Host With The Most: Samantha Seneviratne Transcript
Kerry Diamond:
Hi, everyone. You are listening to Radio Cherry Bombe and I'm your host, Kerry Diamond coming to you from Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center in the heart of New York City. I'm the founder and editor of Cherry Bombe Magazine. Each week I talk to the most interesting culinary creatives in and around the world of food. Today is one of our hosts with the most episodes. This December, I'm talking to some of the most sparkly folks I know about celebrations, gift giving, holiday eats, and more. Today's subject is holiday cookies.
Our guest is Samantha Seneviratne, a food stylist, recipe developer, New York Times Cooking contributor and baker who some of you know from “Everyday Cooking” on the Magnolia Network. Sam is also the author of three baking books, including her brand new one, “Bake Smart: Sweets and Secrets from My Oven to Yours.” What else? Sam is a Cherry Bombe cover star. Hopefully you all saw her issue this summer. If not, you can snag one at cherrybombe.com. Sam joins me to talk about the New York Times Cooking Holiday Cookie Spectacular, also known as Cookie Week. Sam not only contributed a recipe for a delicious cookie, but she also styled the whole package. Definitely take a look if you haven't seen it yet, and stay tuned for my chat with Samantha Seneviratne.
Today's episode is supported by Kerrygold. The holidays are here and Kerrygold wants to help you make life more festive and delicious with its beautiful butter and cheese made with milk from Irish grass-fed cows. If you are baking and I hope you are, be sure to stock up on Kerrygold pure Irish butter. Kerrygold's unsalted sticks are always in my fridge for whatever I need to whip up, cookies, cakes, biscuits, or some pie dough. Switching to savory for a sec. If you want to impress folks at mealtime, try Kerrygold's new butter blends. These compound butters are perfectly on trend and are great slathered on bread tossed with some roasted veggies or melted on top of a baked potato. Try Kerrygold Butter Blends in sun-dried tomato and basil, bell pepper and garden herbs, or chive and onion. I'm sure you can think of a million ways to use them. And then it's not a holiday without a cheese board. If you are a long-time listener, you know I absolutely love Kerrygold Cashel Blue Farmhouse Cheese. It's my favorite blue ever. There are lots of other Kerrygold cheeses to explore and adore, including the classic Kerrygold Reserve Cheddar and the Gouda-style Blarney Cheese. Add some crackers. I love those ones with dried fruit and nuts in them. You know the ones, maybe some jam or honey and a little jar decorate with a few sprigs of rosemary. And there you go, a perfect cheeseboard. That's definitely one way to host with the most. For more on Kerrygold, visit kerrygoldusa.com where you can find great recipes, product information, and a store locator. That's kerrygoldusa.com.
If you're looking for a gift for your favorite foodie, we have some great ideas for you. You can get a gift subscription to Cherry Bombe's print magazine at cherrybombe.com. Get four issues of our gorgeous magazine in 2024 and free shipping. We also have Cherry Bombe membership starting at $50. Visit cherrybombe.com for gift guides and more.
Now, let's check in with today's guest. Samantha Seneviratne, welcome to Radio Cherry Bombe.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Thank you for having me, Kerry.
Kerry Diamond:
We are going to kick things off with what is probably most people's favorite subject, cookies. New York Times Cooking debuted its annual holiday cookie collection the other week, and it was a show-stopper. As usual, you contributed a cookie and you styled the whole Cookie Week package. Congratulations.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Thank you. Yeah, it was a big opportunity for me.
Kerry Diamond:
When does the planning begin for Cookie Week?
Samantha Seneviratne:
I think it varies. I talked to Susan Spungen who did a previous issue and she said it took months and months for them but I-
Kerry Diamond:
Well, she did the whole one.
Samantha Seneviratne:
She did the whole packet and conceived of all the recipes and everything, so I think that was a longer process. I feel like we started talking about it maybe in September. Not super early, but then it came down to sort of I pitched my ideas and didn't hear anything for a little while and then it was like a mad scramble to come up with the package.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. So tell us how that works. I imagine there's a lot of competition to get one of your cookies in there.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Bless them. They asked me to contribute a cookie this year. I contributed one maybe two years ago too, and there was a big spread of a mix, but they asked me, which I was very lucky about.
