Latest / The Delicious Culture with Jon Francois / Dating, Heartbreak, & Desserts Are Delicious w/ Julie Seyler

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Dating, Heartbreak, & Desserts Are Delicious w/ Julie Seyler · The Delicious Culture with Jon Francois

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Yo, John Francois here. And as you remember,
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notes, because I am a proud affiliate partner
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of RSS .com. Definitely dessert has made its
1:37
way into the bedroom with me. um at at various
1:41
times do you want to keep that private well it's
1:44
probably a little boring it's a little white
1:45
bread like you know definitely whipped cream
1:47
is always a good one oh never mind sorry i thought
1:50
something different i thought you were just like
1:51
literally using slices of white bread in the
1:52
bedroom oh that's new wonder bread in the bedroom
1:59
wonder bread and some mayonnaise and you're good
2:01
to go Hello, delishies. Grab a plate and taste
2:11
the delicious culture. I'm your host, John Francois.
2:13
We are feasting on food, pop culture, and lifestyle
2:15
with the author of Glutton for Punishment. Just
2:20
desserts for the heartbroken, lovesick, and jilted.
2:23
It is Julie Seiler. Hi, Julie. How's it going?
2:27
Hi. It's gluten for punishment. Here I was. I
2:32
was like so worried about screwing up the pronunciation
2:34
of your last name, and I ended up screwing the
2:37
pronunciation of the word. Gluten. Yes. I'm used
2:43
to the phrase glutton for punishment, right?
2:45
That's that's how it's usually pronounced. Correct.
2:47
Yeah. So it's a little, it's a play on words
2:49
because all the recipes in the book are baking
2:52
and it's full gluten. Love my gluten. So it's
2:56
a little play on the word, on the words, glutton
2:58
for punishment. And we, we slipped it in as gluten
3:00
for punishment instead. Do you know the origin
3:04
of that, that, that, that saying glutton for
3:08
punishment is, is, does that, is that just another
3:11
fancy way of saying like, Hey, this person has
3:14
enough punishment to fill the, an overweight
3:16
person. Is that what they mean by that? I don't
3:18
know. You know, it's, that's interesting. I actually,
3:21
I would think that I would have researched that
3:24
and I didn't, but it's like, it's, it's like
3:28
somebody just needs more and more and more, um,
3:31
glutton, like more and more punishment and they
3:33
can't, they just can't get enough. But where
3:35
that originally came from, I'd love, I'd actually
3:37
love to know that. Well, this is the power of
3:39
a quick internet search. This is what I'm doing
3:41
right now. The phrase glutton for punishment
3:43
comes from 19th century boxing slang. Oh, it
3:48
originally described a fighter who could take
3:50
a massive amount of physical blows and keep coming
3:52
back for more as if they had a greedy appetite
3:55
for the beating. Wow. I love it. Did you guess
3:59
that that would be the meaning? You know, I would
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love for it to be something that's a little bit
4:06
like a Shakespearean comment or something, but
4:08
I actually I get it. I've seen that in boxing.
4:13
Um, and you know, I'm going to have to weave
4:14
that into some story I have coming up now. Cause
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I love it. You know, Oh, boxing and desserts.
4:25
I'm curious about that. Oh, I know that I know
4:29
what the book would be called. If Rocky had a
4:32
rocky road. Ooh, I like that in so many ways
4:35
because it's, you know, my book talks about the.
4:39
rocky road of dating, but then we're also weaving
4:42
it in with desserts. And so it just all, where
4:44
were you when we were coming up with the title?
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I was miserable because I didn't get a chance
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to know you Julie. So now that I am, I feel like
4:53
my life is complete now. Um, I'm so jealous by
4:57
the way, you, you, you, you, I think you were
4:58
taking sips of coffee. Were you trying to wake
5:00
yourself up? Cause I could use some coffee right
5:02
now. I, you know, I am taking sips of coffee.
5:05
Um, I had one cup today. I had a pretty brutal
5:08
workout with my personal trainer yesterday and
5:12
I'm actually moving a little slow today. So I
5:14
thought it would help the conversation if I had
5:17
a second cup of coffee. That is okay. That is
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okay. I only limit myself to like one mug of
5:23
coffee because if I have any more, uh, I, and
5:26
sorry, this is where you're going to know about
5:28
me is that I could become TMI, but I get jittery
5:31
and I get the and I don't want that. Two things
5:37
that coffee is really good for. Oh, yeah, yeah.
5:39
The jittery shits. Oh, no. I mean, that's practically
5:42
my middle name if I have more than one cup of
5:44
coffee. So I try to keep it safe with just one
5:47
and leave it at that. But now I'm curious. I
5:50
know this is not where you thought the conversation
5:51
was going, but that's okay because this is the
5:55
delicious culture. Anything can happen, right?
5:58
As long as it's delicious. Right. So the brutal
6:00
workout with the trainer, describe everything
6:03
about that. Like, what are you doing? How early
6:05
do you have to get up? Cause it sounded like
6:06
it was a long day yesterday. You know, it's actually
6:09
not that early. Um, I am not, you know, because
6:12
I'm, I'm now a full -time author. I'm not working
6:15
at a job anymore. So anything before noon is
6:18
kind of early for me. And, um, the workout, you
6:23
know, for probably the normal person, the workouts
6:24
not that, not that crazy, but. you know, I haven't
6:29
worked out for a long time. And especially recently
6:32
getting the book out, I was sitting on my butt
6:35
most of the day, writing this thing and rewriting
6:38
it and doing all of that kind of stuff. So I'm
6:40
really, really out of shape. So he just tries
6:43
to push me, he definitely tries to push me to
6:46
the limit. And where I'm pretty weak in a lot
6:50
of parts of my body, my abs are pretty strong.
6:54
And so he's testing to see just how strong my
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abs are. And so he's kind of killed, he's kind
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of killed me. So yeah, I'm just, I'm moving a
7:03
little slow today. My arms and my abs, he's kind
7:07
of, he's put me through my paces. So if any of
7:11
you want to know if exercise is sexy, Julie just
7:14
gave you the indication right here. It's like,
7:16
oh, he worked my abs out so much that I now am
7:20
exhausted and can barely talk today. I can barely
7:23
move. He worked me so hard, I can barely move
7:26
at this point. Oh, my God. That's so great. And
7:29
the book that you're talking about, going back
7:31
to it, this one, Gluten for Punishment. Yes,
7:33
yes. OK, all right. And Gluten has two T's. Gluten
7:37
has one T. And a you too, yes. Shame on me. I
7:42
should slap myself in the arm. I know. Okay.
7:47
So, um, gluten for punishment just deserves for
7:49
the heartbroken, lovesick and jilted. Love the
7:51
title. Can you tell us what the book is about?
7:53
So it is a memoir of decades of my dating life.
7:57
Um, I am a serial monogamous. I've never been
8:01
married, dated, dated my heart out. for decades.
8:05
Things have really never gone very well for me
8:08
is what I would say. Can we break this down because
8:13
you're talking to somebody who loves all things
8:15
dating conversations. So what do you think did
8:17
not work out? You know, I just in general had
8:21
a series of missteps, I would say. So that's
8:24
it sort of goes through six larger relationships
8:29
that I've had and sort of breaking them down
8:31
and figuring out what didn't work. And then,
8:34
in addition, I've added a lot of those sort of
8:38
blind dates that you have and internet dating
8:40
and just the comedy of errors that comes up.
