May 25, 2025 • 43 mins
What happens when a 20-year Navy veteran with a passion for global cuisine decides to trade her military uniform for an apron? Amy Knight's journey from Naval Officer to owner of Flour Power Cooking Studios reveals the unexpected parallels between naval leadership and culinary education.
(1:05) Amy has created a vibrant community space where cooking becomes a vehicle for confidence-building, memory-making, and even community service. "I just love watching the wheels turning," she shares, describing the moment when a child realizes they can create something delicious from scratch. Her weekly classes serve preschoolers through teens, while popular family cooking sessions regularly sell out, offering parents and children the chance to bond over homemade pasta or chicken piccata without worrying about kitchen cleanup.
(18:42) Knight's global travels during her naval career exposed her to cuisines that transformed her palate. These experiences inform the diverse cooking classes she now offers, including adult "Sip and Stir" BYOB workshops featuring international themes and Iron Chef-style competitions that often benefit local charities. The studio also hosts corporate team-building events that Knight describes as opportunities for colleagues to "duke it out in the kitchen" while developing collaborative skills.
What truly sets Flour Power apart is its commitment to service, mirroring Knight's military background. The studio's annual "Lasagna-thon" produces dozens of meals donated to community members in need, while also teaching young people that cooking can be a form of giving back. As Amy prepares for summer camps, she remains focused on creating opportunities that blend culinary skills with community connection.
(33:50) And later in the show, we ask our resident wine expert Catherine Montest if 'rosé all day' is still a thing. Plus Ryan Peters dishes up a Pasta alla Vodka that rivals any restaurant meal. This episode is a multi-course of culinary delight.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Doug (00:01):
Welcome to The Pittsburgh Dish.
I'm your host, Doug Heilman,how do you go from service in
the Navy to serving thecommunity with a cooking studio?
We learn about the journey ofAmy Knight and Flour Power.
As warmer months approach us,is rosé all day still a trend?
(00:21):
We pose that question to ourresident wine expert, Catherine
Montest.
And what pasta sauce is easyenough to make at home but feels
like a luxurious restauranttreat?
Ryan Peters of Peters Pastashares one of his home favorites
.
All that ahead, stay tuned.
(00:43):
The Pittsburgh Dish issupported by Chef Alekka LLC.
Book Chef Alekka for an in-homemenu experience like her wine
dinner, southern comfort, mostlyFrench, or even bougie brunch.
Just visit her website atchefalekkacom.
Now on to the show.
(01:03):
Thank you so much for comingover and for being on the show.
Would you introduce yourself toour listeners and what you have
going on right now in the worldof food?
Amy (01:15):
Hi, I am Amy Knight.
I'm the owner and operator ofFlour Power Cooking Studios
Pittsburgh.
What do I have going on rightnow?
We're, you know, we're gettingready for the strawberry jello
pretzel salad competition.
Uh, we're also gearing up forsummer camps.
Those are right around thecorner, um, and we're just kind
of chugging along doing ourweekly classes and our family
(01:37):
classes, and on the weekendswe're killing it with birthday
parties.
Doug (01:41):
Oh, that's excellent.
I think we should tell ourlisteners if they haven't heard
of or visited your business.
Let's talk a little bit moreabout Flour Power.
This is the only location rightnow in Pittsburgh, but there
are a few others throughout thecountry, right?
Amy (01:56):
Absolutely.
There's about 20 locationsthroughout the country.
Somebody just recently signed acontract in the Philly area, so
I think there'll be threelocations coming to Philly in
the next year or so, but yeah,this is the only one in
Pennsylvania at this time.
We all operate similarly, butwe have different markets as
(02:16):
well.
Doug (02:17):
Yes, can I say it's like a franchise you own it.
Amy (02:21):
It is a franchise and I do own the Pittsburgh location.
Doug (02:24):
So you can kind of do a few things like how you want.
Amy (02:27):
Absolutely.
I mean we, you know, amongstthe owners, we share information
and some things work for someand some things don't work for
others.
So again, different markets.
Doug (02:37):
I think I always had the idea at first, when I met you,
that it was a kids cookingschool, but you do so much more,
so let's let's talk about someof the classes.
You did mention that there aresummer camps coming up, like if
someone were to visit yourwebsite or just talk to you
about your business.
You know what are some of theofferings that you have right
now.
Amy (02:55):
So right now we do a membership model for weekly
classes and we have four agegroups.
We have the preschool, thelittle chefs, the tweens and the
teens.
That's a great value becauseyou can do as little or as many
of the classes that we offer inthe month.
Also, on the weekends we'realways doing birthday parties,
(03:16):
so we're kind of jam-packedSaturdays and Sundays with
birthday parties.
Doug (03:21):
It would be a great location for that.
It's nice and big.
There's two sort of majorkitchen areas, but then you move
tables around and stuff, sothere can be a lot of even
cooking areas if you're doing aclass.
Amy (03:32):
Absolutely, and we reconfigure depending on, like,
how many people are going toshow up, what it is we're doing,
so it really just depends.
So definitely a lot ofversatility within our kitchens.
Usually, like every couple ofFriday nights, we do a kid's
night out.
In fact, we have one coming upthis Friday.
Basically it's for ages five to12 and it's a two hour cooking
party and it's.
(03:55):
You know, you just pay the oneprice for the one class and
you're not like committed oranything.
And then we do a couple offamily classes a month and that
seems to be like our sweet spot.
The family classes are reallydoing well.
Most of them sell out veryquickly, Um, and there's a lot
of, like you know, memories madeand a lot of just a lot of
(04:15):
energy that happens in thesefamily classes and I just love
it because we get we see a lotof familiar faces, cause they
just love it and they're comingback.
Doug (04:23):
I love what you're saying about the memory making with the
families, because, a maybe theydon't cook as much at home we
hear that a lot, you know peoplehave sort of lost that at home
experience and B they're in aplace that is not their kitchen,
so maybe your staff is helpingthem clean up and it's even like
a little easier, right.
Amy (04:40):
Oh, absolutely, and I'm guilty too.
Like at home with my kids.
I'm not ready to like tear thatkitchen apart, but if we're at
flower power I'm like let's doit.
Catherine (04:49):
Let's make a mess.
Amy (04:50):
You know we can clean it up quick and I think there's
definitely some comfort therewhere your kids are kind of
letting loose and making a messand being themselves and being
comfortable, and you don't haveto clean it up.
Doug (05:03):
I love that when you have the classes that are geared
towards kids and families.
What are some of the dishes or,like the cuisine topics that
you are doing?
Amy (05:13):
So pasta is a huge one.
I mean we do it prettyfrequently just because it sells
out so quick, Like homemadepasta Homemade pasta from
scratch.
Doug (05:22):
Wow.
Amy (05:22):
And people are like blown away, especially for, like
younger kids, like how easy itis for them to execute this
whole process.
We just had a family classrecently and we made chicken
piccata which is like myfavorite dish ever and everybody
like loved it and the kids likegobbled it up and I think the
(05:43):
parents are like surprised youknow that kids are going to eat
some capers and like go forsomething, that's a little bit
different from you know chickenfingers and stuff.
Um, we'll have like pizzaparties or we have things that
are like breakfast themes.
So we'll we'll or like a brunchtheme or we do like a breakfast
pizza or like a breakfastcasserole and some other things.
(06:03):
Usually there's three recipesinvolved in the family's classes
, so it just depends.
Sometimes they're aligned withthe holidays.
Doug (06:11):
Everything's really hands-on too, oh yeah absolutely
.
Amy (06:16):
And like in during December , we do a lot of cookie baking,
so that's big.
And we even have like agingerbread class where they you
know, they don't even have toput the house together.
We put it together for them andall they have to do is, like,
make it look beautiful.
Oh, they're just decorating itout.
Doug (06:33):
Now here's the funny thing , like I personally have been to
your place half a dozen timesor more, but it's never been for
a kids or family class, solet's talk about those other
things that you do beyond thekids classes.
These are the nighttime, is itsip and stir?
How do you like to label theseevents?
Amy (06:52):
Yeah, I mean we call them sip and stirs.
We casually call them sip andstirs BYOBs.
But we do do adult classes.
We do a couple a month and thenI'm always looking to
collaborate or raise money fornonprofits.
So we do these Iron Chefcook-offs.
I think most of the ones thatyou've been to we were raising
(07:12):
money for something.
And they're such a good time.
Honestly, it always blows mymind when we do these Iron Chef
cook-offs, where we get thesepeople together and half of them
walk in and tell me that theydon't know how to make toast and
then they pull off these likemasterpieces that are edible,
and then I think they're alsosurprised too.
(07:34):
They're like wow, I can'tbelieve we did this.
Catherine (07:37):
I want to do it again .
Amy (07:38):
I mean you're, you're always kind of on the tasting
end.
So you know firsthand that it'sdelicious.
Doug (07:44):
It is delicious and truly what they pull off within an
hour or so and they have, as yousaid, it's sort of Iron Chef,
in that they have a surpriseingredient that they have to
incorporate.
So how well do they do that?
I think most of the time I'vebeen there it has been for some
kind of fundraising event, soI'm trying to think of some of
the partners.
The first time I was in yourlocation, we did lasagna love,
(08:11):
we did like a lasagna cooking athon and then those were
delivered out to a bunch of likeagencies and places that could
feed those lasagnas.
Um, I think, am I getting itright?
Like Baker Leadership and, uh,Variety, yeah, so we've raised
money for variety like we.
Amy (08:23):
We hosted uh Zoe Pekach was a guest uh chef and we did like
a dessert themed night that wasa big success.
We sold out of that and allthat money went to variety.
Um, I think variety.
I tried to like mix it up.
Like that year I really had agoal of like trying to do a
different non-profit every monthand then rotate through chefs
(08:43):
and stuff and unfortunately Ihad to pivot cause it.
It just wasn't.
I really thought it was good, Idon't know.
I just thought, oh, this isgoing to be great, Like two of
these great worlds are going tocome together and for good and
kind of thing.
Doug (08:57):
And well, you still are doing a lot of it.
It may not be happening.
Amy (09:05):
It's mostly happening for just the one non-profit though,
and part of it is too, is youknow, they kind of get the word
out as well, and so I I thinkyou need that help when you're
collaborating with somethinglike both sides of that
collaboration really need towork to make it a success, and
variety has done that for sureand variety is a children's
charity.
Doug (09:21):
if folks aren't familiar, uh, we just did one for the
Leukemia Society, is that right?
Amy (09:27):
Correct the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society, which is still
ongoing until June.
But we have differentopportunities that we're raising
money for that campaign.
