November 16, 2025 • 17 mins
We pull back the curtain on how Pittsburgh’s local food television gets made, from planning and pacing a five-minute kitchen segment to building community around long-form public media cooking shows. Maria DeBone and Chris Fennimore share the inside scoop. Plus local TV food personality Chef Alekka offers an easy holiday crumble.
• Planning, staging, and timing a live kitchen segment
• Tips and hacks viewers value on short TV spots
• The origin and evolution of QED Cooks and its community format
• Realities of live-to-tape and behind-the-scenes crew work
• A beginner-friendly winter fruit crumble with oats
• Where to watch Alekka, Doug, and Chris across local TV
If you enjoyed the show, consider buying us a coffee for this episode or supporting the show monthly. You can find links to those options at the bottom of our show description.
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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.
Well, November has been a busytime with TV for me, but what
does it take behind the scenesto produce great local food
television?
And how did one of our localstations get its start in food
TV over three decades ago?
(00:22):
This week we peel back thecurtain just a bit.
Plus, my TV chef friend AlekkaSweeney is back again to give us
an easy dessert suggestion forthe holiday season.
All that ahead, stay tuned.
We are so lucky to have foodand cooking spots being produced
locally, highlighting homecooks to restaurant chefs and
(00:43):
all types of makers in between.
And I have been doublyfortunate to work with some of
the great folks behind thislocal food television.
From my personal experience, afive-minute segment starts many
days ahead.
There's a recipe concept,grocery shopping, thinking
through the camera action, whatam I gonna say?
Are there tips and techniquesto share?
(01:05):
And then there's the preparing,the chopping, or even making a
duplicate dish so that we cantaste it at the end of the
segment.
I've had my regular spot onPittsburgh Today Live for over
three years now, and 36 segmentslater, I'm still learning.
Some of the things I havepicked up is having a cart,
thank you, ChefJanet of Chef Life Hacks, a set
(01:26):
of glass bowls so that we alwayssee what the ingredients are
and what we're mixing or foldingin.
I'm always thinking about theaction for myself and also for
anybody that's with me.
What can I have them stir orchop?
And of course, any talkingpoints.
I want to make sure that I'mgiving the audience, the
viewers, something that they cantake away.
(01:46):
There's a new tip in there,there's a new hack that maybe
they haven't tried before.
All of that for usually fiveminutes of live TV.
And oh, that recipe better beposted somewhere that the
viewers can get to it, becauseotherwise you're gonna get a lot
of comments and DMs in yoursocial media, and they're gonna
ask for the recipe anyway.
But enough from me.
Let's hear from someone that'sputting on this kind of show
(02:09):
every day.
Pittsburgh Today Live's MariaDeBone.
Maria (02:13):
Testing one, two, three.
Doug (02:16):
Would you introduce yourself to our listeners?
Maria (02:18):
Yes.
Uh, my name is Maria DeBone,and I'm the associate producer
for Pittsburgh Today Live.
Doug (02:24):
Maria, you and I have been working together for a while
now at Pittsburgh Today Livehere at the KDKA studio, also
known as CBS Pittsburgh.
Maria (02:31):
Yes.
Doug (02:32):
I've done a few kitchen segments for you.
Maria (02:35):
A few, a lot, Doug.
Doug (02:38):
I was wondering from your perspective, what makes a good
kitchen segment for live TV?
Maria (02:46):
So you would think it's like very, you know, I guess
easy to go into it.
You're like, oh, you're justlike making something on TV.
But a recipe takes how long ina long time.
And we have four.
Doug (03:00):
What do you usually give me?
You say four, four and a halfminutes.
Maria (03:02):
I say four, four and a half.
Doug (03:03):
I probably take six.
Maria (03:04):
If we're lucky, I can give you five or a little bit
more than that.
But it's about, you know,making sure you have you get all
you want in to that shortamount of time.
And the time goes by so fast.
Doug (03:16):
So fast.
Maria (03:17):
So if somebody can consolidate the most important
tips and hacks into that timeframe, that's golden.
Doug (03:26):
And is that what you think the viewers are really looking
for?
Is those tips and hacks?
Maria (03:31):
Yes.