8:44
And I'm definitely not pointing a finger directly
8:47
at all of the people I've dated because I'm also
8:51
pointing the finger at me. And I think... looking
8:55
at just what happened and being able to then
8:58
sit down and write this book, I can look back
9:00
and see what I did wrong, my missteps as well
9:02
as their missteps and how it just sort of became
9:05
a mess that now I can sort of laugh about. And
9:10
then I've paired it with 40 dessert recipes because
9:15
the men have come and gone in my life, but dessert
9:18
is going to be forever in my heart. That is really
9:21
where I have a dessert. food blog that I've had
9:24
for, for years and years and years. And that's
9:26
what I really love making. I love eating. I love
9:30
sharing. So, um, my heart is with my desserts
9:34
and maybe we can just put the dating off to the
9:37
side for a little bit. Okay. Um, well, questions
9:41
are rolling through my head. So please let's,
9:45
let's break it down. Um, so first I'm still curious,
9:49
like, is there, is there a memorably awful dating
9:54
experience amongst all of them? One that stands
9:58
out to you that maybe you could either share
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or vaguely imply in a way that won't like ruin
10:05
the book for people who haven't gotten it yet.
10:08
I just, I want to, I want to, I want to get,
10:10
I want to get some kind of hint about. how awful
10:13
these dating experiences were to a point where
10:16
you found great comfort in desserts. And, you
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know, I don't know that there's anyone that's
10:23
spectacularly awful, but I think that for anybody
10:26
who's kind of done the whole dating thing for
10:28
a while, they're definitely relatable. And one
10:32
that I'm thinking about was this guy. Um, you
10:39
know, he looked like his profile. He looked kind
10:42
of a little bit like Scott. I thought he was
10:45
going to be really cool. He had this cool little
10:47
junkie hat on and, and, you know, he seemed pretty
10:50
intelligent and everything. And I don't think
10:53
I maybe, I don't think I did a deep dive enough
10:55
with him. I think I just, maybe we talked a couple
10:58
of times and I'm like, sure. I'll meet you for
10:59
coffee. Um, I'm sorry. What did you say? He looked
11:03
like what? Scott? Like Scott, like Scott, like,
11:06
you know, like madness. I don't. It was sort
11:10
of a thing back in the day. It's a music. I have
11:15
no idea what you're talking about. It's a music
11:17
term. It's SKA. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, like
11:21
music. Oh, yeah, yeah. Because I was like, I
11:23
think she means the music, but I just want to
11:25
make sure I know. Yeah, like selector or madness
11:28
or something like that. And so that was sort
11:30
of playing back into like the 1980s. You know,
11:34
a lot of my friends were ska riding around on
11:36
their little Vespas and stuff like that. So I
11:38
thought, oh great, this guy's, you know, he was
11:40
hit back in the day and he's still carrying it
11:42
forward. That was not it. That was, he was, yeah,
11:46
it was, it was, it was not when I met him, that
11:49
was not his style. I think, you know, he read
11:52
somewhere that he's supposed to wear a hat. So
11:54
he, he did, but that wasn't the, that wasn't
11:56
the bad thing. This guy, just wanted to he was
12:02
mansplaining and controlling the conversation.
12:07
And like, he wouldn't let me order my own coffee
12:10
and he wanted to order it for me and then he
12:12
just continued to just Tell me things that I
12:19
know and not let me get a word in edgewise. I
12:23
went to culinary school and we were talking about
12:25
food and everything I said about food was wrong
12:27
and everything I said about the homeless was
12:30
wrong and everything that I said about atheism
12:34
was wrong. I literally just kind of shut up.
12:38
And I was like, you know, looking around the
12:41
room for the nearest exit to just try to get
12:44
myself out of there and just drinking my coffee
12:48
scalding hot to just try to make a beeline home.
12:52
And that's the sort of situation where I get
12:54
home and I'm like, okay, I deserve some cookies.
12:57
I'm going in the kitchen. I'm going to make myself
12:59
some chocolate chip cookies because this was
13:01
just a disaster from start to finish. So was
13:06
it after that particular date experience that
13:09
inspired you to make something like this book,
13:13
where you talk about your desserts that really
13:15
comfort you from heartbreaking experiences like
13:17
that, or was it a particular other experience,
13:19
maybe? You know, it's kind of, it's a combination.
13:22
So my blog is funny. I do put dessert recipes
13:27
on there, but I don't go in and write like 500
13:30
words about apples when I'm making an apple pie.
13:33
Like that's just not my style. So I used to,
13:36
it certainly was a dichotomy where I was writing
13:39
about whatever was in my head, which when you're
13:41
dating a lot, that seems to be what's in your
13:43
head a lot. And then pairing it with a recipe.
13:47
And so they didn't really coincide very much,
13:50
but it was both sort of, they were both Born
13:53
out of the same mother is kind of what I would
13:55
say. They're two different creative sides of
13:57
me and they don't necessarily connect, but they
13:59
do connect within my head. And the book was originally
14:03
going to be a cookbook. That was what I decided
14:06
I was going to do, a dessert cookbook. But I
14:09
was going to weave some of these little stories
14:12
in there. Just, you know, like little snippets
14:15
about what it's like to be. you know, 30 years
14:18
on the market. 30 years on the market. And also
14:21
this guy was an asshole. But I sat down to write
14:28
like a little blurb about one of these recipes
14:30
and so much more came out than I was expecting.
14:34
Like 30, I wrote like 30 pages about a relationship
14:37
I had. And then it happened again, and I really
14:41
decided, because this is my first time trying
14:43
to write a book, I really decided to let the
14:46
book tell me where it wanted to go versus trying
14:48
to push it. How do you segue from like, oh, I'm
14:55
writing a recipe and oh, somehow like something
14:58
about this recipe makes me think about this awful
15:00
relationship? Like how does your mind segue from
15:03
that to that? Well, again, some of the recipes
15:06
are literally, I just survived a bad day and
15:10
I call them my down and dirty recipes. So it's
15:13
like, I can go into the kitchen and get down
15:15
and dirty and make something really quick that's
15:17
gonna pacify me, my edible pacifier. But also,
15:22
you know, like one of the relationships that
15:24
I had, not even thinking on the dessert side
15:30
of things, but I wrote this piece about because
15:34
I am like, I'm sugar. I'm addicted to sugar.
15:36
I wrote this piece about sort of somebody - For
15:40
a second, you were like, I am sugar. I am the
15:42
embodification. Look at me. I am white. Please
15:46
lick me now. I like that. That's my next dating
15:50
profile. And I'm sorry. I mean, sugar. I mean,
15:55
I know that's implied to mean you're race, but
15:57
I mean sugar. But like, you're race as well.
16:00
I don't know. I am white, both in sugar form
16:03
and race form. And please let me know. So I had
16:09
written this thing where this sort of, it was
16:12
a friend of mine that was sort of unavailable,
16:15
but it was sort of about me going into a chocolate
16:19
shop and seeing all the chocolate sort of behind
16:21
the glass and wanting. but not being able to
16:25
have, and knowing that I shouldn't even be looking
16:28
because that chocolate is behind the glass and
16:31
not available to me. So it made so much sense
16:34
when I wrote about this that the recipes that
16:37
I put in there were chocolate recipes, but it
16:39
was just a happy coincidence. It wasn't necessarily
16:42
anything that I thought to do, hey, I'm going
16:46
to write this piece about. chocolate, and then
16:49
I'm going to do these recipes." So they weave,
16:52
they've woven themselves into the book. Each
16:55
chapter, I think it's a little bit different.