Doug (09:40):
So if somebody is out there and they're like, oh, this
is a good idea, they couldcontact you and you could put a
night together for them if theyhave a charity, some
organization or some cause likethat that they're working for.
I think the setup in the lastone I went to they were like
groups of four, they paid $100.
And then we did two rounds ofwhat did we call it?
(10:01):
It's not chopped.
So we did two rounds of like aniron chef and they won a gift
certificate to a greatrestaurant, and then all of this
money gets donated to, like,the campaign that we're trying
to do?
Amy (10:14):
Yeah, I mean, I just cover my costs for that event you know
which are minimal.
And then, yeah, the rest of themoney and I I tried to give it
a push like the day of.
At the end of the day, it'sliterally four people and
they're paying 25 to have like afull meal and, yeah, they get
to eat.
Doug (10:32):
They get to eat everything that they make and they're
being judged against the otherteams.
That night I think we had sixteams.
It was so much fun and as ajudge, I would say to me six
teams was, but I have been therewhere there's 10.
And so you're judging like 10tastings and 10 desserts or
whatever, and, oh my gosh, I wasso full.
The first one I did.
Amy (10:52):
Oh yeah, and I think six is a good number, especially like
being able to like get aroundthe kitchen, and so I think,
probably going forward, that'sprobably a number we'll try and
stick with.
But we yeah, we've had the 10in there which I can't even
imagine being a judge for that.
No.
Doug (11:07):
Let's take just a quick step back to if you're not doing
an event specifically for acharitable organization, but you
are doing an adult as we saidsip and stir class, where people
can bring in some wine or beerand cook.
What are some of the dishes ormenus you've put together for an
event like that?
Amy (11:25):
So the most recent one we did was a Thai themed one, and
we were really focused onlemongrass.
So we had a drink that hadlemongrass in it, and then we
had two main courses that hadlemongrass in it.
One was a tofu dish and one waslike a chicken dish.
And I will tell you, forsomebody that's not a vegan and
doesn't really go and eat tofu,the only time I eat tofu is in
(11:45):
miso soup.
Doug (11:46):
Okay.
Amy (11:48):
They made the most delicious tofu.
I mean, I was like I'm going tostart making this You're a
convert.
Yes, it was delicious, so we'llhave like international themes,
or it might be like a sweetskind of thing, or it might be
again a pasta thing.
The pasta again, we kind ofthing.
Or it might be again a pastathing, uh, the pasta again.
We kind of keep bringing itback cause it's just so popular.
And it's one of those skillsthat like, literally, you have
(12:11):
some eggs and flour at home, youcan just go ahead and whip it
up.
Um, also another thing we do alot of is like corporate team
building events.
So, kind of structured like theiron chef, but, like you know,
when you work nine to five withthe same people, if you get a
chance to go duke it out in thekitchen.
It's a lot of fun.
So we do those.
We've hosted quite a few groupsfor that and they always just
(12:35):
love it.
And it's again crazy becauseyou'll have somebody in the
group.
That's like I don't know how tocook and somebody is a leader
in their group group and they'vetasked them with something to
help them make something amazing.
Doug (12:49):
I would love that as a corporate team builder.
So, amy, I'm wondering, likewith all of these events, do you
create the theme or the recipes, or is this something you're
sharing amongst your other?
Amy (12:59):
flour power, so we get a lot of these recipes from
corporate.
However, a lot of the lessonplans and recipes were put
together by some of the ownersor some of the staff members.
You know we've contributed someof the international lesson
plans.
Even like my 12 year oldsreally into anime, so we put
(13:21):
together an anime lesson planthat was like Japanese themed
Wow.
Doug (13:26):
You know, so.
So you did that.
Yes, okay, and then the otherflour power schools could use it
too.
Amy (13:32):
Yes, once it gets approved by corporate.
We do have a head chef atcorporate.
Once she gives it the okay,then it's live and people can
use it.
So there are definitely alsolike some lesson plans that we
get and they have some recipesthat I'm like let's do this a
little bit different, you know.
Or like let's omit that.
Or like, do it like this.
Doug (13:53):
So you have the agency to really customize things and make
it your own and make it moreadaptable for your audience.
Amy (14:00):
Absolutely.
Doug (14:01):
Yeah, that's great.
I want to pivot a little bitand ask you know, when did you
discover Flower Power and decidethat you wanted to open a shop
here in Pittsburgh?
Amy (14:24):
franchises.
So I knew that like, oh, I'dnever owned a business and I
really don't know the firstthing about it.
Let me get like a business in abox and try that out.
So I looked, I pulled like themacaron string.
I also really wanted to getinto doggy daycares but it's so
expensive.
So I saw that in writing.
Like I can't do this.
Like I can't afford this.
So I was like, let me, let mekeep looking, let me keep
(14:46):
looking.
I need something that obviouslyis going to be successful in
this area and something I canshare with my children.
Like I can take my kids to workand it's fine.
Catherine (14:55):
They'll just blend right in.
Amy (14:58):
And I was like, oh gosh, this would be so awesome.
I want to do this.
I'm more of like a a foodconsumer than I am a cooker.
Catherine (15:06):
You know what I mean.
Like.
Amy (15:08):
I love like foods from all over the world, you know,
especially like being in theNavy and traveling to so many
different countries and tryingso many different things.
I, I just love all food youknow, except for beets.
I do not like beets.
Doug (15:21):
Okay.
Amy (15:25):
You haven't been won over yet Never, so.
So yeah, I was like this isgoing to be perfect and I
actually spent like a couple ofyears trying to get it up and
running because of COVID, like Iwas getting ready to sign a
lease literally when we shutdown for COVID.
And that just set everythingback by like two years.
Doug (15:41):
Yes, how long has your shop been open?
Amy (15:44):
It'll be three years in July, okay, so 2022?
Yes, Okay, july 2022.
And then, yeah, I mean, I guessI'm glad that it worked out the
way that it did, because therewas other locations that opened
right in the middle of COVID andthey're no longer.
Doug (16:00):
Yeah, they couldn't weather the storm.
Amy (16:03):
No, and I mean, who could you know?
Doug (16:06):
So you have been open for three years.
You've weathered some storms.
You kind of had better timingthan some.
What other lessons have youlearned becoming this business
owner from you know?
Air quotes, business in a box.
Amy (16:18):
Yeah, so I mean there's definitely a seasonality to what
we do.
You know the summer camp is abig thing for us.
You know we have 10 weeks ofkids that are there for five
days a week, eight hours a day.
But like we sell those summercamps in January and we're
spending money for those campsin June, July, August.
(16:39):
So, you know kind of likefiguring out how to.
How do you make all that work?
Doug (16:44):
Your whole year is this big plan, right, right.
Amy (16:48):
And so living it and seeing it and learning from it.
That, hmm, we need to hold offon spending money on these
things and then back to schoolis different.
I think there's a fact outthere that there's more
birthdays in September than anyother month, so we do have a lot
(17:10):
of birthday parties inSeptember.
During the summertime peopledon't really want to have indoor
birthday parties.
We wish they did, though.
Ryan (17:19):
It's quite airy in there Right.
Amy (17:21):
It's so bright in there.
You know they want to be out bythe pool and things like that,
and I don't blame them, but justkind of realizing like, oh,
weekends are going to be alittle slower in the summer.
So yeah, I mean definitely likeEach quarter is very different.
Doug (17:37):
Yeah, if somebody is out there thinking about opening
their own small business,whether it's similar to yours or
not, I'm sure there's lessonsthey can take away.
That you have been like, oh mygosh.
Amy (17:49):
I'm guilty of being a consumer and walking in and
purchasing something andthinking, oh, like I just paid
this amount for something thatprobably costs $3 to make.
But people forget how muchinsurance is, how much all these
serve save, how much rent is.
Doug (18:11):
And you have employees there.
Amy (18:12):
Employees that I pay a livable wage.
Yeah, and it's.
You know, again I'm guilty.
But like thinking that wholething through, like oh, this
lady is selling me a sticker andthat sticker is cute, but it
costs 10 cents in China.
Well, guess what?
Doug (18:28):
Like it's $5 overhead for this sticker right here, and I
get it.
Amy (18:33):
I really get it.
Yeah, this is Amy Knight withFlour Power Studios, Pittsburgh,
and you're listening to ThePittsburgh Dish.
Doug (18:42):
I want to take a step back because you have mentioned it
earlier.
Before being this businessowner, you had a very different
career.
Can you tell us a little bitabout your service history?
Amy (18:55):
Sure, I was in the Navy for a little over 20 years.
Doug (18:57):
Wow.
Amy (18:58):
I spent about 10 years enlisted for a little over 20
years.
I spent about 10 years enlistedand then, thanks to the Navy, I
got a degree, a bachelor'sdegree, in strategic
intelligence.
And then I applied to officercandidate school and was picked
up.
I was a surface warfare officerfor five years and those are
the officers that are on theships, they're kind of the
management on the ships.
(19:18):
I then I had a daughter, so Idecided that I needed to be on
shore duty and I applied to be ahuman resources officer.
So then I spent the last fiveyears in Pittsburgh.
I was the operations officerfor Navy, recruiting for three
states.
So, yeah, I mean I have someleadership experience.
(19:39):
Sure, I think that's alsosomething that, like I pride
myself on you know, as the ownerand operator of Flower Power is
just being able to work withthese young people and kind of
empower them to make decisionsand be the best version of
themselves they can be.
Doug (19:56):
Yes, I am really interested to know number one
where did you grow up?
Amy (20:01):
I'm from Akron, ohio, okay, so not too far away.
Doug (20:04):
And then when you were on I want to say this in the right
way, so you can correct me anaval ship.
Do I want to say that?
Amy (20:10):
Were you on a carrier.
Doug (20:11):
Were you on a destroyer.
Amy (20:13):
I've been on both.
I've been stationed on fourships, so I've been stationed on
an aircraft carrier, twodestroyers and a frigate.
Doug (20:21):
Wow, so we don't even have frigates anymore.
I was like I don't know thatone.
Yeah, I was on one of the lastones.
Oh, and did you travel allaround the world?
Amy (20:27):
Yeah, I did Um so when I first joined the Navy, I think
like a couple of years into it.
Uh, september 11th happened.
Doug (20:35):
And when did you enlist?
Amy (20:37):
I enlisted in 99.
I was 18 years old.
Doug (20:39):
Oh my goodness.
Amy (20:41):
So I was 20 years old when September 11th happened Wow.
So it really changed the faceof what a deployment looked like
for the Navy.
Ryan (20:50):
Yes.
Amy (20:50):
A lot of what we were doing is shaking hands and kissing
babies.
Doug (20:53):
Yes.
