Welcome to The Empty Nest Kitchen with Christine Van Bloem, where we're finding fun in the kitchen and navigating life after the kids have flown the coop. Join Christine around her kitchen table as we delve into insightful conversations with fellow empty nest women about navigating careers, side hustles, and the joys of food and cooking. Whether you're embarking on a new chapter or seeking inspiration for your next culinary adventure, tune in for stories, tips, and laughter from women just l ...
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Fine Beats & Cheeses with Leslie & Lynne celebrates cheesy pop culture.
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Christine Van Bloem joins us this week in a wide-ranging conversation about "junk" food, comfort food, and healthy food. Who knew you could love all of these! Christine Van Bloem is the founder of The Empty Nest Kitchen, teaching live, online cooking classes to empty nesters re-learning how to cook for one or two, while finding the fun in the kitch…
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Hunger Games with Caroline Kuhlman ONeill
1:07:38
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Teacher extraordinaire Caroline Kuhlman ONeill shares her insights on the Hunger Games and how she uses it with her students. A wide ranging discussion on writing, society, education, and an author's relationship with their fans...By Leslie Gray Streeter & Lynne Streeter Childress
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Who was that? Author and animal advocate Carmen Leal joins us for a deep dive into the world of The Masked Singer!By Leslie Gray Streeter & Lynne Streeter Childress
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Rewind Episode: Bubblegum Pop with Jill Earl
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Get your dancing shoes and go with us back to July of 2023, where we talked to the delightful Jill Earl, who shares her love for Bubblegum Pop, the genre of catchy songs aimed at kids and teens, especially in the late 1960's and early 1970's. This was SUCH a fun convo, where we talk about the need for frothy fun songs in the middle of not-so-fun ti…
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Join show favorite Judd Winick, comic artist extraordinaire, as we discuss the definitive Star Trek fan movie, Galaxy Quest! JUDD WINICK is a cartoonist and creator of the award-winning, New York Times bestselling Hilo series. Judd grew up on Long Island with a healthy diet of doodling, X-Men comics, the newspaper strip Bloom County, and Looney Tun…
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Special guest Daarina Jefferson stopped by to discuss Reality TV, especially the Real World! Daarina Jefferson is a mompreneur, wife, podcaster, aspiring motivational speaker, and now fashion designer. Her podcast, "Nina: I Am NOT My Illness" is an inspiring podcast about living with mental health issues. You can find it on Spotify, and you can fin…
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Join guest host Nikki Lewis and special guest Stacey Simms in a spirited discussion of Game of Thrones! As always, spoiler alerts... for a 13 year old show! Stacey Simms is the host of the long-running and award-winning podcast Diabetes Connections and the author of “The World's Worst Diabetes Mom” book series. In November 2023 she launched a secon…
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Rewind Episode: Cocktail the Movie with Dennis Camlek
1:07:21
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Aruba, Jamaica, Ooh we wanna take ya to June 2023, when we talked about the classic Tom Cruise throwing-around-bottles-of alcohol-to-music film, 1988's "Cocktail"! Our guest is the wonderful Dennis Camlek, who is a marketing professional with over thirty years of client and agency experience in the media and entertainment industry. Also, Dennis and…
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Do you yell at us through your speakers? Long time friend of the Podcast, Glenda, gets to do just that in person... About Glenda: Younger of 2 siblings, Watches wayyy too much TV. Been on various choirs since a child. Graduate of Baltimore City College. Towson STATE University, Mass Communications. Worked in TV Production since 1992. Still single, …
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Rewind Episode: Looney Tunes with Rob Harvilla
1:03:05
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Travel with us back to June 2023 as we talk all things Looney Tunes with the fantastic Rob Harvilla, host of 60 Songs That Explain the 90s, a really wonderful look at the songs that informed our lives (Leslie has been a guest 4 times, and you can find it all on Spotify). This conversation was a BLAST and you will love it. You can find Rob on Twitte…
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Scream with Amy DePaola and Dan Schwartz
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Do you like scary movies? Today, we talk classic horror movie juggernaut, "Scream", with our guests Amy and Dan, who host a WONDERFUL podcast about teen movies called "Save the Last Pod". This was a REEEEEEALLLLY fun one and we hope you love it, even if your answer to the above question is "no". Amy DePaola is a comedy and dramedy director and writ…
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Touched By An Angel with Willie Washington
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Jump in a vintage convertible with some heavenly creatures and join us as we talk about wonderful classic Sunday-night TV show "Touched By An Angel", with our guest Willie Washington. This was an uplifting, positive conversation and I hope you love it. Also, Della Reese was a daggone gift to the world. Willie's bio: Hi. My name is Willie. I’m a mil…
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Savoring Stories: Food-Themed Movies & TV Shows Perfect for Summer (Season Finale)