16:58
There's, you know, some of the chapters, it's
16:59
literally while I was dating somebody, it's the
17:02
recipes that I made for them. um to try to like
17:06
please them and make them happy um kind of thing
17:09
and so i've put them in there as well what is
17:11
this recipe i wonder the recipe that makes people
17:14
happy well like i had some i i dated somebody
17:18
that i think the easiest way to say it is that
17:21
Um, anything that you think of sort of as an
17:24
ice cream flavor are flavors that he liked. So
17:27
peanut butter, coconut chocolate, anything with
17:29
nuts, things like that. And so that was really,
17:33
um, caramel. So those, all of those recipes are
17:36
sort of, uh, in that vein, you know, then they're
17:40
happy. It did, but there were other way bigger
17:47
problems than that. Oh no! What problems, if
17:51
I may ask? Without getting myself in trouble,
17:57
I would say that it was really my first foray
18:01
into somebody that has all the indications that
18:04
they have narcissistic personality disorder.
18:07
And so it was kind of later in life for me, and
18:11
it was not something that I had ever experienced
18:15
before. And so I'm used to, to a pretty large
18:19
extent, taking people at face value. And so to
18:23
realize that really our entire relationship was
18:26
a lie and he was lying about the stupidest stuff
18:29
and getting mad at me for things that I just
18:32
didn't understand. And it made me think I was
18:34
crazy. Um, and then finally after, you know,
18:38
you step away from that relationship to start
18:41
researching what that is and realizing, oh my
18:44
gosh, like that is what like every single, like
18:47
kind of hitting every single checklist mark,
18:49
um, was really, was really eyeopening for me.
18:57
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uh, make my mouth salivate. I mean, I really
21:18
want to know, uh, cause you, yeah, you mentioned
21:20
the chocolate cookies, the peanut butter ice
21:21
cream, but like, what is... Give me an extremely
21:26
delicious dessert that you've broken down in
21:30
your book that also at the same time... is paired
21:33
with a very heartbreaking experience. But also,
21:38
like, not just a delicious dessert, but, like,
21:40
something unique. Like, I don't want to hear
21:42
about, you know, chocolate chip cookies or peanut
21:43
butter ice cream. It's like, give me a dessert
21:46
that not a lot of people are thinking about,
21:48
but it's tied to, like, a very awful dating experience.
21:52
Okay. So, in general, my stories are very tongue
21:56
-in -cheek. They're wry. They're, you know, I'm
21:58
making fun of myself. There is a chapter and
22:01
it's kind of in the front of the book and it's
22:03
a little bit more, it's a little bit more sad
22:05
than the rest of them. And it was a relationship
22:08
I had when I was much younger, I was in my twenties.
22:13
And it was very tumultuous, passionate, like
22:20
byronic. It was very like, you know, this guy
22:23
was a writer and he could write like nobody's
22:25
business. And there was a lot of There was a
22:30
lot of rose, rose played a big part in our relationship.
22:32
So this, this, this recipe actually has some
22:35
rose in it, but it's, do you know what a Pavlova
22:38
is by any chance? So it's you make a meringue.
22:44
almost like in a basket, you make it into like
22:47
a little basket and then you bake it. So it's
22:50
a meringue, so it's crispy on the outside. I
22:53
don't know what a meringue is, Julie, I don't
22:55
make it. So it's whipped egg whites with sugar.
23:03
So it makes it and then you bake it. So it makes
23:06
it like very, very crispy and it's sweet. And
23:10
then I put a layer of um I called it the rosemary
23:15
pavlova is what I what I called it so then there's
23:18
a layer of um lemon curd so then you got this
23:22
tart layer in it um and then you have um fluffy
23:28
whipped cream on top of that and then I took
23:31
fresh berries so raspberries um strawberries
23:35
blackberries and put them in like a rose syrup
23:42
and kind of piled it on top. So it was, I made
23:49
that. Usually a recipe takes me six, seven times
23:52
to make it. I made it and I loved it. And this
23:56
thing's a good, you know, seven, eight inches
23:59
across, like around. I ate the entire thing.
24:03
In one sitting? It wasn't in one sitting, but
24:06
it was probably, like, it doesn't last very long.
24:09
It was probably in a day and a half where I just
24:11
took a slice and took another slice, put it away
24:13
in the refrigerator, took another slice, took
24:16
another slice. So that one, it was really beautiful
24:21
and I just really loved the flavor combination
24:24
of lemon and rose and the berries in this beautiful
24:28
basket. Kind of one that I think it would be
24:31
a little bit more maybe accessible to people
24:35
is I made a banana cream. This was a chapter
24:43
that dealing with my daddy issues. So in it,
24:47
I realized that a lot of what has gone on in
24:49
my life has to do with sort of my daddy issues.
24:52
So it's a chapter about dad and his favorite
24:56
dessert was a banana cream pie. Which sounds
24:59
great, by the way. Which is pretty simple banana.
25:02
I'm not not necessarily simple to make, but it's
25:03
pretty simple, straightforward. But I'm like,
25:06
how can I make it into like a Julie dessert?
25:08
And so I just added In the middle of it, I added
25:14
like a layer of salted caramel. And then along
25:18
the top, I drizzled more salted caramel. So it's
25:21
this banana salted caramel pie. And it's messy
25:26
and decadent. And it's so good. Guys are stupid
25:30
to not stick around for all of this stuff. I
25:33
mean, you know what? It is more so on them. I'm
25:35
going to say it's more so on them than on you.
25:37
that they've not stuck around. If I had someone
25:41
like you, and granted, my wife has made a bunch
25:43
of baked desserts and whatever, but I just think
25:47
that food, desserts, like that sort of thing,
25:51
when it tastes great, there's just a mood lifter
25:55
that happens. And I think it could affect how
25:59
your mood is at the moment, how you approach
26:01
a conversation. The fact that you could make
26:05
such delicious desserts for some of these awful
26:08
men and they just didn't appreciate it enough
26:11
to actually be great human beings. I just, I
26:14
don't know. It makes me mad for you, Julie. Well,
26:19
you know, it's, I mean, that's what I love. Like
26:22
nothing makes me happier than when I have the
26:26
time to make a dessert. Like I'm going to see
26:28
friends and I'm able to. bring a dessert for
26:32
them because I do think it's really happiness
26:35
on a plate. For me, if it's a dessert that works
26:39
out or drops them off at my neighbor's house
26:42
because I will eat the entire thing. So I try
26:44
to, when I make something, I do try to slice
26:47
it up and bring it out to the neighbors so that
26:49
they can enjoy it as well. And I don't get, I
26:54
don't think anything else brings me that kind
26:55
of happiness. That really is my love language
26:57
is baking for people. You know, I think about,
27:01
like say, you know, someone gets out a pint of
27:05
Benning Jerry's when they've been broken up with,
27:08
or they don't have a date on Valentine's Day.
27:11
And I imagine that... that kind of person would
27:14
most likely just like eat ice cream and cry and
27:17
they just feel like shit because they're just
27:18
eating ice cream and nothing else and they probably
27:20
are lactose intolerant and whatever. Um, have
27:24
you ever had that sort of negative depressing
27:27
association with dessert after awful dating experience
27:31
or has it always been okay. awful man, I'm going
27:36
to make a comfortable dessert, a delicious dessert.
27:38
And wow, like my mood has been lifted eating
27:42
this dessert because I'm just so focused on like
27:45
how delicious and comforting and all of that
27:48
stuff it is. So you know what I mean? Like, yeah,
27:50
it's, I think it's a cross of things for me because,
27:54
um, so absolutely have I eaten so much dessert.
