The Friend We Met in A Yard - Welcome Liz Rueven! - Yard To Table

Episode Transcript
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Trevor (00:14):
Well, hello Ellen.

Ellen (00:15):
Well, hello, Trevor.

Trevor (00:16):
Here we are again, back at the table for yard to table.
It's another episode of yard totable.

Ellen (00:22):
I know. How are you feeling about this journey that

Trevor (00:24):
I'm loving it. I think this is exactly what we needed.
we're on?
I think that this is a great wayto share with everybody how much
we are renewed by our yard andthe things that are going on in
our yard and our neighborsyards. It's yard central over
here.

Ellen (00:40):
Totally. And I think, you know, as we were walking
down to the office, and I waswalking through the garden, yes,
and it's an absolutely fabulous,gorgeous New England day, it is
amazing Connecticut. I deepbreath and it's just full. It is
your happiness.

Trevor (00:58):
Is another place of Zen.
It is.

Ellen (01:00):
And I'm also excited because we have our first guest.

Trevor (01:04):
Oh, first guest. Very nice. This is the inaugural
first guest. I know who theguest is, and you know who the
guest is. I do listeners, youdon't know who the guest is, but
we'll tell you in a second. Butthis is very appropriate to have
this person be our first guest,

Ellen (01:23):
absolutely. And as we continue on at the table here on
the podcast, you're going tomeet lots of people that have
made such a significant impacton us personally in this journey
here in Connecticut. And Icouldn't be more excited to
introduce our first guest today.
She's a cook, an educator, awriter, a researcher, who's
passionate about promoting andhonoring kosher eating. She's an

(01:46):
avid supporter of local farms,and provides her readers with
information on where to findseasonally grown, organic food
and more. She is a force in ourcommunity that unites like
minded eaters, not all kosher,not all vegetarian, who, in her
words, want to eat thoughtfullyprepared, properly grown and
ethically sourced, deliciousfood. I mean, who's not on board

(02:09):
for that? We all are. We all areso welcome to the table. Our
dear friend, fellow yardenthusiast and founder of Kosher
like me. Liz Rueven,

Liz (02:19):
Thank you so much.

Trevor (02:22):
Liz Rueven is here with us

Ellen (02:24):
We could not be more excited because, you know, we
met in a yard.

Trevor (02:30):
You were like our first real friend in Weston. We were
cocktail party friends. We wereYes, and it was so Ellen and I
had recently moved to thiswonderful place that we are in
in Western Connecticut, and wewere looking around trying to
get more information about ourlocal food scene and our local

(02:52):
farmers, and found this verylovely little farm called Dirt
Road Farm. Dirt Road Farm rightdown the road from us, literally
walking distance from us, whichon a dirt road. We had no idea
it was there. And we got ticketsto this amazing event. And met
two of the most loveliest peopleever, Liz Rueven, her husband,

(03:15):
Moni, and we started talking.

Ellen (03:17):
I think it was really very immediate for us. You know
when we when we were well, we'lllet you tell it. Liz, but I know
what my thoughts are.

Liz (03:27):
I know we I know we couldn't stop talking. Yes,
that's true. And not only werewe talking, but we were
wandering through Phoebe ColeSmith's garden. We were nibbling
on the most incredible food, allof which she had grown in her
garden, and it was her grandfinale at Dirt Road Farm, before

(03:49):
she moved on to Chappaquiddick,where she's now doing amazing
things, as she always does, dirtroad cottage now, yeah, dirt
road cottage, great name. Yeah.
Way to brand. Keep the branding,that's right. But yeah, we
immediately were in sync. Youknow, we were walking and
talking and nibbling, and wherewere you from and what do you

(04:10):
do? And we just had lots incommon. Immediately, was
beautiful.

Ellen (04:15):
Yeah it really was. And we're like, when are we doing
this again?

Trevor (04:17):
And that's the fun part, because exactly, it all happened
in a yard. It did. It allhappened around somebody that
was growing something, and itwas for us, really the first
experience of seeing here all ofthese people, because it wasn't
just the four of us that were atthis party. It was full of
people that all were connectingover this amazing place.

Ellen (04:40):
And we were really fortunate because we met Liz and
Moni, and we also got to seebecause it was sort of the
finale, The swan song to dirtroad farm for Phoebe, and so she
had built an incrediblecommunity of people that shared
those same values aroundsustainability, locally sourced
food, making delicious food,growing delicious. Just food. So

(05:00):
I feel like we kind of walkedinto, like, I don't know, it was
like a master class of it was,it was 100% of incredible
humans,

Trevor (05:08):
a master class. And we met so many amazing people
there. It was essentially, likekind of

Ellen (05:14):
sadness that it was ending a bit, yeah, but it
really was a celebration ofeverything that she had put in
there.

Liz (05:19):
It was really a gathering of like minded people. So
whether some of them were justsimply enthusiastic locavores,
and they were great at eating,which most of us are, or there
were some growers, there weresome chefs, there were some
cooks, there were some writers,there were people in the news
world, but everyone was local,yes, and that's the thing about

(05:42):
this community. You know, if youdig deeply, and I know that you
have, and I hope that you'll becovering that in subsequent
podcasts, but definitely, whenyou dig deeply into this
community, and I would call thiscommunity The Westin and
Westport Connecticutcommunities, you know, there's a
huge amount of farming history.
It's burgeoning. Now it'sdeveloping. We have an amazing

(06:09):
farmers market. We have townfarms that are community hubs in
both of these communities. Andso I think what you saw at that
beautiful farm dinner that nightwas lots of people connected in
those worlds,

Ellen (06:25):
yes. And I think you just hit on everything that
excites us about this localscene. And I know what excites
you. You know, we have aquestion that we thought we'd
start to with our with ourguests, that you know, I know
that you'll appreciate, youknow, before we get into
anything else, what's going onin your yard right now?

Liz (06:47):
Well, it is a jungle. It is a jungle, and we are trying
to tame her, but she does notwant to be tamed. And that's
part of the story is, you know,it's been a very hot summer here
in Connecticut, we we have hadhuge rainstorms. Yes, we're

(07:07):
frightened about the heat andthe the intensity of the storms
separate subject, of course, butwe're all thinking about it. But
we're growing cucumbers for thefirst time, and the cucumbers
are out of control. I mean, weare laughing because we're
finding cucumbers growing onvines that are trailing on the
pavement. Well, that's notpavement. It's blue stone.

Trevor (07:31):
Let's set the asphalt surrounding your property

Liz (07:34):
Yeah. No, no, it's blue stone, as it should be. But
things are growing like crazy.
We have cucumbers. I only boughtthe pickling variety, but we
have a couple of differentpickling varieties, which means
that when you when you pickthem, they've got these very
prickly skins. So yeah, so we'rescraping them before we eat

(07:56):
them, which was a littlesurprising to me. I mean, the
garden is full of surprises.
We're growing nasturtium, whichhas come in really handy,
because now that the greens, wewere growing a ton of salad
greens, the greens are over.
They're like enough with thisheat, yeah, yeah. So they end,
they peter out as they're meantto, and now we're into eating

(08:16):
nasturtium leaves and stemswhich have strong flavor of
arugula.