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Let's talk about favorite food-themed movies and TV shows, emphasizing the romance and inspiration found within the food world. Summer is the perfect time to draw the curtains on the steamiest day, drop the temperature of the ac to just above polar, make yourself the very tastiest summer snack, and watch really great food movies & tv. Enjoy this gu…
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Call Gavin DeGraw, meet us at the basketball court and bring your drama as we talk classic 2000s series, "One Tree Hill" with our guest, Dr. Jessica Rabon. I (Lynne) completely missed this show 20 years ago so I am newly obsessed. Oh my goodness this was a fun conversation!! Also, we have a bonus conversation about our fave TV theme songs on our Pa…
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Rewind Episode: The Smashing Pumpkins' "Siamese Dream" with Alex Steed
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We are pleased as punch to welcome Alex Steed of the wonderful "You Are Good", a feelings podcast about movies that he hosts with the fabulous Sarah Marshall. Today, we talk about "Siamese Dream", the 1993 album by The Smashing Pumpkins. Gosh, this was a wonderful conversation. There is a little bit of weird audio stuff in this episode but it passe…
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Travel Beyond the Guidebook with Beth Schillaci
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Find Christine at: FB: @emptynestkitchen IG: @TheEmptyNestKitchen Web: EmptyNestKitchen.com Linked In: @christinevanbloemBy Christine Van Bloem
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Books and Why We Love Them with Ashley Mason
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We are well-read cheesy people today as we discuss books and why we love them with Ashley Mason, social media marketer. What a fun conversation that made us immediately want to run to the library for things we haven't read yet or to our own bookshelves to curl up with our old favorites to read them again. Fun. Fun. Fun. Ashley Mason is the founder …
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Finely Aged Cheese Rewind: The Mirror Has Two Faces with Robin Peace
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This rewind from June 2023 is a talk with Friend of the Show/ government analyst and sci-fi/fantasy writer Robin Peace, about the 1998 Barbra Streisand movie (which she also directed), "The Mirror Has Two Faces". We talk beauty standards, and settling, and more, in this really great episode. Besides being awesome, Robin has been one of Lynne's clos…
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Getting Out of Your Own Way with LauraAura
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After navigating a successful 16-year run with her branding agency, LauraAura found herself at a crossroads during the challenges of COVID-19. Our meeting at an online workshop set the stage for today's conversation, where Laura shares the emotional journey of letting go of her team and rediscovering what truly fulfills her. Together, we unpack the…
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Country Music with Melvin E. Edwards
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We have our banjos tuned and our cowboy hats on as we talk country music with our friend, podcaster and author, Melvin E. Edwards, who was previously on our episode on Introverts. This was a really fun conversation about country, who it belongs to and who gets to sing it (the answer to that s EVERYONE), its origins, and other issues that were raise…
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Rewind Episode: Harry Styles and Dudes Wearing Dresses with Maruchy Ramos-Lachance
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This week's Finely Aged Cheese Rewind episode is from May 2023! This was a really deep and fun conversation with our dear friend Maruchy about the phenomenon of men wearing clothes traditionally seen as feminine and what that says about them, and us, and what it doesn't. Loved it. Maruchy is : the proud daughter of refugees that taught me about res…
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Finding the Flavor in Low-Sodium Cooking with Chef Danielle Turner of SaltSanity.com
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Say hello to Chef Danielle Turner, the mastermind behind Salt Sanity. After her husband's heart issues struck, Danielle took her classic training to a new level by retraining herself to find the flavor in food without all the salt. Now Danielle is here to teach you through her The Food Lover's Guide to Low Sodium Living (with a 15% special discount…
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Hooray!! We talk the inescapable new classic TV dramedy "Ted Lasso" with our guest, photojournalist and storyteller Jason Plotkin. We think that this is a show that lived up to the hype, and we hope that you like this discussion about this beautiful, funny, sad, insightful, delightful show. Jason's parents sent him to this planet when that world wa…
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Finely Aged Rewind Episode: Barry Manilow with Tracey Tiernan
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A look back at this very fun and also VERY short episode of FB&C from last May because Leslie, Tracey and I spent the first 20 minutes of our time together blabbing and it was wonderful but it took us awhile to actually push record and do the darn episode. We discuss the timeless beauty of the music of Barry Manilow, and his themes of hope and regr…
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We all go through stuff, especially once mid-life hits. Finding resilience and making the choice between recovering or not can be difficult, but not impossible. This week I'm talking with Kelly Beins, an occupational therapist who built a business, closed a business, and now is thriving in her career. You'll hear about the mental ups and downs in e…
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The Willy Wonka Movies with Tena Quesada
