicious and a little bit tangy. Right right, I 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:13.200 just want you to about It was my job to 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:15.480 make you hungry. That's what I do. 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:18.640 Kill You're killing me right now. Man. I've already gained 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:23.679 ten pounds and I'm still on the couch because I cook. 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:27.520 And I'm gonna I'll listen back to all this stuff 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:29.760 and I'll use some of these techniques. 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:30.079 I love. 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:32.520 I love all those. I'm gonna try that dry vinegar 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:37.320 powder because I cannot, for the life of me, you know, 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:43.560 get that that that sort of u chicken skin to 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:44.760 do what I want it to do. 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:49.040 It's because you see these recipes and it's like, go 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:52.360 into the buttermilk season it, put flour on it, go 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:55.480 back in the refrigerator, let it get cold, come back out, 0:09:55.640 --> 0:09:59.120 put more uh flower on it, and then you're just 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:01.600 creating I mean, it's going to be crispy, and it's 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:05.000 just creating this sort of wet pocket. But also that 0:10:05.160 --> 0:10:08.920 you can also add corn starch to your flour mixture. 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:23.280 That gets it christy, Okay, any techniques that still challenge 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:24.040 you in the kitchen. 0:10:24.960 --> 0:10:28.400 Yeah, the other day, what was I'm making and I 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:31.960 get obsessed over something. I'm working on a baking book 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:36.120 that comes out next year, and I did not get 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:39.719 on the craze of making sour dough with everybody else 0:10:39.800 --> 0:10:44.240 during the pandemic, and so making bread for me was 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:46.360 I mean, I've made rolls. I make a lot of rolls, 0:10:47.160 --> 0:10:52.680 but making bread and like bulls of bread is still 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:55.440 a challenge. And I'm afraid of yeast. I don't trust 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:59.040 when they say throw everything in the flour with the yeast, 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:00.800 the salt, the sugar and it's going to come out, 0:11:00.840 --> 0:11:04.480 because I'm afraid that my bread isn't going to rise. 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:08.480 So that is still a challenge for me in doing 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:12.200 this book. I feel like I might look y'all, I'm 0:11:12.240 --> 0:11:15.760 the chef doing bread and the home cook. So come 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:17.880 on this journey with me. I don't know everything, but 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:19.800 I'm willing to figure it out and we can figure 0:11:19.800 --> 0:11:20.400 it out together. 0:11:20.880 --> 0:11:25.920 Mm hmm. Okay, let me ask you this. You're a 0:11:25.920 --> 0:11:30.199 big deal celebrity chef. Okay, TV chef. What's the thing 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:31.520 that you never expected? 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:38.200 Let me count the bays. I did Top Chef. A 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:40.040 lot of people don't know. I love when people come 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:42.600 to me, Oh, I saw you from the beginning, and 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:44.800 I'm like, well was the beginning when I did Top 0:11:44.880 --> 0:11:47.160 Chef because I was forty four years old. Nobody pops 0:11:47.160 --> 0:11:49.440 out of the womb at forty four years old, so 0:11:49.559 --> 0:11:52.240 I was older, you know when I did Top Chef, 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:54.600 and I mean I was physically fit, so I think 0:11:54.640 --> 0:11:57.800 people thought I was younger running around with those young people. 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:02.800 So when I did it as a personal challenge, when 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:06.480 I left, and I think being older, I was okay 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:09.920 with being myself, so I think people gravitated towards that 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:14.520 and the authenticity. So the first time that I was 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:17.040 recognized and I had on a hang up, I had 0:12:17.040 --> 0:12:19.160 on a staff around my face and just my glass 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:21.120 is poking out and somebody says Carla, and I'm like 0:12:21.280 --> 0:12:23.880 wait what, Like I'm not even trying to hide, but 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:26.040 it was just a cold day. And I think the 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:32.600 the being recognized and having people come up to me 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:35.360 is a really big surprise because I'm just like normal, 0:12:35.880 --> 0:12:38.199 you know, just a person. And when I'm on the subway, 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:41.240 they're like you take the subway in New York. I'm like, yep, 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:44.720 It's the most efficient way of travel. So everything that 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:47.120 has come out of that franchise of Top Chef and 0:12:47.160 --> 0:12:49.600 doing the show twice has really been a surprise. And 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:53.120 then I've just turned it into a business, Like what 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:55.360 am I going to do with this platform? What do 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:57.520 I do with it? How can I make people's lives better? 