Amy (20:54):
And now-.
Doug (20:55):
It became real.
Amy (20:56):
Yeah, we were on alert, we were going and we weren't
necessarily pulling into port.
We were kind of guardingcountries and, you know, working
with our allies to make surethat the world was safe.
Doug (21:07):
Wow, and where all over the world did you get to go?
Amy (21:12):
I've been.
So I've been stationed on shipsthat were in the West Coast and
then also stationed on shipsthat were in the East Coast.
So they go to different places.
So the West Coast, you know,I've been to, like Australia.
I've been to Hong Kong I'vebeen to.
Also when I was on the WestCoast we did like a South
American tour, so we were kindof like going after drug runners
(21:34):
and stuff.
So that was very different.
And then when I was stationedon the East Coast, I actually
took a ship that was an EastCoast ship and took them to
Japan to do a whole port change.
Catherine (21:46):
So I lived in Japan for a year and so then those
port visits are very different.
Amy (21:52):
You know Guam, we did Guam quite a few times.
Doug (21:55):
We have a big station in Guam right, A big base.
Amy (21:58):
Which fun fact I was actually born in Guam.
Doug (22:01):
Really.
Amy (22:01):
Yeah, my parents were both in the air force.
Doug (22:03):
Were they.
Amy (22:04):
Oh, my goodness.
Doug (22:05):
So you've carried the family tradition of military
service.
Thank you so much for yourservice.
Amy (22:10):
Thank you, my sister's also in the Navy, by the way.
Doug (22:12):
Oh my gosh, is she still?
She is, oh my gosh, 27 yearsWow.
So out of curiosity, cause Idon't know this, when you would
be in a foreign country, did youever have, you know, shore
leave time that you could goexplore?
Yeah, it was.
Amy (22:27):
It just depended on where we pulled in, because there was
different rules.
Whoever the admiral was forthat territory at the time,
there might be some restrictions.
We also had a time where we hada commanding officer that he
wouldn't let anybody stayovernight anywhere.
So the whole deployment.
You had to go out and come back.
Doug (22:47):
Get on the ship.
Amy (22:48):
Whereas typically, if you weren't assigned a specific duty
day while you were in portbecause you'd be in port for
three or four days, and if youdidn't have duty, then you could
stay overnight in a hotel.
Doug (23:00):
Oh, like a little vacation .
Amy (23:02):
Yeah, a little vacation, and honestly, like when I tell
people some of the stories ofsome of the port visits, like I
couldn't pay for that trip.
Doug (23:11):
Right.
Amy (23:13):
You know, like we pulled into the French Riviera and
literally like I felt like amillion bucks, Like I was on
this like vacation and I'msurrounded by like just this
great environment.
You know, and I'm like gosh, Ijust got a free ride over here.
Doug (23:30):
Yeah.
So there's this just amazingexperience for all those young
people out there that arethinking about military service.
You can have serious times andyou can have some really uh, you
can have some perks to the jobtoo.
Amy (23:41):
Oh yeah, absolutely.
I mean some of the places thatI've been, like.
I've been to Australia likeseveral times and I mean it just
would have cost me so muchmoney to go there.
I ran like a relay marathon inPerth with some friends on the
ship.
You know what I mean and I'vedone some of the coolest.
I went on an Outback trip inAustralia where literally it was
like Crocodile Dundee was ourtour guide.
(24:03):
Well, you know, we were seeinglike kangaroos jumping around in
the wild and we were ridingthese glue factory horses.
And oh, oh, my gosh.
Doug (24:12):
So I want to bring back to food a little bit.
When you had all of theseadventures, did that give you
exposure to the cuisine of thearea?
I mean, did you try the foodWere you?
Becoming more adventurous whenyou were on these travels.
Amy (24:24):
I mean, there's things, so many things, that I ate, that
I'd never ate, you know, upuntil that point, and then I
come back and they're like myfavorite foods.
Oh my gosh, yeah.
Doug (24:33):
Because they were probably part of a core memory.
Now, oh, yeah, absolutely.
Amy (24:37):
I was stationed in England for two years and near where I
lived was like a huge Lebanesepopulation and Lebanese food is
like some of my favorite foodnow.
Doug (24:47):
Yeah, it's stuck with you.
Yeah, for sure.
Are there any other dishes thatare still like?
I crave that all the time, or Iwant this so chicken korma.
Amy (24:54):
I've never had chicken korma until I was like overseas
and like I try it likeeverywhere.
If I see it on a menu, um, Ihave to have it.
Or like a Peking duck Again, Ihad that in England.
Um, they have like the duckshanging in the window, but like
when they serve it with likethose little pancakes and the
plum sauce and um and they shredit in front of you Like.
(25:16):
I just love that you know.
Doug (25:19):
So I want to take just a kind of another step further
back.
What was food life like growingup in Akron and with your
family being in the military?
Like, did folks cook for you?
Did you cook at an early age,or was your service time a big
expansion to your kind ofculinary experience?
Amy (25:37):
A hundred percent A big expansion experience.
A hundred percent a bigexpansion.
Sorry, mom.
Um, yeah, my mom may have.
She had like five recipes inher bag yeah, meatloaf, tuna,
noodle, casserole, pot roast,spaghetti and shake and bake
something oh my gosh, veryall-american, yeah, standard
dishes um, yeah, so, uh, Idefinitely like.
(25:58):
I think when I was a teenager, Iwas like if I was home, like
during the summer, and myparents were at work, I was
trying to like whip something up.
It's weird because when I was akid, I was not one of those
kids where my parents went andbought all these like kids
snacks.
Doug (26:13):
No, my parents none of that.
Amy (26:15):
Yeah, it was like if you're not making yourself some shake
and bake chicken, you'reprobably not going to eat lunch
today or whatever.
I guess my point is is like youhad to be creative and like put
something together becausethere was not going to be a
Swiss roll in the cabinet.
Doug (26:33):
No.
So, amy, thinking about yourtime in the Navy and that sort
of culinary experience, is thatmaybe one of the things that
made flower power moreattractive?
Amy (26:46):
Absolutely.
I love food, except for beets.
I love all food and I just,yeah, I'm like this is so fun I
mean even today, when I am there, like this is so fun.
And the way kids like light upwhen they make something and
they just can't even believe it.
And sometimes you know how kidsare like they might act like
(27:08):
it's not a big deal, but thenwhen their parents come to pick
them up, they cannot wait totell them that they made
something, or like I mean justwatching them kind of like the
wheels turning, like wow, Ireally did not know I could make
that like that, you know so,but yeah, I mean it's, it's a
fun place to be.
I honestly, the stressful partof flower power is the behind
(27:31):
the scenes.
It's not the actual, like beingthere doing it.
Doug (27:34):
It looks chaotic, but you kind of thrive in that, oh yeah,
I'm like oh, we got this.
Amy (27:39):
We're about to make a masterpiece.
Doug (27:42):
You're making experiences and memories.
You're building skills andconfidence.
Amy (27:47):
Yeah, and you know every kid that comes in there like
we're not expecting them to belike totally in love with
cooking or baking or whatever,but there's so much that goes
into cooking and baking the math, the science, yeah, into
cooking and baking the math, thescience.
Like, honestly, if we'resparking some sort of creativity
or some, even like some kidtrying to figure out, like maybe
(28:08):
this is a path I want to takethat has nothing to do with food
.
That's good too.
Doug (28:13):
Absolutely.
You are building so many otherskills beyond.
Just do I know how to roll outsome dough?
I love it.
So, since we are there, let'stalk about what's ahead.
Do you have any events or othergoals or anything coming up
throughout the year or thesummer?
I know you mentioned the kidscooking camps are coming up.
Amy (28:31):
So one of the things we just recently started that I
want to stick with is I do havelike a girl that she's one of
our manager's daughters.
That's like doing a recipe likeevery Monday.
She puts it together and we dolike a little video.
So I you know she's also inacting school, so I feel like
we're helping each other.
Yes, Because she's getting thatlike on camera time, and you
(28:55):
know I'm working on my editingskills too.
Doug (28:57):
But is this going on like YouTube or the website we just
put?
Amy (29:00):
it on instagram for now.
So maybe maybe, if it, you know, grows and stuff, maybe we'll
do something else but, yeah, soshe.
So she's doing that.
One of the goals I had likelast year and it's still like
really like close to my heart.
I just haven't as executed as Iwould love to do like a real,
(29:21):
like a Pittsburgh teencompetition you know, like where
they really like duke it out.
I just haven't like kind ofpulled the trigger to like
structure that, but I would lovethat and I just I think there's
some teens out there thatprobably know what's going on
and could really pull somethingamazing off.
Doug (29:39):
You just sparked an idea for me.
Like you know, I see like quizshows and stuff of competing
high schools.
Maybe there could be like a, acooking high school showdown or
something you know around theareas that could be fun.
Amy (29:51):
Oh yeah, I love that.
It's funny, cause sometimes onSaturday mornings, when I'd have
like the morning news on and Ilet it keep going, they'll do
like those trivias.
That's what I'm thinking.
Doug (30:00):
Yeah, yeah.
Amy (30:07):
So do that with food.
Yeah, I like it.
I like it, anything else.
We do lasagna thon we're stillplanning on doing that again
this summer.
Every year it's gotten biggerand better.
And honestly, and you've beenthere.
Doug (30:14):
I'll try and come again.
Amy (30:15):
Yeah, but one of the things that is also a good opportunity
is we can allow kids tovolunteer and they love that.
Doug (30:21):
They get to see the acts of service and sort of get that
understanding of you can cookfor other people that are in
need, and so it's not just abouthaving fun but it's really
about serving the community.
Amy (30:33):
So I think, with that thought and I've talked to like
Tom Baker about this before,about volunteerism for little
people, you know, kids that arelike my kids age, like seven
year olds and stuff, you know, Iknow that there are some
avenues of where kids dovolunteer but the opportunities
are kind of small.
But I would love to have somesort of regular opportunity at
(30:54):
flower power where we're makingfood for somebody or whatever,
but like having kids involved.
Um, you know, not to get offtopic, but the competition
coming up, I have a kid teamthat's helping me with the
strawberry jello pretzel salad.
Really like involving kids asmuch as possible.
Doug (31:13):
The earlier the better.
Amy (31:14):
Absolutely yeah.
Doug (31:15):
I used to work with someone and really her family
just instilled a lifetime ofservice, whether that's civilian
service, you know, versusmilitary service.
But you're always doing somekind of service because it's so
fulfilling to your community andI think that your location for
me has brought that out multipletimes and I think you're just
doing great stuff, so thank you.
