“Weekends with Yankee” Episode 607: Feeding the Soul

In this episode of Weekends with Yankee, Co-host Amy Traverso is in New Hampshire to meet with the host of the longest-running cooking series in television history, Mary Ann Esposito. Amy swings by Tuscan Market in Portsmouth to pick up some cannoli and ricotta pie to bring to Mary Ann at her home in Durham. Mary Ann shares stories from her PBS show Ciao Italia that has been on the air since 1989 and how her connection with the culture and food of Italy continues to inspire her. Then, she and Amy bake up a gorgeous Erbazzone tart from Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region. Next, we’re in Middlebury, Vermont to meet Bethanie Farrell, who is thinking both big and local to address the food insecurity issues that face her state. Bethanie shares her story behind The Giving Fridge, through which she collaborates with area restaurants to assemble and donate hundreds of prepared meals using profits from selling plants, honey, and other local goods. Along the way, we talk to some of the folks whose lives have been impacted by her non-profit. Finally, Co-host Richard Wiese is in York, Maine to meet Sara Fitz, who created a coastal design company specializing in New England iconography, like whimsical lobsters and buoys. We see her painting process at her studio space, get a tour of her shop, and walk along the seaside landscapes that inspire her work.