Trevor (08:25):
It was one of the most surprising things, I think, for
me in the garden, just theinteresting flavors that you get
from things that you don'texpect. Agree, and nasturtium
was one of those lightning boltflavors for me, that not only
are you looking at a beautifulplant, beautiful orange flowers,
yellow flowers, red flowers, butyou've got this amazing peppery

(08:51):
after flavor that just blows youaway

Liz (08:54):
and fully edible. And every, every part

Ellen (08:56):
The flower, the leaves.
I mean, it is, it is such apowerhouse vegetable. And last
year, for the first time, Trevormade Nassim cookies, which I
think we shared with you. Did weshare some with you?

Trevor (09:07):
They were delicious,

Liz (09:08):
I don't think you did. But if you're doing that again, I
would love to help you

Trevor (09:13):
We need to know if we actually gave her, because now
she's sad that you know, so sad,

Liz (09:18):
so so sad,

Ellen (09:19):
I know, especially because what did you bring us?
Talking about your cucumbers,what did you bring us today?

Liz (09:24):
So I, my husband really loves pickling he loves pickling
everything. So we're picklingour homegrown cucumbers at this
time, and that's lactofermentation. So that's a
completely natural process.
That's the stuff where it'sreally helping your gut. So if
you drink that juice, which isreally stinky, you know,

(09:45):
garlicky, salty, cloudy, it'snot a sexy juice, I love it,
though it's really good. And sowe're making our own pickles.
We're doing it like crazy on ourporch. You know, it's simply
very. Very, very clean jars,very clean cucumbers, garlic
that we grow and harvest likeyou do, yes, some fresh dill,

(10:06):
which we grow, and water andsalt, and we put it in clean
jars, and we put it out on theporch, and it gets sun, and
within a couple of days, youknow, and we're shaking it in
between, you know, justinverting the jar gently, not
shaking it. And then we look atit and we say, is that cloudy
enough? Have they turned sourenough? Because we want it

(10:29):
pretty sour. And some people,you know, we've experimented
with some jalapeno. I don't lovethat, because I'm not going for
the spice lately, but for aclass I just taught, I did
pickled red onions, and thisarea was full of onion farms, by
the way,

Ellen (10:52):
it was our it is our history here, of course, you
know that, yes, and we're goingto do a podcast about that, I
might have, we might have tohave you Back. Amazing.

Liz (11:01):
Well, I know, I know people who know a lot about
that, so I'd be happy toparticipate, but I can refer
people to you. So I just taughta class, and we can talk about
that later, if you want. But inin that class, I taught the, it
was adults at Le chat farm herein Weston, and I suggested that

(11:21):
they throw in other things intotheir pickled onions. So if you
want to make those pickledonions even more Barbie fuchsia,
even brighter pink, I threw inbits of watermelon. I love that
combination. Now, pickledwatermelon is a revelation,
really. I learned about it frommy father in law, but you could

(11:42):
throw in watermelon blueberries.
They could be frozen blueberriestoo, even raspberries, and you
can really up the pink ante, andthen you're biting into fruit
that's pickled, and your mind isreally blown, which is a fun
thing to do to your friends andguests.

Trevor (11:57):
I love it. Which I love

Ellen (11:58):
I've heard about pickling watermelon rinds. I
have heard about that in thepast, but the fruit itself with
the onion, that soundsdelicious, that sounds crazy,

Liz (12:06):
that's a salad. Yeah, yeah, over your nasturtium
greens,

Ellen (12:10):
which we are very lucky, by the way, because we also got
a jar of Liz's pickled onionsand watermelons. So I we have
the pickles and the the onionsand the watermelon pickling. I'm
very happy. I'm alreadypicturing lunch, and I'm hungry
now. Liz, you talked a littlebit about Le chat farm, and you
talked about local farms, Ithink, tell us a little bit more

(12:33):
about your relationship with thelocal, foreign farms. And I
know, you know, seasonal andlocal, those are things that are
extremely important to you.
They're important to us. But ifyou tell us a little bit more
about your relationship withlocal farms and the connections
with community, sure,

Liz (12:49):
well, I think that we come from a farming history here in
Connecticut and during thepandemic, people, I think,
finally understood theimportance of the farms and the
accessibility to seasonalingredients that they could that

(13:10):
they could make part of theirmeals when they went to Whole
Foods and the shelves wereempty. And why were they empty?
Because, you know, trucks werenot moving from California or
Mexico to Connecticut. But asidefrom that, I mean, I really
receive all of my inspirationfrom my local farms. So Le chat

(13:30):
farm in Weston is a communityhub in a very small town where
your homestead is, that's right,I think it's 8500 people here.

Ellen (13:39):
I've heard 10,000 but I've never seen, still not a
lot.

Liz (13:42):
I've never seen 10,000 people at the one market in town
or at the one little postoffice. Yes, but Le chat farm,
Wakeman town farm in Westport,and Westport farmers market are
really hubs for me in my life,and I've gotten to know lots of
farmers who work around helpingand supporting those farms, each

(14:05):
of those places is very focusedon not only providing local
Connecticut goods, food, harvestcrops, but also in educating our
residents and every singleperson that we Touch by
educating them through a classor through conversation at a
market, means that local farmerswill be more able to sustain

(14:30):
themselves and survive in thisvery difficult time economically
and climatically, politically.
Yeah,

Ellen (14:38):
now it's it's so critical, and you know, your
participation in not onlysupporting them, from, you know,
from going to the market,spreading the education around,
why those markets are important,but you when it comes to the
town farms, you know, you're aneducator, you're teaching, so
you're literally teaching aboutthese resources. And I know you

(14:58):
just had a class last night. Youwere mentioning, right? So
you're teaching at Le chat. Idid go and you what else did you
teach? What else did you Whatbrought people around the table
there?

Liz (15:08):
So it was so much fun. So I love teaching at both Le chat
in Weston and Wakeman inWestport, and sometimes I feel
like I just don't need to gobeyond these five miles or seven
miles, because we have reallyopen audiences. So I did a class
called bountiful summer salads,and I used the word Bountiful,

(15:30):
you know, because of its doublemeaning. It's just, it's a very
bountiful time of year. In termsof harvest, we have a huge
selection of ingredients. It'snow mid July, so it's really
peak, or almost peak, or peakseason really lasts for quite a
while. And I want people to knowthat their salad should be
bountiful. There should be lotsof ingredients in them. If

(15:52):
you're a vegetarian, If you're akosher keeper, if you're vegan.
I started the planning for thatclass just by researching
exactly what would be harvestedin mid July, around the date of
my class. And I love that, yeah.
And when we did the promo forthat, I made sure to say, you
know, this menu could varydepending on what happens with

(16:13):
the heat and the rain. I mean,this is the life of a farmer. I
am not a farmer, but farmersjust don't know exactly what's
going to happen when? So weprepared four salads, hands on.
We had a sold out class of 14adults. Love it, and I made sure
that it was vegan and glutenfree, because it's very easy,

(16:33):
just like when you're kosher.
You know, all fruits andvegetables are vegan, they're
all gluten free, and they're allkosher. So why not? So it was a
sold out class, and last time Idid a class called Middle
Eastern dips and spreads reallyrooted in my passion for the

(16:53):
flavors from that region. Myhusband is Israeli, so I've
learned a lot about the foodways of that region, which is an
enormous region, of course, thatwas a sold out class. And then I
repeat,

Ellen (17:07):
Two sold out classes, by the way.

