Your Last Meal With Rachel Belle

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from actor Thomas Doherty, who stars in Disney’s Descendants movies, the reboot of Gossip Girl and the new indie romance film Dandelion.  Thomas is from Scotland, but moved to the U.S. to pursue acting. When he goes back home to the U.K., his dad always cooks up a big batch of his favorite comfort food: haggis served with neeps and tatties (you can learn all about these dishes on last week’s episode of Your Last Meal!).   Eager to learn about other traditional Scottish dishes, host Rachel Belle asks Thomas about classics like cullen skink and cock-a-leekie soup, but ...Thomas is just as stumped as she is! Listen to the hijinks and learn a bit about Scottish cuisine along the way!    Follow along on Instagram! Watch Rachel's Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Pre-order Rachel's cookbook Open Sesame!Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scottish actor Thomas Doherty (Gossip Girl, Descendants, Dandelion) isn’t hungry in America. But the Brooklyn-based film and TV star says he’s famished in Scotland, where artificial dyes and chemicals are banned from food products. Doherty went to a 900-year-old high school in Scotland, so he loves the fresh energy that a young country like the United States offers. But he’s not a fan of American food, and misses the strict UK food regulations, saying he pretty much lost his appetite since moving to the States. What he does love is haggis. But Scotland’s national dish is outlawed in the U.S.! Scottish food historian Paul Gilchrist joins the show to talk about the ban and tells you everything you’d ever want to know about haggis. Follow along on Instagram! Watch Rachel's Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Pre-order Rachel's cookbook Open Sesame!Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every Labor Day weekend since 1990, tens of thousands of people descend upon a Nevada desert to build an elaborate, eccentric, temporary town called Black Rock City. This is the famed Burning Man festival, and once you’re inside the gate, nothing (but ice) is for sale and bartering and trading are forbidden.   So how do 70,000 people feed themselves at the Black Rock Desert festival without electricity or running water? Burning Man runs on a gifting economy, and food is a major currency. On this Very Special Episode of Your Last Meal, we’ll explore Burning Man’s culinary camps, where festival attendees set up makeshift restaurants and feed thousands of Burners for free. You’ll meet the creator of Cheese & Advice Palace, who says waiting in line for a grilled cheese sandwich is part of the experience, and the chef behind Domakase, a desert sushi bar. Follow along on Instagram! Watch Rachel's Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Sign up for the free newsletter! Pre-order Rachel Belle's new cookbo

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from J. Ryan Stradal, the bestselling author of three novels, all set in Minnesota: Kitchens of the Great Midwest, The Lager Queen of Minnesota and Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club.  Through a not-so-rapid-fire speed round, J. Ryan tells host Rachel Belle about his favorite Minnesota State Fair food, what the J. in his name stands for, and why you really need to open that bottle of wine you're forever saving for a special occasion.  And we'll explore the history behind a Midwestern fried-food debate: corn dog vs Pronto Pup! What's the difference? Listen and find out!  Watch Rachel's Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Follow along on Instagram! Pre-order Rachel Belle's new cookbook, Open Sesame: 45 Sweet & Savory Recipes for Tahini & All Things Sesame!Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The New York Times bestselling novelist J. Ryan Stradel tells host Rachel Belle it was “totally weird to be a teenage foodie in the 1990s.” He couldn’t wait to get his driver’s license so he could drive into the Twin Cities and eat at restaurants serving mysterious, flavorful, global food — a complete contrast to the bland dishes his parents cooked at home. Food plays a role in all three of Stradal’s novels, all set in his home state of Minnesota: Kitchens of the Great Midwest, The Lager Queen of Minnesota and Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club — supper clubs being a uniquely Midwestern throwback institution. Rachel chats with the owners of two multigenerational supper clubs, Lehman’s and Ettlin’s Ranchero, about what sets them apart from other restaurants. Watch Rachel's Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Follow along on Instagram!Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from G. Love, frontman for G. Love & Special Sauce! The band is celebrating 30 years since releasing their self-titled first album, featuring beloved bangers like Baby’s Got Sauce and Cold Beverage. G. Love tells host Rachel Belle about his big backyard garden, where he grows both edibles and smokables, and shares how he turned his “special sauce” into a tangible product. When it comes to sugary kid’s cereals, you most likely know the mascots and slogans even if you've never taken a single bite. We learn the stories behind mascots like Cap’n Crunch and Tony the Tiger with Tim Hollis, author of “Part of a Complete Breakfast: Cereal Characters of the Baby Boom Era.” Watch Rachel's Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Follow along on Instagram!Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It has been 30 years (!) since G. Love & Special Sauce put out their first album, and in that time G. Love has written a whole lotta food and drink lyrics. He tells host Rachel Belle the origin stories behind songs like Milk & Cereal, Cold Beverage and his album Lemonade.  Lemonade has special meaning to G. Love, so Rachel chats with Gastro Obscura editor Anne Ewbank about the history of the sweet, puckery drink, the different ways it's prepared around the world and why American children have taken on the responsibility of selling it! Watch Rachel's Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Follow along on Instagram! Thanks to Visit Kitsap for sponsoring this episode!Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Geraldine DeRuiter, author of the new book If You Can't Take the Heat & James Beard Award winning writer.  Geraldine tells host Rachel Belle about her dream Costco sample, shares her perfect birthday cake and, perhaps the most fun part of the episode, the long string of blooper cuts after the credits run! Watch Rachel's Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Follow along on Instagram! Thanks to Visit Kitsap for sponsoring this episode!Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In her latest book, If You Can’t Take the Heat, Geraldine DeRuiter uses food, humor and her own (often ridiculous!) life to explore the topic of feminism. Geraldine has a way of, as she puts it, “going bonkers viral.” Millions of people read her James Beard Award-winning blog post, “I Made the Pizza Cinnamon Rolls from Mario Batali’s Sexual Misconduct Apology Letter,” and her essay about a bizarre experience at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Italy inspired a front-page New York Times article. Over the course of two interviews (host Rachel Belle forgot to ask Geraldine a very important question the first time around), Geraldine and Rachel bond over the strange (read: disgusting) things they ate as children and the absolute best way to make and eat popcorn, plus Geraldine shares her last meal, which is almost entirely cooked by her husband. Romans take their carbonara very seriously and insist it be cooked using “traditional” ingredients. But Rome-based culinary guide and cookbook author Katie Parla says mode

