On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Hilary Sheinbaum, a journalist and the founder of GoingDry.co, a non-alcoholic (N.A.) events and menu curation company. She is also the author of "Going Dry: A Workbook: A Practical Guide to Drinking Less and Living More" and "The Dry Challenge: How to Lose the Booze for Dry January, Sober October, and Any Other Alcohol-Free Month."

Ten years ago, Sheinbaum participated in Dry January for the first time. She had no idea it would change her life!

"I made a very spontaneous, silly bet with one of my guy friends on New Year's Eve," Sheinbaum, who was working as a red carpet entertainment journalist at the time - and also wrote articles on beer, wine and spirits, explains.

The first one to take a sip of alcohol in January lost. Her friend lasted around three weeks, Sheinbaum made it through the entire month.

"That was New Year's Eve 2016, and here we are 10 years later, 10 dry Januarys later," she says. "I won a very expensive dinner at a Michelin star restaurant, but honestly the impact that it has had on my life for the past 10 years is worth so much more."

Hilary Sheinbaum talks about going dry: the reason, the trend, and the community aspects. She also talks about her origin story, sober curiosity, and her favorite non-alcoholic margarita recipe, which you can get at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

"There is dry January, there is sober October; you can really go dry at any point in the year or for more than a month if you like," she says. "It's not about putting pressure on yourself to be [perfect], it's really about seeing how reducing alcohol in your life can make it better on a day-to-day basis."

Learn more at HilarySheinbaum.com and GoingDry.co. Follow @hilarywritesny and @goingdry.co on Instagram.

For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with bagel-tarian Sam Silverman, founder and CEO of BagelUp and the creator of New York BagelFest.

"From the earliest memories that I have, bagels were always a part of our life, a part of our household," Silverman, who grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts, says. "When I moved to New York 10 years ago, and I had my first New York bagel, [I] realized that I'd been eating bagel-shaped bread my entire life."

This ignited his passion to explore New York through the lens of finding the best bagels. When he discovered New York didn't have a bagel festival, Silverman started BagelFest. This was seven years ago. And led to the launch of BagelUp.

"BagelUp is all about celebrating bagels, the culture and the people behind them," says Silverman, nicknamed "the New York bagel ambassador" by Utopia Bagels. "This food evokes such amazing nostalgia and comfort and feelings of joy and excitement, it's [easy] to find other people who feel [the same] way."

Sam Silverman shares his love of bagels, bagel history, and the origins of BagelUp and BagelFest. He also talks about his schmear hack, the secret to making good bagels, and his favorite bagel recipe, which you can find at https://JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

National Bagel Day is January 15. Happy Bagel Day to all who celebrate!

Learn more at BagelUp.com and BagelFest.com. Follow @bagelambassador on TikTok and Instagram, and connect with Sam on LinkedIn.

For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Halle Stanford, executive producer and co-creator of "The Monty Pickle Show" and Monty Pickle himself.

A kosher dill with a lot of personality, Monty Pickle is the first-ever series aimed at introducing kids to the Jewish experience and Jewish joy. Monty's YouTube channel has videos of him performing the new Hanukkah song "8 is Great" with Kosha Dillz, as well as cooking episodes: solo and with celebrity chef Duff Goldman.

"I think that kids not only love food, they love seeing how food is made," Monty says. "[They] like a little peek behind the curtain."

"Monty's amazing," says Stanford, a primetime and children's Emmy award-winner, who produced content for the Jim Henson Company for more than 30 years. "What better way to introduce [children] to [the Jewish experience] than through an amazing pickle puppet."

Stanford teamed up with former "Sesame Street" EP and creative director Benjamin Lehmann and world-renowned puppeteer Victor Yerrid to create Monty. They then went out and recruited colleagues from the kid's content world, including Emmy-nominated children's TV showrunner and writer Elise Allen, Emmy Award-winning producer Jill Hotchkiss and Emmy Award-winning producer, Jewish educator and founder of Hebrew Helpers Todd Shotz, to bring him to life.

"There's a lot of children's media that does celebrate Jewish characters," says Stanford, who created the show, "Sid, the Science Kid;" the first Jewish preschooler. "And you can even think of your favorite episode [in a specific show.]"

However, Monty is the first actual series that dives "deep into the pickle barrel of all kinds of Jewish cultural experiences," she explains. " You instill empathy and joy for the Jewish experience in all children globally, that's gonna carry on."

Monty Pickle and Halle Stanford talk about the show's origin story and its purpose: to get kids and their parents laughing out loud together and celebrating being Jewish. They also share their recipe for pickle latkes, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

Learn more at TheMontyPickleShow.com, subscribe to @MontyPickleShow on YouTube and follow @MontyPickleShow on Instagram and @Monty_Pickle_Show on TikTok.

For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.