Because anybody, I mean, a lotof people can follow a recipe,
but knowing, you know, how tomake your time, you know, go
quicker or learning how to dosomething that you never thought
of before.
Having those tips and hacksthat you can just go to, very
helpful.
Doug (03:50):
Today we made a sheet pan dinner and we made a pan sauce
which helped clean the pan.
Maria (03:56):
And I never knew that before.
So because I just made dinnerlast night, and like for me, I'm
like, I'm like scrubbing thepan, but you're like, oh, you
could put it all over your food.
Doug (04:05):
And then it's more flavor.
Maria (04:07):
Yes.
Yeah.
That's so cool.
Doug (04:08):
Here in your studio or on your show, how many kitchen
cooking segments do you have inthe average week?
Maria (04:17):
Probably four to five.
Doug (04:19):
Yeah.
And you do a five-day a weekshow.
So you have somebody in thatkitchen almost every day.
Yes.
What are some of the variety offolks?
I mean, I always call myselflike the home cook, and I know
I'm a food podcaster.
What other types of folks cometo the studio and do a segment
for you?
Maria (04:34):
A lot of um restaurant owners, the chefs, they bring
in.
We're always trying to show offum new restaurants in town.
Um sometimes we get like kindof like yourself, like food
bloggers.
Yes.
Um they're you know making itbig on TikTok.
We bring them in and they showoff something.
Um but yeah, mainly likerestaurant owners.
Doug (04:55):
Yeah.
I know that chef Bill Fullerfrom the Big Burrito Group comes
along.
I think you guys just did awhole buffet of what is it, the
Gobblerito?
Yes.
That was a big day.
I wish I was here that day too.
Maria (05:09):
So something we really like to tell our kitchen
segments that are coming on thatwe want you to make our space
yours, make it as visual aspossible.
Doug (05:21):
I love that.
Maria (05:22):
Yes.
And it's it's not just aboutlike showing like each step,
it's about how can we get peopleto go to your restaurant, go to
your blog, go to your TikTokpage.
If there is like a tons ofdifferent menu items on the
table displayed, like edible ornot right there for the hosts.
If there's more to see, that'swhat the listeners, well, the
(05:45):
viewers, look at and they'relike, oh, I really want to try
that.
I'm gonna go there.
Right.
So it really makes a bigdifference when we have a guest
that comes prepared with a lotto see versus there's not that
much to show off.
Doug (06:00):
One of your other colleagues has told me that they
want action as well.
Like they want uh not only meor whoever's coming into the
kitchen to do things, but if wecan engage the the hosts, the
anchors, and get them to do alittle something, that that's
always good.
And and I think the other thingis we always want to get them
to taste something, right?
(06:21):
Yeah.
Maria (06:21):
I mean, that's the whole point.
You gotta give the people areview of what you're what
you're making, the end productto be.
But yeah, as if we can getHeather and David doing
something, I mean, they won't doit well, but that's the funny
part.
Doug (06:36):
This is Heather Abraham and David Highfield, the hosts
of Pittsburgh Today Live.
Maria (06:39):
And I love them, and they know that, but they're not a
professional chef, chefs.
So watching them try to ice acupcake or you know, try even
like mix in cheese to somethingis always very fold in the
cheese, David.
Doug (06:55):
Fold in the cheese.
Maria (06:57):
Yes.
And that's where you and otherexpert chefs come in and show
how it's done.
Doug (07:02):
Yes.
It is always satisfying thatyou make it through your segment
and they do get to taste.
I think it breaks my heart whenI've seen some segments.
Hasn't happened to me yet, butyou don't get to that because
you're still sauteing yourshrimp.
I'm like, no, that shrimp isgonna take four minutes.
Maria (07:17):
I know.
And but it's always helpful toowhen I mean there's leftovers
for the crew like myself.
It's like my lunch for the day.
Doug (07:25):
I love that too.
I love that.
Maria, how long have you beenat this station now?
Maria (07:30):
Um, oh gosh.
About more than like a year anda half now.
Doug (07:35):
You're part of a great team.
Maria (07:36):
Oh, I love it.
Doug (07:37):
Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
Maria (07:39):
Yeah, we love having you on every month.
Doug (07:41):
Well, I love having you on The Pittsburgh Dish.