Kerry Diamond:
It's not like a magazine article kind of where you're sending in a pitch and you have no idea.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Not as far as I know. Not this year, at least. This year, they came to me and asked me to pitch recipes. But then I pitched all my recipes, didn't hear anything for a while, and then they came back to me and said, "We actually want you to do something specific." So then I had to change course.
Kerry Diamond:
How many did you pitch?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Probably like five. Not that many.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. Were any in your cookbook?
Samantha Seneviratne:
No, because it happened later.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh my god.
Samantha Seneviratne:
They're all new.
Kerry Diamond:
These mystery cookies.
Samantha Seneviratne:
I saved them though.
Kerry Diamond:
They're going to haunt me. So they came to you and said, "We have something specific we want you to do."
Samantha Seneviratne:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
What was their brief?
Samantha Seneviratne:
So Kristen who's one of the New York Times cooking food editors responded to my pitch and said, "Actually, what we really need is a big visual moment. We want some kind of decorated cookie, something really special to look at, to sort of round out the package. And she said, "We think you can do it." Because I work as a food stylist too and I food style for the New York Times sometimes as well. So they said, come up with something special.
Kerry Diamond:
And you came up with a real showstopper. Tell us about this cookie.
Samantha Seneviratne:
It's a sugar cookie, a spiced orange sugar cookie, cut into little rectangles, and then I poured over a royal icing glaze to sort of make this beautiful swirled gorgeous pattern.
Kerry Diamond:
It's called technicolor shortbread.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Technicolor shortbread.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. I mean, it is so technicolor and when I saw it, I was like... Not knowing it was yours, I swear. Hand on a Bible, did not know it was yours. I was like, "Oh, I wonder if it tastes as good as it looks." Because to me it was one of those cookies and you get a lot of those during the holidays where it was like, "Looks first, maybe taste second." But I felt like this was firing on all cylinders.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Thanks, Kerry. I mean, I have to say when Kristen came to me first and said, "We want you to come up with something," I pushed back a little bit because royal icing decorated cookies are not really something I do. I'm not very good at the precise piping work that it takes. Also, they're not my favorite cookies to eat in general, so I said, "Do I have to?"
Kerry Diamond:
Maybe I'm confusing it with something else, but isn't royal icing usually hard?
Samantha Seneviratne:
It is hard.
Kerry Diamond:
Royal icing is not always my favorite either, but I love this.
Samantha Seneviratne:
It's more a decorating thing. It's very sweet and that's sort of where it ends. But I do owe a lot of credit to Vaughn because I think he could tell that I was resisting this assignment a little bit.
Kerry Diamond:
Vaughn who's a producer at NYT Cooking?
Samantha Seneviratne:
I was on set another day working on some hands and pans videos with a video team and he said, "You know what? I made some royal icing. Let's just play. Let's just have some fun and figure something out." And so he's so wonderful. I'm so grateful that he did that because we messed around and tried some different techniques and then came up with this thing together. And then I took it home and worked it out and figured out how to write it up and make it happen. But he really was supportive and got me excited about the assignment.
Kerry Diamond:
Did you tweak the royal icing recipe at all?
Samantha Seneviratne:
There's a standard ratio, but I had to make a ton of it because you have to pour it over this cookies and there's a little bit of waste. So you have to just make a lot. I did try to flavor it with different things. One batch, I added orange oil, which was a terrible idea because actually it will never set with any fat in it, and I didn't really realize that. So I'd made this huge, beautiful batch and then the next morning they were all still... I mean I made a million batches if I'm being very honest, so I went through a lot of trial and error of trying to flavor it, and in the end I just decided let's make the cookie as beautiful and delicious as possible and we'll keep the royal icing basic.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, the cookie is so flavorful.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Oh, good. I think you could make that cookie without the icing and you could fill it or you could just dip it in chocolate or you could do other things to that basic cookie if you didn't feel like going the royal icing route.