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:00.920 You know? So it's it's all been a surprise. 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:04.000 You have a favorite person that you cook with, whether 0:13:04.040 --> 0:13:05.559 it's in your kitchen on TV. 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:08.560 You know who I love cooking with and I love 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:13.200 his food. Michael Simon And I was with him on 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:16.760 the two and he's from Cleveland, and you eat Michael's 0:13:16.760 --> 0:13:19.360 food and you're like, this man loves his mama. I 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:26.120 mean it is like this food that is so delicious, 0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:32.600 and so it's just not precious. And he's such a 0:13:32.800 --> 0:13:36.080 technically gifted chef that I love cooking with him, and 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:37.360 I'm always learning something. 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:44.319 You've had. What I'm seeing here a very fascinating career path, 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:49.960 haven't you? Accounting, modeling, now a world renowned chef. Did 0:13:50.080 --> 0:13:54.280 you ever imagine that you'd be where you are today? 0:13:55.160 --> 0:14:00.360 And let me tell you. My first love was theater. 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:02.960 I wanted to be Carol Burnette. I wanted to be 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:07.000 the black Carol Burnette at twelve, that right, yes. And 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:13.040 I wanted to go to Boston University. I didn't they 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:15.280 were going to defer my admission. So I was like, Okay, 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:17.839 forget this. I'm just going to go to Howard University. Okay, 0:14:17.840 --> 0:14:20.280 I like my accounting teacher. I'll major in accounting. Okay, 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:22.800 I'm doing this. Okay, I'll work at a like a 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:25.320 Big eight accounting firm. Okay, I'm doing that. Okay, I'll 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:28.040 take the CPA exam. Okay I passed that. Okay, I 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:31.400 hate it. Okay, let me go to Motherling and then 0:14:31.400 --> 0:14:34.040 I'm like, I'm over there modeling in Paris. I'm like, okay, 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:37.040 all the girls are getting together. And clicking in somebody's house. 0:14:37.080 --> 0:14:38.960 I don't know how to do that. I hate not knowing. Okay, 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:40.800 let me go to the bookstore and let me learn 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:43.040 how to cook. And then I started a lunch delivery service, 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:44.520 and then I went to culinary school at thirty and 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:48.680 then things just kept rolling right. And then I know 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:50.240 that was a very quick answer to you. 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:53.080 I mean that's brilliant, absolutely brilliant. 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:56.840 And then when I turned fifty seven, I said, what 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:59.400 about the theater? I mean, really, everything that I've done 0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:04.160 is performing. And so I decided upon my sixtieth birthday, 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:06.600 which was last year, that I wanted to do a 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:09.880 one woman show. And so, because that's the only thing 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:12.040 that I haven't picked up, like as it begins, it's 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:14.080 how it ends. I'm like, that's how I want my 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:16.720 life to end. And I and I and so I'm 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:17.800 working on a one woman show. 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:20.440 It's really tell us about. 0:15:19.400 --> 0:15:24.680 It is about my life. The framework is me at 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:26.880 a clicking show. I don't say the shoe, but it's 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:29.080 at the chew and all the challenges that I had. 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:31.520 And then there are a lot of flashbacks going back 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:34.160 to when I was in theater camp and wanting to 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:36.800 be the black Carol Burnett and then like this back 0:15:36.800 --> 0:15:40.360 and forth, like not wanting to accept food in my life, 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:46.080 you know, going Gray on national television at fifty and 0:15:46.120 --> 0:15:48.880 so all of these different things. It's it has a 0:15:48.880 --> 0:15:53.200 lot of audience participation there, like mixed media. There are 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:57.360 videos there. I bring people up to sort of be 0:15:57.520 --> 0:16:00.520 on stage with me, and it's about nine minutes of 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:03.520 just me interacting with the audience and telling my story. 