Maria (07:44):
Oh, thank you for having me.
Yeah.
Doug (07:47):
Up next, how do you stumble into food television by
way of a zucchini and then keepit going for over three decades?
Here is a segment of our chatwith Chris Fennimore of WQED
from episode 36.
Chris (08:03):
All of the guests on our show are people in our broadcast
area.
The first one I did was uh Z isfor Zucchini.
Uh, I had a garden filled withzucchini right up here at the at
the Homewood Cemetery.
Doug (08:17):
Oh, yeah.
Chris (08:18):
And um I I didn't know what to do with all of these.
So I went back to the office.
I was also the director ofprogramming there, and I said to
my uh director of continuity,Nancy Polinski, I said, Nancy,
would you please make a promoasking people to send their
recipes for zucchini?
(08:38):
I got all these recipes and Ithought, uh, you know, this is
something unique.
I'm I'm also a programproducer.
Right.
Doug (08:46):
So I really had something here.
Chris (08:47):
I am and and I and I so I said to uh the person who was
the station manager, I said,could I have a little time
during the next pledge period?
Because I would love to do a ademonstration of a couple of
recipes, and I'll type up theserecipes and offer them as a
thank you gift like the tote bagor the coffee mug or whatever
(09:08):
people use.
Doug (09:09):
What year is this, Chris?
Chris (09:11):
Uh 93.
Yes, ninety-three.
It was the summer ofninety-three.
So uh Nancy and I set up twotables and I cooked the five or
six recipes that that I pickedout of the book.
Ahead of time.
Ahead of time.
And then I had all theingredients.
Uh and so the ingredients wereon the front table and the
(09:32):
finished dishes were on thetable behind me.
And so I would say, so then youchop this up, and then you put
the onion in there, and then andthen you uh slice that and
blah, blah, blah, and put it inthe oven for 45 minutes, and it
comes out like this, and then wewould taste it.
Well, the phones rang off thehook.
They people wanted these.
(09:53):
And we were reading, while I'mcooking, while I'm making
believe I'm cooking, Nancy isreading the letters from
everybody who sent in theirrecipes.
So it was very heartwarming,and it was, I thought,
particularly appropriate forpublic broadcasting.
Right.
Because this was our way ofsharing for them to share with
(10:14):
us and for us to share back withthem.
And that to me, that's whatpublic broadcasting is all
about.
You're bringing the communityinto the station.
Well, on the next show, becausewhat happened was immediately
the people in the pledgedepartment said, When's the next
watch?
And I said, I have no idea.
I didn't know this was gonnahappen.
We s we picked cookies as thetopic.
(10:37):
Oh, then we decided that Iwasn't gonna make all the
cookies.
We were gonna have people comein and make their cookies.
And that was the beginning ofthe format that we have now
followed for the last 31 years.
And that is that people send intheir recipes.
We get usually, you know, acouple of hundred recipes.
Um we select four or fivepeople to come on the show.
(11:00):
I usually make one recipe.
Nancy usually makes one recipe,and that is not so much a
matter of our egos involved, andyou know, we've got to be part
of this, but it's a timingmatter in terms of production.
Yes.
So I usually do the first orthe last, and Nancy does the
first or the last.
And that way, if I need to doit all in five minutes instead
(11:21):
of twelve, I can do it.
And also if we're you knowstuck for time, I can just stand
there and talk.
It works out.
It works out that way.
So that's why I've been doingsome of my recipes uh on on that
show.
Anyway, that's how the thecooking thing got started.
And the thing about the recipesthat they send in is they never
send in their worst recipe.
(11:41):
Other than Aunt Margaret's uhyou know, zucchini boats.
Which they still make.
What they're sending you arethe recipes that they are famous
for.
You know, that that alwayscomes out, and people go, how do
you make that?
Those are the recipes thatthey're sending us that we put
into our books, and as I say,it's now been hundreds and
(12:02):
hundreds of guests, maybe eight,nine hundred guests over these
years.
That's a lot of people.
It's incredible.
Doug (12:10):
And I I just want to point out most affiliates in the PBS
world don't always have kitchensor anything like we've had.
So it's such a treasure for ourcommunity on the programs you
guys have brought over theyears.
unknown (12:24):
Yeah.