Kerry Diamond:
Let's just talk about the icing a little bit more because it's like this blurred rainbow effect as it says in the name of the cookie, technicolor. Are you pouring different glazes over the top?
Samantha Seneviratne:
So you make one big batch of royal icing and then you divide it into little bowls, however colors you want to use. Then you combine those colors into another bowl. I did it in stripey bars in another bowl and then you can pour that over the cookie. It's sort of like when you make a mirror glaze to go over cakes. That technique of mixing the different colors of mirror glaze and then they swirl in the bowl and then they pour on. And how you lay it in your bowl, how you lay the different colors is going to affect the swirl.
I did it in bars because I liked how the lines drew out as you poured the colors, but you could do it in any way that you like. You could experiment with that and make a whole new look for the cookies.
Kerry Diamond:
And if folks are like, "What the heck is Kerry and Sam talking about?" You can go look at a video that you did on NYT Cooking.
We'll be right back. Today's episode is also sponsored by San Pellegrino. There's no better way to add some sparkle to your holiday table than with premium sparkling water from San Pellegrino. The unique balance of effervescence and rich minerality cleanse the palate and amplify subtle flavors making it the perfect compliment to find food and wines. And the cherry on top? We love how the iconic green bottles make any tablescape look festive and bright for the holiday season.
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The new holiday issue of Cherry Bombe's print magazine Host With The Most is here with culinary superstar Molly Baz on the cover. Inside you'll find profiles on your fave foodies and creatives, lots of hosting tips and delicious recipes perfect for your holiday gatherings. You can snag a copy at cherrybombe.com or pick up a copy at a retailer near you like Arcastratus in Brooklyn, Book Larder in Seattle, Omnivore Books on Food in San Francisco, and Salt & Sundry in Washington D.C. Check out cherrybombe.com for our complete list of retailers.
Let's talk about the cookie itself. Because the cookie was so flavorful, I didn't even notice that the royal icing wasn't flavored.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Oh, good. That's-
Kerry Diamond:
Because it's beautifully spiced, the cookie.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
Tell everybody what's in it.
Samantha Seneviratne:
So there's cinnamon, and cardamom, and orange zest, which is basically, those are my favorite flavors. My first book was called “The New Sugar and Spice.” I'm obsessed with baking the spices, so it's a very me cookie to have those spices specifically. And I always use... You can see in the video too, I don't like... Pre-ground cinnamon is totally fine, but for me, pre-ground cardamom just doesn't do it justice. So I would highly recommend bashing some cardamom pods and then using the cardamom straight from that. I also like how it looks when there's sort of little flecks of cardamom and it's not quite as evenly dispersed. Personal preference.
Kerry Diamond:
That's great tip. Let's talk about the cookie event, because I was so happy to be invited to this event. It was like an unveiling of the New York Times cooking holiday cookies. Oh my God. It was one of the best food events of the year that I'd been to. I felt like I went to cookie heaven and sadly you weren't there.
Samantha Seneviratne:
I wasn't. I was shooting.
Kerry Diamond:
I'm sorry to rub it in about what a good event it was. But we got to hear from some of the folks, some of the other folks who made cookies, Sohla El-Waylly. It's always good to see Sohla. Melissa Clark, Eric Kim, Vaughn, who we talked about. It was so much fun. You really don't get to hear about baking and the inspiration behind cookies. So I just really enjoyed hearing it directly from the folks who had made the cookies and the different experiments they had to go through. Eric has had some matcha and he talked about everything he had to do to get the matcha flavor to come forward, but not too much. I don't know. I loved hearing how people did their cookies. And Melissa's, hers was... I shouldn't say this out loud, in case Melissa listens, but maybe she won't hear this. Her gingerbread-
Samantha Seneviratne:
Blondie.
Kerry Diamond:
... blondie was my second favorite.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Those are delicious.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah.
