Episodes

  • The Happy Hostess - Kristie LaLonde

    The Happy Hostess - Kristie LaLonde
    Sep 12 2025
    The "Happy Hostess Cookbook Party" is an online community focused on cookbooks and hosting, led by Kristie LaLonde. It's part of the larger "Happy Hostess" brand, which includes the “Happy Hostess Podcast” and other resources for aspiring and experienced hosts. The club focuses on exploring recipes from various cookbooks, often accompanied by themed events and discussions.Kristie has so graciously planned to feature the “True North Cabin Cookbook” for her October club. The club meets via Zoom for all members. It’s a monthly subscription for an orchestrated “cook along”thats fun and approachable for all levels of cooks interested in joining a community.Stephanie’s Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Episode Transcript Follows:Stephanie:Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space. Many times cookbook authors, other times makers. And this particular episode, we are talking to Kristie LaLonde. She is the Happy Hostess Collective. And Kristie and I found each other through a listener of my radio show. My friend Jilly in Minnesota is. She's. We call them Dishers weekly.Stephanie:Dishers, that's the name of the radio show. And Jilly's been a Disher for over 18 years. We've had the show and I think she's listened as long as we've had it. And she reached out to me because in my sub stack, I have a Sunday newsletter and I did a whole thing about entertaining and how I love when people just entertain and people make entertaining so complicated and it doesn't need to be. And I offered to give around a cookbooks to people that have cookbook clubs because I think they're so fun. And Jilly replied and said, I have this great cookbook club. We would love it if we could win your books. And she is part of the Happy Hostess Cookbook Club.Stephanie:So they won. Jilly got the books. I sent books to all the people in the cookbook group that Jilly's in. And Kristie is the leader of the Happy Hostess Collective, Kristie, welcome to the program. I'm delighted to have you.Kristie LaLonde:Thank you. I am so excited to be here.Stephanie:So explain to the audience what the Happy Hostess Collective is and all the different avenues that you have for fostering your love of cookbooks and clubbing.Kristie LaLonde:Well, I am on Instagram as Happy Hostess Collective, but for our cookbook club, it's actually called Happy Cookbook Party because I couldn't really think of a good name. It's not a great name because it doesn't really let you know it's a cookbook club. But we. There's a lot of emphasis on party in it. So basically it's a cookbook club, but instead of meeting in person, most of the time, we are meeting twice a month on Zoom and we are cooking together from one cookbook, which we usually choose a cookbook and stick with that cookbook for like three to four months, depending upon how robust the cookbook is.Stephanie:And people come from all over the country and tell me, like, how do you logistically do it? Do you have like, you know, 30 people on a Zoom or how does it work?Kristie LaLonde:Actually, we do have. We are on Zoom and basically what happens when we pick a book? I will go through and kind of we have a Facebook Group. And so I ask everyone either which recipes really look good to you that you're wanting to try.And then I look through all of those and make sure that they can fit within the hour to hour and a half timeframe of our Zoom Cook along. And then I make a schedule for the next three months and it's printable. I send it to them so they can print it out. And then every. We meet twice a month, so every two weeks, basically we meet on Zoom and I send them grocery list ahead of time for those two recipes that we choose. Sometimes it's three when we throw in a cocktail in there. Yes, especially we usually meet at noon or 4, so the 4 o' clock ones a lot of times have the cocktail. But so we all just meet in one Zoom meeting and we all cook and I'm kind of leading it, but everyone else is talking just as much as I do because we've gotten to know each other so well and it's so fun because we really learn from each other because we have some like expert bakers and we have some people like me that not expert at all in baking.Kristie LaLonde:And so. And like we have some really strong florists and there's. We just learn a lot from each other. And every once in a while we also do like a tutorial on a different thing that would have to do with being a hostess. For example, we've done flower arrangements that mimic the ones we saw in one of our cookbooks. We've done hostess gifts, like kind of homemade, cute little hostess gifts at Christmas time. So it's a wide variety of things. It's been strange.Like a lot of things have come our way. We had, we were offered to have a Vector cocktails. It's like a cocktail mixer. They offered to do a, a ...
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    28 mins
  • Stephanie A. Meyer has the basic formula for how to eat and create satiety and life long healthy eating without deprivation

