Kitchen Meditations with Kendall Vanderslice

Are you a salt fiend? Or someone who prides yourself on the fact that you don’t need any to enjoy what you eat? Did you know that salt is one of the most important, if underappreciated ingredients in just about every dish? It plays so many roles in our food, aside from just aiding the flavor. And it’s been a powerful political tool throughout history too. How does that reshape your understanding of Jesus’ quip, “you are the salt of the earth”?

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Kale Salad:

1 teaspoon diced red onion
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese3 small bowls of kale
Two pinches of salt1/2 of your favorite croutons (my favorite? Homemade using the leftovers of my latest Bake & Pray loaf!)

1. Place the red onion in a glass jar and cover with the balsamic vinegar. Let sit for 10 minutes, then add the olive oil. Once combined, stir in the Parmesan cheese.
2. Divide the kale between three bowls, massaging a pinch of salt into one and letting it sit for five minutes.
3. Add dressing and croutons to all three bowls, then salt one of the unsalted bowls.
4. Taste all three and observe the differences based on the use of salt!

Have you ever carried a 50 pound bag of flour? There’s a special trick to it: you have to pick it up from underneath and flip it over your shoulder, otherwise it’s too unwieldy to handle. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is like yeast that a woman mixed into three measures of flour until all of it was leavened. Three measures of flour is just a bit more flour than one of those 50 pound bags, which means this woman was leavening a whole lot of dough. In today’s episode of Kitchen Meditations, On Leaven, we’re going to reflect on what it means for the Kingdom of Heaven to be like yeast.

Our life with Christ begins in water. That terrifying, beautiful element that makes up 60% of the human body and covers 71% of the earth's surface. Baptism is a sacrament as mysterious as Communion, God present with us and transforming us in ways we cannot completely understand. In both we are called into a community that holds onto this mystery of faith together with us—or for us when we don't have the strength to hold onto it on our own. In this episode, we're talking about water—magnificent and dangerous at the same time. As wild as it may seem, I think the waters of baptism and the mixing of bread can each teach us something beautiful about the other.

This week’s episode is a reading from the preface of Kendall Vanderslice’s book By Bread Alone: a baker’s reflections on hunger, longing, and the goodness of God. We hope you enjoy this small taste of what’s to come.

How do you feel about King Cake? That bright cake, smothered in sprinkles with a plastic baby stuffed inside. Maybe you’re more a fan of the Galette de Rois—the puff pastry and frangipane version that hails from France. Shrove Tuesday traditions abound all around the world. In this episode of Kitchen Meditations, we’re going to learn how some of the most popular traditions came to be!

I love Lent. Perhaps you’re someone who grinds your teeth and muscles through the weeks of fasting. Maybe you stay silent because you just don’t feel like fasting is all that important, but everyone around you is…super invested. Or perhaps you believe Lent is an unnecessary season, an attempt to earn favor with God when we already have God’s grace. Although “Lent” is not a season outlined in Scripture, it’s been a way for Christians to mark time since at least the early 4th century. To kick off season two of Kitchen Meditations, we’ll share with you why Lent might be just the season you need this year.

Have you ever attended a dinner where you were left awkwardly picking at just a slice of bread, slathered in butter, while everyone else around you enjoyed a large feast...unable to partake because of food allergies that weren't accounted for in the meal?

It's a terrible feeling to be unable to eat the same food as everyone around, or worse yet, to be unable to eat with them at all. And yet it's the reality for a rapidly increasing number of Americans these days. How do those of us who love hospitality respond? How do we extend hospitality at a time when finding food that everyone can eat is so complicated?

And how does a theological vision that approaches food as a delightful gift from God account for the reality that, for many people, the act of eating is more of a burden than a joy?

In this episode of Kitchen Meditations, we're talking about food allergies—why they seem so prevalent these days and the opportunity they give us for a new approach to hospitality.

Have you ever read the Bible as…a dietary manual? For some of you that might sound strange, for others…well, you might know exactly what I’m talking about. Christian dieting books abound that promise spiritual freedom, if only you eat according to strict guidelines laid out in various parts of scripture. In our fourth episode on Diet Culture, we’re going to look at the underlying assumptions behind most Biblical diet books…then consider a different theological approach.

