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Cooking

Fiction, Writers on Writing

Dec 14: Wendy Sand Eckel with Mystery at Windswept Farm

A Rosalie Hart Mystery

A love of organic farm-to-table food, Italian cuisine, and murder and mayhem in an intimate community … what’s not to love?

Today we discuss the third novel in the Rosalie Hart Mystery Series with author Wendy Sand Eckel. She shares how a minor incident in her teens led to a background in criminology. How she approaches her writing, develops her characters, and how she chose the antagonist for Mystery at Windswept Farm. We also discuss thoughts on the important Italian practice of “Il dolce far niente”.

About Wendy Sand Eckel

With degrees in criminology and social work, followed by years of clinical practice, Wendy Sand Eckel combines her passion for words, relationships, and meaning, through her stories.The award-winning author of the Rosalie Hart Mystery Series, Wendy is an active member of the Mystery Writers of America and the International Association of Crime Writers.

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Health & Wellness, Memoir, Non Fiction, Social Issues

MAY 20: Jared Yates Sexton’s The Man They Wanted Me To Be, Lauren McDuffie’s Smoke Roots Mountain Harvest, & Jodi Helmer’s Tea Garden

Depression.  Lower life expectancy.  Misogyny.  Suicide.  These are just the worst of the societal consequences of toxic masculinity, failing both men and women.  The Man They Wanted Me to Be doubles as a memoir and cultural analysis, told from the point of view of Jared Yates Sexton, who was raised with strict expectations that are outdated in our current cultural climate.

Jared is a contributing political writer at Salon, and his political writing has appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, and elsewhere. He has authored three collections of fiction and a crime novel, and is an associate professor of creative writing at Georgia Southern University.

Next, capture the flavors and modern cooking techniques of Appalachia and the Blue Ridge Mountains in Smoke, Roots, Mountain, Harvest.  Author Lauren McDuffie joins us to share some tales from Appalachian country and her favorite recipes, including Drunken Short Ribs and Baked Pork Chops with Cran-Apple Moonshine compote.

Lauren admits she is not a chef, but a passionate and curious lover of food, and writes the award-wining food blog Harvest and Honey.

Later, Jodi Helmer has a love of tea that developed as a young child.  While her palate and tastes have changed, her passion for tea has remained.  In Growing Your Own Tea Garden, she shares tips for turning your garden (or windowsill) into a mini tea plantation..

Jodi’s writing has appeared in publications like SierraEntrepreneur, NPR, National Geographic TravelerAARP, and more, and she has authored six books.  She lives  on a small homestead in rural North Carolina where she grows flowers and vegetables, keeps bees and raises chickens, goats and one very spoiled donkey.

 

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Essays, Inspirational, Memoir, Non Fiction, Travel & Adventure, Writers on Writing

DEC 31: Anne Lamott on Almost Everything: Notes on Hope & Mary Ann Esposito’s Ciao Italia

She’s a writer’s-writer. A reader’s-writer. And with self-effacing humor, and ruthless honesty, Anne Lamott makes us think about what most of us don’t like to think about.

She’s known for writing and speaking about subjects that begin with Big Capital Letters. Today we’ll share her thoughts on Hate, Jealousy, Love, Hope, and preserving one’s Sanity.

A New York Times bestselling author and recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Anne Lamott has been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. She’s taught at UC Davis, as well as at writing conferences across the country.

Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Freida Mock, made a documentary on her called Bird by Bird with Annie. Anne Lamott’s latest book of essays is Almost Everything: Notes on Hope.

We’ll end today’s show chatting with the host of Ciao Italia, the longest-running cooking show on television, Mary Ann Esposito.  Find out the secret to the show’s success, her thoughts regarding pairing food and wine, and a few of her all time favorites for those who like to put an Italian spin on Thanksgiving.  Her latest book, Ciao Italia: My Lifelong Food Adventures in Italy reads as both a cookbook and a love-letter to Italy.

Mary Ann’s 12 books have helped chefs and foodies understand authentic Italian ingredients and dishes.  She created and has hosted Ciao Italia on PBS since 1989.