    Stephanie A. Meyer has the basic formula for how to eat and create satiety and life long healthy eating without deprivation
    Sep 5 2025
    She provided a formula for all the nutrient-dense foods your body needs, at a calorie count that seemed doable while still creating Satiety.Here’s the basic, per-meal formula (adjust according to your weight and health goals and your calorie needs). Are you ready? Write this down:30 grams protein + 40 grams carbs (5 or more grams of fiber) + 2 colors of non-starchy plants + 15 grams of healthy fatDo that for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. A snack is half of that, but still the combo.You can (and should) read the whole post here and subscribe to her newsletter…It was like a lightbulb went off, and I knew I needed to talk with her for the podcast.Get Stephanie’s RecipesOriginal Episode Transcript Follows:Stephanie Hansen:Welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space. Sometimes it's cookbook authors, sometimes it's people that make things, Sometimes it's chefs. And today I am talking to my friend Stephanie Meyer, who you all may know of as Fresh, Tart Steph and as now, Stephanie Meyer, a. I always get it wrong. Stephanie.Stephanie A. Meyer:Stephanie A. Dot Meyer. But yes, got it.Stephanie Hansen:And Stephanie has been in our friend group for a very long time and a friend with me for a long time. And Stephanie is always. I feel like a trendsetter. Do you know that you're a trendsetter?Stephanie A. Meyer:No. That's amazing. I don't think anyone's ever called me that before, but. Well, that's really.Stephanie Hansen:Here's what I think. Like, you're not in the trends, like people would think of trends, but you are thinking about things before other people are thinking about them. Because I think you're super well read. You're very bright. You spend a lot of time thinking about science things. So you were the first person that I came across in the food space that was really thinking about blogging in a robust way.Stephanie A. Meyer:Sure. Wow. That was a long time ago.Stephanie Hansen:It was. But that was what you were doing, and you were bringing bloggers together and creating community, which was amazing. Then you were writing a cookbook about Twin City chefs, which also seems probably like a long time ago, but I just picked it up the other day, and the stories and the heartfelt feelings about the Twin Cities chef community was still there.Stephanie A. Meyer:Love it. Thank you.Stephanie Hansen:Then you sort of started thinking about healthy eating and healthy food, and your green broth kind of blew up before anybody else was really talking about that. And you've really gone full circle here into this food journey, as many of my peers start to enter the midlife, menopausal middle, trying to think about not only foods in terms of health, but also some of us have been packing the pounds on over the years and just really like, you wrote something the other day, and I follow you on substack and I follow all your stuff, but you wrote something the other day that just, like, leapt off the page at me. And I sent it to a friend and I thought, I have to podcast with her, and I'm going to see if I can find it here, because I'm going to read it, because I think it will really resonate with food people, but also people that might be in the menopause space, which. So you are on trend, because when Oprah starts talking about Something that you've been talking about for a long time.Stephanie A. Meyer:Right? It's, I mean that. It's very true. And honestly, in this sense, a lot of it is just sort of following what people ask me for. So maybe my, maybe my clients are the trendsetters and I'm just answering their questions.Stephanie Hansen:Okay, so here is what you wrote as we'll say, a nutritional coach. You said, write down this solution and implement it today. Here's the basic per meal formula and adjust according to your weight and health goals and calorie needs. Are you ready? She said, write this down. 30 grams of protein plus 40 grams of carbs, 5 or more grams of fiber, plus 2 colors of non starchy plants and 15 grams of healthy fat. Do that for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A snack is half of that, but still the combo. And I was like blown away that nobody had ever just like spelled that out in a way that felt so clear to me.So can you talk a little bit about your journey and how you got there and how you got to this specific metric and why it's working for people?Stephanie A. Meyer:Oh, I love it. Well, I call that particular formula, I call it the satiety formula. That's how you pronounce that word, by the way. Like, often people will just write back and say, oh my God, huge relief because I was saying satiety. Satiety. I wasn't really sure how to say it. Whatever. So anyway, it's satiety.Right, satiety. And so it is satiety. So that could be your little word nerd, you know, for the day and the week. And it's a very powerful word. And, and I just am kind of hooked on it. And I keep repeating it and I keep hoping that people get on board with me, but I call that the ...
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    35 mins
  • Live Dinner Party Prep with Stephanie Hansen

    Live Dinner Party Prep with Stephanie Hansen
    Jul 18 2025

    I popped on today to plan, prep, and cook for my gal pal's dinner party. Of course, I wasn't prepared, and my mini chopper would not work, but…

    We prepped some great dishes for my ladies’ dinner party.