Samantha Seneviratne:
They're really. I mean, I got to taste them all, so that's... I didn't get to come to the party, but I did get to eat a lot of all of them.
Kerry Diamond:
And just under baked enough. Oh, I love a little under bake.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Yeah, totally.
Kerry Diamond:
It sounds like under boob. I love a little under bake on my brownies and cookies.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Oh, those are really fudgey, and dense, and delicious, and chewy.
Kerry Diamond:
I might need to make those as well. I'd be intimidated to make yours a little. Tell us why we shouldn't be intimidated or should we?
Samantha Seneviratne:
No, absolutely not. My number one goal in general is to just help people bake and be happy, and not feel intimidated. They're very simple to make and I think the key, the thing that makes them even easier is when you make the dough, you roll out the dough immediately. So instead of chilling a block of cookie dough until it's hard, and then bringing it back out and having to wrestle with it a little bit and roll it out, you make the dough and then you roll it out immediately, which makes rolling out the dough super duper simple.
If you do it between two pieces of parchment, you don't need any extra flour or anything like that, and you can roll them out in minutes and then chill it and then cut them and bake them quickly. I did them in this rectangle shape, which is actually my favorite shape for cut cutout cookies, because you don't need any special equipment, so you don't need any special cutters or anything. There's very little waste because they're rectangles. So they fit together and I always use my ruler. You can see it in the video. I use my ruler, the width of my ruler to cut out one inch strips.
You don't have to fuss with as many markings. Maybe if you're going to do the other direction, you do have to mark them, but you don't have to. And if you use a pizza wheel, which is what I use at home, you can zip through the dough really, really easily, easily. So they're pretty simple, and I think that tile shape is actually really nice too for pouring the glaze. I experimented with a lot of other shapes at home, but when you're pouring the glaze over things that have diamonds, for example, then there's holes in between, space in between each cookie on the rack. So then you're just pouring glaze into an abyss, which is sad. So I figured that the tile-
Kerry Diamond:
Is there an abyss in your apartment that you pour glaze into?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Yeah, big crevices of glaze. So if you have rectangles and you line them up next to each other, then you can pour the glaze over them without as much waste. So that was sort of why I made a case. They really wanted me to do diamonds, but I said tiles are going to be better.
Kerry Diamond:
As mentioned, not only did you make the technicolor shortbread cookies, you styled the whole package. Not to nerd out so much, but I really look forward to this package every year. Also, because you do a print execution of it. You do this big gorgeous version in the print edition of the New York Times. Were you so excited when they asked you to style it?
Samantha Seneviratne:
It was beside myself. So, so excited. It's a huge opportunity and I'm really grateful that they trusted me with it.
Kerry Diamond:
So you worked with Johnny Miller, who we've never had on the show, but Johnny and I have worked together a lot over the years. I used to do a column for InStyle called Table For Two, and Johnny shot most of the photos for that. And he shot a lot of our friends cookbooks over the years like Angie Mar's. So he's such a talent.
Samantha Seneviratne:
He's wonderful. He shot my cookbook.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, he did?
Samantha Seneviratne:
He shot “Bake Smart.”
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I love that you got to work together again then. And your book is gorgeous. We'll talk about it in just a few minutes, but how do you approach an assignment like that? It's the New York Times. I know you're one of their contributors already, but that's a big important project.
Samantha Seneviratne:
It is. I've worked with the photo team before as a food stylist, so thankfully they trusted me. Did we even have a lot of calls beforehand? They had a vision. They had a really strong vision of the colors and the layout and things like that. So once we got to the studio, everyone was pretty well organized. Johnny and I have worked together a bunch before too, so it flowed. It looked beautiful. We had a really good time. It was great.
Kerry Diamond:
How many days did you have to do it?
Samantha Seneviratne:
I had two shoot days and I had two prep days.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. What are some of your favorite cookies to make during the holidays?