Links and Resources:

Have you ever followed a diet together with a community of friends? Maybe you all agreed to cut out sugar for a week, or you’re trying a Dry January altogether. Perhaps you have found community through your diet—you went Paleo for awhile and enjoyed building connections with other Paleo people on Instagram. Or you’re vegan and, despite all the jokes lobbed at vegans, you’re grateful to be a part of something beyond yourself.
What is it about our diet that connects us with others? Why do we find it easier to eat in a certain manner when we do it with friends? And why does our diet become such a significant part of our identity? Most importantly: is this helpful or harmful for us?
These are the questions we explore in this episode on diets, identity, and belonging—and how we can create a more holistic relationship to community and food.

Links and Resources:

You are what you eat. I imagine you’ve heard this phrase before. Maybe it’s helped you embrace the foods that connect you to family or to home. Or maybe it’s shamed you for enjoying something unhealthy. In our third episode on Diet Culture, we’ll dive into the way food shapes our identities, for better or for worse, and how we can use food to remind us of who we are.

Links and Resources:

On this fourth Sunday of Advent, we’re going to look to the hospitality given and received by the Holy Family just after Christ’s birth. And we’re going to examine what this story encourages us to do. I hope that this story sparks in you a desire to build communities marked by generosity—I expect you’ll find fulfillment greater than you could have imagined too. Listen in.

This Advent, we partnered with WeWelcome, an organization that teaches Americans how to advocate on behalf of our refugee neighbors. Together, we are learning how the hospitality found in the story of Christ’s birth invites us to live out welcome today. You can follow along with our free Advent devotional, “Bread is Home: A Guide to Showing Welcome.”

Today begins the third week of Advent—Gaudete Sunday. This is the week of Advent devoted to joy. On this third Sunday of Advent, we’re going to look to some of the most absurd moments in the story of Christ’s birth, stories that we think just might be God encouraging us to laugh a little bit.This Advent, we partnered with WeWelcome, an organization that teaches Americans how to advocate on behalf of our refugee neighbors. Together, we are learning how the hospitality found in the story of Christ’s birth invites us to live out welcome today. You can follow along with our free Advent devotional, “Bread is Home: A Guide to Showing Welcome.”

On this second Sunday of Advent, we’re going to look to the hospitality Mary showed God in carrying the infant Jesus in her body. Through this story, we’ll look for the gifts we can find when we open ourselves up to others, even at the most inconvenient times. This Advent, we partnered with WeWelcome, an organization that teaches Americans how to advocate on behalf of our refugee neighbors. Together, we are learning how the hospitality found in the story of Christ’s birth invites us to live out welcome today. You can follow along with our free Advent devotional, “Bread is Home: A Guide to Showing Welcome.”

This Advent, we partnered with WeWelcome, an organization that teaches Americans how to advocate on behalf of our refugee neighbors. Together, we are learning how the hospitality found in the story of Christ’s birth invites us to live out welcome today. On this first Sunday of Advent, we’re going to look to the story of Elizabeth and Zachariah. We’ll examine what their lives can teach us about embracing the gift of hospitality, even in seasons of unmet longing and endless waiting. We pray this episode will be an encouragement to you in your own seasons of longing. Listen in.

Thanksgiving is a complex holiday. Both its history and the role it plays in many families today. This week on Kitchen Meditations, we’re talking about Thanksgiving. We believe it is a day we can choose to confess our brokenness and work towards healing, together at the table. If you’re looking for a new way to approach the holidays this year, listen in.

This Fall, we’ve been reflecting on our food stories and how they impact our sense of home. We believe these conversations are critical as our country faces both a loneliness epidemic and increasing social discord. This week, Kendall Vanderslice shares some of her own food story, how it led her to create the Edible Theology Project, and why gathering at the table in this season is more important than ever. Listen in

Halloween, like other holidays, has its fair share of commercialization and odd customs. But, if you take a closer look, you’ll find deep history, beauty, and tradition as well. Join us as we look at the religious history of Halloween, including the origins of Trick-or-Treating, food traditions like soul cakes, and Martin Luther’s decision to nail the 95 theses on Halloween. Whether you dress up for Halloween every year, or turn off all your lights and hide in the basement during Trick-or-Treating, this episode will inspire you to rethink the holiday and, just maybe, see it as a day for community and remembrance. Listen in.