Amy (31:35):
Yeah, thank you.
Doug (31:37):
Why don't we do this for our listeners?
Would you go ahead and plugyour social handle so they can
see that recipe video or yourwebsite or anything else you
have going on where people cancontact you?
Amy (31:48):
Sure.
So as far as like Facebook andInstagram, it's Flour Power
Pittsburgh, and that's flowerspelled F-L-O-U-R like bread
flour Correct.
Doug (31:58):
We haven't said that yet.
Amy (32:00):
Listen if you guys screw that up.
I've done it too.
I'll send myself a text orsomething and I'll all of a
sudden type in F-L-O-W-E-R andI'm like what are you doing?
Doug (32:10):
Amy.
Amy (32:11):
But yeah, so Flour Power Pittsburgh, and then online it's
flourpowerstudioscom, and thenyou just select location
Pittsburgh.
Doug (32:22):
And then, amy, if they do go to the website, that's where
they can see, under Pittsburgh,your current classes or anything
you have coming up, right yeah.
Amy (32:29):
There's a couple of different views.
You can kind of navigatethrough what it is you're
looking for, or you can justlook at there's a calendar view.
You can see what's coming upahead.
Doug (32:37):
Great Amy.
Can you remind us where yourFlower Power cooking studio is
located?
Amy (32:44):
Yeah, we're in Allison Park on Route 8, hampton Township,
so we're literally like a milefrom the Turnpike.
Doug (32:51):
Oh, yeah, all right, amy.
I always have a final questionfor our guests.
The name of the show is ThePittsburgh Dish.
What's the best dish you've hadto eat this past week, this
past week?
Amy (33:06):
So we went to.
It's across the street fromFlour Power and it's called K
Asian Bistro and Sushi Bar andthey have this appetizer called
K-Style Duck Roll and it's sogood.
It has the hoisin sauce and ithas like a spicy sauce on it.
Roll, and it's so good.
It has the hoisin sauce and theuh has like a spicy sauce on it
and it's just delicious.
Doug (33:25):
This is back to the Peking duck that you love.
Amy (33:27):
Absolutely Like.
It's just my again, my, my 12year old eats it with me because
it's so good.
Doug (33:34):
Best bites this week.
Amy Knight, thank you so muchand thanks for being on the
Pittsburgh dish.
Amy (33:41):
Thanks for having me.
I'm so happy that you invitedme on, and I just love every
time we work together.
It's been great.
Doug (33:46):
Me too.
Thanks again.
Up next, have you been guiltyof drinking rosé all day?
We check in with CatherineMontest to see if this trend
still has legs.
Hey everybody, we're joinedtoday with our resident wine
expert, catherine Montest.
Of Your Fairy Wine Mother,Catherine.
We're moving into some of thewarmer months of the year and I
(34:11):
think sometimes people's tasteschange for wine, would you say
that happens for you in thesummer.
Oh, I think so, absolutely.
Catherine (34:18):
Doug yeah.
Doug (34:19):
I sort of recall a couple summers ago.
This term rosé all day was kindof a trend.
Does that still hold true, orwill it hold true for this
summer?
Catherine (34:31):
Absolutely.
Rosé is delightful.
A lot of the red wines that welike to gravitate toward during
the winter months can kind offeel heavy during the summer.
Doug (34:42):
Yeah, that's what I think.
Catherine (34:43):
And rosé wines are not made from rosé grapes per se
, but they're made from red winegrapes.
Okay, and there's a couple ofdifferent methods that are used
and a whole bunch of differentred wine grapes.
And there's a couple ofdifferent methods that are used
and a whole bunch of differentred wine grapes.
So if you're a red wine loverand you want to lighten things
up, you can move into a rosé forthe summer and still enjoy some
(35:04):
of the same flavors, butwithout the tannins and the
heaviness.
Doug (35:08):
Yes, oh, I like this, yeah , so it could still be a trend
that's been going on for years.
Catherine (35:13):
Oh, absolutely, and I think that the offerings that
are available to us today aremuch more widespread than your
mom's old white Zinfandel.
Doug (35:24):
I think so what you're saying is our rosé all day has
matured to a degree.
Catherine (35:28):
Absolutely Okay, absolutely so if you're someone
who likes a Pinot Noir or a CabFranc, or even a Gamay, you
would want to look for winesfrom France in the.
Loire Valley, because thosegrapes are grown there and
they'll pick some of the grapesand one of the ways of making a
(35:48):
rosé wine is to press the grapesand just take some of that
juice away.
Doug (35:55):
Okay.
Catherine (35:56):
And the color doesn't come from the juice inside the
grape.
The color comes from the skin.
Doug (36:02):
Oh, I think I have heard this before?
Catherine (36:04):
Yes, so when the juice has a little bit of
contact with the skin, from afew hours to a couple of days,
it'll pick up a light color andit doesn't pick up all those
heavy structured tannins andthings from long time sitting on
the skins.
Doug (36:21):
But it does get that little blush.
Catherine (36:23):
It gets a flush of color and it gets a lot of the
really wonderful ripe fruitflavors.
Okay, yeah, another way thatrosé wines can be made is to
take to to ferment white wineand red wine separately and then
just start adding a little bitof red wine to the white.
Doug (36:41):
Just to give it that blush again, until you get the color
and the flavor profile thatyou're looking for.
Okay, so is that a bad thing?
Catherine (36:49):
No, not at all.
Okay, it's really depends on,you know, what's inspiring the
winemaker and when the grapescame in from the field and they
started their vinificationprocess, what makes sense for
that year's harvest.
Doug (37:01):
Yeah, because every year is a little different.
This is a natural product,absolutely.
Are there any particular rosésthat you gravitate towards?
Catherine (37:10):
Lately I've been drinking a rosé made from
Grenache and Grenache is areally fun grape very fruity
flavors of raspberry and cherryand just a nice soft finish,
like it's not real harsh onceyou've swallowed.
The flavor just kind of gentlydrifts away after a few seconds.
(37:32):
So rosés from Grenache arereally delicious and over the
weekend I served a really nicerosé at a function and it was
from Oak Hill Winery in Lodi,california, and it was
absolutely bright, refreshing,delicious and wonderful notes of
cherries and raspberries andstrawberry and it was just
(37:54):
wonderful for a little gardenparty.
Doug (37:56):
Oh, that sounds great.
You are educating me in adifferent way because you know,
I am truly a novice on things.
So what we are saying with roséwines, they can come from
different types of grapes, anddo the bottles identify that?
Catherine (38:11):
A lot of times they do, but sometimes it's really
dependent upon the place.
Doug (38:16):
Okay.
Catherine (38:17):
Here in the United States we tend to put the name
of the grape on the bottle.
Doug (38:21):
Okay.
Catherine (38:22):
Over in Europe, they tend to name things from the
area in which it was grown theterroir, terroir, the terroir or
the region?
Yeah, can't say it terroir, theterroir or the region, yeah,
yeah, can't say it.
Um, and some of the best rosésthey've been making for hundreds
of years from the provenceregion of france and you can get
(38:42):
grenaches from the provenceregion of france as well okay.
Doug (38:45):
So if I am taking a trip to get some rosé wine, looking
for some grenache based grapes,and if they say that here in the
States it's maybe Lodi Valley,and where again?
From France, do you likeProvence?
Okay, and those also are makinggreat rosés with Grenache.
Catherine (39:04):
Absolutely, and also Syrah.
So if you're someone who likesa petite Syrah, those rosés from
that area come in that grapetoo.
Doug (39:12):
Okay, Catherine, I think we're still going to be drinking
rosé all day sometime thissummer.
Catherine (39:19):
Yes indeed.
Doug (39:21):
You can follow Catherine on Instagram at
urfairywinemother.
That's U- R fairy wine mother.
When it comes to home cooking,do you ever surprise yourself
with a recipe that turns outrestaurant-worthy?
This week, Ryan Peters deliversa dish with his homemade pasta
a la vodka.
(39:41):
Hey, everybody, we're joinedwith Ryan Peters of Peters Pasta
.
Ryan, when we've talked in thepast, you're always making the
fresh pasta and you have thatfancy pasta-making machine.
I love some of the shapes youmake, and I did just catch a
video with one of my favoritesauces.
It was a vodka sauce.
Yeah, could you take us throughthat recipe for listeners at
(40:04):
home?
Ryan (40:05):
First off, I want to say it's so simple.
It's very, very simple.
So many people love vodka saucenowadays and they don't realize
how simple it is to make.
You can make it at home.
It's just a few ingredients.
So I usually start with someonions and garlic.
Get those you know sweated downa little bit, get those out of
the pan and I like to do like ahot Italian sausage round.
(40:27):
I had never seen that before.
Doug (40:28):
What a great idea.
Ryan (40:29):
I mean, you can do it without any protein, you can do
it with like a roasted chickenbreast, really whatever you want
.
I just I don't know.
I like the, the flavor and thetexture of the sausage in there.
Yes, um, so I'll brown that upin a pan, get that out, and then
I go in with some tomato paste,let that caramelize really
brown, really really brown likeI think a lot of home cooks
they'll look at that and be likeit's burnt but like no, that's
(40:52):
really good flavor, great flavor.
And then we use the vodka todeglaze that get all of those
tasty bits up, um so it's reallyburn out most of the alcohol at
that point.
Doug (41:00):
Then too, yeah, just the flavor.
Ryan (41:02):
If vodka has a flavor which I don't even think there's
much left at that point afteryou, you burn it off, right, um.
But I will sometimes actuallyadd a little bit more in raw at
the end, yeah, just to kind ofgive it that bite a little bit.
So then we'll add the cream inthere and it just kind of then
the onions and the garlic andthe sausage, everything goes
back in there and just kind ofsimmers away and it becomes this
(41:23):
really, really almost luxuriouspasta dish that you make in
five minutes.
Heaven, it's so good Looks sogood.
Doug (41:31):
Yeah, the day that I was watching that video, you made a
really cool shape.
What's the shape pasta that youlike?
Ryan (41:36):
it's a ruffly, yeah, so that's my favorite shape for
pasta alla vodka and for a lotof pasta dishes.
It's called radiatory um, andit's.
It's got these really likeintricate little ridges and it's
, yeah, it just catches thesauce.
Doug (41:49):
So, so perfectly, it's fantastic finish with a little
fresh basil little basil, maybea little parmigiano-reggiano if
you're feeling fancy.
Ryan (41:56):
But even you don't even need it, though, too.
It's one of those things whereyou don't need to top it off
with a bunch of stuff.
Doug (42:02):
It's so good on its own, yeah we'll definitely link to
the recipe on the blog.