Liz (17:10):
So it was super fun, and the participants are just very
excited. And you know, I try notto wash the vegetables before
the class. I mean, with theherbs and stuff, it's such a lot
of work, so I try to get throughsome of that in advance of the
class. But I wanted the carrotsto look really, really dirty,
you know? I wanted the cabbagefor a simple cabbage salad, to

(17:34):
have the dirt in the layers, notbecause people love to have grit
in their teeth, but because Iwant them to know this is not
coming from a shelf that has asprinkler or a mist or above it.
This is coming from the earthand it is dirty. And I think
that's why those of us who eatthis way are probably healthier,
because not only has the foodnot traveled, we're eating a

(17:56):
little bit of dirt. It'sprobably good for us. I don't
know. I mean, there's been a lotof research on that studies.
Yeah, yeah. So the class hadfour salads. We covered a lot,
and in advance, I did thepickled onions and trying to
remember what else there wassomething else, but they at Le

(18:17):
chat, they want me to providedessert, and I was just too
wiped to bake. So I went toneeds bakery, which is spelled
K, N, E, A, D, S, clever. Soclever. And they've opened a an
ice cream shop. And I went thereand got whatever they had that
was made with local fruit. Sothey had a strawberry ice cream

(18:39):
that was made with Connecticutstrawberries, and they had a
blueberry vegan sorbet. Oh, sosorry that the ice cream was not
vegan. It was the only thing inthe class that was not vegan,
but the sorbet was and that wasmade with blueberries from the
Hudson Valley. So that sort ofleads me into that other idea,

(19:00):
which is, you know what is? Whatis local. So we love to eat
Connecticut grown, but it'sreally important also to support
other farmers and producers. Soif you know, I buy olive oil
from a producer in California,it's, yes, she's 3000 miles
away. But global Gardens isgrowing their own olives.

(19:23):
They're pressing their ownolives into the most beautiful
olive oils. So even though theyare far away, it's a small
business, so it's all sort ofpart of the whole gestalt of
small business, small farms,local, yes, but that spirit can
move out, even if it movesacross the country.

Trevor (19:43):
Yeah. I mean, here in Connecticut, we have about, I
think, 200 local farms, and wealways try to get as much local
here. If it's not coming out ofthe yard, it's, we're, you know,
we're going to all of our verylocal within 510, mile radius,
farms and farmers. Markets. Wejust recently were up at the
Ridgefield farmers market, andyeah, it was lovely and

(20:05):
fantastic. And it's greatbecause you also get to meet so
many of the different providers,growers and makers and makers,
and you get to see them againand again and again at the
different markets. They'll go toWestport, then they'll go over
to Ridgefield, they'll go to theother ones,

Ellen (20:21):
and it also shows you how hard they're working to
sustain what they're doing.

Liz (20:26):
I always say all you have to do is go strawberry or
blueberry picking in order tounderstand why a pint of
blueberries or strawberriescosts what it does and it's
expensive, and I know that'spart of the argument that people
often say, you know, to me aboutbuying local and buying at a

(20:47):
farmer's market, and it's true,but if one's budget is limited,
you might just choose certainthings that are very important
to buy locally. I mean, there isnothing like the flavor of a
locally picked fruit. Maybethat's the most important thing
to you if you have limitedbudget. So you know, that's a
whole other topic.

Ellen (21:06):
It's a great topic, though, and I think I love what
you said about when you're doingyour classes and you are
preparing your foods and puttingit out for your attendees that
you are showing the dirt you'reshowing. Because one of the
things that we've talked about,and I think we have so much more
a connection to now, wecertainly had a connection to it

(21:27):
when we lived in California, butI think being here in
Connecticut, growing our own,you know, you forget what, or
you maybe you never knew whatsomething looked like coming out
of the ground. Yeah. Grow.

Trevor (21:43):
Visually, things are so homogenized. In a grocery store,
every single piece of fruitlooks the same with a five
degree variance, and you're notreally seeing how wide a range
of okay fruit and vegetable andand other grown products can be
and still taste incrediblydelicious and wonderful in the

(22:04):
process,

Ellen (22:05):
and are really so much better for you. Oh, yeah, in so
many ways. You know,

Liz (22:09):
I taught a series to a group of four teens at my home
in my kitchen over the course oftwo years, and it was really
wonderful, because I loveworking with teens. You know,
they're so open, and if you canjust get to them, mostly through
their stomachs, you know, Imean, I like to go through the
through the research, and helpthem to understand the bigger

(22:30):
issues. But they love to eat.
And we did a series of classesof, you know, locally grown
ingredients, and one of theirfavorite parts was going out to
pick herbs from my patio. And Ithought that that was just so ho
hum, you know. I mean, whodoesn't know how to, you know,
you know what basil leaves looklike, right? But, and they were

(22:50):
hesitant at first. They werelike, Liz, is this correct? And
where do I snip and what do youthink? Is this enough? And they
always came in with not enough,you know, like they didn't come
in with enough flavor. We needflavor. You know, we have
tomatoes, we have beautifulolive oil. All you need is basil
or another herb, and that's it.

(23:11):
And that's the other thing. Youknow, when you're using local
ingredients, they're just theyshine. And my cooking is really
about and my teaching is reallyabout letting those ingredients
shine. We don't have to maskthem. We just want them to
shine.

Trevor (23:25):
I mean, what just as staying on with the with the
kids for a second? What weretheir thoughts about? You know,
because they're sort of the nextgeneration of of people that are
going to be interested,hopefully, in sustainable
agriculture and growing ultra,ultra local yard to table. What
are their thoughts about this?
What was their experience inseeing how close you could get

(23:47):
to produce and agriculture?

Liz (23:52):
Well, that's a really great question. I taught a
series of classes in globalJewish cuisine. This, this over
the course of this past year,and the kids really didn't know
very much coming in. They reallydidn't know very much about
culinary history, about culturalhistory, and certainly not a lot

(24:14):
about farming, and how closethey can really get. And the
only way they can do that, in myopinion, is if their parents
grow at home, whether it's onepot of tomatoes and a second pot
of basil or nasturtiums. I mean,you don't have to grow corn at
home to know that the corn isgrown locally. You can go and

(24:37):
buy it. I'm not going to growcorn. It's too much.

Ellen (24:40):
No, I don't know. I say no, and then then I change my
mind

Trevor (24:43):
and then you're like, hey, what about this special
corn that I've never seenbefore?

Liz (24:47):
But I will say no for now.
I will say that, you know, oneneeds to grow something at home,
whatever that is. And the otherthing is, if their parents can
seek out markets that happenover the weekend, they really.
Me, I hope will take them tothose farmers markets, because
until they get out there, untilthey say things like, I've never
seen that fruit or vegetablebefore, what is that or boy, it

(25:08):
sure is hot. That farmer looksso hot. What do you know? How do
you think she's doing? And yes,please bring a cold drink to
that farmer or that vendor who'shelping you know anyone, but
until they get to see thedirectness of Farm to audience,
they really can't understand.

(25:31):
So, you know, if at allpossible, take those kids to a
farmer's market or to a farm ona weekend, lots of farms are
open for pick your own or justto shop.