    The Menu

    * Bootleggers - the Minnesota Cocktail

    * Miso Glazed Salmon (exclusive Substack recipe here)

    * Roasted Potatoes with a garlic scape, basil pesto drizzle on a bed of yogurt cream (1/3 cup cottage cheese - 1/3 cup whole fat Greek yogurt- 1/4 cup chopped pickles - 1/4 cup feta cheese, 3 Tbsp Feta brine, one teaspoon kosher salt, blended until smooth)

    * Roasted Pepper and white bean salad with basil and balsamic (exclusive Substack recipe here)

    * Green salad with hard-boiled eggs and lemon vinaigrette

    * Zukes and Squash gratin (Recipe from True North Cabin Cookbook Vol. 1)

    * Plum Fruit Buckle

    Miso Glazed Salmon

    Ingredients:

    * 8 (4-6-ounce) skin-on salmon fillets, about 1-inch thick

    * 2 teaspoons Kosher salt

    * Freshly ground black pepper

    * 3 Tbsp honey

    * 1/4 cup Hikari minute miso

    * 3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

    * 3 teaspoons soy sauce

    * 1 garlic clove, grated on a microplane

    * 1 teaspoon ground ginger

    Instructions:

    Preheat oven to Broil

    In a small bowl, whisk together the salt, pepper, honey, miso, vinegar, soy, garlic, and ginger.

    Arrange the salmon skin side down on a sheet pan.

    Brush the mixture over the salmon. Let marinate for 20 minutes while the oven comes to temperature.

    Broil until the salmon is opaque and cooked through and the glaze is toasted, about 6 minutes. Internal temperature should be about 135-140

    Roasted Pepper and White Bean Salad with Basil and Balsamic

    Ingredients:

    4 peppers

    2 cans of cannellini beans, drained

    1/3 cup Basil leaves torn into pieces

    1/3 cup olive oil

    3 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar

    2 Tbsp lemon juice

    2 teaspoons lemon zest

    2 teaspoons salt

    1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

    Instructions:

    Roast 4 peppers -Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Place 4 whole bell peppers (any color) on a sheet pan, drizzle with olive oil, and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, rotating halfway through, until the peppers are blackened and collapsed. Remove the peppers from the oven and let them cool.

    Carefully peel away the skins and discard the core and seeds. Pull into 1/4 inch strips

    Drain beans and add to peppers in a large bowl

    Tear Basil and add to bowl

    Mix the vinaigrette and add to the beans

    Let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature, marinating before serving

    Variations to consider:

    * Adding feta or small mozzarella balls

    * Subbing oregano for Basil leaves

    Here is how the dishes came out

    These were the flowers I added from my Home Garden.

    Thank you to everyone who tuned in to my live video! I will plan for more live videos if you enjoyed it.

    Stephanie’s Dish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.



    This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe
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    54 mins
  • Chef Suzanne Vizethann has two cookbooks, with the latest featuring brunch recipes, and two restaurants