Join us as we speak with chef Reem Assil about food and the diaspora. We reflect on questions like: What is home for people of the diaspora? How can food traditions shape our families and ourselves? What can we learn from Arab hospitality practices?

Reem Assil is a baker, community organizer, and founder of the Bay Area restaurant group Reems California. She’s the author of the recently released cookbook “Arabiyya: Recipes from the Life of an Arab in Diaspora.”This conversation is so rich and a must-listen for anyone interested in how our food, home, and culture shape our lives. Listen in.

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase “authentic food”? Today, we’re going to talk about the concept of authenticity, especially as it relates to food. We’ll examine where the term comes from and how it gets used. We’ll think about why we choose the term for some foods and not for others, and we’ll question whether or not there are more robust ways we can describe the things we love to eat.

We hope this short reflection will help you reflect on the ways food has shaped you. Listen in.

Books & articles mentioned:

For many of us, our relationship to place is a complicated one. It's sometimes a privilege to know the many places that have formed us. Other times, we'd like to forget them. But the yearning to understand how places have shaped who we are is a deeply human one. Join Kendall Vanderslice and guest Patrice Gopo, author of “All the Places We Call Home”, as we meditate together on how to lean into the yearning for home.

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase, “eating local”? This phrase, eating local, can mean a variety of things. Alice Water’s work through Chez Panisse - which sparked the launch of the Farm-to-Table movement - and Barbara Kingsolver’s 2007 book “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” set the stage for conversations about local eating over the last two decades. In 2020, the phrase “eating local” took another major shift as COVID-19 created challenges for local businesses. The focus on sustaining small, local companies turned the focus away from food sourcing and towards the regional economy and the people preparing and selling their wares. Today, we’ll dig into the different forms “eating local” can take—and reflect on what value it might bring to our lives. Listen in.

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the unknown? Do you find yourself wishing for a bit more slowness, stability, or surety about your next steps? Maybe then you’d finally feel at home, you think. In this episode of Kitchen Meditations, Kendall is joined by Lore Ferguson Wilbert, the author of Curious Faith. Together, Kendall and Lore discuss what makes them feel at home, the lingering feelings of homesickness, the role questions can play in our faith, and how to instill some rhythm into our everyday lives to feel more at home.

What flavors come to mind when you think of home? Is there a particular recipe you grew up making? Is there something you’ve learned to cook that feels cozy, that makes your kitchen feel ready to welcome others in? Welcome back to Kitchen Meditations! In today’s episode, we’ll explore the way our senses help us conjure old memories and remind us what home means to each of us. This season, we’ll hear from a series of guests as they reflect on their own relationship to food, and how this has been shaped by home, by family, and by faith.

Have you been missing Kitchen Meditations?

Don't worry—it will be back in September. Until then, join Kendall Vanderslice for another fun summer project: VeggieTakes, the VeggieTales rewatch podcast.

For the next three weeks, Edible Theology is running an IndieGoGo fundraising campaign to finish out our upcoming curriculum as well as the next season of this podcast.

In this episode, you'll learn more about this exciting season in our ministry and the ways that you can help.

Have you ever carried a 50 pound bag of flour? There’s a special trick to it: you have to pick it up from underneath and flip it over your shoulder, otherwise it’s too unwieldy to handle. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is like yeast that a woman mixed into three measures of flour until all of it was leavened. Three measures of flour is just a bit more flour than one of those 50 pound bags, which means this woman was leavening a whole lot of dough. In today’s episode of Kitchen Meditations, On Leaven, we’re going to reflect on what it means for the Kingdom of Heaven to be like yeast.

I love Lent. Perhaps you’re someone who grinds your teeth and muscles through the weeks of fasting. Maybe you stay silent because you just don’t feel like fasting is all that important, but everyone around you is…super invested. Or perhaps you believe Lent is an unnecessary season, an attempt to earn favor with God when we already have God’s grace. Although “Lent” is not a season outlined in Scripture, it’s been a way for Christians to mark time since at least the early 4th century. To kick off season two of Kitchen Meditations, we’ll share with you why Lent might be just the season you need this year.