Ellen (25:41):
I think that is, it's such an incredibly important
point, you know, we've seen thatwith our with our daughter, you
know, and I know a lot ofparents face challenges around
what their kids are eating, whatthey can get their kids to eat.
We are not. We start. We havethose struggles as well. But
it's interesting, once we getour daughter out to the garden,
or we go to a farmer's market,we sometimes can convince her to

(26:03):
try things we're not evenactually, it's not with much
convincing. We'll hold somethingup and she'll give it a she'll
give it a shot, you know? Andthat is because

Trevor (26:11):
I do have a lot of trouble with the chicken finger
plants do not produce as much asI thought they would. It's a
shame. Or the mac and cheese,the mac and cheese plants also
are challenging, but they can'tgrow. We do definitely have a
much wider range of options forher when she's presented with
things. We grew ground cherrieslast year, and I was 100%

(26:35):
convinced that she would not beinterested in a ground cherry,
and she loved it.

Liz (26:39):
Well, one of the reasons ground cherries are so exciting
is, first of all, they're bothcrisp and sweet, yes, so that's
a perfect combination. But alsothey have those beautiful little
paper coverings, and they haveto be, you know, peeled back.
And it's a very good present.

Trevor (26:55):
It's like a candy. It's like a little candy wrapper.
It's a veggie candy.

Liz (26:58):
It's so perfect. It's so perfect. And speaking of ground
cherries, Ellen, Ellen and Ijust went to our little
adventure. That's right, we wentto a little adventure. I mean,
I've been, you know, I've knownabout VIV at viv's Veggie stand
up on Lion's plains in Westonfor a very long time. But we
went up the other day, and itwas Ellen's first time. Because

(27:19):
you still are, you don't feellike newbies, and you don't look
like newbies, but you still area little bit

Ellen (27:24):
I know it is true that every day I'm amazed at what we
don't know or haven't been toyet. So and I always appreciate
it, because you're all youalways take me to the places
that I need to see.

Liz (27:34):
So great. But we went up to Viv's and we were like, Do
you have any ground cherries orground cherry plants, because we
know that they're not ready tobe harvested yet. And it was a
very busy and very hot day forher. That woman took a spade,
left her customers at the stand,and went into the field and dug
up a couple of ground cherryplants for us, stuck them in a

(27:57):
pot with a little bit of soiland said, try this just see what
happens, incredible. And what Itook home was, you know, very
meager and very weak looking,and I added more soil to the
pot. I put it on my porch. I didnot let it get the stormy rains.
I did not let it get too muchsun, because she advised me that

(28:18):
way. And those plants arelooking fabulous. They are
saying they are, yeah, yeah,yeah, and they are ready to go
in the ground. So, you know,ground cherries are amazing.
Kids love them because it's alittle present, but also it's,
you know, a little fruit, andit's very other. It's not an
apple. It's kind of the oppositeof an apple, and which is great.

(28:40):
We love apples, but

Trevor (28:41):
like nasturtium, for me, it's another one of those sort
of mind blowing vegetableflavors where you're thinking
it's one thing, and then in yourmouth, this sort of produce
alchemy occurs, and all of asudden you have a totally
different flavor, and it's sweetand it's tart, but it's both at
the same time, and it's crisp,but it's still got that sort of

(29:02):
uniqueness to it. And it's tangysweetness,

Ellen (29:04):
it's it's sort of, it's

Trevor (29:06):
crazy thing.

Liz (29:08):
And the other thing about them, which is super fun for
kids, is you don't pick them,you wait for them to hit the
ground, that's right, and thenyou collect them from the
ground. So speak about dirt.
Hey, you know we'd love thatdirt.

Ellen (29:20):
The dirt is good. Dirt is good. But my kids love dirt,
by the way, so,

Liz (29:24):
but pick picking things off the ground is super fun.

Ellen (29:26):
Totally, yeah.

Trevor (29:28):
As long as you know what it is? Yes, yeah, because you
don't want to pick anything upand eat it. That's a that can be
a challenge,

Ellen (29:34):
something that kids do like to do as they do.

Trevor (29:36):
They do what is in your mouth? What is in your mouth?
Why

Ellen (29:39):
are you eating that? Oh, okay, that's fine. That's okay.
That's

Trevor (29:42):
okay. No, that's okay, yeah,

Ellen (29:43):
that's fine. And Liz has made me a promise that, because
we had more ground to plantground cherries this year, when
it's time for them, we're goingto work on a tart together,
right?

Liz (29:56):
I love that idea. What are we putting in that chart? Tart
with the ground cherries?

Ellen (30:00):
Well, you know, last year I made the tart with cherry
with cherry tomatoes and groundcherries. And I think I shared
that recipe with you, and yougave me a couple fine tuning
points. I don't know. I thinkshould we go sweet? Should we go
savory? I think we try both.
Well, I'll tell you what I woulddo, tell me, tell me

Liz (30:19):
I would turn to some of my resources, and I think that
that's that's a very beautifulthing to have in your library.
If there are a couple of books,I use a book called the flavor
Bible,

Ellen (30:29):
which you highly recommended to me. And it is the
flavor Bible, the EssentialGuide to culinary creativity.
And it is a gem.

Liz (30:38):
It is a gem because they list tons and tons of
ingredients, vegetables andfruits, mostly, and they help
you to understand the flavorprofile of it and which flavors
can pair with it. And they kindof, you know, use text and print
to highlight what's best with itand what might be worth
experimenting with. But youknow, if you want to make a tart

(31:00):
and the season, you know time isrunning. You can turn to a book
like that, and it will help youto know which flavors to pair
with it, because I'm dying toknow which herbs are going to go
with ground cherries, and shouldwe be pickling them? By the way,
I don't know.

Ellen (31:13):
My head's going in a million directions right now,
but that, literally, the groundcherry tart conversation last
year was what led you to therecommendation of the flavor
Bible and and I think you know,and we do want to be talking
about these recommendations onthe podcast. And I know you have
a very extensive library of ofcookbooks and culinary

(31:33):
instructions and all of thosegood things. But you know,
besides that, you know, what areyour essential books that you
would recommend for new orexperienced home cooks.

Liz (31:43):
There are a lot of great books that came out this year,
and I haven't been investing inthem at this moment. I've just
been very, very busy. I don'tknow, you know, teaching has
been really great this summer.
It's been a big year. It's beengreat. Yeah, it's been really
great. But, you know, I love theEncyclopedia of Jewish food by
Gil marks. I use this book allthe time because, you know, all

(32:04):
holidays really should involveseasonal foods. So if let's say
for the fall, first of the fallseries of holidays, which is
Rosh Hashanah, the beginning ofthe new year, apples and honey
are often eaten. But when you dothe research in Gil Marx's book,

(32:25):
The Encyclopedia of Jewish food,what you find out is that lots
of other foods are symbolic. Youfind out why they're symbolic,
and they come from othercultures that are outside of
this, what we call Ashkinnormative culture, which means
the culture that I come from,where everyone was from, Eastern

(32:45):
Europe, in my community. And sowe call that, you know, those,
those of us who come from thatregion, are called Ashkenazim.
And ashkenormative means that'sthe way we saw the world through
that lens. But when you usecertain research tools, you find
out that there are othersymbolic foods beyond, let's say

(33:06):
apples and honey. And you know,good researchers and great food
encyclopedias help me tounderstand what they are, and
then use them.