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Essays, Inspirational, Memoir, Non Fiction, Travel & Adventure, Writers on Writing

Nov 19: Anne Lamott on Almost Everything: Notes on Hope & Mary Ann Esposito’s Ciao Italia

She’s a writer’s-writer. A reader’s-writer. And with self-effacing humor, and ruthless honesty, Anne Lamott makes us think about what most of us don’t like to think about.

She’s known for writing and speaking about subjects that begin with Big Capital Letters. Today we’ll share her thoughts on Hate, Jealousy, Love, Hope, and preserving one’s Sanity.

A New York Times bestselling author and recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, Anne Lamott has been inducted into the California Hall of Fame. She’s taught at UC Davis, as well as at writing conferences across the country.

Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Freida Mock, made a documentary on her called Bird by Bird with Annie. Anne Lamott’s latest book of essays is Almost Everything: Notes on Hope.

We’ll end today’s show chatting with the host of Ciao Italia, the longest-running cooking show on television, Mary Ann Esposito.  Find out the secret to the show’s success, her thoughts regarding pairing food and wine, and a few of her all time favorites for those who like to put an Italian spin on Thanksgiving.  Her latest book, Ciao Italia: My Lifelong Food Adventures in Italy reads as both a cookbook and a love-letter to Italy.

Mary Ann’s 12 books have helped chefs and foodies understand authentic Italian ingredients and dishes.  She created and has hosted Ciao Italia on PBS since 1989.

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Health & Wellness, Lifestyle, Personal Development

Dec 12: 1] Cooking with the Muse 2] Fully Engaged

Sinking your teeth into Cooking with the Muse: A Sumptuous Gathering of Seasonal Recipes, Culinary Poetry, and Literary Fare gives you the rare opportunity to fill your stomach and fill your soul in one sitting. Chef and cookbook author Myra Kornfeld and poet and scholar Stephen Massimilla combine their talents to bring you 150 seasonal recipes, an anthology of food poems going back to ancient days, food lore and philosophy, and playful and practical preambles to feast on while you cook!

How often do you find yourself having to overcome self-doubt, your mind clinging to something negative that may not have even happened yet? In Fully Engaged: Using the Practicing Mind in Daily Life author Thomas Sterner shows you how to set goals in order to stop sabotaging your confidence, bringing clarity to your mind when it tries to obsess over the negative.

Catch Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair every Monday at noon Pacific or Fridays at 6AM on KKNW 1150AM or 94.9FM HD. For exclusive updates throughout the rest of the week, like us on Facebook, and follow Vicki St. Clair on Twitter!

Cooking with the Muse: A Sumptuous Gathering of Seasonal Recipes, Culinary Poetry, and Literary Fare is a cookbook for all book lovers and lovers of food. This cook’s literary book is also a book lover’s cookbook. It is full of seasonal recipes, related poems and lore about food, commentaries on poems, delectable historical and linguistic information, and musings that celebrate the pleasures of life. Myra Kornfeld and Stephen Massimilla emphasize the richness and abundance of foods and words with which we can nourish our bodies, our senses, our hearts, and our minds. Myra is a chef, educator, and the author of three previous cookbooks who teaches traditional food workshops and ethnic cooking classes at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York City. Stephen is a poet, scholar, professor, and painter whose work has appeared in hundreds of publications and he has been interviewed on public radio and television, presented papers at numerous conferences, and performed his work at many venues, including Carnegie Hall.

Fully Engaged: Using the Practicing Mind in Daily Life builds on the concepts Thomas Sterner first presented in his bestseller The Practicing Mind. Thomas helps you to learn how to use “thought awareness training”, make peace with incompleteness, and successfully navigate confrontational situations. Thomas is the founder and CEO of The Practicing Mind Institute. He is a popular speaker who works with high-performance individuals including, athletes, industry groups and individuals, helping them to operate effectively within high-stress situations so that they can break through to new levels of mastery.

Listen to PODCAST –

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