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It's a world of pure imagination as we talk all things Wonka with our delightful guest, friend of the show Tena Quesada. We talk 1971's "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" with Gene Wilder, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with Johnny Depp from 2005, and 2023's "Wonka" with Timothee Chalamet. We had a good time. Get your chocolate on! Tena s…
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Finely Aged Cheese Rewind Episode: Keeping Up Appearances with Laura Spencer
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This is a throwback to May of last year, as we did this episode to honor our grandma, who had recently passed away. It was a lovely, lovely time with guest Laura Spencer. Here is what we said then: Leslie and Lynne lost their grandmother Emma in late April, and wanted to honor her with an episode about "Keeping Up Appearances", BBC classic TV show …
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Finding the Funny with Laura Stark of That's What She Said
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What happens when you combine a chatterbox cook with an Improv pro? This week, we're talking about finding the funny with Laura Stark of the improv troupe That's What She Said! The conversations bobs and weaves through pronouns, yoga, bread baking, and why improv for the empty nest ladies is a great (and fun!) idea! You can find tickets to the That…
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Podcasts. The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of Fine Beats and Cheeses. Its two-year (almost) mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new likes and new guilty pleasures no one feels guilty about to boldly go into cheesiness where no man has gone before! Yes! This week we talk Star Trek and its universe with David Ginsburg, host o…
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Finely Aged Cheese Rewind Episode: The Bachelor with Jenny Kokai
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Put on your party clothes and get ready to get your rose as we travel back to May 2023 for our convo about the Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise. We had the funnest (yes I said FUNNEST) conversation with Jenny Kokai, professor and playwright, about ABC's "The Bachelor" franchise. We laughed, and we listened, and this talk could have gone on for anoth…
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My Heart Attack Story: The Importance of Heart Health Awareness for the Mid-Life Woman
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Christine Van Bloem's journey from surviving a heart attack to thriving today shows resilience and the power of awareness. Through her story, she not only raises awareness about the often overlooked symptoms of heart attacks in women but also underscores the importance of listening to one's body and advocating for proper medical attention. Despite …
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Nothing's gonna stop us now, even if you wanted to! Today, we talk about 1987's human/sometimes wooden person Andrew McCarthy/Kim Cattrall romantic comedy, "Mannequin". This is hilarious. HILARIOUS. This was a fun one. James Toler is a singer, actor, and the co-host (along with Stephanie D'Accurzio) of The Pitchy Podcast, a show that discusses NBC'…
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Finely Aged Cheese Rewind Episode :Survivor (The Show!) with Adam Vitcavage
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Travel back to May 2023 for this lively conversation about CBS's long-running reality competition show, "Survivor" with Adam Vitcavage of the podcast and website Debutiful. This is a topic that all 3 of us can talk a lot about, as you will hear. What makes a good winner? What's a good strategy? Shouldn't you know how to swim if you are voluntarily …
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Your New Favorite Summer Wine & Cocktail (with a Naughty Name)
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Looking to up your wine IQ by trying something new this summer? This crisp, white wine is a relative of Sauvignon Blanc and though it can be a little spendy, it's a tasty option for warmer weather. And while we're talking wine, let's bring what is sure to be the cocktail of the summer into the mix too! Fruity with a hint of vanilla and a racy name,…
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Podcasts Themselves with Dr. Briana Barner
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We get meta today with a podcast episode about... PODCASTS! Our guest is Dr. Briana Barner, who actually teaches about podcasts, and she is really smart, and this is a really great episode!! You can hear an extended conversation with us and Dr. Barner if you subscribe to our Patreon, where you can get bonus content while supporting us for a small m…
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Rewind Episode: You Tube University (or learning things from YT) with Wanda "Godsbratt" Ford
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Come with us back to April of 2023 and our conversation about YouTube University, the term people use about learning things on YouTube. Our guest was the DELIGHTFUL Wanda "Godsbratt" Ford, who is a podcaster and makeup artist. We talk about the vast opportunities to learn skills fron YouTube, how Wanda picked up her podcasting and MUA skills on the…
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Kitchen Must-Haves with Marien Hornyak of The Kitchenette
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In this episode of The Empty Nest Kitchen, host Christine Van Bloem delves into the world of tools for the Empty Nest Kitchen with special guest Marien Hornyak, owner of The Kitchenette in Downtown Frederick, Maryland. Get ready to discover the latest must-have gadgets and hear insights from Marien, who is also known as the @TheBlindKitchenLady on …