Trevor (33:19):
I think one of the things that I want to for we
know because we know you, and wehave a lot of friends that that
also keep kosher. But for someof our listeners out there that
may not know exactly what it is,they've probably heard the term
keeping kosher or something'skosher, but tell us a little bit
more about what it actuallymeans, where it comes from, and
how it how it impacts your dietand what you bring to the table?

Liz (33:42):
Yeah, it's a great question, and it's often very
mysterious for people. And thelaws come from the Old
Testament. The laws areextensive. Most people don't
know the laws, even if they grewup like I did in a kosher home.
My grandparents were kosher. Myhome is kosher. My daughter
keeps a kosher home. It really,the laws really have to do with

(34:06):
foods that are considered. Hereare the air quotes Fit to Eat.
So certainly,

Trevor (34:11):
she did do air quotes.
By the way, you can't see it outthere, but

Ellen (34:14):
I do air quotes all the time, yes, so you know, will
this notify the listeners?
Right?

Liz (34:20):
So the lists of food are extensive, and they are actually
listed in the Old Testament, andthat's pretty incredible. So
these laws of Kosher have lastedand been honored for 1000s of
years. There are certain foodsthat are kosher by nature, so
all vegetables and fruit, as wementioned, all herbs are kosher,

(34:45):
and that's incredible, andthat's why so many kosher
keepers, and that includes me,eat as vegetarians when we're
away from our kosher kitchen. Soit just means that we're just
eating veg. Certain things arekosher by nature. Culture, like
certain fish and sometimes thathelps us to determine where we
vacation, because we want tomake sure it's not a place

(35:08):
where, let's say the wholecelebratory culture is around
shellfish, certain things arenot kosher by nature, like
shellfish and pig and otherfoods, and some foods are
determined to be kosher,depending on how they've been
examined and slaughtered andwhether they are air quotes Fit

(35:32):
to Eat So, and also we separatemilk and meat. So in my kitchen,
I have service for 12 in bothdairy that's pots, silverware,
dishes of all sorts, and servicefor 12 in meat, air quotes dairy
and meat. So, you know, if youcame to my house, you really

(35:54):
wouldn't know that it's a kosherhome, unless you wondered if the
potatoes had been sauteed inbacon fat. And, you know, no one
comes around asking that. So,you know, I'm shopping the
farmers market and growing food,just like all of my friends.
It's just that in our home, wehave a we have an awareness of

(36:16):
the potential holiness of food,and it comes from these laws,
which have been passed down. Andwhen we eat out, instead of
looking at a menu and it beingeverything is fair game, we look
at the menu and we say, is therefish and are there vegetarian
dishes on this menu? And if so,we're comfortable eating those.

(36:39):
There are different degrees ofKosher. So many people don't eat
in restaurants that are notcertified kosher. We do. So you
know, different degrees,different strokes.

Trevor (36:48):
So did do you think that keeping kosher for you helped to
foster this interest, this loveof ultra local growing? Do you
think if you weren't kosher,that you would have those same
kinds of connection points. AndI'm sure it's different for
everybody, but just for you,

Liz (37:06):
yeah, it's a great question. I grew up going to a
church parking lot with mymother in Westchester in New
York State, and that's where wewould buy locally grown things.
The farmers were Amish. Theywere coming from a few hours
away, and I don't recall mymother being particularly

(37:27):
friendly or not friendly withthem, so I would say it was kind
of imbued in me. But my familydidn't grow anything. My
grandfather was a baker. Therewas a lot of baking going on,
lots of regular lots of onionrolls. Onion rolls need to be
they need to come back in a bigway.

Trevor (37:47):
I totally agree with that.

Liz (37:48):
I mean, I love babka as much as

Trevor (37:50):
the everybody likes babka. It's not a thing. I mean,
it's almost becoming just Ultranormative. It's a meme. Too
much. It's a meme. It's a meme.

Liz (37:58):
I'm looking for some onion rolls, soft, doughy, moist poppy
seeds. Yes, that's what I'mlooking for.

Trevor (38:05):
I love that. You Yes, yes, please. Yeah.

Ellen (38:09):
You know, it's interesting. You talk about
growing up with going to placeswhere farmers or local growers
sold very informally. You know,it was formal for them. They had
to have a place to go and tosell. But I think about growing
up in southern New Jersey, andwe were really in the farm part
of our state, right? So we hadhuge the

Trevor (38:30):
Garden State. Is the garden, not the oil refinery
state? No, some seem to thinkthat's a very small portion of
New Jersey. It's hard. I know Iagree.

Ellen (38:39):
I agree. I grew up by the ocean. I grew up in the the
southern part of the state. Wehad so many local farm stands to
pick from. We knew who had thebest corn, you know, we knew who
had the best tomatoes, a jerseytomato, you know, just I can
remember being so excited as akid to get that tomato, slice it
up and put mayonnaise on whitebread that was living that is

(39:04):
delicious, so good. But, youknow, I think that a lot of
those farms, and what we've seenand what you spoke to before,
you know, it's hard for people,for small farms to keep that
sustainability and to keep itprofitable, to be able to so,
you know, that's where I thinkthe rise in farmers markets
really have come to allow tohave a more formalized way for

(39:25):
these smaller growers to have aplace to go. But, and I think
it's really, again, to yourpoint, and what we talk about is
so important to support thembecause of that, because we need
to sustain that if we're notgrowing it ourselves, or we need
supplements to things we grow.
We didn't get any lettuce thisyear because we had a late a
late planting, because we weremaking the beds higher and we
were putting in new soil. So wewere really excited to be

(39:47):
supporting our local farmers,markets and growers and getting
and getting those types ofthings.

Trevor (39:54):
And I think that's the fun part about having a very
local community of growers, isthat you're not going to. Grow
everything. You're not gonna Lizgrow corn. You've said it,
you've put down the I will notI've drawn the line of corn.
That is, it not gonna happen.

Liz (40:08):
I drive three miles up the road to Viv, yeah, in Weston,
and she does not grow corneither. She gets it from another
farmer. So really, what it is,it is, it is a chain, and we are
all connected, and until asconsumers, people understand the
connectedness, they really theycan't support their local

(40:31):
economies the way they reallyneed to. So you're supporting
local economy. You know, someoneonce said to me, but VIV doesn't
grow her corn, and I said, butshe supports someone who grows
the corn 20 miles from her. Soisn't that good enough for you?
You You know, no judgment, butyou shop at Whole Foods, right?

(40:51):
And that's fine. You also shopat Stop and Shop, and that's
fine, because sometimes you needto buy, you know, stuff that is
in those places. Windex, oh, youbut, yeah, she's

Ellen (41:03):
got a natural solution for you.

