Bitchin' About Food

Kath has been looking forward to/dreading talking to Jan's cousin Lauri Weiss for almost two years because Lauri knows the truth about food and is the epitome of the saying "you are what you eat". A scrupulously clean eater, Lauri recounts her health journey which began nearly 30 years ago with a focus mainly based on diet and nutrition. She debunks the notion that martinis and giant hun...

Karen Pratt is a fearless world traveler with a taste for adventure (and good food). She is also one of Kath's oldest pals and she was kind enough to Zoom with us and regale us with tales of food experiences in foreign lands. Recalling early travel and food experiences as a child, she has now experienced all sorts of gastronomic delights, from Jordanian bread slapped on the side of a hot...

Jan goes way back with screenwriter and author Parker Bennett and his wife Tish Hicks. As one of LA's most successful voiceover artists for over 25 years, there’s a good chance you have heard Tish’s voice talking to you about Subaru, Citibank or Pop-Secret...or maybe you have even taken her voice-over class (head to  www.thevodojo.com  - Jan keeps promising to). Tish recounts the Polish...

Long-time veterans of Chicago theatre Steve Totland and Meryl Friedman join Kath and Jan in the studio to discuss a wide-variety of subjects: vegetarianism, their very long marriage, the journey to Los Angeles from Chicago, Steve’s garden, how working long hours impacts who does the cooking, the price of food, a salmon dinner that went south and Meryl’s face-to-face with a ham sandwich on whi...

It's a rollicking good old Chicago love-fest when Kath's old pal and stage manager, Steve Sweeney, joins Jan and Kath in person. We talk about Steve's health journey from scary to svelte, using food quality improvement and portion control as the ultimate medicine. We reminisce about Margie's Candies in Chicago, and Steve finally gets to tell HIS side of the story about how he helped an e...

Kath and Jan are back at it, welcoming Ruth Arnold, Kath’s former hash-slingin’ co-worker at D. B. Kaplan’s in Chicago. Ruth’s life has had many chapters and we delve in to the good, the bad, and the gritty. From persimmon pudding in Indiana, to acting, marriage, Passover challah (oops) children, career-change, sudden deaths and untimely illness, Ruth keeps it real and focuses on what’s really imp...

Native New Orleans chef Richard Papier began his culinary journey with vichyssoise when, as a child, he suddenly found himself as a third-wheel on his Mom’s date at a fancy French restaurant. To everyone’s surprise, the kid liked cold potato soup! His passion for food started then and has not stopped since. In a far-ranging conversation, we discuss his current gig helping chefs (both in...

We’re back! After a brief unexpected hiatus and of course, THE FIRE, Kath and Jan are back and kicking off 2025 with a small bitch-fest about Christmas brisket and bad Chinese food, then a discussion about where to give to help with victims of the wildfire (see below). Then, we launch a spicy episode featuring Andrea and Eric Mather the couple who created PINCH DAB DASH, a spice blend company...

Kath and Jan travel via Zoom to the Crescent City to talk to New Orleanian John Beyer about his multi-faceted career as producer, editor, writer, filmmaker and most importantly, food historian in that great city. Kath and Jan recall their last visit there where they basically ate more than any human should ever eat and John offers his theories as to why the food down there is so damn good (hi...

Happy Podcastaversary Number Two to US! We are once again joined by our annual (perennial?) November anniversary guest, Nick Sheist, our first beloved engineer. Kath and Jan briefly rehash the debacle otherwise known as the election, and then Nick joins in and regales us with tales from his wedding, honeymoon (he cooked on his own honeymoon!), his rebooting of The Sheist podcast, his continui...

Constance Bauer wears many hats. Mom, Daughter, Sister, Wife, Lawyer, Therapist, Couples Counselor, Sex Therapist, soon to be Podcaster! Kath and Constance dig deep into their memory archives and reminisce about the old days of waitressing at the base of the Prudential Plaza in Chicago (Kath’s first job in the city!) as well as how she and her husband, both lawyers at the time, managed to fee...

Kath and Jan are back! We missed you! To start our long housekeeping and catch-up, we quickly veer into politics, as Jan makes a last ditch effort to show one presidential candidate’s er…shortcomings, to say the least, ending in a tearful plea to vote! Then we head back over to food topics and talk about Kath’s new attitude towards Thanksgiving and a new ramen joint she tried, as well as a bizarre...