Pasta a la vodka and what's thepasta shape again, radiatory,
radiatory.
Ryan peters, thanks so much forbeing on The Pittsburgh Dish,
thank you.
You can find Ryan on socialmedia at PetersPasta and his
podcast, Knead to Know.
Do you have a recipe?
(42:24):
Share it with us.
Just visit our website atwwwpittsburghdishcom and look
for our share a recipe form.
If you enjoyed the show,consider buying us a coffee for
this episode or supporting theshow monthly.
You can find links to thoseoptions at the bottom of our
show description and if you wantto follow my own food
(42:44):
adventures, you can find me onsocial media at Doug Cooking.
That's our show for this week.
Thanks again to all of ourguests and contributors and to
Kevin Solecki of CarnegieAccordion Company for providing
the music to our show.
We'll be back again next weekwith another fresh episode.
Stay tuned.
Welcome to The Pittsburgh Dish.
I'm your host, Doug Heilman,how do you go from service in
the Navy to serving thecommunity with a cooking studio?
We learn about the journey ofAmy Knight and Flour Power.
As warmer months approach us,is rosé all day still a trend?
(00:21):
We pose that question to ourresident wine expert, Catherine
Montest.
And what pasta sauce is easyenough to make at home but feels
like a luxurious restauranttreat?
Ryan Peters of Peters Pastashares one of his home favorites
.
All that ahead, stay tuned.
(00:43):
The Pittsburgh Dish issupported by Chef Alekka LLC.
Book Chef Alekka for an in-homemenu experience like her wine
dinner, southern comfort, mostlyFrench, or even bougie brunch.
Just visit her website atchefalekkacom.
Now on to the show.
(01:03):
Thank you so much for comingover and for being on the show.
Would you introduce yourself toour listeners and what you have
going on right now in the worldof food?
Amy (01:15):
Hi, I am Amy Knight.
I'm the owner and operator ofFlour Power Cooking Studios
Pittsburgh.
What do I have going on rightnow?
We're, you know, we're gettingready for the strawberry jello
pretzel salad competition.
Uh, we're also gearing up forsummer camps.
Those are right around thecorner, um, and we're just kind
of chugging along doing ourweekly classes and our family
(01:37):
classes, and on the weekendswe're killing it with birthday
parties.
Doug (01:41):
Oh, that's excellent.
I think we should tell ourlisteners if they haven't heard
of or visited your business.
Let's talk a little bit moreabout Flour Power.
This is the only location rightnow in Pittsburgh, but there
are a few others throughout thecountry, right?
Amy (01:56):
Absolutely.
There's about 20 locationsthroughout the country.
Somebody just recently signed acontract in the Philly area, so
I think there'll be threelocations coming to Philly in
the next year or so, but yeah,this is the only one in
Pennsylvania at this time.
We all operate similarly, butwe have different markets as
(02:16):
well.
Doug (02:17):
Yes, can I say it's like a franchise you own it.
Amy (02:21):
It is a franchise and I do own the Pittsburgh location.
Doug (02:24):
So you can kind of do a few things like how you want.
Amy (02:27):
Absolutely.
I mean we, you know, amongstthe owners, we share information
and some things work for someand some things don't work for
others.
So again, different markets.
Doug (02:37):
I think I always had the idea at first, when I met you,
that it was a kids cookingschool, but you do so much more,
so let's let's talk about someof the classes.
You did mention that there aresummer camps coming up, like if
someone were to visit yourwebsite or just talk to you
about your business.
You know what are some of theofferings that you have right
now.
Amy (02:55):
So right now we do a membership model for weekly
classes and we have four agegroups.
We have the preschool, thelittle chefs, the tweens and the
teens.
That's a great value becauseyou can do as little or as many
of the classes that we offer inthe month.
Also, on the weekends we'realways doing birthday parties,
(03:16):
so we're kind of jam-packedSaturdays and Sundays with
birthday parties.
Doug (03:21):
It would be a great location for that.
It's nice and big.
There's two sort of majorkitchen areas, but then you move
tables around and stuff, sothere can be a lot of even
cooking areas if you're doing aclass.
Amy (03:32):
Absolutely, and we reconfigure depending on, like,
how many people are going toshow up, what it is we're doing,
so it really just depends.
So definitely a lot ofversatility within our kitchens.
Usually, like every couple ofFriday nights, we do a kid's
night out.
In fact, we have one coming upthis Friday.
Basically it's for ages five to12 and it's a two hour cooking
party and it's.
(03:55):
You know, you just pay the oneprice for the one class and
you're not like committed oranything.
And then we do a couple offamily classes a month and that
seems to be like our sweet spot.
The family classes are reallydoing well.
Most of them sell out veryquickly, Um, and there's a lot
of, like you know, memories madeand a lot of just a lot of
(04:15):
energy that happens in thesefamily classes and I just love
it because we get we see a lotof familiar faces, cause they
just love it and they're comingback.
Doug (04:23):
I love what you're saying about the memory making with the
families, because, a maybe theydon't cook as much at home we
hear that a lot, you know peoplehave sort of lost that at home
experience and B they're in aplace that is not their kitchen,
so maybe your staff is helpingthem clean up and it's even like
a little easier, right.
Amy (04:40):
Oh, absolutely, and I'm guilty too.
Like at home with my kids.
I'm not ready to like tear thatkitchen apart, but if we're at
flower power I'm like let's doit.
Catherine (04:49):
Let's make a mess.
Amy (04:50):
You know we can clean it up quick and I think there's
definitely some comfort therewhere your kids are kind of
letting loose and making a messand being themselves and being
comfortable, and you don't haveto clean it up.
Doug (05:03):
I love that when you have the classes that are geared
towards kids and families.
What are some of the dishes or,like the cuisine topics that
you are doing?
Amy (05:13):
So pasta is a huge one.
I mean we do it prettyfrequently just because it sells
out so quick, Like homemadepasta Homemade pasta from
scratch.
Doug (05:22):
Wow.
Amy (05:22):
And people are like blown away, especially for, like
younger kids, like how easy itis for them to execute this
whole process.
We just had a family classrecently and we made chicken
piccata which is like myfavorite dish ever and everybody
like loved it and the kids likegobbled it up and I think the
(05:43):
parents are like surprised youknow that kids are going to eat
some capers and like go forsomething, that's a little bit
different from you know chickenfingers and stuff.
Um, we'll have like pizzaparties or we have things that
are like breakfast themes.
So we'll we'll or like a brunchtheme or we do like a breakfast
pizza or like a breakfastcasserole and some other things.
(06:03):
Usually there's three recipesinvolved in the family's classes
, so it just depends.
Sometimes they're aligned withthe holidays.
Doug (06:11):
Everything's really hands-on too, oh yeah absolutely
.
Amy (06:16):
And like in during December , we do a lot of cookie baking,
so that's big.
And we even have like agingerbread class where they you
know, they don't even have toput the house together.
We put it together for them andall they have to do is, like,
make it look beautiful.
Oh, they're just decorating itout.
Doug (06:33):
Now here's the funny thing , like I personally have been to
your place half a dozen timesor more, but it's never been for
a kids or family class, solet's talk about those other
things that you do beyond thekids classes.
These are the nighttime, is itsip and stir?
How do you like to label theseevents?
Amy (06:52):
Yeah, I mean we call them sip and stirs.
We casually call them sip andstirs BYOBs.
But we do do adult classes.
We do a couple a month and thenI'm always looking to
collaborate or raise money fornonprofits.
So we do these Iron Chefcook-offs.
I think most of the ones thatyou've been to we were raising
(07:12):
money for something.
And they're such a good time.
Honestly, it always blows mymind when we do these Iron Chef
cook-offs, where we get thesepeople together and half of them
walk in and tell me that theydon't know how to make toast and
then they pull off these likemasterpieces that are edible,
and then I think they're alsosurprised too.
(07:34):
They're like wow, I can'tbelieve we did this.
Catherine (07:37):
I want to do it again .
Amy (07:38):
I mean you're, you're always kind of on the tasting
end.
So you know firsthand that it'sdelicious.
Doug (07:44):
It is delicious and truly what they pull off within an
hour or so and they have, as yousaid, it's sort of Iron Chef,
in that they have a surpriseingredient that they have to
incorporate.
So how well do they do that?
I think most of the time I'vebeen there it has been for some
kind of fundraising event, soI'm trying to think of some of
the partners.
The first time I was in yourlocation, we did lasagna love,
(08:11):
we did like a lasagna cooking athon and then those were
delivered out to a bunch of likeagencies and places that could
feed those lasagnas.
Um, I think, am I getting itright?
Like Baker Leadership and, uh,Variety, yeah, so we've raised
money for variety like we.
Amy (08:23):
We hosted uh Zoe Pekach was a guest uh chef and we did like
a dessert themed night that wasa big success.
We sold out of that and allthat money went to variety.
Um, I think variety.
I tried to like mix it up.
Like that year I really had agoal of like trying to do a
different non-profit every monthand then rotate through chefs
(08:43):
and stuff and unfortunately Ihad to pivot cause it.
It just wasn't.
I really thought it was good, Idon't know.
I just thought, oh, this isgoing to be great, Like two of
these great worlds are going tocome together and for good and
kind of thing.
Doug (08:57):
And well, you still are doing a lot of it.
It may not be happening.
Amy (09:05):
It's mostly happening for just the one non-profit though,
and part of it is too, is youknow, they kind of get the word
out as well, and so I I thinkyou need that help when you're
collaborating with somethinglike both sides of that
collaboration really need towork to make it a success, and
variety has done that for sureand variety is a children's
charity.
Doug (09:21):
if folks aren't familiar, uh, we just did one for the
Leukemia Society, is that right?
Amy (09:27):
Correct the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society, which is still
ongoing until June.
But we have differentopportunities that we're raising
money for that campaign.
Doug (09:40):
So if somebody is out there and they're like, oh, this
is a good idea, they couldcontact you and you could put a
night together for them if theyhave a charity, some
organization or some cause likethat that they're working for.
I think the setup in the lastone I went to they were like
groups of four, they paid $100.
And then we did two rounds ofwhat did we call it?
(10:01):
It's not chopped.
So we did two rounds of like aniron chef and they won a gift
certificate to a greatrestaurant, and then all of this
money gets donated to, like,the campaign that we're trying
to do?
Amy (10:14):
Yeah, I mean, I just cover my costs for that event you know
which are minimal.
And then, yeah, the rest of themoney and I I tried to give it
a push like the day of.
At the end of the day, it'sliterally four people and
they're paying 25 to have like afull meal and, yeah, they get
to eat.
Doug (10:32):
They get to eat everything that they make and they're
being judged against the otherteams.