Chris (12:25):
Um I'm not sure uh if and when we might do another giant
show because they take a lot ofuh a lot of time, a lot of
planning.
I've noticed.
And yeah.
Because you've been part ofthose a little bit.
You've got to collect therecipes and um and then get the
cooks that you're gonna have onand book time to shoot them.
(12:46):
It's easier now because wedon't do them live.
Man.
I can't imagine, Chris.
Live was so crazy, you know.
Doug (12:53):
It's part of the element though that is it's fun.
Even when they are not live,they're still pretty true to
form.
Well, they're live to tape.
They are live to tape, yeah.
Chris (13:02):
We may edit something later on, and we can stop.
When I put the food processoron backwards for you.
Exactly.
Oh, but and we couldn't stop inthose days.
We just said, oh well, we'llclean this up later.
And uh keep going.
Poor Mary uh Irwin Scott and umJoe Certo and and folks like
(13:25):
you who would come in and helpus on that side of the of the
camera, uh cleaning up in thekitchen and setting things out.
People don't realize everythingthat goes on.
They see what goes on on thecountertop.
Yeah, but to the left, stageleft of the countertop, there's
all kinds of stuff going on.
All the time.
Doug (13:43):
Yeah, there's a lot to it.
Yeah, so it takes a it takes asmall army.
Um they're fun to do, butthere's a lot of work in them.
Chris, thanks so much.
You're welcome.
Chris (13:55):
Hi, this is Chris Fennimore, the host of QED
Cooks, and I'm here with you onThe Pittsburgh Dish.
Doug (14:03):
Well, happily, if you are following WQED's social media as
well as my own, then you mightknow that we've been some busy
bees in the QED kitchen, and oneof those big shows is coming.
Keep an eye out for it whenwarmer months return.
Finally, we couldn't end theshow without some food talk.
So here's one more friend thatI know from TV, Chef Alekka
(14:26):
Sweeney.
Chef Alekka just walked usthrough some holiday baking, and
she's here again to talk aboutan easy recipe for the holidays
and maybe for a beginner baker.
So, Alekka, we're talking aboutwinter desserts and baking.
I know you have a lot of skill,but if someone doesn't feel
that they have a lot ofconfidence in the kitchen and
(14:48):
they want some dessert for thefall holiday season, what kind
of dessert would you point themtowards?
Alekka (14:57):
I would point people towards like a really simple
fruit crumble.
Okay.
Doug (15:02):
Like a baked crumble, like any kind of fruit you can use.
Alekka (15:04):
Like a seasonal fruit and the topping, which is like
butter, flour, brown sugar,cinnamon, salt, and if you want
to, I like to put oats.
Doug (15:15):
I like putting oats in mine as well.
Alekka (15:17):
Yeah, I like the oats in there.
Doug (15:19):
So we just need an oven-safe baking dish.
Yes.
You cut up some fruit.
If it's apples or something, dothey have to peel the apples?
Alekka (15:25):
I don't.
There's two schools.
I don't peel my apples.
Yeah.
The only tip I would give tothat is if you see the topping
getting a little bit more brown,cover it with some aluminum
foil.
Doug (15:37):
Okay.
To make sure that the fruit hasbaked so like a knife goes
through and it's all tender andfive.
Alekka (15:41):
Well, one of the other tells, I guess, or signs that I
could say to people when youknow that it's done is when you
can see like those littlebubbles bubbles, like thick
bubbles.
Love that.
And it's really and that theycan be pretty impressive.
You can jazz it up with somewhipped cream or some creme
fresh.
Doug (16:00):
And you can serve it in the dish that you baked it in.
Uh-huh.
So it keeps everything easy.
Alekka (16:05):
You can do individual ones of those too.
Doug (16:07):
Like a like a ramekin.
Alekka (16:09):
Like a ramekin.
Doug (16:10):
Oh, I love individual desserts.
I'll come.
Alekka (16:13):
We could get that on a t-shirt.
I love The Pittsburgh Dish andindividual desserts.
Desserts.
Doug (16:21):
Well, I love that.
I love that you're here.
And thanks so much, Alekka.
Alekka (16:25):
Thanks for having me, Doug.