Even though they claim to be simple country folk, in reality, dear old friends Michele and Dave Barbee are displaced city slickers who both are avid foodies. We discuss our mutual history together (Chicago theatre, naturally) as well as the fascinating childhood experiences that Michele had growing up in a restaurant-owning family. We examine their respective migration from Oklahoma and India...

A conversation with Kathryn Schorr is like zooming down a runway in a jetliner, so Kath and Jan strap in with their tray tables up for rollicking good time as we take a deep dive into Kathryn’s childhood, complete with E/R surgeon dad and deceased sibling and then move into her own grown-up life and how a meteor (or maybe two – we lost track!) landed right in the middle of it and we somehow manage...

With a name like Viva Krasinski, you know things are going to be interesting. Thanks to our previous podcast guest Emily Vollmer, Viva was brought to our attention and we soon realized she had a lot to say about food and other topics, and we were delighted to meet her. A nurturer from a young age, Viva tells of helping out with her much younger sister and then becoming a very young mothe...

Kath and Jan have a new friend! The phrase “lovely and talented” gets used way too much, but in this case, it truly applies to our guest, Clara York. Coming in smokin’ hot off her successful play “The Jailbait Chronicles” at the Fanatic Salon (next show, August 4th!), Clara recalls her Maine-born-and-bred Mom’s love of lobster and oysters, her charming but shady high school boyfriend and her...

Elizabeth Cortell has stories. She has been entertaining Kath and Jan for decades with them, and today’s episode is no exception. A very unique childhood, a killer wit, a keen eye and a razor sharp mind all lead to Liz’s recounting of her Dad’s Christmas menus, her beloved Mom’s cooking, how her folks knew where to shop in Chicago and her own journey with food as she got older, married,...

Jennifer Stander claims she is not a genius, but Kath & Jan suspect otherwise. The three of us do a deep dive into mysterious worlds: computer programing, coding, 8 hour work meetings, vegetarianism, Purple Carrot, train travel and the food in the western suburbs of Chicago. Jen reveals the reason she thought she hated food as a child and the relishes the memory of her first rea...

Mariann Sauvion has been cooking and feeding the world since the age of 5 and hasn’t stopped since! Kath and Jan enjoy an extremely convivial conversation with Mariann as she recalls her salad days (see what we did there?) as an 18-year old chef in Manhattan at the late great Paris Bistro, her Culinary Institute adventures, the Coffee House Club, her catering business with her beloved late husband...

A Bonus Episode as we once again re-visit Jan's mom Frima and her sister Barbara on Kath's patio to honor Frima on her 95th birthday! Amid the pastoral sounds of hummingbirds, wind chimes and our neighbor's incessant leaf-blower, we relay family tributes (more corn memories!), Barbara revisits an old forgotten cookbook, Frima talks about her famous portrait (pictured) and we all look forward to a...

Kath and Jan are joined by the delightful writer and teacher Emily Vollmer, but not before Jan tells a long contentious story about a tomato at a chic restaurant in Santa Monica. Kath initially sides with the restaurant (and the tomato) but suddenly changes her tune when sweet Emily pipes up and supports Jan. Typical Kath behavior. Meanwhile, Emily regales everyone with stories from...

The phenomenally talented Maiya Sykes is the real deal – an artist who actually makes a living at it. Once you hear her sing, it all makes sense. She joins Kath and Jan in a lively discussion about food, music, living with her Mom, Michael Jackson’s glove origins, underpaying gigs, who cooks in her house, life on the road, what exactly is in her carry-on bag when she travels (A LOT) and...

Back in the Golden Age of Chicago Theatre ™ Kath and guest Keli Garrett were working in tandem as heads of a Women’s Collective and an African American Collective (respectively) for a theatre company. Given our shared history with words, it’s no wonder we embark on a fascinating conversation with Keli as we discuss her PhD studies in London and what the food scene is there, as well as what it...

Heidi Bauer’s creativity is off the charts, whether it’s running her company Rock Scissor Paper with her sister Susie ( www.rockscissorpaper.com ), entertaining, cooking, baking, designing or just looking at the world in a different way than most people. Kath and Jan both share memories of legendary milestone celebrations, vintage Los Angeles houses, craft cocktails, cookie giveaways, backyard bar...

The last time Kath saw the married couple James Sie and Douglas Wood, they had not yet adopted their new baby from Viet Nam – who is now 22. Picking right up where they left off (quite literally!), James delights Kath and Jan with homemade blueberry maple scones, which Jan has to force herself not to eat on the air. In a far-ranging discussion on many topics, we talk about the disparity in co...