That night I think we had sixteams.
It was so much fun and as ajudge, I would say to me six
teams was, but I have been therewhere there's 10.
And so you're judging like 10tastings and 10 desserts or
whatever, and, oh my gosh, I wasso full.
The first one I did.
Amy (10:52):
Oh yeah, and I think six is a good number, especially like
being able to like get aroundthe kitchen, and so I think,
probably going forward, that'sprobably a number we'll try and
stick with.
But we yeah, we've had the 10in there which I can't even
imagine being a judge for that.
No.
Doug (11:07):
Let's take just a quick step back to if you're not doing
an event specifically for acharitable organization, but you
are doing an adult as we saidsip and stir class, where people
can bring in some wine or beerand cook.
What are some of the dishes ormenus you've put together for an
event like that?
Amy (11:25):
So the most recent one we did was a Thai themed one, and
we were really focused onlemongrass.
So we had a drink that hadlemongrass in it, and then we
had two main courses that hadlemongrass in it.
One was a tofu dish and one waslike a chicken dish.
And I will tell you, forsomebody that's not a vegan and
doesn't really go and eat tofu,the only time I eat tofu is in
(11:45):
miso soup.
Doug (11:46):
Okay.
Amy (11:48):
They made the most delicious tofu.
I mean, I was like I'm going tostart making this You're a
convert.
Yes, it was delicious, so we'llhave like international themes,
or it might be like a sweetskind of thing, or it might be
again a pasta thing.
The pasta again, we kind ofthing.
Or it might be again a pastathing, uh, the pasta again.
We kind of keep bringing itback cause it's just so popular.
And it's one of those skillsthat like, literally, you have
(12:11):
some eggs and flour at home, youcan just go ahead and whip it
up.
Um, also another thing we do alot of is like corporate team
building events.
So, kind of structured like theiron chef, but, like you know,
when you work nine to five withthe same people, if you get a
chance to go duke it out in thekitchen.
It's a lot of fun.
So we do those.
We've hosted quite a few groupsfor that and they always just
(12:35):
love it.
And it's again crazy becauseyou'll have somebody in the
group.
That's like I don't know how tocook and somebody is a leader
in their group group and they'vetasked them with something to
help them make something amazing.
Doug (12:49):
I would love that as a corporate team builder.
So, amy, I'm wondering, likewith all of these events, do you
create the theme or the recipes, or is this something you're
sharing amongst your other?
Amy (12:59):
flour power, so we get a lot of these recipes from
corporate.
However, a lot of the lessonplans and recipes were put
together by some of the ownersor some of the staff members.
You know we've contributed someof the international lesson
plans.
Even like my 12 year oldsreally into anime, so we put
(13:21):
together an anime lesson planthat was like Japanese themed
Wow.
Doug (13:26):
You know, so.
So you did that.
Yes, okay, and then the otherflour power schools could use it
too.
Amy (13:32):
Yes, once it gets approved by corporate.
We do have a head chef atcorporate.
Once she gives it the okay,then it's live and people can
use it.
So there are definitely alsolike some lesson plans that we
get and they have some recipesthat I'm like let's do this a
little bit different, you know.
Or like let's omit that.
Or like, do it like this.
Doug (13:53):
So you have the agency to really customize things and make
it your own and make it moreadaptable for your audience.
Amy (14:00):
Absolutely.
Doug (14:01):
Yeah, that's great.
I want to pivot a little bitand ask you know, when did you
discover Flower Power and decidethat you wanted to open a shop
here in Pittsburgh?
Amy (14:24):
franchises.
So I knew that like, oh, I'dnever owned a business and I
really don't know the firstthing about it.
Let me get like a business in abox and try that out.
So I looked, I pulled like themacaron string.
I also really wanted to getinto doggy daycares but it's so
expensive.
So I saw that in writing.
Like I can't do this.
Like I can't afford this.
So I was like, let me, let mekeep looking, let me keep
(14:46):
looking.
I need something that obviouslyis going to be successful in
this area and something I canshare with my children.
Like I can take my kids to workand it's fine.
Catherine (14:55):
They'll just blend right in.
Amy (14:58):
And I was like, oh gosh, this would be so awesome.
I want to do this.
I'm more of like a a foodconsumer than I am a cooker.
Catherine (15:06):
You know what I mean.
Like.
Amy (15:08):
I love like foods from all over the world, you know,
especially like being in theNavy and traveling to so many
different countries and tryingso many different things.
I, I just love all food youknow, except for beets.
I do not like beets.
Doug (15:21):
Okay.
Amy (15:25):
You haven't been won over yet Never, so.
So yeah, I was like this isgoing to be perfect and I
actually spent like a couple ofyears trying to get it up and
running because of COVID, like Iwas getting ready to sign a
lease literally when we shutdown for COVID.
And that just set everythingback by like two years.
Doug (15:41):
Yes, how long has your shop been open?
Amy (15:44):
It'll be three years in July, okay, so 2022?
Yes, Okay, july 2022.
And then, yeah, I mean, I guessI'm glad that it worked out the
way that it did, because therewas other locations that opened
right in the middle of COVID andthey're no longer.
Doug (16:00):
Yeah, they couldn't weather the storm.
Amy (16:03):
No, and I mean, who could you know?
Doug (16:06):
So you have been open for three years.
You've weathered some storms.
You kind of had better timingthan some.
What other lessons have youlearned becoming this business
owner from you know?
Air quotes, business in a box.
Amy (16:18):
Yeah, so I mean there's definitely a seasonality to what
we do.
You know the summer camp is abig thing for us.
You know we have 10 weeks ofkids that are there for five
days a week, eight hours a day.
But like we sell those summercamps in January and we're
spending money for those campsin June, July, August.
(16:39):
So, you know kind of likefiguring out how to.
How do you make all that work?
Doug (16:44):
Your whole year is this big plan, right, right.
Amy (16:48):
And so living it and seeing it and learning from it.
That, hmm, we need to hold offon spending money on these
things and then back to schoolis different.
I think there's a fact outthere that there's more
birthdays in September than anyother month, so we do have a lot
(17:10):
of birthday parties inSeptember.
During the summertime peopledon't really want to have indoor
birthday parties.
We wish they did, though.
Ryan (17:19):
It's quite airy in there Right.
Amy (17:21):
It's so bright in there.
You know they want to be out bythe pool and things like that,
and I don't blame them, but justkind of realizing like, oh,
weekends are going to be alittle slower in the summer.
So yeah, I mean definitely likeEach quarter is very different.
Doug (17:37):
Yeah, if somebody is out there thinking about opening
their own small business,whether it's similar to yours or
not, I'm sure there's lessonsthey can take away.
That you have been like, oh mygosh.
Amy (17:49):
I'm guilty of being a consumer and walking in and
purchasing something andthinking, oh, like I just paid
this amount for something thatprobably costs $3 to make.
But people forget how muchinsurance is, how much all these
serve save, how much rent is.
Doug (18:11):
And you have employees there.
Amy (18:12):
Employees that I pay a livable wage.
Yeah, and it's.
You know, again I'm guilty.
But like thinking that wholething through, like oh, this
lady is selling me a sticker andthat sticker is cute, but it
costs 10 cents in China.
Well, guess what?
Doug (18:28):
Like it's $5 overhead for this sticker right here, and I
get it.
Amy (18:33):
I really get it.
Yeah, this is Amy Knight withFlour Power Studios, Pittsburgh,
and you're listening to ThePittsburgh Dish.
Doug (18:42):
I want to take a step back because you have mentioned it
earlier.
Before being this businessowner, you had a very different
career.
Can you tell us a little bitabout your service history?
Amy (18:55):
Sure, I was in the Navy for a little over 20 years.
Doug (18:57):
Wow.
Amy (18:58):
I spent about 10 years enlisted for a little over 20
years.
I spent about 10 years enlistedand then, thanks to the Navy, I
got a degree, a bachelor'sdegree, in strategic
intelligence.
And then I applied to officercandidate school and was picked
up.
I was a surface warfare officerfor five years and those are
the officers that are on theships, they're kind of the
management on the ships.
(19:18):
I then I had a daughter, so Idecided that I needed to be on
shore duty and I applied to be ahuman resources officer.
So then I spent the last fiveyears in Pittsburgh.
I was the operations officerfor Navy, recruiting for three
states.
So, yeah, I mean I have someleadership experience.
(19:39):
Sure, I think that's alsosomething that, like I pride
myself on you know, as the ownerand operator of Flower Power is
just being able to work withthese young people and kind of
empower them to make decisionsand be the best version of
themselves they can be.
Doug (19:56):
Yes, I am really interested to know number one
where did you grow up?
Amy (20:01):
I'm from Akron, ohio, okay, so not too far away.
Doug (20:04):
And then when you were on I want to say this in the right
way, so you can correct me anaval ship.
Do I want to say that?
Amy (20:10):
Were you on a carrier.
Doug (20:11):
Were you on a destroyer.
Amy (20:13):
I've been on both.
I've been stationed on fourships, so I've been stationed on
an aircraft carrier, twodestroyers and a frigate.
Doug (20:21):
Wow, so we don't even have frigates anymore.
I was like I don't know thatone.
Yeah, I was on one of the lastones.
Oh, and did you travel allaround the world?
Amy (20:27):
Yeah, I did Um so when I first joined the Navy, I think
like a couple of years into it.
Uh, september 11th happened.
Doug (20:35):
And when did you enlist?
Amy (20:37):
I enlisted in 99.
I was 18 years old.
Doug (20:39):
Oh my goodness.
Amy (20:41):
So I was 20 years old when September 11th happened Wow.
So it really changed the faceof what a deployment looked like
for the Navy.
Ryan (20:50):
Yes.
Amy (20:50):
A lot of what we were doing is shaking hands and kissing
babies.
Doug (20:53):
Yes.
Amy (20:54):
And now-.
Doug (20:55):
It became real.
Amy (20:56):
Yeah, we were on alert, we were going and we weren't
necessarily pulling into port.
We were kind of guardingcountries and, you know, working
with our allies to make surethat the world was safe.
Doug (21:07):
Wow, and where all over the world did you get to go?
Amy (21:12):
I've been.
So I've been stationed on shipsthat were in the West Coast and
then also stationed on shipsthat were in the East Coast.
So they go to different places.
So the West Coast, you know,I've been to, like Australia.
I've been to Hong Kong I'vebeen to.
Also when I was on the WestCoast we did like a South
American tour, so we were kindof like going after drug runners
(21:34):
and stuff.
So that was very different.
And then when I was stationedon the East Coast, I actually
took a ship that was an EastCoast ship and took them to
Japan to do a whole port change.