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Dan Pashman, host of The Sporkful podcast, inventor of the cascatelli pasta shape, and author of the new cookbook Anything’s Pastable. Dan was a guest on Your Last Meal in 2017, so host Rachel Belle checks in to see if his last meal has changed over the past seven years. Then, a speed round! Dan talks about the biggest challenge of writing a cookbook, his carb-on-carb recipe for pasta pizza, and his dream birthday cake.  Order Rachel's favorite tortillas! Watch Rachel's Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Follow along on Instagram!  Thanks to Visit Kitsap for sponsoring this episode!Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Award winning The Sporkful podcast host, Dan Pashman, invented a new pasta shape in 2021. Cascatelli was released with great fanfare -- Time magazine declared the pasta one of 2021’s best inventions and it was covered everywhere from The New York Times to Access Hollywood.   But when fans started tagging Dan on Instagram, eager to show off their cascatelli creations, he realized everyone was bathing their pasta in the same three sauces! Eager to move beyond marinara and mac & cheese, Dan wrote his first cookbook, Anything’s Pastable: 81 Inventive Pasta Recipes for Saucy People.   On his recent book tour, Dan popped by host Rachel Belle’s Seattle home studio to talk about the cookbook’s innovative, international recipes; the best place in the house to eat when you don’t want to share food with your children; and why he thinks spaghetti is an inferior pasta shape. Then host Rachel Belle blindfolded Dan and fed him pasta to see how many shapes he could identify by mouthfeel alone! Watch the video here! Dan

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Kathleen Hanna, frontwoman for the groundbreaking feminist punk bands Bikini Kill and Le Tigre and author of the new memoir Rebel Girl. Last week, on Your Last Meal, Kathleen talked about meals she’s eaten that were so good, they made her cry. Like, really cry.  Today she tells us about her major, if accidental, contribution to a Nirvana record, what it means to be punk-rock while living a comfortable adult life and what it was like working at McDonald’s as a teenager.  Then host Rachel Belle meets the co-founder of Food Not Bombs, a global movement to end hunger.   Watch Rachel's Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle!  Follow along on Instagram!  Thanks to Visit Kitsap for sponsoring this episode!Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The legendary riot grrrl and punk rock singer for Bikini Kill and Le Tigre has a reputation for crying over a delicious meal. As far as we know, she's shed tears over sushi, birthday cake, and gelato. Why does food make her so emotional? She breaks it down (but doesn’t break down!) for host Rachel Belle.  Kathleen, who got her start in the punk scene in Olympia, WA in the early 90s, is best known for being an outspoken feminist and activist; at her early shows she’d speak out about domestic violence and sexual violence between songs.   While Kathleen took her rage to the stage, cookbook author and James Beard Award winning journalist Kathy Gunst, released her outrage through flour, sugar, butter, fruit, and chocolate. We talk about her cookbook, Rage Baking: The Transformative Power of Flour, Fury, and Women's Voices.   Pick up Kathleen's new memoir Rebel Girl! Follow along on Instagram!  Watch Rachel's new Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle!Thanks to Visit Kitsap Peninsula for sponsoring this epi