Doug (16:27):
You can watch Alekka on KDKA's Talk Pittsburgh.
Find me on Pittsburgh TodayLive.
And be sure to catch ChrisFennimore on WQED most Saturday
mornings for QED Cooks.
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
(16:48):
show description.
And if you want to follow myown food adventures, you can
find me on social media atDougCooking.
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.
(17:08):
Stay tuned.
Welcome to The Pittsburgh Dish.
I'm your host, Doug Heilman.
Well, November has been a busytime with TV for me, but what
does it take behind the scenesto produce great local food
television?
And how did one of our localstations get its start in food
TV over three decades ago?
(00:22):
This week we peel back thecurtain just a bit.
Plus, my TV chef friend AlekkaSweeney is back again to give us
an easy dessert suggestion forthe holiday season.
All that ahead, stay tuned.
We are so lucky to have foodand cooking spots being produced
locally, highlighting homecooks to restaurant chefs and
(00:43):
all types of makers in between.
And I have been doublyfortunate to work with some of
the great folks behind thislocal food television.
From my personal experience, afive-minute segment starts many
days ahead.
There's a recipe concept,grocery shopping, thinking
through the camera action, whatam I gonna say?
Are there tips and techniquesto share?
(01:05):
And then there's the preparing,the chopping, or even making a
duplicate dish so that we cantaste it at the end of the
segment.
I've had my regular spot onPittsburgh Today Live for over
three years now, and 36 segmentslater, I'm still learning.
Some of the things I havepicked up is having a cart,
thank you, ChefJanet of Chef Life Hacks, a set
(01:26):
of glass bowls so that we alwayssee what the ingredients are
and what we're mixing or foldingin.
I'm always thinking about theaction for myself and also for
anybody that's with me.
What can I have them stir orchop?
And of course, any talkingpoints.
I want to make sure that I'mgiving the audience, the
viewers, something that they cantake away.
(01:46):
There's a new tip in there,there's a new hack that maybe
they haven't tried before.
All of that for usually fiveminutes of live TV.
And oh, that recipe better beposted somewhere that the
viewers can get to it, becauseotherwise you're gonna get a lot
of comments and DMs in yoursocial media, and they're gonna
ask for the recipe anyway.
But enough from me.
Let's hear from someone that'sputting on this kind of show
(02:09):
every day.
Pittsburgh Today Live's MariaDeBone.
Maria (02:13):
Testing one, two, three.
Doug (02:16):
Would you introduce yourself to our listeners?
Maria (02:18):
Yes.
Uh, my name is Maria DeBone,and I'm the associate producer
for Pittsburgh Today Live.
Doug (02:24):
Maria, you and I have been working together for a while
now at Pittsburgh Today Livehere at the KDKA studio, also
known as CBS Pittsburgh.
Maria (02:31):
Yes.
Doug (02:32):
I've done a few kitchen segments for you.
Maria (02:35):
A few, a lot, Doug.
Doug (02:38):
I was wondering from your perspective, what makes a good
kitchen segment for live TV?
Maria (02:46):
So you would think it's like very, you know, I guess
easy to go into it.
You're like, oh, you're justlike making something on TV.
But a recipe takes how long ina long time.
And we have four.
Doug (03:00):
What do you usually give me?
You say four, four and a halfminutes.
Maria (03:02):
I say four, four and a half.
Doug (03:03):
I probably take six.
Maria (03:04):
If we're lucky, I can give you five or a little bit
more than that.
But it's about, you know,making sure you have you get all
you want in to that shortamount of time.
And the time goes by so fast.
Doug (03:16):
So fast.
Maria (03:17):
So if somebody can consolidate the most important
tips and hacks into that timeframe, that's golden.
Doug (03:26):
And is that what you think the viewers are really looking
for?
Is those tips and hacks?
Maria (03:31):
Yes.
Because anybody, I mean, a lotof people can follow a recipe,
but knowing, you know, how tomake your time, you know, go
quicker or learning how to dosomething that you never thought
of before.
Having those tips and hacksthat you can just go to, very
helpful.
Doug (03:50):
Today we made a sheet pan dinner and we made a pan sauce
which helped clean the pan.
Maria (03:56):
And I never knew that before.