    Chef Suzanne Vizethann has two cookbooks, with the latest featuring brunch recipes, and two restaurants
    Jul 11 2025
    Besides having a new baby, two restaurants and two cookbooks @chefsuzannevizethann made time to chat with me on the podcast about her beautiful brunch cookbook.Stephanie Hansen:Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Dishing with Stephanie's Dish podcast. We are here today with Chef Suzanne VizethannChef Suzanne has written a book called Brunch Season, and the subtitle is A Year of Delicious Mornings from the Buttermilk Kitchen. And I love a book that takes, like, a single subject but really, like, elaborates on it, because I think when you think of brunch dishes, you have, like, you know, the top five in your mind, and you really have done a comprehensive guide here of how to explore brunch from not just like, egg dishes, but all the way through seasonality. So for me, I love books that either give you seasonal guidance because, like, I'm in summer right now, so how do I make a brunch for friends and what ingredients do I use? I love the way you organize this book. Did you. Is this your first book?Suzanne Vizethann :It's our second book. You know, the first book, “Welcome to Buttermilk Kitchen” Was more of a restaurant focused book, like 100 recipes from the restaurant. So this. This book is, you know, more of a standalone book. It's definitely recipes that you would find maybe as specials in the restaurant, but more as me as a chef, like, my voice as a chef.“Welcome to Buttermilk Kitchen” Stephanie Hansen:So let's talk about that for just a second, because I think a friend of mine, Gavin Kaysen from the Twin Cities, he has, like, a book called At Home that's more of his, like, personality and style. And then he has the restaurant books, which are highly stylized. Obviously, it's a beautiful restaurant. What, after writing the restaurant book, made you want to kind of bring that home into your point of view?Suzanne Vizethann :I think that I love. Well, first of all, I love cooking, and I love sharing recipes with people. And, you know, like you said kind of, you brought up a really good point that chef recipes and restaurant recipes are just that. They're restaurant recipes, and they're sometimes really difficult to pare down to something small and make them accessible in the home kitchen. And so while we attempted to do that in the first book, I think that this was more of an opportunity to say, okay, hey, this is something that I might cook at home, or, you know, this is something that I like to cook in the summer or in the fall, and kind of really bringing that, like, you in my home with me.Stephanie Hansen:So can you tell me a little bit more about your restaurant?Suzanne Vizethann :Sure, yeah. So we actually have two the original restaurants in Atlanta, Georgia. It's been open almost 13 years. You know, brunch focused restaurant, open in the morning, you know, breakfast and lunch primarily. And then I actually just opened a restaurant up in Maine. I live here full time up on the mid coast in a town called Camden. And we have, we took over an 81 year old diner and opened another Buttermilk Kitchen here. And that one's called Buttermilk Kitchen at Mariners to honor the old name.Suzanne Vizethann :So, yeah, same, same style, you know, still a breast brunch driven restaurant, but a little bit more of a coastal flair since we are right on the water.Stephanie Hansen:And did you have a, did you have a move that precipitated opening in another location? Because I'm fascinated by how people can run restaurants. A one and then two, like in two different states. I just don't.📸 Angie MosierSuzanne Vizethann and her restaurant Buttermilk Kitchen serve up some of the tastiest biscuits in the south. Yields 12-14 biscuitsINGREDIENTS4 Cups of all-purpose flour2 Tablespoons sugar2 Tablespoons baking powder2 ½ Teaspoons salt½ lb of cold unsalted butter, grated2 ½ Cups Banner Butter buttermilkINSTRUCTIONS* Mix together all dry ingredients (everything from flour through salt) into a mixing bowl.* Add grated butter and mix into dry ingredients until crumbly and fully incorporated.* Slowly add buttermilk until a sticky dough consistency is achieved (start with 2 cups and add a ½ cup more if needed).* Scoop biscuits onto a pre-greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 in a convection oven for 10 min (you might need to add time if using conventional oven).* Rotate and continue to cook another 10-12 min until golden brown and ready to eat.Suzanne Vizethann :It's challenging, I'm not gonna lie to you. It is hard and. But I'm very, you know, blessed that I have great people working for me. And I think that because I waited so long to open the second one, I was able to really establish a great team under me that can handle a lot of the heavy lifting when I'm gone. And, you know, I come back, I try to travel back like six to eight times a year to check on them. But I am primarily in Maine and this restaurant's very new, so it requires more of my attention and time. But, you know, I really just am a firm believer that if you ...
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    27 mins
  • Maggie Hoffman is a Host of the Podcast and Substack, "The Dinner Plan"

