Kitchen Confession

Between work, school, sports, and clubs, figuring out what to put on the table is enough to make anyone want to curl into a ball. Registered Dietitian and lifestyle blogger, Tori Wesszer returns to the show to tell us about Fraiche Table, her answer to the dreaded question "what's for dinner?". Plus, we talk about raising kids to keep healthy habits without villainizing junk food.

TV cooking expert and taste-maker, Vijaya Selvaraju, is all about sparking excitement in the kitchen and connecting with people who love food! She enjoys long strolls down the grocery aisle with her husband as they scour stores for new and exciting ingredients to try! Vijaya pulls back the curtain on food media production and tells us how Tik Tok is making waves in the industry.

Celebrity chef, restaurateur, TV host, and author Roger Mooking has done it all! At home, Roger's kitchen is his playground, never cooking the same dish twice. He shares a little about his many experiments, including grilled grapes! Plus, despite industry challenges, business owners should get ready for a big boom, as Chef Mooking forecasts an enthusiastic return to the food scene post-pandemic.

Stuck in the city in the midst of a pandemic, working full-time from home with a toddler, Rachel Bies says, "It felt like jail. You make the best of it but it was time for a change." So, Rachel got her driver's licence, bought a truck and moved her family and Holistic Nutrition practice from downtown Toronto to beautiful, spacious Prince Edward County. She tells us about her adventure raising a "runner," learning to rely on neighbours, and discovering a new terroir east of the big city.

Cheese Master Afrim Pristine says cheese is a humble, noble ingredient with staggering variety. At his shop, Cheese Boutique in Toronto, you can find more than six hundred types to suit any palate! We chat with Afrim about the art of cheese making and some upcoming trends in the industry - including some mouth-watering plant based options.

What's going on in the kitchens behind Kitchen Confession? We flip the script for another catch up episode with the producers of the show, Mary and Matt!

Landscape designer, author and pro gardener Carson Arthur joins us for a mid-season checkup on our gardens. We talk plant maintenance, harvesting tips and everything you need to know to give your garden a jump start next spring. Carson also shares what he's learned about sous-vide cooking and his favourite new spice combo.

Mary Oliveira arrived in 2014 with a crazy new concept for Canadian chocolate lovers. With just four basic ingredients, her hand rolled Brazilian brigadeiro became a totally new, "magical" experience for Torontonians. Mary tells us the origin story of brigadeiro and a few milestones from her journey building a business in Canada.

It's been three years since we met Matt Basile, founder of Fidel Gastro's, at the Mac and Cheese festival in Milton, ON. In just a few years, he's transformed his pop up food company into a widely recognized catering brand. We catch up with Matt and talk pandemic problem solving from the past year. He shares how he navigated shutdowns and redirected his energy after selling his restaurant just months before COVID-19 struck.

AMI's Jennie Bovard says her penchant for baking is as much about the mental escape as for the sweet-tooth payoff. She shares her signature corn bread recipe with us, plus a few "food fumbles" from an upcoming episode of her podcast, Low Vision Moments.

The sandy loam is perfect for cultivating rare and unique vegetable varieties near Lake Erie. Farmer Lee Jones tells us why his family farm quit selling by the semi load and became The Chef's Garden. The beautiful recipes in his Modern Guide to Common and Unusual Vegetables is just the nudge we need to find the way to a plant forward future.

This week, fellow AMI-audio podcaster Fern Lulham stops by with a Kitchen Confession. Not a cook but a lover of food, Fern shares some fond food memories like the time she braved a first-date spaghetti dinner and learning to share the kitchen with a sighted partner! Plus, we get a behind the scenes look at her dating and relationships podcast "Into You" and chat about disclosing a disability to a date.

In times of uncertainty gardening gives us a sense of purpose, comfort, and even food security so its no surprise that it's become ultra-popular throughout the pandemic. Canadian author and gardening expert, Frankie Ferragine says it reminds him of the Victory Gardens of World War II. He shares tons of tips to make the most out of any space and start a high yield food garden this season.

After her family moved to a vegan lifestyle in 2017, Izabela "Cake Mama" De Paz found herself competing with her own reputation. She spent months reformulating recipes that could stand up to her old repertoire of fabulous treats and landed smack dab in the midst of a burgeoning plant based movement, where she found popularity among herbivores and omnivores alike. Izabela shares some of her baking secrets with us, including the key to...gasp...a vegan pavlova?!