Samantha Seneviratne:
So I did actually for Martha Stewart ages ago, I did a cookie called a Jamaretti. It's sort of like a cross between a shortbread and a sugar cookie, but I folded in almond paste, so it becomes sort of a denser, it has a little more chew. I love almond extract. I love almond flavored things. So that's the cookie and then it has sort of a trough of jam going down the center, and then you sort of slice it like biscotti. They're very easy to make and they're really, really pretty, and you can change out the jam and make lots of different colors and they're delicious.
Kerry Diamond:
I have to ask you about the almond extract and the marzipan because I feel like I've bought not great almond extract over the years.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Oh, yeah?
Kerry Diamond:
Do you have one you like?
Samantha Seneviratne:
That's a good question. Does Nielsen-Massey, is that the one that makes the vanilla? I think that's the almond extract I have to-
Kerry Diamond:
And marzipan. What do you look for in a good marzipan?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Oh, I just buy the tube at the supermarket.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. You don't have to be too fussy.
Samantha Seneviratne:
I'm not so fussy about it. I do sometimes add... And this is me because I love almond extract so much, I add a little more extract on top. I'll smell the marzipan or taste the marzipan. If it doesn't taste almond extracty enough, then I might add a little more.
Kerry Diamond:
So almond on almond. Okay. What's an easy but impressive holiday cookie?
Samantha Seneviratne:
I mean, I love a biscotti because biscotti are easy to make. You can make a ton of them at once. Which cookies that you have to bake in batches over and over and over again, that's spread, so you can only do a few on a tray are kind of tedious, but biscotti are so great because they don't spread, so you can fit a million on a tray. And so you can bake so many at once. They're supposed to be crunchy, so they freeze really well and they ship really well. They're cute. You can eat them for breakfast or dessert.
Kerry Diamond:
What's your favorite add-in?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Oh, marzipan. I know. I have a recipe in my book that I really love that has cherries, chocolate and chunks of marzipan, and that is one of my favorites.
Kerry Diamond:
Ooh, that sounds really good. Any other baked goods you'd love to make during the holidays?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Oh, any yeasted bread.
Kerry Diamond:
You and the yeasted bread, that is your favorite.
Samantha Seneviratne:
I know I talked to Jessie about that too.
Kerry Diamond:
And we talked about that when we did the interview for your Cherry Bombe cover.
Samantha Seneviratne:
I'm already looking forward to it because I think work is going to slow down in a couple days. My son is going away for Christmas with his dad, and so I have all this beautiful butter in the fridge that's waiting for a yeasted bread or maybe even a croissant or a Danish or something.
Kerry Diamond:
How did you become the queen of the yeasted bread?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Well, that's self-proclaimed queen of the yeasted bread. I love how they feel. I just love kneading them. I think they're easier to make than a sourdough or those kinds of yeasted breads. They're a little more forgiving and they just feel so nice in your hands. They're so fun to shape and they're so satisfying to eat, so they're my favorite.
Kerry Diamond:
I know you've got a lot of recipes in your book, but are you okay with just the basic packaged yeast in the supermarket?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Totally. Absolutely. I like active dry yeast. That's-
Kerry Diamond:
Good old Fleischmann's?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Yeah. Fleischmann's, Red Star, whatever you got.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay.
Samantha Seneviratne:
That stuff is great.
Kerry Diamond:
Good to know. Embarrassed to even tell you this. I grew up with the Pillsbury cinnamon rolls that you like whack the can.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Those are delicious.
Kerry Diamond:
You bake them and then you frost them. I love the frosting. But I've never attempted to make them from scratch.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Really? Oh my gosh, Kerry. You have to.
Kerry Diamond:
I need to do that.
Samantha Seneviratne:
They're very easy to make. Also. Do you have a mixer? If you don't want to knead it by hand.
Kerry Diamond:
I do not. I have a hand mixer.
Samantha Seneviratne:
A hand mixer. Then you're going to have to knead it by hand.
Kerry Diamond:
Knead by hand. It's okay. a little workout.
Samantha Seneviratne:
But its fun.
Kerry Diamond:
A little upper body workout.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Yeah. It's fun and very easy. Much more forgiving than other doughs.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. All right. Let's talk about your book. It's gorgeous.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
Is it your third or fourth book?