Trevor (41:04):
I'm sure she does. But sometimes, yeah, clean a window,
yeah,

Liz (41:09):
but the more, the more we understand the connectedness
Ellen you are. So right then,you know if, if my ground
cherries are happier than yourground cherries this year, we'll
use mine in that tart. And ifyou need my books to figure out
the flavor profiles that weshould be exploring, we'll be
sharing that, and we'll besitting on the floor in my
family room. So that's,

Ellen (41:30):
which is what we love about this community the end.
And you're right. It's sosupportive. And you know, it's,
it's our it is that idea thatyou're saying it's very much
true. It's like we're sharingwhat we're growing in our yards,
we're supplementing each other,and we're supporting the more
you know, the the farms that aregrowing as well. So I mean,
there is, it's such a cycle, andit's and it's one of the many

(41:53):
reasons we love this communitythat we're in.

Trevor (41:55):
But I think it's also surprising that you don't
realize how much sharing goes onin a local agricultural
community like we have,

Ellen (42:07):
all you have to do is go on to Mom's in Weston, the
Facebook page, and someone isgetting wants to give away eggs.

Liz (42:15):
Is that right? That's true. I need eggs right now

Ellen (42:18):
do, yeah,

Trevor (42:21):
how many eggs you want?

Liz (42:22):
Well, you don't have chickens. I know that, no, but
my neighbor has chickens. Okay,

Trevor (42:26):
she brings us a lot of eggs. So love that if you need
18, you can walk out with 18today, yeah, I could use 18.
Done, yeah, sold American, yeah.
But I think that, you know, evenin our earliest days, we have a
lot of maple trees here, and wetalked about Phoebe Cole Smith
and her husband, Mike, they hadan amazing maple sugar bush that
was, that was right next totheir house. They made amazing

(42:48):
maple syrup. And Mike came over.
I didn't know him. Did

Ellen (42:53):
you mean Sugar Shack?
You said sugar bush? It's

Trevor (42:55):
a sugar bush. It's a sugar bush. Yeah,

Ellen (42:59):
I didn't know that. All right, sorry, it's a sugar bush.

Liz (43:01):
What's a bush? Do you mean a bush as we know a bush

Trevor (43:03):
you call a bush, you call a group of sugar maple
trees a bush? No way. Yes, youdo.

Ellen (43:09):
We just learned something. I tried to correct
him, no, yes,

Liz (43:12):
I do. Well, that's, that's how we learn.

Ellen (43:14):
It's totally marriage.
You

Liz (43:17):
were out in the bush, just around the corner.

Trevor (43:19):
That's what it's called, Yeah, amazing, good stuff. And
Mike came over. I didn't knowhim, really, from anybody. Well,
you met him that night, him thatnight, when we all met that same
that same day, and he said,Yeah, come over and I'll, and
I'll, and I'll take a look seewhat you have. Because we didn't
really know all of what we have.
We have 400 taps here. We have alot of sugar maple. And he was
so helpful. Showed up justgiving Hey, yeah, he just drove

(43:43):
up and, Hey, Mike, what's goingon now? Just came to look at
your stuff. But that's just alittle, a little snapshot, a
little microcosm of the largergroup of all of us.

Liz (43:55):
I think that what people because sometimes people ask me,
you know, like, how do you knowall this? And I say, I speak, I
talk, I ask questions. Sospeaking of one of the classes
that I taught, you know, I atthe end of this class that I
taught over two years to thesefour teens, we did a class on
salad, and I didn't have arecipe, and we went to the

(44:20):
farmers market, and I said, youknow, let's talk about the
elements of a delicious salad.
So we started with greens, andwe went to one of the farmers,
and they kind of whispered to meand said, How do I know what
that lettuce tastes like?
Because let's say there werefive or six greens. And I said,
Ask your farmer, ask yourfarmer, and if you ask,

Ellen (44:41):
I just want to pause on that real quick, because that in
itself is so critical, not justfor kids teens, but for adults,
we are so afraid to ask such asimple question. Don't you
think, I mean, you know, if andwhen you're in, like in a
farmer's market, you. Yeah,that's, of course, your farmer,

(45:02):
your grower, your vendor, wantsyou to know what that tastes
like.

Liz (45:05):
I insisted, because they were feeling so shy, and I said,
you ask if you may taste a leaffrom each of these heads of
greens. And they were like, No,we can't. We shouldn't. We
can't. And I said, why not? Andthe farmer was thrilled, yeah, I
had given her a heads up that Iwas bringing a class. But still,

(45:26):
you know, when you don't know ifthe green is going to be peppery
or mild or sweet, I mean, therewas the bitter side you don't
know exactly. So I said, What?
What do you like in a salad? Andthen, you know, we built them
out from there without a recipe,which is, I love this, really,
the way I think most peoplecook, and if they can shop for
beautiful ingredients, the waywe're talking about, or if they

(45:49):
can grow them, there's reallynot that much to think about.
Because, you know, the adage,what grows together goes
together, is so true. Yes, wehave cabbage growing like crazy
mad right now, not the sexyvegetable, I know it, but I love
it, delicious. So good for yourgut. And onions are coming up
too, and herbs are coming uptoo, and red peppers are coming

(46:11):
up too. Why not toss them all ina big bowl and then start
tasting? And that's what I wastalking about in my class the
other day when we were tastingolive oils and vinegars that
come from my friend Theo atglobal gardens in California.
And she sent me these beautifulflavored, infused olive oils and
vinegars, including a hibiscusvinegar that she's calling

(46:36):
Barbie Licious, of course,because she's got a great sense
of hurry. I love it. And I saidto everyone in my class, just
take out teaspoons and we'regoing to start tasting. You
know, is this olive oil bitterat the finish? And do you like
it? It's not good or bad.

Ellen (46:53):
How did that go? What was the experience? Had anyone
done anything like that beforein the class? I mean, I'm sure
you probably had some folks thatwere a little more experienced
with that kind of tasting, butWell, overall, yeah,

Liz (47:04):
it went pretty well, you know, until you've done, let's
say, a honey tasting, and we'vedone those with Marina at Red
Bee right up the road, who'sgrowing and producing and
managing beautiful bees, untilyou do a Honey tasting or an
olive oil tasting. People aren'tquite sure about putting, you
know, a spoonful of vinegar orolive oil in their mouths, but

(47:29):
most people have done winetasting, that's right. And if
you've done wine tasting, youknow, it's all the same. You
know, you want to look at it.
And it's the same with shoppingin a market. You know, look at
the greens, smell them, tastethem, see what, see what it
presents to you, and let thatinspire you. So, yeah, it went
pretty well. You know, somepeople are hesitant and some
people are open. You know,

Ellen (47:50):
I love that.

Trevor (47:51):
So speaking of people getting a much broader
understanding, not just of oliveoils, but of a lot of different
things, you started kosher likeme. So tell us a little bit
about how that started and aboutwhat you cover. And everybody
should 100% immediately afterlistening to the podcast. Of
course, go to kosher likeme.com, and see all of Liz's

(48:12):
amazing recipes and everything.
But tell us.