From tweezers to frosting knives, syringes and even a heat gun, food stylist Jason Skrobar carries around some peculiar items to keep food looking fresh! Jason credits Instagram for the spike in popularity of food photography and we get into some of his top tips for getting the perfect shot!

Sumac, watercress, morel mushrooms, wild mint. Those are just a few easy forage finds to add big interest to your cooking! After serving up 10,000 tenderloins throughout his career, chef and restaurateur Michael Hunter turned to wilder fare for more interesting flavours. Michael shares his new cookbook "The Hunter Chef," plus we chat about the ethics of hunting and his clash with an animal rights group outside Antler Kitchen & Bar.

Lance Johnson is a fellow podcaster and foodie friend. He lives with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease, and started the See-Through Podcast during the pandemic to make friends with other folks with RP, like me! He loves learning about people's creative adaptations so we chat all kinds of kitchen hacks as we learn about his food journey, and cooking at home with a sighted sous-chef!

Building healthy new habits can be tough. Strength and conditioning coach Angela Furfaro says you need a powerful motivator and an activity you actually enjoy! Her program, LIFT Academy, is all about equipping women with the confidence, consistency and right fuel for their fitness.

Claire Tansey has always thought of herself as a teacher first. In her new book, "Dinner Uncomplicated," she sets out to prove that cooking doesn't need to be difficult to be delicious. Culinary training, fancy appliances, or expensive ingredients are not the key to a worthwhile dinner. Instead, Claire explores every possible shortcut to put fantastic food within your reach. We talk about her time at the helm of Chatelaine magazine's test kitchen, tailoring thousands of recipes for their readers, plus how four years with an improv troupe shaped her outlook on life!

After years of grilling guests, these two finally get a taste of their own cooking! To kick off the new year we serve up a double scoop of kitchen confessions from the creators of the show as host Mary Mammoliti and producer / editor Matt Agnew chat about their own kitchen journeys and take us behind the scenes of the podcast.

Rich Francis had never cooked much before leaving a career in carpentry and ironwork to apply to Stratford Chefs School. Now, he works to challenge food tourism's idea of Indigenous food like bannock and indian tacos. Leaving the commercial kitchen behind and pushing past traumatic colonial influence, Rich wants to bring a 'sexy' flair to Indigenous fusion prepared in the elements.

For graphic designer Aldo Fierro, cookbooks can be a tough project. "You gotta have the good food shots. People eat with their eyes but I don't even cook with my eyes!" While his whirlwind cooking style may leave spatters on the ceiling, it always leads to a great tasting, if somewhat unsightly supper.

Natalie Minnema and Sarina Cormier are the minds behind Two Canes Consulting. As restaurants and other shops across the country struggle for customers, Natalie and Sarina are showing people how accessibility and inclusion are good for business! We dish on some clever design features in Sarina's new kitchen makeover and a few of their most cherished food memories!

YouTube is an awesome place to spark creativity, learn and teach new skills, and of course find plenty of great recipes! YouTuber Sam Seavey started his channel, The Blind Life, in 2013 to document his life with Stargardt's disease and share tips and how-to videos with the blind and low vision community. We find out about the different products Sam reviews and what he'd put in an assistive technology kitchen kit!

We're joining the AMI-audio podcast family! AMI is a not-for-profit media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians who are blind or partially sighted. We're super excited to introduce this audience to food industry experts, pro and home chefs, plus all our favorite foodie finds! You can find new episodes every other Wednesday at ami.ca/kitchenconfession So what do you have to do? Nothing! If you’re already subscribed you’ll be getting the same show you know and love. And if you’re not, well now’s your chance! Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or your favourite platform and never miss and episode! Food, friends, and embarrassing confessions await, lets go!

As the "Wife of a Grocer" Candra Reynolds is always discovering amazing new products and brands. She says it can be tough for entrepreneurs to find the perfect intersection of good products, packaging, and marketing to break into the food space. That's why she puts together the Curated Kitchen Box, stuffed with all her favourite seasonal finds to put the spotlight on brands that are rocking the food industry!

Who qualifies as a chef? Does it take restaurant experience or a Red Seal certification? Andrea Buckett recalls years of catering, teaching, and recipe development and feels she's earned her stripes! She's inspired by a broad flavour palate born of the multi-cultural Toronto food scene and shares her top tips for boredom busting meals.

A little compilation of cautionary tales for from our Kitchen Confession-ers for your Thanksgiving prep!

Georgio Taverniti has been rolling pizzas for so long he doesn't even bother to keep count anymore! His family owns Frank's Pizza House and he shares his experience running one of Toronto's oldest pizza joints. We talk about how COVID-19 has impacted his business and a unique way for restauranteurs to step up for their communities throughout the pandemic.