Samantha Seneviratne:
This is technically my fourth book. It's my third baking book.
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. “Bake Smart: Sweets and Secrets from My Oven to Yours.” Or I should point the other way from your oven to mine. Give us a synopsis.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Well, it's a baking book obviously. It's more teaching than... Some of my past books have been a little more memoiry, so this one you don't have to hear about me specifically. It's more just about cooking. And it's really, I wanted to demystify things to a certain degree. I really believe in giving people enough information that they can feel confident and empowered, but not too much that it's then intimidating or overwhelming. So that's what I hope to achieve. I have had the pleasure of working in the industry for a long time, working on my own books and other people's books, and I've learned a ton of things from so many different people, Martha Stewart, all the editors there. I just have had a really lucky career to learn from really smart people. So I tried to put in a lot of the little insights and assurances along the way so that people can just feel less intimidated in general.
Kerry Diamond:
Jessie Sheehan who hosts our baking podcast, She's My Cherry pie flipped out over your cookbook.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Oh, she's such a sweetheart.
Kerry Diamond:
She just thought it was so good and just such a good teaching book.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Oh, good. I mean, really, I get so much pleasure out of baking. I use it to make friends. I use it to take care of myself. I use it to show love to my family. And I feel like it's a really attainable skill. There's a lot of crafts that I find too hard. I took a pottery class for a while that I was terrible at, but baking is so attainable, it's so achievable, and it's so fun. My goal is just to try to make it seem easy for people and accessible and so that they can have a little bit of that joy.
Kerry Diamond:
Since we're talking about cookies, tell us a fun cookie recipe in the book.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Ooh, there's so many good ones.
Kerry Diamond:
You've got cookies on the cover?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Yeah. Two different kinds of chocolate chip cookies. There's the big fat sort of Levain Bakery inspired. I am making a lot of faces because I'm trying to describe this big monstrous cookie and then-
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. You've never had a Levain there. They're the beast of chocolate chip cookies.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Yeah, exactly. Like a meal of a chocolate chip cookie. And then you have the smaller chewier, more dainty chocolate chip cookies. And then I also have in the book like a thin and crisp one and then an all chocolate one. So one has a chocolate dough and then white milk and dark chocolate inside. I have a whole range of chocolate chip cookies, which is fun. So I think that all chocolate cookie is, I think, one of my all time best recipes.
Kerry Diamond:
Is it chocolate chocolate chip?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Uh-huh. With different kinds of chocolate. It's a variation. I did one for the New York Times. That was a chocolate chocolate chip, and so it's a slight variation of that.
Kerry Diamond:
Recipe. How many kinds of chocolate?
Samantha Seneviratne:
They're actually called all the chocolate cookies in the book. So it's milk, dark, white, plus the cocoa in the dough. They're good.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I need to try that. What kind of cocoa do you use?
Samantha Seneviratne:
I prefer Dutch processed cocoa because I think the flavor is chocolatier versus sometimes natural cocoa has a fruity essence that's not my favorite. So that's why I make most of my things with Dutch process.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I love the idea of using all those different chocolates. How did you get your start in the industry?
Samantha Seneviratne:
I went to culinary school at night while I was working for WNET in the day and then I got an internship in the Saveur Test Kitchen, which is just the most wonderful experience ever, and really helped me understand that food media was the place for me.
Kerry Diamond:
I remember that story. That's how you fell into food styling by accident, right?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
You didn't even know you had a skill for it.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Well, actually I would assist my boss on food shoots when I was an intern there, and then I applied for a job at Fine Cooking Magazine. That was originally listed. I mean, this is kind of amazing. It was listed as an associate food editor job, so I applied to it as an associate food editor, but then they called me and said, "Actually what we really need is a food stylist." And I said, "Oh, yeah, sure, I can do that." And so then I went and had my test and interview and everything, and amazingly got the job. So then I just had to learn how to do it while I was there, which worked out fine.