So because I just made dinnerlast night, and like for me, I'm
like, I'm like scrubbing thepan, but you're like, oh, you
could put it all over your food.
Doug (04:05):
And then it's more flavor.
Maria (04:07):
Yes.
Yeah.
That's so cool.
Doug (04:08):
Here in your studio or on your show, how many kitchen
cooking segments do you have inthe average week?
Maria (04:17):
Probably four to five.
Doug (04:19):
Yeah.
And you do a five-day a weekshow.
So you have somebody in thatkitchen almost every day.
Yes.
What are some of the variety offolks?
I mean, I always call myselflike the home cook, and I know
I'm a food podcaster.
What other types of folks cometo the studio and do a segment
for you?
Maria (04:34):
A lot of um restaurant owners, the chefs, they bring
in.
We're always trying to show offum new restaurants in town.
Um sometimes we get like kindof like yourself, like food
bloggers.
Yes.
Um they're you know making itbig on TikTok.
We bring them in and they showoff something.
Um but yeah, mainly likerestaurant owners.
Doug (04:55):
Yeah.
I know that chef Bill Fullerfrom the Big Burrito Group comes
along.
I think you guys just did awhole buffet of what is it, the
Gobblerito?
Yes.
That was a big day.
I wish I was here that day too.
Maria (05:09):
So something we really like to tell our kitchen
segments that are coming on thatwe want you to make our space
yours, make it as visual aspossible.
Doug (05:21):
I love that.
Maria (05:22):
Yes.
And it's it's not just aboutlike showing like each step,
it's about how can we get peopleto go to your restaurant, go to
your blog, go to your TikTokpage.
If there is like a tons ofdifferent menu items on the
table displayed, like edible ornot right there for the hosts.
If there's more to see, that'swhat the listeners, well, the
(05:45):
viewers, look at and they'relike, oh, I really want to try
that.
I'm gonna go there.
Right.
So it really makes a bigdifference when we have a guest
that comes prepared with a lotto see versus there's not that
much to show off.
Doug (06:00):
One of your other colleagues has told me that they
want action as well.
Like they want uh not only meor whoever's coming into the
kitchen to do things, but if wecan engage the the hosts, the
anchors, and get them to do alittle something, that that's
always good.
And and I think the other thingis we always want to get them
to taste something, right?
(06:21):
Yeah.
Maria (06:21):
I mean, that's the whole point.
You gotta give the people areview of what you're what
you're making, the end productto be.
But yeah, as if we can getHeather and David doing
something, I mean, they won't doit well, but that's the funny
part.
Doug (06:36):
This is Heather Abraham and David Highfield, the hosts
of Pittsburgh Today Live.
Maria (06:39):
And I love them, and they know that, but they're not a
professional chef, chefs.
So watching them try to ice acupcake or you know, try even
like mix in cheese to somethingis always very fold in the
cheese, David.
Doug (06:55):
Fold in the cheese.
Maria (06:57):
Yes.
And that's where you and otherexpert chefs come in and show
how it's done.
Doug (07:02):
Yes.
It is always satisfying thatyou make it through your segment
and they do get to taste.
I think it breaks my heart whenI've seen some segments.
Hasn't happened to me yet, butyou don't get to that because
you're still sauteing yourshrimp.
I'm like, no, that shrimp isgonna take four minutes.
Maria (07:17):
I know.
And but it's always helpful toowhen I mean there's leftovers
for the crew like myself.
It's like my lunch for the day.
Doug (07:25):
I love that too.
I love that.
Maria, how long have you beenat this station now?
Maria (07:30):
Um, oh gosh.
About more than like a year anda half now.
Doug (07:35):
You're part of a great team.
Maria (07:36):
Oh, I love it.
Doug (07:37):
Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
Maria (07:39):
Yeah, we love having you on every month.
Doug (07:41):
Well, I love having you on The Pittsburgh Dish.
Maria (07:44):
Oh, thank you for having me.
Yeah.
Doug (07:47):
Up next, how do you stumble into food television by
way of a zucchini and then keepit going for over three decades?
Here is a segment of our chatwith Chris Fennimore of WQED
from episode 36.
Chris (08:03):
All of the guests on our show are people in our broadcast
area.
The first one I did was uh Z isfor Zucchini.
