KRCB-FM: Mouthful

Mouthful takes a road trip to Yosemite Valley's Ahwahnee Hotel, with the producers, costume designer, executive chef and selected cast members of the Bracebridge Dinners, a holiday tradition since the hotel opened in 1929.

Mouthful welcomes chef Ryan Pollnow of Matanzas Creek Winery, who will build a gingerbread house during the show. Joining in will be Lisa Gottreich of Bohemian Creamery, who will join Ryan and others at the winery's upcoming holiday open house weekend.

It's a dessert lovers paradise on this week's Mouthful, when Condra Easley and her sister Debbie Morris of Sebastopol's Patisserie Angelica talk about their extraordinary cakes, cookies and confections and explain their new service for locals only.

Mouthful welcomes William Grimes, former New York Times restaurant critic and author of a delicious new book, "Appetite City: A Culinary History of New York."

Mouthful explores the traditions of El Dia de Los Muertos, with an emphasis on Petaluma's celebration.

Stephanie Rosenbaum talks about her delightful new work "The Astrology Cookbook" and Frederique Lavoipierre discusses the upcoming Insecta- palooza. Evangeline, a beautiful stick bug, bobs and sways through the entire show and much to Stephanie's delight, the metallic-fanged jumping spider does not escape his cage.

In an archive presentation, Mouthful revisits Portugal with port master Rupert Symington.

Ritz Guggiana and Marissa Guggiana discuss the demise of Ritz Food Service and the future of Sonoma Direct, which works directly with local ranchers to make their grass-fed meats and poultry available in Sonoma and Marin Counties and beyond.

As part of Mouthful's remembrance of Julia Child, we revisit Michele's conversation with Stephanie Hersch, Julia's assistant for 16 years.

Mouthful remembers Julia Child, with a look back at two interviews. The first features Michele interviewing Julia and her long-time collaborator Jacques Pepin before a live audience in the fall of 1999.

Mouthful presents a very special rebroadcast of last winter's interview with cookbook author Sheila Lukins, who died last week of brain cancer. Joining in is Julee Rosso, co-founder of The Silver Palate and co-author of The Silver Palate series of books, who speaks from her home in Michigan about the death of her colleague and the impact their work had on America.

Mouthful focuses on two topics - First, Maria Hunt talks about her new book "The Bubbly Bar," filled with innovative sparkling wine cocktails. Next, we take a road trip to Bulgaria, where VINI is producing premium wines at bargain prices. Vance Petrunoff of the Sonoma-based importer, Bulgarian Master Vintners, join host Michele Anna Jordan to explore accessible, affordable wines from eastern Europe, including a sauvignon blanc that weighs in at just 12.5 percent alcohol and sells in the US for $ 7.99.

Mouthful welcomes chef Terrell Bernier of New Orleans and Alan Linsley of Nonesuch school to discuss "Remembering Hurricane Katrina," a benefit coming up on August 29.

Mouthful heads to Hawaii to explore kava kava, or awa, the sacred beverage of the Polynesian triangle. This episode focuses on contemporary awa, with a visit to an awa bar in downtown Hilo and a chat with an awa vendor at the Hilo farmers market.

Mouthful continues its tradition of joining in the annual celebration of the Gravenstein Apple at the Sebastopol Farmers Market. This year's guests include historian Gaye LeBaron, Carol Kozlowski of Kozlowski Farms and Stan DeVoto of DeVoto Farms, with a special "appearance" by The Fondettes.