Guest: Gabrielle Leon Spatt

As most of us continue with the stay-in-place orders I decided to invite Gabrielle Spatt of The Blue Dove Foundation to talk with me about Mental Health Awareness Month. The Blue Dove Foundation focuses its resources on the Jewish community to help us work through mental health and substance abuse issues. In this episode Gabby and I talk about the importance of sharing a Shabbat meal.  It’s a great opportunity to check-in with those we love and share stories about how we are meeting the challenges of preparing healthy meals and keeping up our spirits.  Gabrielle has some easy and helpful food suggestions to give us. And their website has lots more resources at: thebluedovefoundation.org.

I hope you find this episode helpful. Wishing all of you good health.

Guest: Marcy Goldman

Passover is here and what better way to get into the season of matzo than time to talk with writer and cookbook author, chef and inventor of Matzo Crack, Marcy Goldman! Marcy is my first Big Schmear guest from Canada. We had a great time talking about Jewish food in Montreal and of course learning more about Marcy and her new cookbook: The Newish Jewish Cookbook. Be sure to listen to the end of the episode so you can hear about the many things Marcy does that are food related (she has a lot more cookbooks you’ll want to check out) and some other interests she has that you might find quite interesting.  I love discovering new people with a passion for Jewish food and it’s great fun to share it with all of you.

Guest: Dr. Beth Ricanati

Who thought baking Challah could be so magical? Well, it is and especially as seen through the eyes of my guest this week Dr. Beth Ricanati. We talk about Challah and how it can connect with you, through Jewish history, as a way to think about your own well-being and of course all about baking Challah. I can guarantee you that  before you finish listening to this episode you’ll want to have your own  Challah baking in your oven… and you can! Check out the recipe section for the ‘how to’ and have a wonderful time with me as we think about bread as the staff of Jewish life.