Uh, I had a garden filled withzucchini right up here at the at
the Homewood Cemetery.
Doug (08:17):
Oh, yeah.
Chris (08:18):
And um I I didn't know what to do with all of these.
So I went back to the office.
I was also the director ofprogramming there, and I said to
my uh director of continuity,Nancy Polinski, I said, Nancy,
would you please make a promoasking people to send their
recipes for zucchini?
(08:38):
I got all these recipes and Ithought, uh, you know, this is
something unique.
I'm I'm also a programproducer.
Right.
Doug (08:46):
So I really had something here.
Chris (08:47):
I am and and I and I so I said to uh the person who was
the station manager, I said,could I have a little time
during the next pledge period?
Because I would love to do a ademonstration of a couple of
recipes, and I'll type up theserecipes and offer them as a
thank you gift like the tote bagor the coffee mug or whatever
(09:08):
people use.
Doug (09:09):
What year is this, Chris?
Chris (09:11):
Uh 93.
Yes, ninety-three.
It was the summer ofninety-three.
So uh Nancy and I set up twotables and I cooked the five or
six recipes that that I pickedout of the book.
Ahead of time.
Ahead of time.
And then I had all theingredients.
Uh and so the ingredients wereon the front table and the
(09:32):
finished dishes were on thetable behind me.
And so I would say, so then youchop this up, and then you put
the onion in there, and then andthen you uh slice that and
blah, blah, blah, and put it inthe oven for 45 minutes, and it
comes out like this, and then wewould taste it.
Well, the phones rang off thehook.
They people wanted these.
(09:53):
And we were reading, while I'mcooking, while I'm making
believe I'm cooking, Nancy isreading the letters from
everybody who sent in theirrecipes.
So it was very heartwarming,and it was, I thought,
particularly appropriate forpublic broadcasting.
Right.
Because this was our way ofsharing for them to share with
(10:14):
us and for us to share back withthem.
And that to me, that's whatpublic broadcasting is all
about.
You're bringing the communityinto the station.
Well, on the next show, becausewhat happened was immediately
the people in the pledgedepartment said, When's the next
watch?
And I said, I have no idea.
I didn't know this was gonnahappen.
We s we picked cookies as thetopic.
(10:37):
Oh, then we decided that Iwasn't gonna make all the
cookies.
We were gonna have people comein and make their cookies.
And that was the beginning ofthe format that we have now
followed for the last 31 years.
And that is that people send intheir recipes.
We get usually, you know, acouple of hundred recipes.
Um we select four or fivepeople to come on the show.
(11:00):
I usually make one recipe.
Nancy usually makes one recipe,and that is not so much a
matter of our egos involved, andyou know, we've got to be part
of this, but it's a timingmatter in terms of production.
Yes.
So I usually do the first orthe last, and Nancy does the
first or the last.
And that way, if I need to doit all in five minutes instead
(11:21):
of twelve, I can do it.
And also if we're you knowstuck for time, I can just stand
there and talk.
It works out.
It works out that way.
So that's why I've been doingsome of my recipes uh on on that
show.
Anyway, that's how the thecooking thing got started.
And the thing about the recipesthat they send in is they never
send in their worst recipe.
(11:41):
Other than Aunt Margaret's uhyou know, zucchini boats.
Which they still make.
What they're sending you arethe recipes that they are famous
for.
You know, that that alwayscomes out, and people go, how do
you make that?
Those are the recipes thatthey're sending us that we put
into our books, and as I say,it's now been hundreds and
(12:02):
hundreds of guests, maybe eight,nine hundred guests over these
years.
That's a lot of people.
It's incredible.
Doug (12:10):
And I I just want to point out most affiliates in the PBS
world don't always have kitchensor anything like we've had.
So it's such a treasure for ourcommunity on the programs you
guys have brought over theyears.
unknown (12:24):
Yeah.
Chris (12:25):
Um I'm not sure uh if and when we might do another giant
show because they take a lot ofuh a lot of time, a lot of
planning.
I've noticed.
And yeah.
Because you've been part ofthose a little bit.
You've got to collect therecipes and um and then get the
cooks that you're gonna have onand book time to shoot them.