27:57
I feel very like full and guilty and not great
28:00
afterwards. Absolutely. I did it last night,
28:03
in fact, and that had nothing to do with heartbreak.
28:05
Tell me about it. Well, but I was also going
28:10
to say, so I will, but it wasn't actually my
28:12
dessert. But I will. But the other thing is,
28:15
for me, is being in the kitchen is really like
28:20
a movie meditation for me. So even if I do overindulge
28:25
afterwards, The fact that I'm in there making
28:28
something that is beautiful to eat and looks
28:31
beautiful, tastes beautiful, and it's this sort
28:34
of, I'm in my, I'm in the zone, it always makes
28:38
me feel better. So it always makes me feel better.
28:40
I love that. Now, going back to last night. I
28:43
know. So I don't even know what they're, I didn't
28:48
make, I actually didn't make it. I don't know
28:49
what they're called, but I am addicted to them.
28:51
They're, it's from Trader Joe's and it's like
28:54
these little orange sticks that are covered in
28:57
chocolate and they come in a little packet and
29:00
once those things, once I buy them and once I've
29:03
opened them, they don't survive. I think they're
29:05
supposed to last a week or something and they
29:07
last a night for me. So I ate the entire packet.
29:10
There you go. And it was related not to heartbreak,
29:14
but to what? Um, that they were there because
29:17
I knew that they were there and they were delicious.
29:20
They were going to eat all of it. I literally
29:22
bought them earlier in the day. Yeah. And I was
29:25
like, um, I knew that they were there. Yeah,
29:29
that is wonderful. Um, how about, um, do you
29:33
have a dessert in your book that's tied to just
29:37
a completely pleasant dating or relationship
29:40
experience from beginning to end? I mean, sure.
29:42
Like it ended, but like, maybe it ended in a
29:46
very respectful, positive, calm sense. You know
29:48
what I mean? So yeah, I would say, I would actually
29:50
say that, well, that's interesting. No. Okay.
29:57
Now that I think about it, no. There is, there's
30:02
a recipe at the end of the book that really is
30:05
a celebration of of more of me and what I discovered
30:10
on this path and the relationship that I have
30:13
with myself that is all about me. So I would
30:17
say that's probably the most positive one that
30:21
I have in the book. Not saying that I haven't
30:25
had positive relationships, I absolutely have.
30:28
In fact, my last relationship was a really great
30:31
relationship. But, you know, those stories don't
30:34
make it into the book. That's okay. Can I ask
30:37
about that last relationship? What were the kinds
30:40
of desserts that stood out from that last relationship
30:42
that you made for the guy? What did I make for
30:45
him? I'm trying to, gosh, I don't know if I'm
30:47
even going to be able to remember right now.
30:50
I know that he really liked, it's such a simple
30:55
thing, but he really liked rice pudding. So I
30:57
made rice pudding for him. I made bread pudding
31:02
for him. His grandmother used to make him. Gosh,
31:06
what's it called now? I can't even think of it.
31:08
I can't even think what the cake is now. It was
31:10
like a type of chocolate cake and I cannot think
31:12
of the name right now, which is really bad. And
31:15
I've made that for him with ermine frosting,
31:18
which is the kind of frosting that she would
31:21
make for him, which I had never made before.
31:23
Now it's in my repertoire. Um, but he actually
31:27
started baking as well. And so we would cook
31:29
together. We'd bake together. Um, some of, some
31:33
of my bait, my favorite memories with him was
31:35
kind of just hanging out in the kitchen together
31:37
and making things and having a glass of wine
31:39
and just sort of, you know, chatting after a
31:41
long day. Um, that's, that's so sweet. So let's
31:44
paint a scenario if you will, Julie. Um, so say
31:47
I come to you, I'm really depressed, because
31:50
I found out my wife cheated on me, and she's
31:53
a murderer, and I have to leave her, and I need
31:57
some escapism. Like, really, really good escapism
32:01
to go up down my tummy. On the spot, if you had
32:04
someone like me come up to you with that terrible
32:06
scenario, what comfortable dessert would you
32:09
suggest for me? See, my favorite question to
32:12
ask people is, like, what are your favorite...
32:14
like dessert flavors, like what are your favorite
32:17
flavors first? Because I don't want to get, I
32:19
don't want to go down a path and make you something
32:22
and find out that, you know, you hate carrot
32:24
cake or something like that. So what are some
32:26
of your, you're at a restaurant and there's something
32:30
on the menu that you always go for? Well, I typically
32:33
have a soft spot for anything with a base of
32:36
vanilla. Okay. I know it sounds so plain, but
32:41
yeah, I mean, I'm not really a big dessert guy,
32:47
but like, you know. I could pound down a pint
32:52
of Ben & Jerry's in one sitting, and that typically
32:55
involves things like vanilla, caramel, peanut
32:59
butter, a little bit of chocolate here and there,
33:02
strawberry, so flavors like that. Okay, all right.
33:06
So there's a tart that I make that... is um it's
33:11
got oh pretzels too so now i'm saying now maybe
33:14
i'm changing it so we're making okay so it's
33:16
gonna be a tart and it's gonna have a pretzel
33:18
crust so that we're gonna do like a little sweet
33:21
salty there so we're gonna do a pretzel crust
33:24
And then we're going to do like a chocolate peanut
33:27
butter filling that I have that's like almost
33:29
like a mousse. With we're going to get some caramel
33:33
in there. So there is going to be a salted caramel
33:36
drizzle over the top, a little bit of whipped
33:39
cream, and then we're going to do some crushed
33:42
pretzels on top as well. I think that's it for
33:46
you right there. How do you not make dessert
33:49
sounds like the greatest sexual experience ever?
33:52
That sounds delightful. It really is like I think
33:57
about dessert. I think the way that most people
34:00
like, well, not most people, but the guys I date
34:02
think about porn. Like I think about dessert.
34:06
24 -7, if my mind is wandering, it's probably
34:09
wandering on the next dessert I'm going to make.
34:12
Mm -hmm, mm -hmm, mm -hmm. And for the guys who
34:14
think about porn 24 -7, go see somebody. That's
34:17
healthy porn addiction. But if it's a dessert
34:20
addiction, that might be a different thing. Right.
34:26
Hey, John Francois here. So I was with a podcast
34:30
hosting provider for six years. And my big beef
34:33
with them was that it was becoming impossible
34:35
to monetize with them anytime soon. I had to
34:38
have a thousand monthly downloads. I had to have
34:41
2000 consumption hours. And yeah, you know, you
34:44
may be saying to yourself, John, you've been
34:45
podcasting for over six years and have over 300
34:48
episodes. What the hell? What gives? Why aren't
34:50
you like there yet? And it's because there's
34:53
a lot of God dang podcasts out there. that are
34:56
taking up all the space. It's hard to, you know,
34:59
stand out. Um, so you want to stand out, you
35:02
know, it's going to take some work, but at the
35:03
very least you want to be able to pay your bills
35:04
in the present. And that's where rss .com makes
35:08
a difference. I recently switched to them because
35:10
I found out that all I needed was 10 downloads
35:15
in the last 30 days, not a thousand, not 2000,
35:19
just 10 downloads in the last 30 days in order
35:23
to qualify for their monetization program. How
35:26
awesome is that? So if you break that down, assuming
35:28
you do a podcast weekly and you should, because
35:31
you really want to get out there, that's like
35:34
what? Maybe one to two downloads per episode
35:36
in that tight month of time. I think you could
35:39
do it. Just get one or two family or friends
35:42
to listen to your new podcast if you're starting
35:45
a new one with RSS .com. And then boom, they'll
35:47
celebrate with you and say, hey, you are qualified
35:50
to monetize. Get paid because you and I know
35:54
that podcasting takes a lot of hard work. We
35:56
deserve to be compensated for it. Sign up using
35:59
my link in the show notes to RSS .com as your
36:02
official podcast hosting provider. Go to My Delicious
36:05
Culture with Jon François show notes. For legal
36:07
reasons, I got to tell you. that I may earn a
36:10
commission if you sign up using my link, because
36:13
I'm an affiliate partner, a proud one at that,
36:16
of RSS .com. Are you ready to get delicious with
36:22
me in a different way, Julie? Ooh, yeah. You
36:26
know what I'm talking about. I asked all my guests
36:28
three delicious questions here on The Delicious
36:31
Culture. And the first question could not be
36:33
more appropriate for the book that you are talking
36:36
about here. What is a delicious meal you've had
36:38
lately? And yes, because I like you so much,
36:41
I will include desserts. That's fine. If you
36:43
want to do desserts, desserts can be a meal.
