I wrote a cookbook!!

And wore my slippers everywhere!

Jan 03, 2024

For me, 2023 was The Year of Career Abundance:

Sasquatch Books offered me a cookbook deal in the spring! I have spent the last nine months developing and testing recipes, writing headnotes, cooking my dishes so the photographer could style and shoot them, giving input on the book design, and I’m currently making my final edits to the manuscript.
My home turned photo studio for 2 days + a sneak peak!
Making this book has been one of the greatest joys of my life. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! Not only did I get to cook and write creatively for 6 months and work with super talented designers and editors, but I finally learned that there are 3 teaspoons in a tablespoon, four tablespoons in a 1/4 cup and I measured many cucumbers with a measuring tape, a part of cookbook writing I hadn’t anticipated!
It’s called Open Sesame and features 45 sweet and savory tahini and sesame recipes. Pre-orders start this spring and I can’t wait to to tell and show you more!
I got a new job at Cascade PBS in July! After leaving my job at KIRO Radio at the end of November 2022, I got an LLC, put on my shoulder pads, and made my living from my wonderful Your Last Meal podcast sponsors.
But when Cascade PBS (KCTS 9 & Crosscut just rebranded!) offered the podcast and me a new home, I couldn’t resist! We are currently in pre-production for a food-themed TV series that I will be hosting, hopefully out this spring! Stay tuned!

Things I did in 2023 that were so great, I will continue to do them in 2024:

I’ve gotten into the habit of tucking my fuzzy, leopard-print slippers into my bag anytime I go to a friend’s house. Whether it’s a New Year’s Eve party, a clothing swap, a fondue dinner, or chatty couch hang, I have my Mr Roger’s moment immediately after walking through the door. A few friends started bringing their slippers to my house & there’s something very intimate and warm about feeling comfortable enough to feel comfortable.
Leftovers parties! The day after Christmas, I had dinner with a couple of friends & we pieced together a patchwork feast with all the leftover food we’d made over the holidays. Two homemade Indian dishes were heated up, focaccia was sliced for a cheese board, a handful of pigs in their blankets found their way onto a plate next to a squirt of mustard. We steamed up in some fresh rice, made a five minute smashed cucumber salad, and a super fresh avocado, grapefruit, radicchio salad and feasted until our pants hurt.
My Frosty the Cheeseman went uneaten on Christmas (too many un-cute cheeses on the table to cut into) so he found a new home at The Leftover’s Party (where his face still wasn’t eaten because he’s too damn cute!)

I’d like to do this more often! Less “entertaining” and more having dinner together, even when no one has time to make something special. It’s okay to bring an open bottle of wine, a half-eaten day-old cake, to not have a perfectly tidy house. Again, there’s an intimacy around being comfortable, not having to impress your friends.

Solo campervan trips!
Sedona solo hiking
In the spring, I rented a small camper van in Phoenix & drove north, camping and hiking for nine days in Sedona, the Grand Canyon, and visiting gorgeous spots like Horseshoe Bend. It was the friendliest trip I’ve ever been on — I asked a guy to take my photo at the Grand Canyon and we ended up hiking 6 miles together. A young woman complimented my hat on a Grand Canyon shuttle bus, we struck up a conversation, exchanged numbers and met up in Sedona days later for a hike. A retired architect from the Bay Area, camping near me in Sedona, noticed we had the same van and asked if we could eat dinner together (when he walked over with a bowl of ramen, I made him a salad!). The trip was the perfect balance of being on my own and having company. Unrelated: I made a lot of really fantastic salads!
I found the best locally made tortillas at…Walmart! I ate at least one a day, charred directly on my little van stove.

Hey look! It’s the most recent episode of Your Last Meal! Have you listened yet?

Listen Now!

I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Margie Nomura, host of Desert Island Dishes, a British podcast with a similar concept to mine. It was very fun being on the other side of the microphone and I definitely talked too much, but if you want to know what food product my relatives invented in the 1980s, how my dad got me to eat tiny fried smelt as a child, and my favorite food that I only eat if someone else is buying, give her a listen!

And if you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, please leave a quick review!

Thank you SO much for your support over this past year! For all of your kind messages on social media, for listening to Your Last Meal, for coming to my LIVE podcast taping, for saying hello at the grocery store, and an extra special thank you to those who are paid subscribers. If you didn’t listen and read my work, I wouldn’t have this beautiful career. THANK YOU!

Happy New Year!

Rachel Belle