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:06.840 And how far along are you in this process? Is 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:07.800 it is? 0:16:07.320 --> 0:16:07.360 It? 0:16:07.800 --> 0:16:08.400 Is it written? 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:12.400 It's written? It's written, I mean, so there are still 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:16.840 things to sort of tweak it. I did a workshop 0:16:16.840 --> 0:16:21.080 at Olney Theater in September and we're looking at directors. 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:23.840 It is going to be at the Only Theater, which 0:16:23.880 --> 0:16:29.840 is a premiere regional theater in Maryland, in May of 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:30.840 twenty twenty six. 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:32.960 Oh boys, and I'm going to do it. 0:16:33.080 --> 0:16:35.520 Yeah, And that's at a small like black box theater 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:38.480 for four to five weeks for about two hundred. The 0:16:38.520 --> 0:16:42.160 audience is about two hundred seats. And yeah, I'm excited. 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:47.000 I mean, it's pure, pure, It's so putting myself out 0:16:47.240 --> 0:16:50.440 there being very vulnerable, but you know, in my life, 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:54.240 I'm I'm like, hey, why not. You know, I'm comfortable 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:56.640 with the uncomfortable, which is what I think Top Chef 0:16:56.720 --> 0:16:58.760 gave me. Just putting myself out there and I can 0:16:58.800 --> 0:17:00.760 fall flat on my face and okay, I would have 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:01.120 done it. 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:03.800 Yeah right. I mean, you can't grow unless you're a 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:05.960 little bit out of your comfort zone. Right, the water's 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:09.320 a little too deep, and you know that's how you grow. Man, 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:11.880 good for you. I wish you a ton of luck 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:12.200 with that. 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:13.200 Thank you. 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:16.840 I'll look out for that. That sounds very exciting. All right. 0:17:16.880 --> 0:17:19.879 So let's talk a little bit about comfort food. Yeah, 0:17:19.960 --> 0:17:22.520 because it plays such a big role in this episode. 0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:27.440 What is your ultimate comfort meal just when you need 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:28.800 to feel good? You know? 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:31.639 Yeah, so that was in New York. This is an easy, 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:35.400 easy answer. I like a big pot of beans, like mixedveins. 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:37.200 It doesn't matter what it could be, white beans, mixed 0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:43.480 beans like a soup, greens like collar greens, kale, and 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:47.960 corn bread. That is my fisepta. That is the be 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:50.240 all and end all. I mean I could taste it 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:53.040 right now. I mean, and to have that like everything 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:55.720 is cluked and then you make the corn bread. It's 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:58.480 in a cast stern skillet. You cut that wedge out, 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:01.600 it's a crispy edges, and then you take salted butter, 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:05.520 not unsalted, and then you turn the cornbread on its 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:07.800 side so the wedge is exposed, and you put that 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:10.320 butter on it and it melts, and then you have 0:18:10.640 --> 0:18:13.720 all these other like your beans, and maybe some chowchow 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:17.360 pickle or raw onions and the greens. And I am 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:29.120 in hog heaven, So. 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:33.199 Let me ask you this, what's the one dish that 0:18:33.640 --> 0:18:35.200 takes you back to your childhood? 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:41.200 That corn bread? Literally the corn bread. My grandmother wouldn't 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:43.280 make it until we were on the inside of the door. 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:46.520 She knew we were coming at the church. She knew 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:49.600 it was thirty minutes, but she wouldn't The pan would 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:51.560 be the cast iron skillet would be in the oven, 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:54.399 but she wouldn't make it until we were there because 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:56.760 it would be coming out hot. And I knew once 0:18:56.800 --> 0:18:59.440 she put that corn bread batter into that oil pan 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:02.400 and it starts curling up on the size to get chrispy, 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:04.120 that we were going to be eating in twenty minutes. 