36:46
I was wondering about this because I have listened
36:51
to your podcast, so I did know that you asked
36:53
this question. I'm so sorry that you listened
36:57
to the podcast. I feel bad. That's time wasted
37:01
that you'll never get back. It's funny because
37:06
I've had some amazing meals. But in general,
37:10
even really great restaurants that I go to, I
37:13
think I'm usually disappointed by their desserts.
37:15
I mean, I hate, I don't want to sound like a
37:17
snob, but you get to the dessert and most of
37:23
the time, instead of like being a notch up, it's
37:25
kind of like a little bit of a disappointment.
37:29
And there is, there was a... a dessert that I
37:31
had pretty recently. And it was funny because
37:34
the meal was not that remarkable, but the dessert,
37:37
I want to try to duplicate it. And it started
37:41
with an almond cake that was kind of, it was,
37:46
I think it had egg whites in it. So it was a
37:49
little bit crispy on the outside and a little
37:51
bit lighter, but it was like a good roasted toasted
37:55
almond flavor. And then they had made like a
37:59
marmalade, but it was like not just a orange
38:02
marmalade, it had various citrus in it. It was
38:04
thick cut marmalade. And then over that, they
38:08
had whipped up their own marshmallow fluff kind
38:11
of thing. And they'd put that on top of it and
38:14
then toasted it. So it tasted like a toasted
38:16
marshmallow. And then they drizzled local honey
38:21
that was flavored with thyme, the herb thyme.
38:26
So it was... It was bright. It was perfect for
38:30
summer, bright. It wasn't very sweet. There was
38:33
a little bit of sweetness from the marshmallow,
38:34
but in general, it wasn't very sweet. And it
38:38
was just like an explosion of flavor in your
38:40
mouth. And it was just perfect. It kind of, it
38:43
wasn't an Italian restaurant. For some reason,
38:46
it reminded me of something that you'd have in
38:47
Italy. Like that's what it, that was sort of
38:49
what it was pulled across to me. And I really
38:53
have not. I have not experienced a dessert that's
38:56
really knocked my socks off in a while from a
38:59
restaurant. So I was really happy. I was really
39:01
happy with that. Now, what was the meal that
39:03
you ate before that really just did not knock
39:06
your socks off? You know, I don't even that tells
39:08
you I don't even really remember. I think it
39:11
was a flat bread. I mean, it wasn't it wasn't
39:13
bad. It was a flat bread that had nectarines
39:17
on it and prosciutto and a balsamic glazed drizzle.
39:23
Um, and it could have been good except that everything
39:26
made the flatbread soggy. So it was not something
39:29
you could really, yeah, you couldn't get the
39:31
crisp goodness of the flatbread underneath it.
39:35
It was just sort of soggy and had to cut it with
39:36
a knife and fork. And so it, yeah. No, I, I,
39:41
I sure cereal can be soggy if it's in the milk
39:44
for too long, but everything else, no, no soggyness
39:47
whatsoever. What's a delicious pop culture obsession
39:50
that you have at the moment? This is anything
39:51
that you're watching or listening to that you
39:53
would love to share. Yeah, I've got two different
39:55
things sort of going on right now. So I'm a huge
39:59
Ted Lasso fan. I don't know if you've ever watched
40:02
Ted Lasso. It's such a feel good, like it's such
40:07
a feel good show. And so, you know, season four
40:09
just came out. Um, and so I've been, I've been
40:13
watching the season, but they're, they're, you
40:15
know, they're giving us one episode a week. And
40:18
so, so I've been, um, and I'm like, please don't
40:21
screw it up. Cause I really love Ted Lasso. So
40:23
I've been watching Ted Lasso, um, season four.
40:26
I haven't watched, um, you know, I've only watched
40:29
a couple of episodes so far. And then I'm also
40:34
watching, um, the vampire, the vampire Lestat
40:38
on AMC. What is that? So that is, back when I
40:44
was 16, Anne Rice, all the Anne Rice books, so
40:48
Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat,
40:51
and The Queen of the Damned. I was all in on
40:56
that. Back at that time, I was listening to that
40:59
kind of music, like really dark and moody music.
41:03
You know, vampire girl, that's what you were.
41:06
You know, my hair used to be black at that time.
41:10
So I really, at 16, I really fell in love with
41:15
the vampire Louis in the books. And I actually
41:18
didn't really like Lestat. And so I understood
41:21
that AMC had come out with Interview with the
41:23
Vampire and they set it in the 1920s. And so
41:26
I had gone through those and watched those and
41:28
they were pretty good. But Sam Reed takes Lestat
41:32
to a different level in the third season, which
41:36
is the vampire Lestat, and they did a really
41:39
good job with it. I'm still watching it, but
41:43
he's this arrogant rock and roll vampire and
41:46
he sings his own songs in it. I'm pretty addicted.
41:52
My 16 -year -old Julie is sort of changing her
41:55
mind about Lestat at this point. She's kind of
41:58
into him again. Yeah, that's delightful. So it's,
42:01
is it on like, do you have to like actually have
42:04
cable and watch AMC on TV or is it like on a
42:06
streaming service? Yeah, streaming. So it's AMC
42:09
plus. So it's through Apple and then you have
42:11
to pay extra for AMC, of course. Exactly. Exactly.
42:18
But I am, I, you know, I just, I really, they
42:20
did a, they did a good job with it. And I kind
42:22
of feel like There was an interview with The
42:25
Vampire that came out a number of years ago with
42:29
Brad Pitt and things like that, and Anne Rice
42:31
wasn't happy about it. I have to think that she's
42:34
actually into this version because I feel like
42:36
this is more of what she envisioned when she
42:38
wrote the books. What did she find lacking in
42:42
the Brad Pitt version? You know cuz it was it
42:46
was Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt like right there
42:48
There's some issue like though there aren't neither
42:51
one of those guys are vampire people This version
42:58
really plays into the the sexuality I think a
43:03
lot more sexual They address the fact that these
43:08
guys are, there is homoeroticism going on there.
43:12
It's not like they're just, you know, we just
43:14
drink blood and we're good guys. It's like they
43:16
talk about the fact that, yes, they're sleeping
43:18
together as well as drinking blood and Lestat
43:23
is very fluid with his sexuality. You know, even
43:26
in this story, he has sex with his mom, which
43:29
is a really weird taboo sort of thing. And so,
43:34
I think that she wanted to make this, she wanted
43:38
to make a book that was a little bit more, I
43:42
don't know, atmospheric. And I don't think they
43:45
did a great job of it in the one that they did
43:47
whenever it was back in the 90s or whatever.
