The Hapless Gourmands

We whip up six courses of Hunan favorites, discover the true origins of a famous Vaudeville bit, and learn about the dairy cow reproductive cycle.

We attempt an international wedding banquet for our soon-to-be-married guests, with mixed results. Features include a chicken-like challah, ghost stories, shrimp in a pumpkin and a towering cream puff creation called croquembouche. Check out the photos at www.ronnieandeddie.com.

We stuff our own sausages and pair them with spiced figs for a warm first course, make a traditional tortilla or Spanish omelet, and then roll out the paella in all its glory. Tasters love the first half of the meal, but are completely stymied by the mystery dessert.

We prepared a feast for the senses - green curry with chicken, beef and broccoli noodles, heavenly springrolls with a sweet and hot dipping sauce, catfish wrapped in banana leaves, and a coconut custard steamed in a pumpkin. Perhaps most intriguing were the condiments - chili sauces, sugar, ground peanuts - something for everyone! Our guests, from Texas, were in a warm spicy heaven.

We made hummus, flatbread, yet another kind of stuffed pastry (spinach parcels), koshary, chicken and baklava. But mostly this podcast features dinner conversation - about epiphanies, online dating and marriage.

We serve up a bright seafood salad, an enormous timpano, and tiramisu. Our guests discuss trips to Italy and the body parts of saints.

Meeting your food before you eat it, and the subtleties of Froot Loops and Rice Krispies are all topics of conversation when we cook a six course Chinese meal for (and mostly in front of) our guests.

Our mic was filled with background noise, but our tummies were filled with sushi when we ate out on half-price maki day at Chicago's Tank restaurant.

Octopus salad, pinwheel pork cutlets stuffed with shiso leaves and plum paste and deep-fried, sashimi and more are featured in this Japanese meal. Rice. Did we mention the rice?

What could be more French than that creamy white-bean and meat stew called cassoulet? And what could be more American than a cook-off? We try out two recipes - a traditional, long-simmering, goose-fat-filled French one and a shortcut-laden American one - for the classic French comfort food on our friends. The engaged couple are inspired to discuss politics, knitting, and how they met.

Stacey and Stephen delve into Indian cooking for the holidays

Stacey and Stephen debone a chicken and make a not-so-chiffon cake