Kerry Diamond:
That's incredible. Why did you go to culinary school? What were you hoping the outcome would be?
Samantha Seneviratne:
I was torn because it's expensive, but I really knew I wanted to be in food media. I wanted to get a job at a magazine. That was what I wanted. And every job description that I had seen included experience or culinary school. And so culinary school seemed faster, frankly.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. There you go. But you knew you wanted to bake and work in food from a young age. I remember a story that you were making pavlovas out of soap bubbles in the tub as a little kid. Who does that?
Samantha Seneviratne:
I had seen some PBS cooking show, then just took it from there and made them in the bath.
Kerry Diamond:
Pavlova is very advanced for a child. Maybe not an Australian kid, but here.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Right. I'm not sure I even knew what it was, but I had fun pretending.
Kerry Diamond:
So you knew all the way back then?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Oh, yeah. I wanted to be a baker and a librarian when I was a little kid because cooking and reading were my favorite things.
Kerry Diamond:
I know. Best of both worlds.
Samantha Seneviratne:
I know. It worked out.
Kerry Diamond:
You have a show that's on the Magnolia Network. It's called “Everyday Cooking.” How did that come about?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Wow. I was so lucky. They came to me and asked me to do a workshop for them. So I did a breakfast baking workshop, which was really fun. And then after that they asked me if I wanted to try doing a show, which was also really fun and really hard. It was very hard.
Kerry Diamond:
Really? You can't tell. I was going to say, you seem so effortless and natural.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Oh, really?
Kerry Diamond:
Yeah. It feels real to me. Not like I'm watching a fake cooking show.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Good. I mean, it is very much just the way that I cook and the way that I live. My son is on the show and my parents come on the show. It feels very true, but there's something... I've done a million cooking videos for the internet. The way that we do them now, they cut it together. It's very short. Bloopers are absolutely part of the thing, and it's fun to watch people mess up or have fun. TV is different and there's a lot of time to fill.
I just felt a great pressure to do a good job and to have a lot to say and a lot to teach, and really use my platform wisely. So that responsibility felt big.
Kerry Diamond:
It's less edited and it's more real time?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Well, it's 25 minutes versus five. So it's just more time. I don't know. Is it different? Maybe.
Kerry Diamond:
That totally makes sense. Totally makes sense. Well, if folks haven't watched it, it's great. And you'll see why we love Samantha so much and why we put her on our cover. Thank you again for doing that cover. That was such a bright spot of 2023.
Samantha Seneviratne:
It was so fun. I love those women. They're all wonderful women and Jenny is amazing.
Kerry Diamond:
Jenny Livingston who shoots our covers. I still can't believe we shot it back stage at Jubilee.
Samantha Seneviratne:
I know. But the vibe was so good. The spirits were high, so you can tell.
Kerry Diamond:
Covers are so hard to shoot and the fact that we did that on the same day as our biggest conference.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Yeah, you're nuts.
Kerry Diamond:
It was a little nutty, but it worked out. It worked out.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Yeah, it did.
Kerry Diamond:
It's a gorgeous cover and it makes me smile every time I see it.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Good. Me too.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay, we've got a few more weeks left in the year. Any holiday stuff you're doing? Any cookie swaps or cookie boxes? Anything like that?
Samantha Seneviratne:
I mean, to be very honest, I think my baking is done. I've done a lot of baking up until this point, and now as work dies down, what I want to do is not bake or cook, so I'm going to the beach with a friend.
Kerry Diamond:
You are?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Yeah.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, I love that. Well, the rest of us will be baking because we didn't bake all year like you did.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Exactly.
Kerry Diamond:
Or have a baking cookbook that required even more baking.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Yeah. I'm going to take a break.
Kerry Diamond:
Do you like to eat baked goods during the holidays?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Oh yeah, of course. I love it. Because of the marzipan love, I mean, I look for a Stollen anywhere I go. I love them. I love everything with marzipan.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. Now we know. Now we know. We're going to do a little speed round.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Okay. I'm ready.