    Maggie Hoffman is a Host of the Podcast and Substack, "The Dinner Plan"
    Jun 27 2025
    Stephanie Hansen:Hello everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's Dish, the podcast where we talk to people that are obsessed with food and they come across their obsessions through cookbooks, podcasts, content writers, and today we're talking with Maggie Hoffman. And I was excited because I said I don't get to talk to fellow podcasters very often. Congratulations on your podcast. It is the Dinner Plan podcast. Maggie is the former digital director of Epicurious. She also has many newsletters. So I'm excited to talk to you about that. The Dinner Plan plus What to Drink , plus The Vintage Table Maggie Hoffman - You are my person.Maggie Hoffman:Maybe too many newsletters. We'll see.Stephanie Hansen:Yeah, I'm sure it's a lot. So where should we jump in first? Let's just, let's talk about your newsletters because you already commented on my background. I have a lot of vintage pieces in the background. How did you start the Vintage Table or what was your first newsletter?Maggie Hoffman:Well, it's a little bit complicated, but I actually started with what to drink. In sort of a previous life, I was mostly a cocktail writer. I used to review bars for the San Francisco Chronicle. And I've written two books about cocktails that were published by Ten Speed. The One-Bottle Cocktail: More than 80 Recipes with Fresh Ingredients and a Single SpiritBatch Cocktails: Make-Ahead Pitcher Drinks for Every OccasionAnd so that's like a whole side of my life. And I was running a drinks newsletter for Epicurious when I was there. And when I left, that was sort of the, the going independent. I was able to send one newsletter to that audience and say this is where I'll be.So, you know, I don't update that one as often, but I do have. I like to talk about what I'm drinking, you know, when I'm trying new non alcoholic beers, or sometimes I'll share cocktail recipes from new books I'm reading. So that one was actually first. My main gig is the Dinner plan, which is a podcast and substack. It's sort of a living, breathing system. So the podcast goes Every week I interview a cookbook author every week. We talk about inspiration and where they find dinner ideas and the books they love. And then at the end of every show, someone calls in and shares what's in their fridge and the cookbook author guest comes up with a dinner idea for them.And usually these folks are people with cookbooks, often new cookbooks. And so in the substack each week, we share all of the links to all the recipes that they have talked about so people don't have to like, take notes. Anything they've recommended, it's all there in the newsletter. And then we reprint a recipe from Their books. You can get a little preview of the book, and that's why you should sign up for the newsletter. Someone told me they were taking notes on the show, and I was like, oh, no, no, no, you don't have to do that.Stephanie Hansen:You have such good notes on the episodes.Maggie Hoffman:And, I mean, I listen to these things over and over.Stephanie Hansen:You have, like, attached and linked every single recipe idea anyone's ever discussed in the pod. I mean, it's extensive, you guys, you gotta follow.Maggie Hoffman:And then I have a big list, which I think is really fun, of every book that has gotten recommended. So each person comes with, like, two or three ideas. Well, that has become a very big list. We're getting close to 50 episodes, and each person. I mean, you do the math. So, yeah, that's the main project, and then the vintage table is a little side project, and maybe they'll get merged at some point, but I just cannot buy every piece of vintage tableware that I love. And so I thought I should probably start sharing the links so that I get. Maybe other people will take them off the market.Stephanie Hansen:That is smart, because once you start, like, in that Facebook marketplace or Etsy channel of looking for vintage things, ebay, they find you. Yeah, yeah.Maggie Hoffman:So there's usually, like, a theme, you know, sort of beachy things for summer or, you know, whatever is the thing that I'm sort of obsessing over. And that's just for fun, but it's a lot of fun.Stephanie Hansen:Yeah, I. I find it very fun. When you were so how long were you the digital director at Epicurious?Maggie Hoffman:I think I was there a total of four years. I started as the senior editor under David to Markin, who's at King Arthur Flour now, and I took over running it when he left.Stephanie Hansen:And we're probably better off now because we have so many different avenues for creators. Right. Substack has really, like, democratized the creating world. From podcasting, did you find, like, you know, when you work for a big company, there's resources and podcast studios, and then all of a sudden you're on your own and you have to figure it all out. Substack makes it so easy.Maggie Hoffman:Yeah, substack and all the other ways. You know, I think everyone's ability to sort of launch their own ...
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    30 mins
  • Sally Ekus is the "Not So Secret Agent"

