In this episode of Ham Radio: Cooking With Amy Thielen we are all about the summer kitchen.Guests include Alena Levina, one of the contributors of the new cookbook Kitchens of Hope: Immigrants Share Stories of Resilience and Recipes from Home. Alena gives us her family recipe from Belarus: Holodnik, or Summer Beet Soup. It's our Community Recipe: kaxe.org/community-recipe-holodnik-summer-beet-soup-ham-radio-amy-thielen.We're also thrilled to bring you a conversation with newly awarded St. Paul chef Karyn Tomlinson. She just won the James Beard award for Best Chef of the Midwest. Her restaurant is Myriel in St. Paul, and she features local produce from farmers in her hometown of Dassel.So many texts and calls came rolling in this week: from Mikki's gazpacho, Iris' ratatouille, Steve's watermelon Coke and carving a watermelon in the shape of a beautiful basket, we loved every single second of it. Hope you enjoyed the first season of Ham Radio: Cooking With Amy Thielen. Tell others about us, pass the word and send us your memories and recipes! Ham Radio features original licensed music — "You Know How I Like It" by Jeremy Messersmith.Made possible by the Minnesota Arts & Culture Heritage Fund. Support KAXE by becoming a member today: https://donate.nprstations.org/kaxe/donate

Has cooking changed? Do we expect more out of recipes these days? That's our topic this week on KAXE's Ham Radio: Cooking with Amy Thielen. Amy talks with Natasha Pickowicz, author of More Than Cake. She weaves 100 recipes with delightful and surprising recipes and stories to celebrate how baking can connect. We'll also talk about the cookbook she is currently working on about Hot Pot, and find out if savory recipes are different than sweet.We also get a chance to meet Nick Torres. Nick is a food photographer and stylist who worked on Amy's first cookbook The New Midwestern Table. Nick shares a recipe from home in Ohio involving a man named Chewy and some giant coolers. This week's community recipe is Chewy's Beer Cooler Chicken.And we talk about whether and how to eat Minnesota fresh fish — including the giants of Lake Country, muskies.Long before restrictions catch-and-keep size restrictions, Minnesotans did in fact eat muskellunge, and here’s the evidence: a recipe for a Ten-Pound Baked Muskellunge, from one of Amy's favorite cookbooks, Food on the Frontier: Minnesota Cooking from 1850 to 1900 by Marjorie Kreidberg.Ham Radio Features original licensed music — "You Know How I Like It" by Jeremy Messersmith.Made possible by the Minnesota Arts & Culture Heritage Fund. Support KAXE by becoming a member today: https://donate.nprstations.org/kaxe/donate