Today on The Leftovers, a speed round with Jesse Tyler Ferguson; Modern Family star and Tony Award winning Broadway actor. Jesse reveals his bougiest, most cliche LA indulgence and creates a menu for a hypothetical dinner party with Barbra Streisand.   If you missed last week’s full interview with Jesse, listen here! Thanks to Visit Kitsap Peninsula for sponsoring this episode! Watch Rachel's new TV show, The Nosh, on Cascade PBS! Follow Rachel Belle on Instagram!Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Modern Family star grew up in New Mexico (the Chile Capital of the World!) where the native green chiles find their way into everything from burgers to mac & cheese. Jesse hasn’t lived in Albuquerque since high school, but he keeps his freezer full of New Mexico green (Hatch) chiles and green chile enchiladas are his forever favorite comfort food.  The retired director of the Chile Pepper Institute tells host Rachel Belle about the history and migration of spicy peppers from the Americas to the rest of the world, which involves everything from bird poop to Christopher Columbus.   Then Jesse tells us about his lunch with Weird Al at one of the country’s most woo-woo restaurants! Thanks to Visit Kitsap Peninsula for sponsoring this episode! Follow Rachel Belle on Instagram! Watch Rachel's new TV show, The Nosh, on Cascade PBS!Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If waiting two whole weeks for a new episode of Your Last Meal is way too long, we’ve got something to tide you over.   On the weeks we’re not releasing a full-length episode of Your Last Meal, we’re airing The Leftovers: audio left on the cutting-room floor, interviews that host Rachel Belle really wants to do that don’t fit into the show’s usual format and, as you’ll hear today, a speed round with last week’s guest.      Which means you will now be getting a little taste of Your Last Meal every single Thursday!    Today’s episode features a never-before-heard interview with Tom Papa; comedian, writer, and sourdough-obsessed bread baker.   If you missed last week’s full interview with Tom, you can listen here.  Thanks to Visit Kitsap Peninsula for sponsoring this episode! Watch Rachel's new TV show, The Nosh with Rachel Belle on Cascade PBS!Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tom Papa is a bread nerd. The comedian, author and podcast host is quick to point out that he got obsessed with baking sourdough bread long before the pandemic sourdough craze. He loves to talk about sourdough, read about sourdough and, of course, bake and eat sourdough. So host Rachel Belle chats with the owner of a Seattle bakery that uses a sourdough starter that’s more than 150 years old. Pasta with butter and Parmesan may be the meal of choice for picky American children, but in Italy the simple, comforting dish has an entirely different context. Rachel calls Katie Parla, a Rome-based food and beverage writer and cookbook author, to learn more, and in the process learns the history of fettuccine Alfredo. Follow along on Instagram! Watch Rachel's new Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Thanks to Visit Kitsap for sponsoring this episode!Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

By the end of this episode, you'll feel like the charming, hilarious and down-to-earth Julia Sweeney is your best friend! Julia and host Rachel Belle discuss everything from her true love of eating alone (and how that makes her husband feel) to the 60th birthday gift she gave herself: never dieting again. Julia wants to cap her last meal with Canada’s favorite no-bake, layered dessert: the Nanaimo bar! Rachel chats with Joyce Hardcastle, the contest winner who created the city’s official recipe back in 1986, and with the current mayor of Nanaimo, about the history of the bar and how ubiquitous it is in the Vancouver Island city it was named after. *This is a replay of an episode from 2022. Rachel lost her voice & hopes to be back with a brand-new episode next week!* Follow along on Instagram! Watch Rachel's new Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Thanks to Visit Kitsap for sponsoring this episode!Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/See omnystudio.com

Tune in to The Nosh with Rachel Belle on April 5 at 8:50pm PST on Cascade PBS, channel 9 in WA and BC, or catch it anytime from anywhere online at www.cascadepbs.org (just scroll down a tad to the Local Originals) Do delicious bagels actually exist in Seattle? What’s the story behind the city’s first non-alcoholic bottle shop? These are just a couple of the topics Rachel Belle digs into on season one of The Nosh, where stories about the outdoors, art, culture and community are told through the lens of food and drink. On this episode of The Leftovers, Cascade PBS podcast producer and Northwest Reports co-host Maleeha Syed hops into the interview chair to ask Rachel about the show. Rachel spills some behind-the-scenes tea and talks about why hosting her first TV show in her 40s has special meaning. Subscribe to Your Last Meal on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Follow along on Instagram! Thanks to Visit Kitsap Peninsula for sponsoring this episode!Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995

Vanessa Lachey’s first book, Life from Scratch: Family Traditions That Start with You is rooted in a deep and vulnerable place. Vanessa’s mom left when she was a little girl, depriving her of motherly advice, care and the Filipino food she craved. It took decades, but the actor and TV host finally felt empowered to stop mourning what she’d lost, and start creating her own special traditions for her young family – including a chicken adobo recipe her husband, 98 Degrees singer & Love Is Blind co-host Nick Lachey, loves. Vanessa and host Rachel Belle discuss how she secured a place in the Guinness Book of World Records (it’s food-related!) and why her family celebrates the holidays with a dish called Wiener-Bun Surprise. Vanessa loves lasagna, so obviously Rachel had to talk about America’s favorite curmudgeonly, lasagna-loving cartoon cat, and she digs into the etymology of the comforting Italian casserole. We’ll also learn about Lasagna Love, a nonprofit started during the pandemic. Rachel’s favorite lasa