Ellen (48:14):
Follow her on Instagram.
Follow everybody. Share allthose links in the next 100%

Liz (48:18):
Thank you. Well, I've taken a break from blogging, but
I have 12 years worth of contenton the blog. So you know,
whether it should be, it's deep,it's deep, and whether it should
be turned into a book or not. Iam still deliberating, but right
now I'm really posting onInstagram. So you know, short,
short blog posts like that, youknow, but when our youngest went

(48:42):
off to college, we rented anapartment in New York City, and
we started spending three orfour nights in the city. And
unlike many people inConnecticut, we had never lived
in the city. We had lived inBoston, and we came here with
our oldest child from Boston. Sogoing into the city was pretty
exciting, and I started to doresearch. Because we were there

(49:02):
three or four nights, we startedto do research about restaurants
that had veg friendly vibe,because we were happy, and we
are happy to eat veg and fish ina restaurant. And yes, there are
a large number of Kosherrestaurants in New York City,
some of which I like, many ofwhich I'm sorry to say I don't

(49:23):
really like, because I'm not asteak and potatoes kind of girl.
But so we start, I started doinga lot of research about
restaurants, and people wouldsay to me, oh, you know you
went. I Where are you eating inthe city? And how do you know
that it's appropriate forsomeone who's kosher like you?
And so I started writing aboutrestaurants, and I really loved

(49:43):
doing that because I wouldorder, like, six dishes, and if
I didn't have a friend to comeand eat with me,
you were doing the tasting andthe completion.
Yeah. Shout out to mygirlfriend, Ilana Lichtenstein,
who, God bless her, that womanknew how to eat, and she. She
would come with me whenever shecould. But, you know, I would go
at 1130 in the morning, just,you know, when they would open

(50:07):
lunch service. I would get atable by the window, and I would
order six dishes. I would lug acamera. You know, it was all
like amajor schlep. So then Istarted shopping the markets in

(50:32):
the city, Union Square marketand other markets, and was
really happy to find productthat I loved. I mean, I wasn't
so sure about some of thefarmers that were selling there.
It seemed to me that some ofthem were not selling directly
from their farms, and that's awhole other topic of
conversation. But I loveddiscovering small businesses and

(50:57):
products that were being sold atthe markets, and so I started
writing about restaurantsrecipes. I really never wanted
to be a recipe writer. It's notmy most favorite thing to do. My
most favorite thing to do isreally to find out what the
story is. What is the storybehind a small business, a small

(51:17):
producer, you know, someonewho's making tahini, or, as we
say, it the proper way, tahina,get it right down there in the
throat. Tahina, yeah. So youknow who's making? Trevor's
better, yeah, give it to me.
Trevor. Tahina,

Ellen (51:32):
you got it. Yeah, I knew it. Go ahead. Accents,

Liz (51:36):
who's making tahini, who's making jams, who's making halva,
who's making,

Trevor (51:44):
I love Halva pickles.

Liz (51:45):
Oh, I have a recipe for you. Oh, Trevor. I love it so
much. Oh, we can use that recipeif you want to post something. I
love it. Yeah, I love it. I wasactually going to talk about
that recipe because I justrevisited it last night. Tell
me, yeah. So let me just finish.
I'm gonna give it to you onesec. Hang on. So anyway, so I
just started exploring morebroadly. And listen, the word

(52:09):
kosher is appropriate for somepeople to see, and it's
welcoming, and for some people,it's a little polarizing. What I
always wanted, and what Ellenput in her incredibly intuitive
intro about me is, you don'thave to be kosher and you
certainly don't have to bevegetarian. I am not, but I eat

(52:30):
a lot of vegetarian. Iinterested in thoughtful
sourcing and in discoveringstories and small business
stories. So, you know, I kind ofcover the gamut, and I have an
index on the website thathopefully will help you to sort
through categories like saladsversus breads and holidays, so

(52:51):
that when it's and that includesAmerican holidays like
Thanksgiving, because, you know,it's not just Jewish holidays
that we celebrate, it'scertainly Thanksgiving, like
most Americans, and when it'sThanksgiving, you know? I if
you're making pumpkin pie cool,if you see that there are

(53:11):
brussels sprouts growing onstocks that are two and three
feet long in your market,cooler? Yeah, use them. I can
help you with that. So, youknow, I just started writing
more broadly, and I hope that itwas an adventure for my readers,
and I hope it still is onInstagram at kosher like me
that, you know, you never quiteknow what I'm going to be

(53:32):
focusing on, but I try to letpeople know where my resources
are so that they can live a moresustainable life. Also, that's
awesome. Well,

Ellen (53:41):
I think that, and I think when you follow the
journey on kosher like me, Imean, that is such an integral
part. I mean, you are so good atputting in what those resources
are and really giving a lot ofdetail around the things that
you're putting out there. Andthat's why I think it's so
essential to follow. And what Ifollow along and use many

(54:02):
things. Thank you that you putout there. Thank

Trevor (54:04):
you recipe. Let's get to it. Oh, I

Ellen (54:06):
knew he was going back to this hit me. I have more
questions, but let's get therest. I want to do

Liz (54:11):
it. Okay, so I looked it up. I'm going to reference it
here in my notes. Okay, so oneof the things that I really love
to do is to collaborate withsmall producers, small
businesses. My father was asmall business owner, and he
taught us the value ofsupporting small businesses from
the time, you know, I could walkand talk so I love it is
literally America. It isAmerica. And finding small

(54:35):
businesses that producebeautiful foods is easy, and you
know, some of them are on theshelves of your whole foods, but
I would say, go to your farmersmarket and you'll really find
some small producers that aredoing some incredibly fantastic
things. And you know, for theholiday of Rosh Hashanah, the
head of the new year, usually inSeptember this year, it's in

(54:58):
October. We. Say, never on youknow, always early, always late,
never on time. And that's thejoke, because the Jewish holiday
dates move around by a differentcalendar. We're like, oh my god,
it's so late. Well, you know,when is it on time? Anyway? So
I, one year, I was doing acollaboration with seat and
mill, which is a tahini andhaliva producer at Chelsea

(55:22):
Market, and they sell online.
Also, it's female owned. Most ofthe businesses I really just
fall for happen to be femaleowned, and I love supporting
them. And one year, I did acollaboration with them, and I
wanted to come up with a dessertthat was dairy free so it could
follow a meat meal, because wedon't eat dairy in the same meal
with meat. And I came up, youknow, I created a recipe that

(55:45):
was an apple compote, because welove apples for that holiday,
with honey and Halifa and tahiniand dairy free yogurt. And I
made a parfait from that. And Ihave pictures I might have to

Trevor (56:04):
literally tearing up right now. Sounds so good, if
you love Halifa.

Liz (56:08):
And you know, the creaminess of tahini in any kind
of baked good is fantastic. And

Ellen (56:14):
again, that that surprise, right of something you
think of as savory, I love thattwist, you know, to put it into
something sweet that it justpunches it up. It makes it more
interesting. And it's, it's suchan incredible combo, that's
right?