43:49
And I think they're doing a much better job now.
43:52
That's wonderful. All right. I'll definitely
43:53
have to check that out. It's been quite some
43:55
time since I've consumed any vampire content.
44:00
I mean, I'm not even getting, I think like when
44:03
I saw the Twilight movies and theaters with my
44:06
family. That might have been when I last consumed
44:08
any vampire content. And I don't think I even
44:09
did. Like, I don't even, I haven't been, again,
44:12
I haven't really done it recently either, but
44:15
I think they did a good job with this. Yeah,
44:17
I mean, I think they did a good job with them,
44:19
especially the third season, which is they changed
44:22
the name to The Vampire Lestat from Interview
44:25
with the Vampire. So Lestat, is that French?
44:28
It is. Lestat de L 'Encourt is his full name,
44:33
I believe. L 'Encourt. Wow. What does that mean
44:35
in English? I think it has to do with where he's...
44:44
where he lives or like the castle where he lives
44:47
in. So it has to do with like your location.
44:50
Um, so where the family name or the family title
44:54
or the castle that he was in, I think is where
44:56
it came from. Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah. I got to
44:58
get back into Ted Lasso because, um, and actually
45:01
we had a, we had another guest on this podcast
45:03
who mentioned Ted Lasso as their pop culture.
45:05
Um, so it's definitely a feel good show. Uh,
45:09
I, I feel like me, my wife and our friend during,
45:12
maybe this was like more earlier on. during the
45:14
pandemic. We caught some first season episodes
45:16
and it was, yeah, it was an enjoyable, feel good,
45:19
heartwarming show and just never followed through
45:21
more with it, but there's obviously four seasons
45:26
worth or almost four seasons worth of follow
45:27
through with it on Apple TV. How do you feel
45:30
about it being released week after week as opposed
45:33
to getting all the season at once? Do you like
45:36
the way they're doing it? I would love to just
45:40
binge watch, but then it also allows me to parse
45:47
it out a little bit longer. Versus getting my
45:50
quick hit of Ted Lasso and being done with it.
45:53
This is a little bit more of a tease. I'm getting
45:56
rimmed on Ted Lasso in a way. Did you say you're
46:01
getting rimmed on Ted Lasso? You are dirtier
46:06
than I thought, but maybe taking Ted Lasso in
46:10
a whole different direction. I mean, someone
46:13
has to, it is such a wholesome show that someone
46:15
has to dirty it up a little bit. Um, you know,
46:19
actually I was going to ask how, I feel like
46:22
I have a question as it relates to the dessert
46:24
of it all, because in a way, like, I mean, yes,
46:28
there are people who like, oh my God, this dessert
46:30
is so delicious. I need to gobble it up right
46:31
now all at once. But I feel like desserts, I
46:35
mean, they're they're meant to be savored. I
46:37
don't really know if too many people do that
46:39
because because you think of like a breakfast,
46:41
lunch, dinner, those average meals. You're really
46:43
hungry. Yeah, you're going to like gobble it
46:45
up. But usually dessert. Even if you're hungry,
46:48
I feel like people just like, you know, they
46:50
take little scoops of ice cream or they take
46:51
little scoops of a cake or a pie. And they really
46:54
just are like, just like really tasting the sugary
46:57
quality of it. Right. Like, dude, don't have
46:59
anybody that like, you know, fast gobbles a dessert
47:02
like they're in prison and they have to either
47:04
quickly. I don't, you know, I don't think so.
47:08
I think a lot because dessert is usually the
47:10
last part of the meal. I think that's part of
47:13
it, too, is that, you know, you're already full.
47:15
So it has to. be something that's savored and
47:19
eaten slowly and enjoyed because you kind of
47:24
almost have to at that point if you've if you've
47:26
had you know a salad and an entree and maybe
47:29
an appetizer that you just need to slow it down
47:32
and really enjoy it for all that is worth. I
47:36
felt that coming from you. I felt that you were
47:38
like, slow down and finish. Oh, Julie, this is
47:42
probably the most suggestive conversation I've
47:44
ever had. And I've had a lot of them. I've had
47:46
a lot of them. If you go back, if you go way
47:47
back to the podcast, I've had way too many of
47:49
them. What was I going to say? Oh God. Hmm. Oh
47:54
yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So in terms of like the, you
47:57
know, the bingshing television of it all, When
48:00
Netflix first came out with that model, like
48:02
with House of Cards, Orange is the New Black,
48:04
like Netflix, they pioneered the model of like,
48:06
hey, let's like release a season all at once
48:08
and then you can binge it. At first, it was just
48:12
beautiful because it's like, oh my God, like
48:14
if I want to watch the next episode, I don't
48:15
have to wait a week. I could like do it right
48:17
now and then I could go to the episode after
48:18
that. I could do it all in one day. But you,
48:22
yeah, there is... Kind of like if you do eat
48:25
a dessert way too quickly I mean you go from
48:27
full to just completely like coma bloated like
48:30
I want to pass out I don't want to eat anything.
48:33
I don't want to look at anything that has to
48:34
do with food and Yeah, I feel like if you just
48:37
binge something all at once in terms of TV. It's
48:39
kind of like that It's just like oh my god, I'm
48:41
getting all so much. It's so over simulating
48:43
and Now I don't know what to do with myself afterwards.
48:46
I just feel so discombobulated and what do I
48:49
watch next? And I feel this hole in my heart.
48:51
I gotta wait another year for another season.
48:52
Like what's going on? And with Ted Lasso, and
48:55
this extends to shows that my wife and I are
48:58
watching. Like on Max, they got The Pit and pretty
49:00
much all the shows on HBO Max. They do that weekly
49:03
formula of like, you know, let's savor this season.
49:08
And I think that's great because it... not only
49:11
just has you spend more time with the characters
49:16
digesting the story, it's also a good business
49:18
model for these streamers because then they get
49:20
you hooked on their service longer, rather than
49:23
like, oh, here's this person that's gonna only
49:25
subscribe for like two days to binge this entire
49:28
season at once and then we're never gonna see
49:29
him again. So it kind of works out for everybody,
49:31
I think. Yeah, and that is me. I'm the one that
49:34
binge watches like... gets a subscription, binge
49:40
watches, and then ends it, and then gets another
49:43
subscription, binge watches, and ends it. So
49:46
Apple has me currently on for, you know, whatever
49:49
eight, nine, 10 episodes. You definitely have
49:57
to, you definitely have to like watch though,
50:00
because that's the thing is like social media,
50:02
people start talking about the last episode and
50:04
I'm really trying really hard not to Not like
50:08
I just need to I don't want to hear it. I don't
50:10
want to hear it kind of a situation Right, right.
50:12
You hear people talk for social media Like I
50:15
was telling this to another guest like spoilers
50:17
have gotten so bad that you could just like Google
50:19
image something and already just by looking at
50:22
the image You could find a spoiler like it because
50:25
usually the image is linked to Recent articles
50:29
about oh the big season finale. This is the big
50:32
moment that happened. So Um, spoilers are everywhere
50:34
online and, um, God, I had another thought. I
50:38
forgot what it was. Anyway, this is what you
50:39
do to me, Julie. Um, but, uh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
50:45
So the point of this conversation is that things,
50:49
both, both television shows and desserts should
50:52
be savored very carefully and slowly so that
50:55
you can really appreciate it. Cause if you can
50:58
just gobble it all at once, then it just becomes.