(12:46):
It's easier now because wedon't do them live.
Man.
I can't imagine, Chris.
Live was so crazy, you know.
Doug (12:53):
It's part of the element though that is it's fun.
Even when they are not live,they're still pretty true to
form.
Well, they're live to tape.
They are live to tape, yeah.
Chris (13:02):
We may edit something later on, and we can stop.
When I put the food processoron backwards for you.
Exactly.
Oh, but and we couldn't stop inthose days.
We just said, oh well, we'llclean this up later.
And uh keep going.
Poor Mary uh Irwin Scott and umJoe Certo and and folks like
(13:25):
you who would come in and helpus on that side of the of the
camera, uh cleaning up in thekitchen and setting things out.
People don't realize everythingthat goes on.
They see what goes on on thecountertop.
Yeah, but to the left, stageleft of the countertop, there's
all kinds of stuff going on.
All the time.
Doug (13:43):
Yeah, there's a lot to it.
Yeah, so it takes a it takes asmall army.
Um they're fun to do, butthere's a lot of work in them.
Chris, thanks so much.
You're welcome.
Chris (13:55):
Hi, this is Chris Fennimore, the host of QED
Cooks, and I'm here with you onThe Pittsburgh Dish.
Doug (14:03):
Well, happily, if you are following WQED's social media as
well as my own, then you mightknow that we've been some busy
bees in the QED kitchen, and oneof those big shows is coming.
Keep an eye out for it whenwarmer months return.
Finally, we couldn't end theshow without some food talk.
So here's one more friend thatI know from TV, Chef Alekka
(14:26):
Sweeney.
Chef Alekka just walked usthrough some holiday baking, and
she's here again to talk aboutan easy recipe for the holidays
and maybe for a beginner baker.
So, Alekka, we're talking aboutwinter desserts and baking.
I know you have a lot of skill,but if someone doesn't feel
that they have a lot ofconfidence in the kitchen and
(14:48):
they want some dessert for thefall holiday season, what kind
of dessert would you point themtowards?
Alekka (14:57):
I would point people towards like a really simple
fruit crumble.
Okay.
Doug (15:02):
Like a baked crumble, like any kind of fruit you can use.
Alekka (15:04):
Like a seasonal fruit and the topping, which is like
butter, flour, brown sugar,cinnamon, salt, and if you want
to, I like to put oats.
Doug (15:15):
I like putting oats in mine as well.
Alekka (15:17):
Yeah, I like the oats in there.
Doug (15:19):
So we just need an oven-safe baking dish.
Yes.
You cut up some fruit.
If it's apples or something, dothey have to peel the apples?
Alekka (15:25):
I don't.
There's two schools.
I don't peel my apples.
Yeah.
The only tip I would give tothat is if you see the topping
getting a little bit more brown,cover it with some aluminum
foil.
Doug (15:37):
Okay.
To make sure that the fruit hasbaked so like a knife goes
through and it's all tender andfive.
Alekka (15:41):
Well, one of the other tells, I guess, or signs that I
could say to people when youknow that it's done is when you
can see like those littlebubbles bubbles, like thick
bubbles.
Love that.
And it's really and that theycan be pretty impressive.
You can jazz it up with somewhipped cream or some creme
fresh.
Doug (16:00):
And you can serve it in the dish that you baked it in.
Uh-huh.
So it keeps everything easy.
Alekka (16:05):
You can do individual ones of those too.
Doug (16:07):
Like a like a ramekin.
Alekka (16:09):
Like a ramekin.
Doug (16:10):
Oh, I love individual desserts.
I'll come.
Alekka (16:13):
We could get that on a t-shirt.
I love The Pittsburgh Dish andindividual desserts.
Desserts.
Doug (16:21):
Well, I love that.
I love that you're here.
And thanks so much, Alekka.
Alekka (16:25):
Thanks for having me, Doug.
Doug (16:27):
You can watch Alekka on KDKA's Talk Pittsburgh.
Find me on Pittsburgh TodayLive.
And be sure to catch ChrisFennimore on WQED most Saturday
mornings for QED Cooks.
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
(16:48):
show description.
And if you want to follow myown food adventures, you can
find me on social media atDougCooking.
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.
(17:08):
Stay tuned.
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