Casey Barber is re-defining junk food with her first cookbook, Classic Snacks Made From Scratch! This week on Eat Your Words, Casey joins Cathy Erway in the studio to talk about why she wrote a book dedicated to making junk food. From Twinkies to Goldfish, find out what recipes proved to be difficult to recreate. Casey's recipes forgo preservatives and artificial flavorings; learn what junk foods lend themselves to this style of baking. Later, Casey talks about her blog, GoodFoodStories.com, and some of her upcoming posts. Hear about Casey's rediscovery of the gimlet, and how she's recently been delving into the world of cocktails. This program has been sponsored by Fairway Market. Thanks to The California Honeydrops for today's musical break.

"It started out as a joke. What am I going to write a book about- homemade junk food? Well, tt turned out to be a pretty good idea." [10:15]

-- Casey Barber on Eat Your Words

Chef Michael Solomonov takes his birthright to heart. Born in Israel, raised in Pittsburg, it wasn’t until his late teens that Michael returned to his homeland and his inner cuisine spoke to him. He didn’t speak Hebrew, so he learned to bake burekas (spinach pies) innately. Eventually making way to Philly, Michael opened Zahav restaurant, his ode to modern Israeli food. Plentiful of hummus, mezzes, and kebabs, all inclusive of the “Mesibah” (Party Time), which highlights a whole roast lamb shoulder, grilled over coals, braised in pomegranate juice, and served with crispy Persian rice. Michael finally found a way to celebrate his place in the world. Thanks to our sponsor, Whole Foods.

"In Israel, you could go to the store and buy beer whenever you wanted- it really wasn't a big deal. And staying up and eating is a big deal." [9:45]

"We want the menu and experience at Zahav to be sort of living and breathing, and when you start getting absolute, it doesn't work out as well." [25:15]

-- Mike Solomonov on THE FOOD SEEN

On this installment of Meet Your Maker, Rachel Wharton sits down with Mark Ramadan and Scott Norton of Sir Kensington's Gourmet Scooping Ketchup. Tune in to hear Mark and Scott talk about their idea for an alternative, gourmet ketchup while studying at Brown University. A lot of research went into making this gourmet ketchup; hear about the impetus for this undertaking, and why it proved to be difficult to create a place for gourmet ketchup in a Heinz-dominated market. Why is ketchup loved by so many? Mark and Scott talk about how ketchup covers all ranges of tastes- from sweet to tart. Hear about ketchup's history in the 1500s and why Mark and Scott created the Sir Kensington character. This episode has been brought to you by Edwards.

"Part of what ketchup means to people is the experience of the bottle. It is seeing the certain flow of the actual ketchup itself and the viscosity. I think one of the things we really hit on is how we can be different just different enough from the ketchup that people are used to, but people will still call it ketchup. Putting it in the bottle at a restaurant immediately communicates, 'OK, this can be called ketchup,' because it comes from outside the kitchen." -- Scott Norton on Meet Your Maker