Catherine (21:46):
So I lived in Japan for a year and so then those
port visits are very different.
Amy (21:52):
You know Guam, we did Guam quite a few times.
Doug (21:55):
We have a big station in Guam right, A big base.
Amy (21:58):
Which fun fact I was actually born in Guam.
Doug (22:01):
Really.
Amy (22:01):
Yeah, my parents were both in the air force.
Doug (22:03):
Were they.
Amy (22:04):
Oh, my goodness.
Doug (22:05):
So you've carried the family tradition of military
service.
Thank you so much for yourservice.
Amy (22:10):
Thank you, my sister's also in the Navy, by the way.
Doug (22:12):
Oh my gosh, is she still?
She is, oh my gosh, 27 yearsWow.
So out of curiosity, cause Idon't know this, when you would
be in a foreign country, did youever have, you know, shore
leave time that you could goexplore?
Yeah, it was.
Amy (22:27):
It just depended on where we pulled in, because there was
different rules.
Whoever the admiral was forthat territory at the time,
there might be some restrictions.
We also had a time where we hada commanding officer that he
wouldn't let anybody stayovernight anywhere.
So the whole deployment.
You had to go out and come back.
Doug (22:47):
Get on the ship.
Amy (22:48):
Whereas typically, if you weren't assigned a specific duty
day while you were in portbecause you'd be in port for
three or four days, and if youdidn't have duty, then you could
stay overnight in a hotel.
Doug (23:00):
Oh, like a little vacation .
Amy (23:02):
Yeah, a little vacation, and honestly, like when I tell
people some of the stories ofsome of the port visits, like I
couldn't pay for that trip.
Doug (23:11):
Right.
Amy (23:13):
You know, like we pulled into the French Riviera and
literally like I felt like amillion bucks, Like I was on
this like vacation and I'msurrounded by like just this
great environment.
You know, and I'm like gosh, Ijust got a free ride over here.
Doug (23:30):
Yeah.
So there's this just amazingexperience for all those young
people out there that arethinking about military service.
You can have serious times andyou can have some really uh, you
can have some perks to the jobtoo.
Amy (23:41):
Oh yeah, absolutely.
I mean some of the places thatI've been, like.
I've been to Australia likeseveral times and I mean it just
would have cost me so muchmoney to go there.
I ran like a relay marathon inPerth with some friends on the
ship.
You know what I mean and I'vedone some of the coolest.
I went on an Outback trip inAustralia where literally it was
like Crocodile Dundee was ourtour guide.
(24:03):
Well, you know, we were seeinglike kangaroos jumping around in
the wild and we were ridingthese glue factory horses.
And oh, oh, my gosh.
Doug (24:12):
So I want to bring back to food a little bit.
When you had all of theseadventures, did that give you
exposure to the cuisine of thearea?
I mean, did you try the foodWere you?
Becoming more adventurous whenyou were on these travels.
Amy (24:24):
I mean, there's things, so many things, that I ate, that
I'd never ate, you know, upuntil that point, and then I
come back and they're like myfavorite foods.
Oh my gosh, yeah.
Doug (24:33):
Because they were probably part of a core memory.
Now, oh, yeah, absolutely.
Amy (24:37):
I was stationed in England for two years and near where I
lived was like a huge Lebanesepopulation and Lebanese food is
like some of my favorite foodnow.
Doug (24:47):
Yeah, it's stuck with you.
Yeah, for sure.
Are there any other dishes thatare still like?
I crave that all the time, or Iwant this so chicken korma.
Amy (24:54):
I've never had chicken korma until I was like overseas
and like I try it likeeverywhere.
If I see it on a menu, um, Ihave to have it.
Or like a Peking duck Again, Ihad that in England.
Um, they have like the duckshanging in the window, but like
when they serve it with likethose little pancakes and the
plum sauce and um and they shredit in front of you Like.
(25:16):
I just love that you know.
Doug (25:19):
So I want to take just a kind of another step further
back.
What was food life like growingup in Akron and with your
family being in the military?
Like, did folks cook for you?
Did you cook at an early age,or was your service time a big
expansion to your kind ofculinary experience?
Amy (25:37):
A hundred percent A big expansion experience.
A hundred percent a bigexpansion.
Sorry, mom.
Um, yeah, my mom may have.
She had like five recipes inher bag yeah, meatloaf, tuna,
noodle, casserole, pot roast,spaghetti and shake and bake
something oh my gosh, veryall-american, yeah, standard
dishes um, yeah, so, uh, Idefinitely like.
(25:58):
I think when I was a teenager, Iwas like if I was home, like
during the summer, and myparents were at work, I was
trying to like whip something up.
It's weird because when I was akid, I was not one of those
kids where my parents went andbought all these like kids
snacks.
Doug (26:13):
No, my parents none of that.
Amy (26:15):
Yeah, it was like if you're not making yourself some shake
and bake chicken, you'reprobably not going to eat lunch
today or whatever.
I guess my point is is like youhad to be creative and like put
something together becausethere was not going to be a
Swiss roll in the cabinet.
Doug (26:33):
No.
So, amy, thinking about yourtime in the Navy and that sort
of culinary experience, is thatmaybe one of the things that
made flower power moreattractive?
Amy (26:46):
Absolutely.
I love food, except for beets.
I love all food and I just,yeah, I'm like this is so fun I
mean even today, when I am there, like this is so fun.
And the way kids like light upwhen they make something and
they just can't even believe it.
And sometimes you know how kidsare like they might act like
(27:08):
it's not a big deal, but thenwhen their parents come to pick
them up, they cannot wait totell them that they made
something, or like I mean justwatching them kind of like the
wheels turning, like wow, Ireally did not know I could make
that like that, you know so,but yeah, I mean it's, it's a
fun place to be.
I honestly, the stressful partof flower power is the behind
(27:31):
the scenes.
It's not the actual, like beingthere doing it.
Doug (27:34):
It looks chaotic, but you kind of thrive in that, oh yeah,
I'm like oh, we got this.
Amy (27:39):
We're about to make a masterpiece.
Doug (27:42):
You're making experiences and memories.
You're building skills andconfidence.
Amy (27:47):
Yeah, and you know every kid that comes in there like
we're not expecting them to belike totally in love with
cooking or baking or whatever,but there's so much that goes
into cooking and baking the math, the science, yeah, into
cooking and baking the math, thescience.
Like, honestly, if we'resparking some sort of creativity
or some, even like some kidtrying to figure out, like maybe
(28:08):
this is a path I want to takethat has nothing to do with food
.
That's good too.
Doug (28:13):
Absolutely.
You are building so many otherskills beyond.
Just do I know how to roll outsome dough?
I love it.
So, since we are there, let'stalk about what's ahead.
Do you have any events or othergoals or anything coming up
throughout the year or thesummer?
I know you mentioned the kidscooking camps are coming up.
Amy (28:31):
So one of the things we just recently started that I
want to stick with is I do havelike a girl that she's one of
our manager's daughters.
That's like doing a recipe likeevery Monday.
She puts it together and we dolike a little video.
So I you know she's also inacting school, so I feel like
we're helping each other.
Yes, Because she's getting thatlike on camera time, and you
(28:55):
know I'm working on my editingskills too.
Doug (28:57):
But is this going on like YouTube or the website we just
put?
Amy (29:00):
it on instagram for now.
So maybe maybe, if it, you know, grows and stuff, maybe we'll
do something else but, yeah, soshe.
So she's doing that.
One of the goals I had likelast year and it's still like
really like close to my heart.
I just haven't as executed as Iwould love to do like a real,
(29:21):
like a Pittsburgh teencompetition you know, like where
they really like duke it out.
I just haven't like kind ofpulled the trigger to like
structure that, but I would lovethat and I just I think there's
some teens out there thatprobably know what's going on
and could really pull somethingamazing off.
Doug (29:39):
You just sparked an idea for me.
Like you know, I see like quizshows and stuff of competing
high schools.
Maybe there could be like a, acooking high school showdown or
something you know around theareas that could be fun.
Amy (29:51):
Oh yeah, I love that.
It's funny, cause sometimes onSaturday mornings, when I'd have
like the morning news on and Ilet it keep going, they'll do
like those trivias.
That's what I'm thinking.
Doug (30:00):
Yeah, yeah.
Amy (30:07):
So do that with food.
Yeah, I like it.
I like it, anything else.
We do lasagna thon we're stillplanning on doing that again
this summer.
Every year it's gotten biggerand better.
And honestly, and you've beenthere.
Doug (30:14):
I'll try and come again.
Amy (30:15):
Yeah, but one of the things that is also a good opportunity
is we can allow kids tovolunteer and they love that.
Doug (30:21):
They get to see the acts of service and sort of get that
understanding of you can cookfor other people that are in
need, and so it's not just abouthaving fun but it's really
about serving the community.
Amy (30:33):
So I think, with that thought and I've talked to like
Tom Baker about this before,about volunteerism for little
people, you know, kids that arelike my kids age, like seven
year olds and stuff, you know, Iknow that there are some
avenues of where kids dovolunteer but the opportunities
are kind of small.
But I would love to have somesort of regular opportunity at
(30:54):
flower power where we're makingfood for somebody or whatever,
but like having kids involved.
Um, you know, not to get offtopic, but the competition
coming up, I have a kid teamthat's helping me with the
strawberry jello pretzel salad.
Really like involving kids asmuch as possible.
Doug (31:13):
The earlier the better.
Amy (31:14):
Absolutely yeah.
Doug (31:15):
I used to work with someone and really her family
just instilled a lifetime ofservice, whether that's civilian
service, you know, versusmilitary service.
But you're always doing somekind of service because it's so
fulfilling to your community andI think that your location for
me has brought that out multipletimes and I think you're just
doing great stuff, so thank you.
Amy (31:35):
Yeah, thank you.
Doug (31:37):
Why don't we do this for our listeners?
Would you go ahead and plugyour social handle so they can
see that recipe video or yourwebsite or anything else you
have going on where people cancontact you?
Amy (31:48):
Sure.
So as far as like Facebook andInstagram, it's Flour Power
Pittsburgh, and that's flowerspelled F-L-O-U-R like bread
flour Correct.
Doug (31:58):
We haven't said that yet.
Amy (32:00):
Listen if you guys screw that up.
I've done it too.
I'll send myself a text orsomething and I'll all of a
sudden type in F-L-O-W-E-R andI'm like what are you doing?
Doug (32:10):
Amy.
Amy (32:11):
But yeah, so Flour Power Pittsburgh, and then online it's
flourpowerstudioscom, and thenyou just select location
Pittsburgh.
