“Apple Cake is a very family-specific recipe–I’ve never heard of it anywhere else, seen it anywhere else. My gramma started it–for as long as I can remember we had it on Thanksgiving. It was served in a very specific bowl and as a child, for Thanksgiving, everyone would look forward to the Apple Cake. And when that blue bowl came out on the table it was just like –gasp!-- there’s the apple cake. And you knew that Thanksgiving had arrived.”
This week on the show--we celebrate Thanksgiving with three family food traditions.
Daniella Richardson brings us into her family's kitchen in Carmel, Indiana, where she and her sister Katelyn prepare their version of the revered mac n’ cheese of Black households. They reminisce with their sister, Elizabeth, on the year that Daniella, at age 14, assumed the position of “Head Thanksgiving Chef” when their mother was recovering from surgery. The family reflects on the ways food connects them all through the difficult and the impossibly wonderful moments of their lives.
Kayte Young visits with a childhood friend, Trisha LaGue, in Bakersfield, California, who shares the story of Apple Cake--a unique Thanksgiving family recipe. She talks about the extraordinary woman who started the tradition and how they got their hands on a replica of Gramma Jones' special, sea-foam-blue, Apple Cake bowl.
Finally, Daniella catches up with close friends to discuss their family’s Thanksgiving traditions. Mother and daughter, Vanessa Cruz-Martinez and Vaneli Crespo-Cruz walk her and Kayte through the making of the classic Latin dessert, Flan.
Along the way, the mother-daughter duo share beloved memories associated with the dessert, and talk about how cooking and food help them maintain close ties with their Puerto Rican roots.
Music on this Episode:
The Earth Eats theme music is composed by Erin Tobey and performed by Erin and Matt Tobey.
Additional music on this episode from and Universal Production Music.