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We know All Too Well that you will enjoy this episode, as we talk all things Taylor Swift with our guest Melissa Leygan, who is a huge fan (or Swiftie, as they are known). Melissa is the first guest of ours to actually bring us thank you gifts (including baked goods and friendship bracelets), and this convo is as enlightening and delightful as she …
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Finely Aged Cheese Rewind Episode: A Man Called Otto with Christina James
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Come with us back to April 2023 and revisit our conversation with the delightful Christina James about the Tom Hanks cryfest, "A Man Named Otto". CW- This episode (and movie) talks about attempted suicide, grief, widowhood and pregnancy loss. Our producer nicknamed this episode "Hankering To Cry", because we talked A LOT about how this 2022 Tom Han…
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Managing Menopause Holistically with Kristin Smedley of Daffodil Pathways
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Christine Van Bloem and Kristin Smedley of Daffodil Pathways have a lively discussion about navigating menopause and holistic health practices, with a focus on empowerment and self-advocacy. The conversation delves into Kristin's journey transitioning from nursing to holistic nursing, menopause experiences, and empowering women to become their own …
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Go get your house painter who never finishes the job and join us for this wonderful episode about "Murphy Brown", the classic 80s-90s sitcom. Our guest is Lauren Milberger, actor, writer, and host of FYI: The Murphy Brown Podcast, where she and her co-host Jesi Mullins walk listeners through every Murphy Brown episode. On THIS episode of Fine Beats…
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Finely Aged Cheese Rewind: Marriage in Pop Culture with Emily Edwards
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Go with us to April of 2023 as we welcomed the delightful Emily Edwards (who will be on another episode SOON) to talk about marriage! Is marriage cheesy? Maybe! TV shows and movies sometimes think so, and our wonderful guest Emily Edwards talks about it. We had so so so so so much fun with this, and we can't wait for you to hear it. Emily J. Edward…
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Finding Treasures with Amy Benton of Paris is Calling
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Podcast Show Notes: Episode 7 - Finding Treasures with Amy Benton of Paris is Calling Welcome back to another episode of The Empty Nest Kitchen! Today, we're delving into the world of found treasures with my guest, Amy Benton, the founder of Paris is Calling. Amy is here to share her passion for discovering hidden gems and bringing the charm and vi…
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It's time to play the music, dress up right, and discuss the Muppets on the Fine Beats and Cheese Show tonight (or today or whenever you are listening to this)! We talk all iterations of Jim Henson's Muppets with Chef and Restaurant Professional Chrissy Benoit. We laughed and reminisced and laughed some more. We hope you enjoy it! You can find more…
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Finely Aged Cheese Rewind: The Joss Whedon Universe with Maria Blake
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We take you back to March 2023! This was an amazing conversation with fan of the Joss Whedon cinematic universe, Maria Blake. We talk about her love of these shows and movies, and also about the conundrum of separating a problematic artist's work from the artist themselves. Great talk.By Leslie Gray Streeter & Lynne Streeter Childress
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It's all we've ever wanted It's all we've ever needed So tell us what to do now 'cause we talking about NSYNC!! Yes, friends, this week we talk perennial boy band, NSYNC, with NSYNC superfan, author DL White. I know I (Lynne) learned a lot, and we had MUCH fun. DL White is an Atlanta based author of novels that center Black love. Fan of fried chick…
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Puff the Magic Pastry: Working with Puff Pastry
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Working with puff pastry is a breeze if you know the tips and tricks to get you from freezer to oven in puffy, crispy, flaky goodness. This week we're talking all things puff pastry, from how's it's made to techniques that insure puffy success. We'll even talk about how to make the most of frozen puff to turn it into a delightful dinner or delectab…
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A Conversation with Josh Mankiewicz of Dateline
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Our guest this week is Josh Mankiewicz, journalist and reporter for classic true crime show, Dateline! We talked about a bunch of stuff, including food and health, and also, Dateline (which is actually one of Leslie's not-so-guilty-at-all-pleasures). This was a really, really fun one, and it was an honor to talk to him. Josh Mankiewicz is an Americ…
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Bakery Life with Deb King, Deb's Artisan Bakehouse
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This week Deb King from Deb's Artisan Bakehouse and I are talking pastries, why food IS love if you're the cook, and how her terrific bakery got started. If you've ever wondered how she creates a menu or what it's like to have a menu full of choices and options every week, this episode is the one for you.…
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Bye Bye Birdie (1963) with Olivia Howell and Genevieve Dreizen
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We've got a lot of living to do as we talk "Bye Bye Birdie", the 1963 film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical. Our guests are real life sisters Genevieve Dreizen and Olivia Howell, co-founders of Fresh Starts Registry, a registry for people who are making big changes in their lives to get the things that they need to start again. You might reco…
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