Kerry Diamond:
One of your favorite books on food or cookbooks?
Samantha Seneviratne:
“In the Sweet Kitchen” by Regan Daley. It's such a great book. A friend gave it to me before I was even in food. She just knew I loved to bake and it was sort of the most inspiring book ever. And there's flavor charts in it along with recipes and a lot of science and a lot of good information. It's a great, great book.
Kerry Diamond:
Favorite food movie?
Samantha Seneviratne:
“Tampopo.” I mean, who doesn't love to learn more about ramen?
Kerry Diamond:
Do you have a favorite holiday song?
Samantha Seneviratne:
I'm a secret holiday music Grinch. I can't stand it.
Kerry Diamond:
Favorite kitchen tool? I know you have a favorite kitchen tool.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Oh, yes. An offset spatula. I love an offset spatula. Also, a sauce whisk. I talk to Jessie a lot about my flat whisk.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. I was so fascinated.
Samantha Seneviratne:
I'm so into it.
Kerry Diamond:
I've never heard about one of those.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Yeah, we need to get more people on the flat whisk. It's just a whisk that's flat, but you can fold things together with it. You can whisk things, obviously. You can stir things. I don't know. I use it so much, my flat whisk.
Kerry Diamond:
It's so funny. You were so enthusiastic about it on She's My Cherry Pie. I made a note. I was like, "Do I need a flat whisk?" I think I do.
Samantha Seneviratne:
And then also for sauces. I mean, it's really great to whisk in a roux or make a custard. It's a great whisk.
Kerry Diamond:
One thing that's always in your fridge?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Milk.
Kerry Diamond:
Favorite childhood food?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Eclairs. I was obsessed with eclairs as a little kid.
Kerry Diamond:
Snack food of choice? I'm so curious because you have to make sweet things all the time for work.
Samantha Seneviratne:
It's true. I never snack on sweet things. I'm a savory snacker, so like chips or my son loves those snap peas. Do you know what those are? They're like dehydrated snap peas and I sneak those when he's not looking.
Kerry Diamond:
Footwear of choice in the kitchen.
Samantha Seneviratne:
I switch it up. I wear sneakers for half the day. Then I might switch into clogs or boots or I think it's the changing of footwear that helps me in the kitchen.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. Because you stand all day.
Samantha Seneviratne:
All day.
Kerry Diamond:
Any motto or mantra that gets you through the day?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Something will happen and then we go home. That's what I tell myself all the time. Don't be stressed out. Something's going to happen, and then we'll go home.
Kerry Diamond:
Okay. Last question. If you had to be stuck on a desert island with one food celebrity, who would it be and why?
Samantha Seneviratne:
It's so hard. I mean, can I just say Dorie Greenspan? She's a wonderful person and I learned so much from her and she's a delight.
Kerry Diamond:
Oh, tell us a little bit more. Why Dorie?
Samantha Seneviratne:
Dorie gave me the opportunity to style her last cookbook, which was a huge deal for me and really fun and wonderful. Also, she hired me to do some work for her in her house, so I've been to her house in Connecticut and she made a sandwiches and she's just a lovely person. I also really look up to her. I've learned so much from her books and then also in person and working on her book. She's been a really big supporter of me too over the years, and I appreciate it.
Kerry Diamond:
We all love Dorie.
Samantha Seneviratne:
She's magical.
Kerry Diamond:
I just had a vision of her like reading us bedtime stories, stuck on the desert island and just assuring us it was all going to be okay.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Exactly. I would feel very safe with Dorie.
Kerry Diamond:
Well, Sam, thank you so much for being a big part of Cherry Bombe this year.
Samantha Seneviratne:
Oh my absolute pleasure, Kerry. Thank you.
Kerry Diamond:
That's it for today's show. Our theme song is by the band, Tralala. Joseph Hazen is the studio engineer for Newsstand Studios. Our producer is Catherine Baker, our associate producer is Jenna Sadhu, and our editorial assistant is Londyn Crenshaw. Thanks for listening, everybody. You're the Bombe.