What comes to mind when you hear the word rest? Is it a hammock swaying between two trees? Is it a slow afternoon in the kitchen, or laughter around a table with friends? Perhaps rest feels like something elusive, something you want but can’t f

On Salt

Mar 26th, 2023 16m 37s

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 rol

On Yeast

Mar 19th, 2023 17m 41s

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

On Water

Mar 12th, 2023 16m 13s

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 wa

On Flour

Mar 5th, 2023 17m 32s

Six years ago, the Catholic Church made headlines when it re-affirmed a long held stance on Communion: the bread used for the Sacrament must contain wheat. The stance can be traced back to the writing of Thomas Aquinas and is shaped by cultural

On White Bread Alone

Feb 26th, 2023 23m 48s

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.Order your copy of By Brea

On King Cake

Feb 19th, 2023 18m 8s

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 tradition

On Lenten Fasting

Feb 12th, 2023 15m 13s

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

On Allergies

Feb 5th, 2023 16m 27s

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 i

On Biblical Diets

Jan 29th, 2023 18m 44s

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

On Diets & Identity

Jan 22nd, 2023 17m 13s

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 en

On Healthy Eating

Jan 15th, 2023 15m 36s

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’

On Clean Eating

Jan 8th, 2023 18m 53s

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase, “clean eating”? Is it raw fruits and vegetables, whole grains and nuts and seeds, milk in a glass bottle and home fermented yogurt? What about…a squishy loaf of Wonderbread? In our second episode on

On Fasting and Feasting

Jan 1st, 2023 16m 50s

Happy New Year! Are you bombarded by messages about how to make this year the best one yet?Are you struggling with the siren call of new dietary plans?Instead, let’s consider the rhythms of fasting and feasting built into the church calendar.

Advent IV: On Opening Up (in collaboration with WeWelcome)

Dec 18th, 2022 14m 53s

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 desi

Advent III: On Laughter (in collaboration with WeWelcome)

Dec 11th, 2022 14m 18s

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 m

Advent II: On Selfless Hospitality (in collaboration with WeWelcome)

Dec 4th, 2022 13m 4s

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 inc

Advent I: On Longing (in collaboration with WeWelcome)

Nov 27th, 2022 15m 41s

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 welco

On Thanksgiving

Nov 20th, 2022 18m 34s

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 toward

On Daily Bread

Nov 13th, 2022 19m 29s

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 Vanderslic

On Grief with Amanda Held Opelt

Oct 30th, 2022 31m 13s

Join us as Kendall Vanderslice sits down with author, speaker, and songwriter Amanda Held Opelt. We reflect on what it’s like to move through grief. How grief affects our whole personhood - spirit, mind, and body. And how food rituals can be a

On Halloween and Soul Cakes

Oct 23rd, 2022 16m 15s

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, includin

On Food in Diaspora with Reem Assil

Oct 16th, 2022 29m 15s

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 pract

On Authentic Food

Oct 9th, 2022 15m 2s

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

On the Places We Call Home with Patrice Gopo

Oct 2nd, 2022 33m 34s

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