51:00
this tasteless fluff in your mouth. It just doesn't
51:02
become anything. It becomes something to swallow
51:04
and put down your stomach. It's forgettable.
51:06
Yeah, it's forgettable if you don't savor it.
51:10
It might as well be Play -Doh. You know what
51:11
I mean? You might as well be gobbling up Play
51:13
-Doh and then just swallowing it and then you
51:15
go to the bathroom. That's a terrible experience.
51:18
You don't want that. You don't want that. So
51:24
I was at a podcast conference recently in New
51:26
York City and they reminded me of something that
51:29
I've been procrastinating on for a long time.
51:32
I should build a website. And you're probably
51:36
thinking when I'm thinking, Oh my God, that sounds
51:37
so daunting. That sounds so hard. How do I get
51:39
the domain? How do I pay? Blah, blah, blah, blah.
51:42
And trust me, you don't have to do any of that.
51:45
Instead of going to some scammy paid website
51:48
hosting service, whatever the hell, how about
51:50
you just have your podcast hosted by RSS .com
51:53
like I do with the Delicious Culture with Jon
51:55
Francois. They'll give you the tools to easily
51:58
set up a free website to put all your fabulous
52:01
branding on there. RSS .com wants you to succeed,
52:06
so do I. I'm a proud affiliate partner with them
52:09
and I want you to sign up with them if you already
52:12
haven't as your podcast hosting provider using
52:15
the link in my show notes. Why? Well, they're
52:20
a great service. I can personally vouch for them
52:21
as a customer and also I may get a commission.
52:24
So why not? Now we can cut this out of the podcast.
52:30
Absolutely. But there was a question that came
52:33
to my mind and I'm going to try to form it articulately.
52:38
But I wonder if you've ever had anybody that
52:42
who knows who you are and they're like, okay.
52:45
Julie, I'm looking for the perfect bedroom dessert.
52:49
Like I need like, cause I don't, I don't know
52:52
if this still happens on like Valentine's day
52:53
or whatever, but you know, you have those couples
52:55
that are like, Oh, you know, is it like, like
52:58
to tell me the perfect chocolate strawberry recipe
53:00
or tell me like, should I use this kind of whipped
53:03
cream or that kind of whipped cream when I'm
53:04
doing the deed with my partner? And I wonder.
53:07
If you ever had any conversation like that with
53:09
consumers of your content, or has it just been
53:12
purely like, you know, oh, I'm just using dessert
53:15
for a comfortable experience either after a heartbreak
53:18
or just because I want to feel good for about
53:20
10 minutes. Like, well, what's your, what's your
53:22
thoughts on, um, how desserts are used into the,
53:29
you know, we were going to go there. Cause you
53:32
were talking about like, of course I'm going
53:35
to ask you that. I've never had anybody ask me.
53:39
I'll have to say that that's going to be a new
53:40
one. Um, you know, I do have, I do have a friend
53:44
that she's all about the butterscotch in the
53:47
bedroom. So I do like, I do know that. Yeah.
53:50
That's like her thing. Um, definitely dessert
53:53
has made its way into the bedroom with me, um,
53:57
at, at various times, you know, um, Do you want
54:01
to keep that private? Well, I mean, I think,
54:03
I mean, I have to say that in general, it's probably,
54:06
I'm kind of a little bit, it's probably a little
54:08
boring. It's a little white bread. Like, you
54:10
know, definitely whipped cream is always a good
54:12
one. Oh, never mind. Sorry, I thought something
54:14
different. I thought you were just like literally
54:15
using slices of white bread in the bedroom. Oh,
54:17
that's cute. Wonder bread in the bedroom. Wonder
54:23
bread and some mayonnaise and you're good to
54:26
go. Oh, God. Yeah, no, no, no. Like, no, I'm
54:29
just saying I'm kind of, I'm kind of boring.
54:31
Like, yeah, I mean, I would say like, you know,
54:33
whipped cream, caramel sauce has definitely made
54:36
it in. That's always, that's always a good one.
54:39
You're talking about your personal experience
54:40
or the experiences of others. No, my personal
54:42
experience, like things that we've kind of, that
54:45
I've done. I'm trying to, yeah, I mean, not,
54:48
I'm trying to think of what else. So basically
54:51
like the fancy recipes that you make in your
54:54
book, there is no place for any of that in the
54:57
bedroom because it's too like convoluted. Yeah,
55:01
probably. I mean, I feel like those are the things
55:03
that after sex, then you run into the kitchen
55:06
and you grab some of it and you just sit around
55:08
and you eat it. And you know, versus smoking
55:09
a cigarette, you just eat it. my dessert in bed.
55:14
That would be, that's good, you know, naked so
55:17
that if you get crumbs on you, you can just,
55:19
somebody can lick them off and it's all good.
55:23
This is wonderful. This is wonderful. I never
55:25
thought that the conversation would go here,
55:27
but this is wonderful. Believe me, I didn't think
55:30
it would go here either. This is your fault.
55:32
This is your fault. Again, the lowest point you
55:37
can go is associating a wholesome show like Dead
55:40
Last Row with ribbing. So once you got there,
55:43
I was like, oh, okay, well, you know, I guess
55:45
it's all hands off or whatever the phrase is.
55:49
Yeah, all bets are off. So I feel like there's
55:53
a divisive thing about raisins. And I say this
55:57
because literally I have a box of sun -made raisins,
56:00
which is one of my favorite snacks. They're not
56:02
a sponsor. I'm looking at raisins and I don't
56:07
know if you've mentioned, did you mention any
56:09
desserts of yours that you make that involve
56:11
raisins? Like, what is your opinion of raisins
56:13
and desserts? They are very decisive or divisive.
56:16
Yes, I agree with you. They're very divisive.
56:19
People hate them. I personally like raisins and
56:23
the way that I convince people to try raisins
56:26
and dessert is golden raisins. So they're green
56:32
grapes versus red grapes. So when they actually
56:34
make them into raisins, they're a lighter color.
56:37
And they tend not to be quite as dry as regular
56:41
raisins. They're a little bit more, you know,
56:44
people hate this word, but they're a little bit
56:45
more moist. So when you bake with them, they
56:49
disperse a little bit more into the actual whatever
56:52
recipe you're making. So we were talking about,
56:55
I was mentioning carrot cake. My carrot cake
56:57
has pineapple and golden raisins in it. And I
57:01
think it adds something. So, um, yeah, it's,
57:05
but I know that a lot of people hate them, but
57:07
I actually, I don't know. Like, I don't know
57:10
if it's a texture thing or they don't want like
57:13
a little brown thing in there that could look
57:17
like something in there. I don't know. Like what
57:19
people, you know, I don't think an oatmeal cookie
57:22
is an oatmeal cookie without raisins in it. Like
57:24
I just, I feel like they should be in there.
57:28
So I'm pro raisin. I think my favorite part was,
57:31
I don't think they want a little brown thing
57:33
in there. Well, I mean, I think that's a lot
57:37
of it is they think it looks like a little bug
57:39
or something. Call me old, but I mean, there
57:45
was a time where I didn't care for raisins, but
57:47
like, I think it was like when my wife started
57:50
incorporating dried fruits into salads. So she
57:53
did like dried cranberries and I just figured
57:55
like, oh, you know, these are so good. arguably
57:58
the best part of the salad sometimes for me that
58:00
I wonder what they would be like alone as a snack.