    Sally Ekus is the "Not So Secret Agent"
    Jun 13 2025
    Stephanie:Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's Dish, the podcast where we talk to cool people in the food space. We talk to a lot of cookbook authors, and today I'm excited to talk to Sally Ekus. She is a literary agent, which, if you've written books or you're trying to get a book published, you know how important the agent process is. She leads a boutique culinary and lifestyle division via @JVNLA and is the lead agent at the Ekus Group. Did I get it right?Follow Sally’s Substack Newsletter Not So Secret Agent Sally Ekus:Oh, I was just gonna say, yeah, I lead the Ekus Group. So we're a culinary and lifestyle division within a broader agency.Stephanie:And the Ekus Group was started by your mom.Sally Ekus:Yeah.Stephanie:A legend. Your mom has, like, one of the largest cookbook collections that I'm aware of.Sally Ekus:In fact, the largest, according to Guinness. Yes.Stephanie:A couple of months ago, I think maybe it was on your Instagram page, someone posted a picture of her library of her home that is literally looks like a library that you would see in New York city or Washington, D.C. or somewhere fancy with just walls and walls of books. It was so gorgeous.Sally Ekus:Yeah, It's a two store, all cherry wood, gorgeous library. She built the edition. It was a dream edition. It took a lifetime to build. And it is filled with cookbooks, almost exclusively cookbooks. Her fiction and children's books and other personal books are scattered elsewhere around the house. But the library is almost entirely culinary with over 6000 titles. It's really cool.Stephanie:It's amazing. And your mom's name is? Lisa. Please, can I ask you a question? I'm going to go all over the place here, but sure, please. I have a daughter and only one daughter and no sons. So my only child. And there are things that we have in common about cooking and about food, and I always think, like, oh, maybe she'll follow in my footsteps. But then she is quick to point out, like, no, I'm never doing that. But then she's sort of leaning sort of my way.Stephanie:How did that work with you and being in the publishing space?Sally Ekus:Yeah. So how old is your daughter now?Stephanie:26.Sally Ekus:Okay. Yeah. So growing up, my mom had this vibrant culinary business. At the time, it was a PR agency before we did agenting, and it was never supposed to be a family business. She never pressured me or said, you know, maybe one day. In fact, it was just like. If you had asked me before I started working with her, what does Lisa do for a living? I would have said something with books and something in food. So I was like, growing up in this.Sally Ekus:And I was immersed and sort of absorbing by osmosis. And, you know, in the, in my younger years, I would be like, collating press kits for PR campaigns and, you know, I was like earning a allowance, mailing catalogs and whatnot. But it wasn't, it wasn't something she was really like, whatever you want to do, follow your heart. I was on a different path. I went to school for counseling and I was about to go for a master's in social work. And I deferred. I broke up with a bad decision, moved home, started helping out at the agency and realized that I'd been informally training for this my whole life. I really fell in love with it.And I was very fortunate to step into the legacy of her reputation. And then also, once we decided this is something I wanted to do, talk about what the succession plan would look like and really carve out my own, you know, vibe and skill set and cultivate my own list, supporting her list. And so it was really a unintentional natural progression that then became quite intentional and, you know, quite effortful. So I think that's kind of why it worked out. And if, you know, but it's hard to say in hindsight.Stephanie:It's funny too. You talk about this like being in training of knowing this thing and you not even really realizing that until you've left and gone to do something else. And also, it does track that you were going to be a social worker.Sally Ekus:Absolutely.Stephanie:And now you're an agent.Sally Ekus:Yeah. I somewhat sarcastically but realistically acknowledge that I was trained in crisis counseling, active listening, and negotiation. So all of those things play a very big role in the work that I do as a literary agent working with books. But, you know, at the end of the day, it is a book. It is you know, not somebody's. Well, it is somebody's mental well being, but in a. In a different light. So I get to utilize those skills all the time.Sally Ekus:And it feels, it feels quite, quite lucky. And, you know, it's really the client management and author care and author advocacy that I love so much. And that has kept me, kept me in this, in this business for as long as it has.Stephanie:What is it about cookbooks in particular that makes you solely focus on that?Sally Ekus:Well, that I stepped into, you know, that was Lisa's area of expertise. She was one of...
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    27 mins
  • Beth Le Manach has the delightful new cookbook "Entertaining 101"