Writer, chef, restaranteur, and TV personality Chef Sang Kim joins us for a conversation about his culinary roots and passion for youth food literacy.

This week Vanessa and Alana Mammoliti (yes, there is a relation!) drop in to chat about their experience as foodie entrepreneurs and how they've adapted their businesses to deal with COVID-19. The girls also share how they found an unexpected connection with their clients as they serve up some decadent treats to help take the sting out of social distancing!

Its grill season and Mary brings us some top tips for barbecue mastery!

Mary takes us on a Tik Tok trend tour and shares some of her favourite ways to reduce food waste in the kitchen. Plus the tables have turned, Mary coughs up a confession of her own!

From food blogging to photography and live TV, Mary Tang has done it all, but its her passion for teaching others that drives her forward! We chat about her blog "Mary's Happy Belly" where it all started, plus we get a crash course in Cantonese cooking.

Producer Matt is back with extras from recent Kitchen Confession episodes. He shares a look at what our production meetings really sound like and a confession about his sad green thumb!

Our friend Suzie Durigon drops in to share all about her new book 'Just Crumbs: Baked'! We talk about some of the nostalgic memories behind the recipes in this terrific cookbook and her experience self publishing for the first time. Plus we try out the Black Bean Brownie Bites in a kitchen demo.

Our Producer and Editor Matt returns for this month's extras! We go behind the scenes of the show with a look at a new live(ish) feature we're test driving right now. Plus some hair care tips, duck confit, and lost confessions!

Our friend Kelly Carter returns to the show to share the launch of her new business "Kelly Carter Nutrition"! We talk about authenticity online, balancing family time with the craziness of a new business venture, and we reflect on maintaining body positivity through quarantine. Plus we test out Kelly's favourite Glow Detox Salad.

Chef Michel Gaumond shares his punk rock take on food that combines traditional basics with "off the rails" experimentation. His restaurant Saint Martha's Brasserie is all about teaching people the value of a great home cooked meal and appreciation for where food comes from.

Celebrity stylist and fellow foodie Kelly Araujo talks about scaling down her penchant for big batch meals to cope with quarantine. She shares her experience acclimating to isolation as a socialite and small business worker, and her view of Portugal on the cusp of COVID-19

Our very own Producer and Editor Matt Agnew introduces a new feature! He takes us behind the scenes of a Kitchen Confession edit session to share some of the great moments that cut for time from "Fables and Focaccia with Jenny Arena" and "Trend Spotting with Pay Chen"! Plus a Kitchen Confession from Matt to celebrate 2 years of episodes.

Farmer's Markets have gone virtual! Pay Chen is a food and lifestyle expert who's passionate about discovering unique artisan products wherever she goes. She shares how you can still find quality commodities and rally around your favourite shops. Plus some other food trends on the horizon and ways to contribute to your community!

Fables and Focaccia blogger Jenny Arena says its important to know where your food comes from. Protected Designations of Origin mean Italian culinary heritage endures and you get the most authentic experience!

Neil Thomson says "enjoy your food, you don't need to overthink it". He and his wife built a brand based on wholesome indulgence and strong partnerships with others doing good work in the world. Neil shares how a producer tackles allergies and eco-conscious packaging, plus what pot legalization means in the snack biz!

Journalist and Master Travellr creator, Winston Sih shares how his adventurous palate sparked his wanderlust! We talk about the impacts of COVID-19 on the current travel climate and emerging trends in sustainable travel.

Agricultural Marketing Specialist Nicole Marenick says that Food Freedom Day is a touch point for how we value food in Canada. We talk about food sustainability, plus three helpings of kitchen confessions!

While drinks like wine or whiskey are steeped in tradition, the gin from Reid's Distillery is all about experimentation! We chat with Jacqueline Reid about their unique spirits.

In this mashup episode we're exploring how you can get more hands on with your child's food education. Joy McCarthy of Joyous Health shares an e-book series she's writing about raising "Little Food Lovers". Plus we learn about a program that's teaching kids their kitchen basics with Lucy Valleau, Public Health Nutritionist with York Region

Nutritionist Tori Wesszer says its time to stop chasing fast fixes and turn to the experts! Her new cookbook Fraiche Food Full Hearts focuses on flexibility that celebrates feel good family meals.

Food journalist and author Amy Rosen chats with me today about her new "Kosher Style" cookbook, plus where to find frozen Rosen's Cinnamon Buns