58:02
And ever since then, like a regular part of my
58:05
grocery list is like, you know, hey, for one
58:07
of my many snacks, when I go to work and need
58:09
some sustenance, raisins, made California raisins.
58:17
Oh, butterscotch, going back to butterscotch.
58:19
So that is stereotypically that's been known
58:21
as like an old person candy. So what about butterscotch
58:24
is... I know she's going to kill me. She's going
58:27
to kill me for this. I don't know. She's always
58:29
loved butterscotch. And so that's always she's
58:32
a she's a really good friend of mine. And I know
58:34
that's that's always been a thing for her. For
58:38
you right now. Um, you know, I'm kind of, there's
58:42
not really anything that's a thing for me right
58:44
now. I hate to, I hate to say that, but, um,
58:48
you know, I mentioned that the last relationship
58:49
I had was really good. And, and part of me is
58:52
just like, I'm fine with just being single right
58:55
now, to be quite honest. Yeah. I was talking
58:58
about the, I was talking about the dessert. Oh,
59:00
desserts. Like the bedroom dessert. What bedroom
59:02
dessert does it for you right now? Not, not,
59:04
not that if you're single or dating. That's hard
59:08
to say. So right now, a neighbor of mine just
59:11
gave me probably 10 pounds of passion fruit.
59:15
And so a lot of my desserts have been around
59:19
passion fruit right now, which is perfect for
59:21
the bedroom, because it's passion. You got passion
59:23
fruit. So it works well. So I made a Brazilian
59:27
passion fruit cake that made it to the blog.
59:31
It was really good. made a passion fruit tart,
59:36
wasn't perfect. And then I'm doing, probably
59:39
next week I'm doing a passion fruit cheesecake.
59:42
And that should use up all my passion fruit.
59:44
Kiana, I don't know if I've ever tasted a passion
59:46
fruit. So what is, what does it taste like? Why
59:48
is it called passion fruit? Like, is it like
59:51
literally an aphrodisiac? I don't think so. But
59:54
we can say it is. So if you look at it, it's
1:00:00
a really ugly fruit. It is like a raisin. It's
1:00:03
kind of like a giant raisin. Yeah, it's wrinkly
1:00:06
and it's kind of brown. brown burgundy. Yeah,
1:00:10
but it's like, but it's like about that big.
1:00:12
But then you cut it open and it even looks more
1:00:15
gross because it's sort of filled with like this
1:00:17
yellowy green filling with black seeds. Yeah,
1:00:22
except it, it has this great top tropical sweet
1:00:26
tart taste to it. And then the seeds are edible.
1:00:30
And so they're crunchy. And so you can you can
1:00:32
put the seeds in the dessert. And so It's a great
1:00:35
like, yeah, it's a great flavor. It's just it's
1:00:39
not something that a lot of times you can get
1:00:41
at the store. So the fact that my neighbor, my
1:00:44
neighbor, you know, put a big thing out on their
1:00:45
front porch and said, Hey, if anybody wants any
1:00:48
And so I was polite and I took like eight or
1:00:50
10 of them and said, if you have any leftover,
1:00:53
let me know. And he had 10 leftovers. He said,
1:00:56
come on back. And when I came back, he had even
1:00:58
filled it up again. So I was like, okay, I'm
1:01:00
going for it. And then brought him some of the
1:01:04
stuff that I made. So in return, he got some
1:01:08
of the cake. He and his wife got some of the
1:01:10
cake to eat. I love that. All right. Final question.
1:01:12
What's the delicious thing that's happened in
1:01:13
your life lately, Julie? So I think one of the
1:01:19
one of the one of the delicious things that's
1:01:21
sort of happening is the book has been out for
1:01:23
a year now. It celebrated its one year birthday
1:01:26
in July. But I've really I've really had like
1:01:30
a resurgence. So it's almost like I'm doing I'm
1:01:33
doing the the book tour book promo again. And
1:01:37
so one of my most favorite things is going out
1:01:42
and either meeting readers or talking to people,
1:01:45
new readers. or going to book clubs and being
1:01:47
able to talk about my book, bring a dessert.
1:01:51
So they always get a dessert from the book if
1:01:53
they invite me to their book club. Um, and that's
1:01:56
been, I've been loving that. Yeah. So let me
1:02:00
get this straight. If someone invites you to
1:02:02
their book club, you will actually come to the
1:02:09
book club and come with an actual dessert from
1:02:12
one of your books. Yeah, there's one coming up
1:02:15
next month that I have that I'm trying to figure
1:02:18
out which desserts I'm going to do. I'm going
1:02:20
to do a couple desserts for that one. Yeah. Can
1:02:25
you give me an example of a dessert that you
1:02:27
brought to a book club person? I did a, I have
1:02:31
a key lime tart that I really like that I brought
1:02:34
that to a book club. And then there's a cookie
1:02:38
called a Viennese Whirl. And it's like a really,
1:02:43
really buttery, just melt -in -your -mouth cookie,
1:02:46
but they're a sandwich cookie. And so then they
1:02:48
have homemade raspberry jam in it, and then a
1:02:52
little bit of like a frosting inside, a buttercream
1:02:57
frosting inside. So these little sandwich cookies,
1:02:59
but I made them like really big. And I brought
1:03:03
those recently to a book club as well. That's
1:03:06
delightful. I love that. Well, this was a pleasure
1:03:09
and remind people what the name of the title,
1:03:12
yeah, what the name of the book is and where
1:03:15
they can find it. It's gluten for punishment,
1:03:18
just desserts for the heartbroken, lovesick,
1:03:20
and jilted. It's available on Amazon, Barnes
1:03:25
and Noble, and a lot of local bookshops are carrying
1:03:28
it as well. That's great. All of those places.
1:03:32
How can people follow you on socials? Um, socials,
1:03:36
it's 2bittart .com. So T -W -O -B -I -T -T -A
1:03:41
-R -T .com or on socials at 2bittart. I love
1:03:45
that. That sounds, that sounds like one of those
1:03:47
high school insults. Like, oh, you 2bittart.
1:03:50
Don't you mess with my man. That's where it came
1:03:52
from. My dad, uh, used to call, my dad used to
1:03:56
call me a 2bittart when I went out because he
1:03:58
thought I was, my skirts were too short and I
1:04:00
had too much makeup on. And so. I stole it from
1:04:05
that. Now I feel bad. I did not know that was
1:04:07
a true story. Okay, well, there you go. You're
1:04:11
a one dollar whore and a two bit tart. This was
1:04:17
beautiful. All right, well, for our audience,
1:04:19
as usual, The Delicious Culture with Jon Francois.
1:04:20
Find it wherever you get your podcasts, Apple,
1:04:22
Spotify, SiriusXM, Amazon, et cetera. If you
1:04:25
like the podcast, please rate and review on Apple
1:04:27
and Spotify. Email with any feedback, thedeliciousculture
1:04:30
.gmail .com. Follow us on Instagram and TikTok
1:04:33
at The Delicious Culture. Subscribe on YouTube
1:04:36
at The Delicious Culture, Jon Francois. Jon Francois
1:04:39
is spelled J -O -N -F -R -A -N -C -O -I -S. Wonderful,
1:04:46
Julie. I hope we can do this again. Sounds great.
1:04:48
Thank you so much. This was a great conversation.
1:04:50
Had a great time. Yay! Wonderful. All right.
1:04:52
Until next time, everybody, let deliciousness
1:04:55
ring.