On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Elaine Hall, founder of The Miracle Project and contributor to "A Different Spirit: Creating Meaningful B'nai Mitzvah for Children with Disabilities."

The Miracle Project is a fully inclusive theatre, film and social program for neurodivergent, autistic, disabled and non-disabled individuals. "A Different Spirit" addresses creating a similar, but different type of community experience.

The book, compiled by Howard Blas and Ilana Trachtman, offers guidance around celebrating b'nai mitzvah for youth who experience the world differently. It brings together educators, parents, and advocates — including Hall — to share models of ceremonies that are creative, accessible, and personal.

"I had created one of the first b'nai mitzvah programs for autistic youth a number of years ago, called Nes Gadol, through Vista Del Mar," she explains. "My son, Neal, was the first bar mitzvah, so they asked me to share my ideas."

Celebrations are often built around food, but Hall believes they should also be built around awareness. When planning a b'nai mitzvah or any large gathering, she encourages families to think beyond tradition.

"Each child is different; each person is different," she says. "Tune into what that child wants and what makes them happy … If the child loves French fries … even though that may not be typical at a celebration, make sure there's French fries on that table."

Inclusion is not just something to recognize during February for Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion Month (JDAIM); it is something to practice all year long.

"To be inclusive is really natural," Hall says. "It takes 60 seconds to be open, willing, and curious."

Elaine Hall talks about "A Different Spirit," and offers her recommendations for inclusion and belonging for B'nai Mitzvah, as well as everyday gatherings, and living a life of harmony. She also shares her recipe for papaya boats, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

Learn more about Elaine Hall at TheMiracleProject.org, get a copy of "A Different Spirit" and/or contact CoachE@CoachEProductions.com. 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 Michelle Weissman Heston of Heston Cakes. A cake artist with a passion for designing, building, and presenting showstopping desserts, Heston says, "Ultimately, all cake … in my mind should be chocolate."

From hyper-realistic cakes shaped like sneakers, Big Macs, and lox and bagels to simple but dramatic Valentine's Day chocolate cakes, Michelle offers tips for adapting any recipe (yes, even box cake), mastering chocolate ganache, and decorating with intention. She also shares easy ideas for Valentine's flair — including candy-heart surprises baked right into the cake.

"It is my great passion to design, build, and present cakes," she says. "I love talking about cake, I like thinking about cake, and I really like eating cake."

Michelle Heston talks about how food has always been a common thread in her family, why dessert gets the spotlight, and why a truly special cake should tell a story — whether through flavor, filling, or over-the-top décor. She also shares her recipe for chocolate ganache, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

For more cake inspiration, follow @HestonCakes 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 Chef Jeff Strauss, the creative force behind Oy Bar and Jeff's Table, about his journey from Hollywood comedy writer to LA food innovator.

"I have cooked with joy and passion and love for most of my life," he says.

For more than 30 years, Strauss worked as a writer and producer on shows like Friends, Dream On, and Reba, all while quietly nurturing a lifelong love of cooking and bringing people together through food. Encouraged by his wife, who was also in the biz, he finally took the leap , opening Jeff's Table in 2019 and Oy Bar in 2022.

Jeff Strauss talks about his Jewish and food-lover roots and chef origin story. He also dives into his deep appreciation of global flavors - and how they inform his cuisine, his love of Los Angeles' multicultural food scene, and his philosophy that "food is a way that cultures speak to each other, even when sometimes the cultures themselves won't talk." The chef also shares his recipe for Emergency Jewish Deli Dill Pickles, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

Learn more at OyBarLA.com and JeffsTableLA.com, and follow @OyBarLA and @Jeffs___Table 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 matchmaker, dating coach, and TV writer Jaydi Samuels Kuba, author of "Your Last First Date: Secrets from a Hollywood Matchmaker."

Food, dating, and Jewish tradition are all connected. They compliment each other. There's a right and wrong way to choose venues and food for first dates; like finding someone's perfect match, there's an art and craft to it.

For Kuba, matchmaking was a natural progression for her personality; it leaned into her love for connecting people to what - or who - they need.

"I always would help people find new friends, find new jobs, find a roommate, whatever people were searching for in their life," she explains. "As I started getting older, and there was more of a need around me, whether it was friends … co coworkers or colleagues looking for love, I just … started matching people in that way."

Kuba was working as a TV writer for "Family Guy" when she started her matchmaking side hustle, which turned into a full-blown business and passion. It's also how she met her husband, who she matched five times before they started dating. Her book, which she began working on during the writers strike, started as a "how to" before her publisher suggested she changed to a narrative style. In it, she gives dating advice to the characters in the book; info anyone reading can learn from.

Jaydi Samuels Kuba shares her matchmaking journey, what she hopes readers will get out of "Your Last First Date," and lots of dating advice, especially as it relates to restaurants and food recs. She also talks about her bubbe's beloved Jewmaican beef patties recipe, which you can find at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.

Learn more about Jaydi Samuels Kuba at LJMatchmaking.com, follow @MatchMadeinHollywood on Instagram and TikTok, listen to the My podcast: Match Made in Hollywood podcast, and get a copy of "Your Last First Date" at your favorite place to buy books.

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 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.

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with celebrity chef, cookbook author, and TV personality Duff Goldman, Charm City Cakes, in honor of baking season!

"There's so much more baking that happens than other times of the year," he says. "It's our time to shine!"

He also has a bunch of new projects. A few months ago Duff, who is known for making ginormous cakes that come alive, started the Topanga Woodworks Etsy shop. " I built cakes that move, which got me into building toys," he says. "Working with wood, things don't fall apart as much."

Plus, he also just opened his first restaurant, Duff's Deli + Market, in the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The chef, who is constantly working and traveling, saw the need to put a restaurant representing familiarity into an airport hub.

"As somebody who grew up in delis, [there's something] centering that happens when you get a nice bowl of chicken soup or a pastrami sandwich or a brisket with tiger sauce on it and a Dr. Brown's black cherry soda," Duff says. "It's not the thing you expect to find at an airport, but it's the thing you want in an airport."

He adds, "Travel can be stressful, and I find that [having] something good and yummy really helps; it's nice."

Duff Goldman talks about Duff's Deli + Market, Topanga Woodworks, and his thoughts on life, learning, and kindness. He also shares the recipe for his great-grandmother's Russian tea cakes, which you can get at JewishJournal.com/podcasts, along with other baking tips.

"If you have the time, it usually behooves you to try to bake it once before you bake it for the big show," Duff says. "If everyone's coming over for Hanukkah, if you're going to make sufganiyot, make them once by yourself; make the mistakes."

You will be confident in your ability to make them when the time comes.

Learn more at Duff.com, check out Topanga Woodworks on Etsy and subscribe to @Duff-Stuff on YouTube.

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