    Beth Le Manach has the delightful new cookbook "Entertaining 101"
    May 30 2025
    I had a real fun time chatting with Beth La Manach, whose new cookbook, “Entertaining 101” just released. Beth’s YouTube channel is wildy entertaining and she is also on Substack so you can follow her Entertaining with Beth Now since Beth makes it so easy lets all get to Entertianing!EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:Stephanie Hansen:Hello, everybody. Welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's Dish. I'm Stephanie Hansen and I like to talk to people obsessed with food. In particular, I enjoy cookbook authors and today I'm with Beth Lamonic and she is the author of a cookbook that just the title alone, I feel like holy cats. That's so intimidating. It is called entertaining one zero one. Beth, that just makes you, like, right on the level of Martha Stewart in my brain. Were you nervous about calling it one zero one?Beth Le Manach:No. Because the way that I'm thinking about the title is it's really targeted towards beginners or veterans who just need it to be easier and quicker. And I think everybody loves a one zero one entry point because they know it's not gonna be intimidating. It's gonna be accessible.Stephanie Hansen:Well, you are not a one zero one in your chops. You have over 662,000 followers on YouTube. They were like, oh, she has a a YouTube channel. And I went to look. I was like, holy cats. Tell me the name of your YouTube channel because I forgot to write it down. Recipes for entertaining. Was that what it was called?Beth Le Manach:No. It's called Entertaining with Beth.Stephanie Hansen:Got it. Okay. So you also are very fascinating, but I'm gonna get to that part in just a second. Take me through, like, your journey of, like, the how you started the YouTube and how we are that you're just is this your first book?Beth Le Manach:Yes. It isn't my first book. I know. I've been in a long time. I know exactly. Yeah. So it's kind of a long story, but I'll give you the highlights. I started my YouTube channel because I was by trade a producer for television, lifestyle television, and I got my start with the Scripps network.Beth Le Manach:So Food Network, HGTV, Fine Living, I was producing a bunch of content for them. I saw everything going online, digital. So I was like, I wanna produce digital content for the web. I got a job at a company that had a huge order for YouTube. So this was right around 2011 when YouTube started getting grants to media companies to produce quality content so they could get the advertisers to actually advertise against it. Because up into that point, it was a lot of, you know, skate board tricks and cat videos and stuff like that. Yeah. And so since I had come up with all of this kind of lifestyle content, my boss was like, okay. Create a YouTube channel that women will love. And I was a new mom. I had two small kids, and I was into all this lifestyle content, but I knew nothing about YouTube. So I had to really learn what it was, and little by little, we started to just create content. That was food content, fashion, beauty, all the things that I thought, like, women would be interested in.And then one day, my boss came to me and said, you know what? We are, like, really behind on the hours here that we have to deliver. We gotta pep this up a bit. What do you got? And I was like, I think we should do, like, entertaining shows, like, thirty minute shows, like what we used to do for TV. Like, let's do the perfect dinner party. He's like he was like, well, who are we gonna get to do that? And I was like, me. I love to cook, and I have a lot of recipes. And at the time, I just bought a house, and I was like, you know, come to my house. You don't have to pay me.You're already paying me, and let's knock off a few of these episodes. So we did about 16 of them, and then my boss was like, you know, this is really resonating with people. Like and and it really hit me at that point that I thought, how is this new information for people? Because I had grown up with Martha Stewart and Ina Garten, and I just thought that everybody was watching this. But people at the time on YouTube were just getting into, like, all the beauty gurus, and those girls were now aging up and sort of, like, having their first apartment and getting married. And they weren't suddenly gonna go offline and go look at magazines and books. They were staying online.Stephanie Hansen:Yeah.Beth Le Manach:And I think that's where it really resonated. And so long story short, I did that until I started to do it full time, and now the channel is mine, and I just do it full time.Stephanie Hansen:It explains lots of things. One, how prescient of you to see this digital age coming. So very smart.Beth Le Manach:Yeah.Stephanie Hansen:Two, I always talk about first mover advantage. And whenever there's a new platform or something, I always make sure that I log on. I save my handle. Even if I don't know if I'm gonna use it or do anything with it, I I believe that being the first in a space or in in a being a handful of first in a space is ...
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    26 mins
  • Jenna Helwig's Cookbookery Collective is a community for cookbook lovers on Substack