Doug (32:22):
And then, amy, if they do go to the website, that's where
they can see, under Pittsburgh,your current classes or anything
you have coming up, right yeah.
Amy (32:29):
There's a couple of different views.
You can kind of navigatethrough what it is you're
looking for, or you can justlook at there's a calendar view.
You can see what's coming upahead.
Doug (32:37):
Great Amy.
Can you remind us where yourFlower Power cooking studio is
located?
Amy (32:44):
Yeah, we're in Allison Park on Route 8, hampton Township,
so we're literally like a milefrom the Turnpike.
Doug (32:51):
Oh, yeah, all right, amy.
I always have a final questionfor our guests.
The name of the show is ThePittsburgh Dish.
What's the best dish you've hadto eat this past week, this
past week?
Amy (33:06):
So we went to.
It's across the street fromFlour Power and it's called K
Asian Bistro and Sushi Bar andthey have this appetizer called
K-Style Duck Roll and it's sogood.
It has the hoisin sauce and ithas like a spicy sauce on it.
Roll, and it's so good.
It has the hoisin sauce and theuh has like a spicy sauce on it
and it's just delicious.
Doug (33:25):
This is back to the Peking duck that you love.
Amy (33:27):
Absolutely Like.
It's just my again, my, my 12year old eats it with me because
it's so good.
Doug (33:34):
Best bites this week.
Amy Knight, thank you so muchand thanks for being on the
Pittsburgh dish.
Amy (33:41):
Thanks for having me.
I'm so happy that you invitedme on, and I just love every
time we work together.
It's been great.
Doug (33:46):
Me too.
Thanks again.
Up next, have you been guiltyof drinking rosé all day?
We check in with CatherineMontest to see if this trend
still has legs.
Hey everybody, we're joinedtoday with our resident wine
expert, catherine Montest.
Of Your Fairy Wine Mother,Catherine.
We're moving into some of thewarmer months of the year and I
(34:11):
think sometimes people's tasteschange for wine, would you say
that happens for you in thesummer.
Oh, I think so, absolutely.
Catherine (34:18):
Doug yeah.
Doug (34:19):
I sort of recall a couple summers ago.
This term rosé all day was kindof a trend.
Does that still hold true, orwill it hold true for this
summer?
Catherine (34:31):
Absolutely.
Rosé is delightful.
A lot of the red wines that welike to gravitate toward during
the winter months can kind offeel heavy during the summer.
Doug (34:42):
Yeah, that's what I think.
Catherine (34:43):
And rosé wines are not made from rosé grapes per se
, but they're made from red winegrapes.
Okay, and there's a couple ofdifferent methods that are used
and a whole bunch of differentred wine grapes.
And there's a couple ofdifferent methods that are used
and a whole bunch of differentred wine grapes.
So if you're a red wine loverand you want to lighten things
up, you can move into a rosé forthe summer and still enjoy some
(35:04):
of the same flavors, butwithout the tannins and the
heaviness.
Doug (35:08):
Yes, oh, I like this, yeah , so it could still be a trend
that's been going on for years.
Catherine (35:13):
Oh, absolutely, and I think that the offerings that
are available to us today aremuch more widespread than your
mom's old white Zinfandel.
Doug (35:24):
I think so what you're saying is our rosé all day has
matured to a degree.
Catherine (35:28):
Absolutely Okay, absolutely so if you're someone
who likes a Pinot Noir or a CabFranc, or even a Gamay, you
would want to look for winesfrom France in the.
Loire Valley, because thosegrapes are grown there and
they'll pick some of the grapesand one of the ways of making a
(35:48):
rosé wine is to press the grapesand just take some of that
juice away.
Doug (35:55):
Okay.
Catherine (35:56):
And the color doesn't come from the juice inside the
grape.
The color comes from the skin.
Doug (36:02):
Oh, I think I have heard this before?
Catherine (36:04):
Yes, so when the juice has a little bit of
contact with the skin, from afew hours to a couple of days,
it'll pick up a light color andit doesn't pick up all those
heavy structured tannins andthings from long time sitting on
the skins.
Doug (36:21):
But it does get that little blush.
Catherine (36:23):
It gets a flush of color and it gets a lot of the
really wonderful ripe fruitflavors.
Okay, yeah, another way thatrosé wines can be made is to
take to to ferment white wineand red wine separately and then
just start adding a little bitof red wine to the white.
Doug (36:41):
Just to give it that blush again, until you get the color
and the flavor profile thatyou're looking for.
Okay, so is that a bad thing?
Catherine (36:49):
No, not at all.
Okay, it's really depends on,you know, what's inspiring the
winemaker and when the grapescame in from the field and they
started their vinificationprocess, what makes sense for
that year's harvest.
Doug (37:01):
Yeah, because every year is a little different.
This is a natural product,absolutely.
Are there any particular rosésthat you gravitate towards?
Catherine (37:10):
Lately I've been drinking a rosé made from
Grenache and Grenache is areally fun grape very fruity
flavors of raspberry and cherryand just a nice soft finish,
like it's not real harsh onceyou've swallowed.
The flavor just kind of gentlydrifts away after a few seconds.
(37:32):
So rosés from Grenache arereally delicious and over the
weekend I served a really nicerosé at a function and it was
from Oak Hill Winery in Lodi,california, and it was
absolutely bright, refreshing,delicious and wonderful notes of
cherries and raspberries andstrawberry and it was just
(37:54):
wonderful for a little gardenparty.
Doug (37:56):
Oh, that sounds great.
You are educating me in adifferent way because you know,
I am truly a novice on things.
So what we are saying with roséwines, they can come from
different types of grapes, anddo the bottles identify that?
Catherine (38:11):
A lot of times they do, but sometimes it's really
dependent upon the place.
Doug (38:16):
Okay.
Catherine (38:17):
Here in the United States we tend to put the name
of the grape on the bottle.
Doug (38:21):
Okay.
Catherine (38:22):
Over in Europe, they tend to name things from the
area in which it was grown theterroir, terroir, the terroir or
the region?
Yeah, can't say it terroir, theterroir or the region, yeah,
yeah, can't say it.
Um, and some of the best rosésthey've been making for hundreds
of years from the provenceregion of france and you can get
(38:42):
grenaches from the provenceregion of france as well okay.
Doug (38:45):
So if I am taking a trip to get some rosé wine, looking
for some grenache based grapes,and if they say that here in the
States it's maybe Lodi Valley,and where again?
From France, do you likeProvence?
Okay, and those also are makinggreat rosés with Grenache.
Catherine (39:04):
Absolutely, and also Syrah.
So if you're someone who likesa petite Syrah, those rosés from
that area come in that grapetoo.
Doug (39:12):
Okay, Catherine, I think we're still going to be drinking
rosé all day sometime thissummer.
Catherine (39:19):
Yes indeed.
Doug (39:21):
You can follow Catherine on Instagram at
urfairywinemother.
That's U- R fairy wine mother.
When it comes to home cooking,do you ever surprise yourself
with a recipe that turns outrestaurant-worthy?
This week, Ryan Peters deliversa dish with his homemade pasta
a la vodka.
(39:41):
Hey, everybody, we're joinedwith Ryan Peters of Peters Pasta
.
Ryan, when we've talked in thepast, you're always making the
fresh pasta and you have thatfancy pasta-making machine.
I love some of the shapes youmake, and I did just catch a
video with one of my favoritesauces.
It was a vodka sauce.
Yeah, could you take us throughthat recipe for listeners at
(40:04):
home?
Ryan (40:05):
First off, I want to say it's so simple.
It's very, very simple.
So many people love vodka saucenowadays and they don't realize
how simple it is to make.
You can make it at home.
It's just a few ingredients.
So I usually start with someonions and garlic.
Get those you know sweated downa little bit, get those out of
the pan and I like to do like ahot Italian sausage round.
(40:27):
I had never seen that before.
Doug (40:28):
What a great idea.
Ryan (40:29):
I mean, you can do it without any protein, you can do
it with like a roasted chickenbreast, really whatever you want
.
I just I don't know.
I like the, the flavor and thetexture of the sausage in there.
Yes, um, so I'll brown that upin a pan, get that out, and then
I go in with some tomato paste,let that caramelize really
brown, really really brown likeI think a lot of home cooks
they'll look at that and be likeit's burnt but like no, that's
(40:52):
really good flavor, great flavor.
And then we use the vodka todeglaze that get all of those
tasty bits up, um so it's reallyburn out most of the alcohol at
that point.
Doug (41:00):
Then too, yeah, just the flavor.
Ryan (41:02):
If vodka has a flavor which I don't even think there's
much left at that point afteryou, you burn it off, right, um.
But I will sometimes actuallyadd a little bit more in raw at
the end, yeah, just to kind ofgive it that bite a little bit.
So then we'll add the cream inthere and it just kind of then
the onions and the garlic andthe sausage, everything goes
back in there and just kind ofsimmers away and it becomes this
(41:23):
really, really almost luxuriouspasta dish that you make in
five minutes.
Heaven, it's so good Looks sogood.
Doug (41:31):
Yeah, the day that I was watching that video, you made a
really cool shape.
What's the shape pasta that youlike?
Ryan (41:36):
it's a ruffly, yeah, so that's my favorite shape for
pasta alla vodka and for a lotof pasta dishes.
It's called radiatory um, andit's.
It's got these really likeintricate little ridges and it's
, yeah, it just catches thesauce.
Doug (41:49):
So, so perfectly, it's fantastic finish with a little
fresh basil little basil, maybea little parmigiano-reggiano if
you're feeling fancy.
Ryan (41:56):
But even you don't even need it, though, too.
It's one of those things whereyou don't need to top it off
with a bunch of stuff.
Doug (42:02):
It's so good on its own, yeah we'll definitely link to
the recipe on the blog.
Pasta a la vodka and what's thepasta shape again, radiatory,
radiatory.
Ryan peters, thanks so much forbeing on The Pittsburgh Dish,
thank you.
You can find Ryan on socialmedia at PetersPasta and his
podcast, Knead to Know.
Do you have a recipe?
(42:24):
Share it with us.
Just visit our website atwwwpittsburghdishcom and look
for our share a recipe form.
If you enjoyed the show,consider buying us a coffee for
this episode or supporting theshow monthly.
You can find links to thoseoptions at the bottom of our
show description and if you wantto follow my own food
(42:44):
adventures, you can find me onsocial media at Doug Cooking.
That's our show for this week.
Thanks again to all of ourguests and contributors and to
Kevin Solecki of CarnegieAccordion Company for providing
the music to our show.
We'll be back again next weekwith another fresh episode.
Stay tuned.
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