Liz (56:26):
And people love layering things, you know, if you have, I
mean, I have some old fashionedglasses from my mom, you layer
these things in a glass, andyou've got, like, a dairy free
yogurt, an apple compote, whichtakes almost no effort to make,
you know, a light skim ofTahiti. Maybe you've mixed it
well, yes, you have mixed itwith some honey you could throw

(56:49):
out, throw in some bittersweetchocolate shavings, and you've
got a lot, yeah, and you've gota layered dessert that is, it
now incorporates some of theelements that we always ate
traditionally for that holiday,mostly apples and honey, but in
a completely new way, and in away that is more globally. It

(57:10):
speaks more to our global tastesat this time. And I don't
dismiss a beautiful apple orhoney cake. I serve them and I
make them. It's just not myfavorite for whatever reason. It
just doesn't feel like there's,you know, unless you use really
beautiful ground spices, whichare easy to find. You know, I
like things that just have amore nuanced flavor, more

(57:32):
interesting

Ellen (57:33):
and beautiful looking as well, in the in that old in that
old layers, yeah, of course. I

Trevor (57:39):
love about adding the halva in is that also it's and
for those listeners that don'tknow or haven't had it before,
it is got a very interestingconsistency that's almost like
a, like a short, bready kind of

Liz (57:54):
I thought you were going to use the word that all halava
sellers and producers hate, butit's so accurate. You go ahead
and then what? What's the word?
Well, the word is chalky.

Trevor (58:03):
No, I don't say I never.
I've never, I've never read itas a palette, chalky. It's
always been more chewy. And it'sgotta, it's, it's, it's like
ground cherries, likenasturtium. It's very hard to
categorize, right? You know,it's sesame based, and it's this
wonderful sweet dessert. I thinkone of the things about parfait
so much, unless you need like agranola or something that's

(58:25):
really boring, you know, you itis a one noted textural dish,
but having that in, you'regetting a little bit of more of
that chewy sort of structure,and being able to layer it in
with some of the other elementsthat are more traditionally
parfait. That sounds fantastic.
Trevor, you

Liz (58:43):
are a great eater.

Trevor (58:45):
I do. I have been known, have been known to put something
away every now and again,

Ellen (58:49):
and honestly. Liz, it gives us hope, because,
evidently, as a young child, notso much Bologna,

Trevor (58:56):
hot dogs, cereal, mostly Corn Pops or Apple Jacks, yeah,
and mac and cheese, and that wasessentially my entire palate.

Liz (59:07):
It's hard for parents to have hope when the kids are
young. It's really hard

Ellen (59:12):
my daily inspiration and again, you know, we joke around
our child's eating and how weeat and what we expose her to,
and still what she sticks with,right? But we are continue. We
know at some point the door will

Trevor (59:25):
open. It did for me.
Trevor is very hoping it doesfor her.

Liz (59:29):
They all grow up, as they say, That's

Ellen (59:31):
right. Well,

Trevor (59:33):
Liz, we've had so much fun talking to you. I have one
more question. It's a big one,if you were going to cook your
favorite meal to bring to thetable, what would it be? Go,

Liz (59:49):
it's a really big one. Go, hit us. You know, I'm really,
I'm really thinking, for somereason, you know about the fall,
because although we're in peakseason right now. There are
certain things you know thathappen between summer and fall
that are quite magical. And oneof the most magical moments for
me was when I learned aboutBrussels sprout leaves. Brussels

(01:00:11):
sprout leaves, yeah, Brusselssprout leaves when you're when
you're at a farmer's market,especially in the northeast, but
probably in all sorts of placeshere in this country, you'll see
the large, you know, two orthree foot long stalks of
Brussels sprouts. Attached arethe brussels sprouts as we know
them, the ones that we love toroast and get crispy, believe it

(01:00:32):
or not, those are called nubs.
And then there are leaves at thetop. And it kind of looks like
hair or a crown. Not thatthey're hairy, but they look
like a crown. And those leavesare easier to manage than
cabbage if you want to roll themand stuff them. So Ooh. And they
also are not as stinky as thenubs, which is so interesting.

(01:00:56):
This

Ellen (01:00:58):
is a little bit it's a little more mild.

Liz (01:00:59):
They're mild, okay, yeah, and they're pliable. So, you
know, they're kind of likepeople that you love.

Unknown (01:01:06):
I love that analogy, a little bit

Liz (01:01:08):
more mild in spirit, a little bit pliable. And so if
you feel

Ellen (01:01:14):
like I want to hug, you know, Russell leaves, yeah,
yeah.

Liz (01:01:19):
Some farmers now, package, not package, but, you know,
gather them in a, in a, in apile, so you can buy them like
that. And then just, you know,it's so much fun to to walk
around the rest of the marketand to find out what else is out
there. So, you know, chop upsome kale, if you find it. Chop
up some end of Season tomatoes,you know, boil up some simple

(01:01:42):
brown rice. Make a vegetarianstuffing. I have a recipe for
this on kosher like me, rollthem, make a sauce. I have that
there for you. And I love a slowcooker. What can I say? I think
a slow cooker is one of the bestthings in the world, agreed. So
I would say people love that,and they're always surprised by

(01:02:04):
that. So is that my mostfavorite? You know, my most
favorite at the moment,stereotypical, really
stereotypical is chicken soup,only because my grandchildren
love it more than anything inthe world. But

Ellen (01:02:18):
it's a wonderful reason.
Yeah.

Liz (01:02:20):
So, you know, I have lots of great food that I love, but
that's a fun one, especially forthe fall.

Trevor (01:02:25):
I love it because I think one of the things we
always find so much fun is theimpress your friends and family
game, because you've always havethese weird, unique foods that
you're trying and you're growingand you're trying to figure it
out, and you find this reallycool dish, and then you put it
in front of people, they'relike, Oh, you. You made this,
you grew this, you this camefrom it's so much fun to do

(01:02:46):
that.

Liz (01:02:47):
I agree. Yeah.

Ellen (01:02:49):
Well, I think this has just been a delightful time. It
could go on forever, and itwill, because I will be seeing
her after this. That's verytrue, which I hope to every as
much as I possibly can. We've

Trevor (01:03:01):
taken up so much of your time. We so appreciate you
coming to our table, hanging outwith us, and so excited

Liz (01:03:09):
about your podcast. I have to say, I think that this is a
fantastic thing, and you two arethe perfect. You're so sweet,
perfect. Thank

Trevor (01:03:18):
you so much.

Ellen (01:03:19):
Thank you.

Trevor (01:03:19):
We appreciate it.

Ellen (01:03:21):
We appreciate you, and so much love to you and your
family, and we can't wait to bearound the table with you again.
Love you guys. Love you too,

Trevor (01:03:30):
and that's how we do it.
That was it.

Ellen (01:03:32):
Oh my gosh. That was so much fun. That

Trevor (01:03:33):
was so cool.

Ellen (01:03:35):
Oh, I

Trevor (01:03:36):
love Liz is the best.
She's so

Ellen (01:03:38):
much some Liz Rubin, that was, that was epic. First
guest interview, epic.

Trevor (01:03:44):
Totally, totally epic.

Ellen (01:03:46):
Well, I know there was a lot of information that we
talked about. I don't have to

Trevor (01:03:51):
go back and re listen again and again and again and
again and again,

Ellen (01:03:56):
but you listeners will get all of the notes in the
podcast, notes of what we talkedabout today, recipes and links
to kosher like me, books, allthe books we suggested, books,
all that other good stuff. Soplease take take a look and
start your journey.

Trevor (01:04:12):
That's right, and we'll see you next time around the
table at yard to table. Can'twait. Yard to table is a
production of macrocosmentertainment. Don't forget to
rate us and subscribe anywhereyou listen to podcasts and for
tips and more information,follow us on Instagram at
Stonebrook house.

Unknown (01:04:42):
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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}The Friend We Met in A Yard - Welcome Liz Rueven!