    Jenna Helwig's Cookbookery Collective is a community for cookbook lovers on Substack
    Apr 18 2025
    Welcome to another episode of "Dishing with Stephanie’s Dish," the podcast for everyone obsessed with food, cookbooks, and the stories they tell. Today, host Stephanie Hansen sits down with Jenna Helwig —a true powerhouse in the cookbook world. You may know Jenna as the creator of the Cookbookery Collective newsletter but she's also the food director at Real Simple magazine and a prolific cookbook author herself. In this conversation, Stephanie and Jenna dive into their mutual love for cookbooks, discuss the enduring charm of print in a digital world, and explore the evolving landscape of cookbook publishing, from celebrity chefs to everyday cooks and influencers.Jenna shares insights from her career, talks about the resurgence and diversity of cookbooks, and lets us in on what it’s like to balance her editorial roles at Real Simple and her Substack. They chat about memorable cookbooks from childhood, the pressure (and freedom) of home cooking, and the unique joys of discovering new recipes and makers. Whether you're a cookbook collector, home cook, or just love a good food story, this episode is packed with inspiration, nostalgia, and plenty of practical wisdom. So grab your favorite cookbook, get comfy, and join us for a delicious discussion!FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT FOLLOWS:Stephanie Hansen:Hello, everybody, and welcome to @DishingwithStephaniesDish, the podcast where we talk to people that are obsessed with food, cookbooks, and all things in the food space. And today, I'm speaking with Jenna Helwig, and I kinda came across her mostly on Substack, which I think maybe will make her be surprised. I found her as the creator of the cookbookery collective cookbook newsletter, and I was like, hey. You're into cookbooks. I'm into cookbooks. Let's talk about cookbooks. And we got the call set up, and then she said, oh, and by the way, I am the food director of Real Simple magazine. And I was like, oh, just that small detail that I literally did not even know about you.I'm so embarrassed. Welcome to the program.Jenna Helwig:Thank you so much. Thanks for having me. And I'm thrilled that you found me through the substack because that's a newish thing for me, and I love that, you know, people are reading it.Stephanie Hansen:Yes. And I was so like, I'm just obsessed with cookbooks, and I am a cookbook writer. I'm on my second book that's coming up, and I read a lot about trying to get published and different points of view of cookbooks. And we have quite a few good cookbook authors that hail from the Midwest in the Twin Cities here. And you had, I think, done an interview with my friend Zoe from Zoey Bakes, which probably is how I found out about you.Jenna Helwig:That is probably right. Yes. Zoey. Also, I think of Amy Theilan. I know she's not right there, but she's, you know, in the vicinity. Right? So yeah. For sure. And Pinch of Yum, aren't they based in Minneapolis? So yeah.Jenna Helwig:They are. A good a good food thing going.Stephanie Hansen:Yes. And the Food Dolls just published their book. They have, like, 8,000,000 followers.Jenna Helwig:Amazing. I guess I've been through that interview. Yeah. And who is that?Stephanie Hansen:Sarah Kiefer, do you know her?Jenna Helwig:Oh, yes. Of course. Her cookies, baked goods. Yeah.Stephanie Hansen:Yeah. We are all from, the Twin Cities, and most of them have, like, specialty angles. Like, I am just a home cook, so that's sort of my point of view on the Midwest. But it has been a really great market to be in. And one of the things that I started a radio show about seventeen years ago, so we've talked a lot of these people along the way. And right when we started the radio show, you know, Facebook and Instagram were launching, and it's been such an interesting trajectory to see cookbook authors in particular. And, like, everyone's like, oh, print is dead. Like, magazines are dead.Publications are dead. And yet, you know, cookbooks are, in some respects, doing better than ever.Jenna Helwig:Yeah. I agree. I feel like they are thriving. I also feel like, you know, at least for me personally, and I do notice this though with a lot of other people that we are on our screens all the time, and we're kinda tired of it. So whether it's a cookbook or even a print magazine, like, there's just something so lovely about turning pages, just, like, shutting out everything else. No other notifications are popping up on your screen. So print is very special.Stephanie Hansen:Yeah. And it feels like you can have, like, personal one on one time with it because you can set your phone down and really immerse yourself in the story.Jenna Helwig:Yes. Exactly. We all need more of that.Stephanie Hansen:I think so. My food magazines too, you mentioned that you're the food director of Real Simple, and you guys are having your twenty fifth anniversary. Yes. And I literally before you sent me that text, I was, like, reading it. And I'm a subscriber, so I'm gonna hold up my copy here. Because I ...
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    24 mins