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:05.600 No matter how hungry I was, it was going to 0:19:05.680 --> 0:19:08.920 be twenty minutes. And it was like the first bite 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:11.520 before anything, and so I think that's why that's my 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:12.200 comfort meal. 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:16.200 Beautiful. Yeah, tell us a little bit about sweet Heritage. 0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:20.320 It's a magazine dives into culinary traditions. Your first issue 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:25.439 includes recipes tailored for different personality types. What inspired you 0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:28.960 to bring this approach to recipe creation? Can you share 0:19:28.960 --> 0:19:32.840 an example of how specific personalities influenced dishes? 0:19:33.359 --> 0:19:36.719 So we decided to do this magazine. So with me 0:19:36.760 --> 0:19:39.200 and I have a very small core taine to four 0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:41.000 of us, and I'm always asked my team, I don't 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:43.560 want us to rise up like me as a pyramid 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:45.600 with me on top. I want us all to rise 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:48.920 up like a box. And my assistant has always wanted 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:50.800 to do a magazine. I'm like, okay, let's do it. 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:54.080 And I said, let's do it around manifesting. And I 0:19:54.119 --> 0:19:56.400 always want to do something that I feel people can 0:19:56.440 --> 0:20:00.520 get something out of. And so it's like, well, finding manifesting, 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:03.600 finding your authentic self. And I'm really big into enneagrams. 0:20:03.640 --> 0:20:06.720 Do you know aneagrams? Are you gonna take the test 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:08.520 after this, You're gonna listen back and take the test. 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:10.480 We're gonna find out what you are. Well, I am 0:20:10.720 --> 0:20:16.240 a seven, which is the adventurer wing a very direct 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:19.320 and so there they are nine different types. And so 0:20:21.000 --> 0:20:24.800 we did all of these recipes based on the different types, 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:27.760 Like if you are an adventurer, what you might wait make? 0:20:27.800 --> 0:20:30.000 I have to look it up because I can't remember 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:34.880 the different types. I'm gonna look up cold please. And 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:40.399 in doing so, I had my whole team. Do I 0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:42.159 have my whole team to do the test because I 0:20:42.200 --> 0:20:46.160 want to know how you thrive and and in having 0:20:46.200 --> 0:20:50.120 the language to help understand who you are, then maybe 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:53.320 you can compliment what my gifts are. So and that's 0:20:53.320 --> 0:20:58.159 what this magazine is about. So right for instance, so 0:20:58.160 --> 0:21:01.240 so the helper, which is type two, they're the help 0:21:01.280 --> 0:21:03.640 or they're the giver. And so we did something very comforting, 0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:06.399 which is the chicken pop pie, which feels like, you know, 0:21:07.200 --> 0:21:09.480 it could have easily been chicken soup because if your 0:21:09.480 --> 0:21:11.320 friends are sick, you're like, oh, let me make soup 0:21:11.400 --> 0:21:14.159 for you. Let me just come and give you some comfort. 0:21:15.560 --> 0:21:20.000 So the first issue is stout what can we expect 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:22.480 with the second issue of the magazine. 0:21:22.760 --> 0:21:24.840 The second issue is going to be about an adventure. 0:21:25.040 --> 0:21:28.280 It's going to be about doing something that you've never 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:31.600 done before, put yourself out there, but also realizing that 0:21:31.680 --> 0:21:34.040 you can have an adventure in your own city by 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:37.399 going to different restaurants and different cultures. You can do 0:21:37.440 --> 0:21:39.359 an adventure by doing something new that you want it 0:21:39.440 --> 0:21:43.600 to do. You can have your just go on a tour. 0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:46.760 One of the things that I'm doing with my team, 0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:49.560 we are doing a road trip to Nashville, and we're 0:21:49.600 --> 0:21:52.880 stopping in different cities, so we'll document this whole thing. 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:56.040 We're stopping in diffferent cities. We're going to Bristol, Virginia, 0:21:56.119 --> 0:22:00.600 We're going to be in West Virginia, and we'll we're 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:02.560 going to go on one of those rides where you're 0:22:02.600 --> 0:22:04.879 on the train tracks and it's like paddle boats, but 0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:07.359 it's on a train and you're like paddling along. So 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:09.600 we're planning all of these different things and we will 0:22:09.640 --> 0:22:12.719 share it with you on the magazine. My husband is 0:22:12.800 --> 0:22:16.919 taking a train trip from Kalamazoo to Burbank, California, and 0:22:16.960 --> 0:22:19.520