Kitchen Meditations with Kendall Vanderslice
41 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 year ago -Reflections on cooking to help you taste God’s goodness in each bite.
Whether the kitchen is a place of stress or a place that brings peace at the end of a long day, whether you love cooking or loathe it, you still need to eat.
Baker and writer Kendall Vanderslice (author of We Will Feast: Rethinking Dinner, Worship, and the Community of God) understands the complexity of food—as well as the ways God meets us in the kitchen and at the table. Through these reflections on the mundane tasks that shape our daily lives, along with cooking tips and prayers for sacred, ordinary moments, you'll taste a bit of God's hope and healing every time you eat.
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Episodes
On Salt
March 26, 2023 11:00 - 16 minutes - 30.5 MBAre 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 roles in our food, aside from just aiding the flavor. And it’s been a powerful political tool throughout history too. How does that reshape your understanding of Jesus’ quip, “you are the salt of the earth”? Buy tickets to our Holy Week Bake & Pray Order...
On Yeast
March 19, 2023 11:00 - 17 minutes - 32.4 MBHave 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 God is like yeast that a woman mixed into three measures of flour until all of it was leavened. Three measures of flour is just a bit more flour than one of those 50 pound bags, which means this woman was leavening a whole lot of dough. In today’s epi...
On Flour
March 05, 2023 12:00 - 17 minutes - 32.2 MBSix 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 relationships to flour. Today on Kitchen Meditations, we're examining why wheat has been so integral in the history of the church—and why I believe that the structure of wheat itself encourages us to search for God's work in other grains as well.Order...
On White Bread Alone
February 26, 2023 12:00 - 23 minutes - 43.6 MBThis 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 Bread Alone today!
On Allergies
February 05, 2023 12:00 - 16 minutes - 30.2 MBHave 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 in the meal? It's a terrible feeling to be unable to eat the same food as everyone around, or worse yet, to be unable to eat with them at all. And yet it's the reality for a rapidly increasing number of Americans these days. How do those of us who love...
On Diets & Identity
January 22, 2023 12:00 - 17 minutes - 23.7 MBHave 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 enjoyed building connections with other Paleo people on Instagram. Or you’re vegan and, despite all the jokes lobbed at vegans, you’re grateful to be a part of something beyond yourself. What is it about our diet that connects us with others? Why do we ...
Advent IV: On Opening Up (in collaboration with WeWelcome)
December 18, 2022 12:00 - 14 minutes - 20.5 MBOn 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 desire to build communities marked by generosity—I expect you’ll find fulfillment greater than you could have imagined too. Listen in. This Advent, we partnered with WeWelcome, an organization that teaches Americans how to advocate on behalf of our refuge...
Advent III: On Laughter (in collaboration with WeWelcome)
December 11, 2022 12:00 - 14 minutes - 19.7 MBToday 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 might be God encouraging us to laugh a little bit.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 Ch...
Advent II: On Selfless Hospitality (in collaboration with WeWelcome)
December 04, 2022 12:00 - 13 minutes - 18 MBOn 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 inconvenient times. 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 ...
Advent I: On Longing (in collaboration with WeWelcome)
November 27, 2022 12:00 - 15 minutes - 21.6 MBThis 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 welcome today. On this first Sunday of Advent, we’re going to look to the story of Elizabeth and Zachariah. We’ll examine what their lives can teach us about embracing the gift of hospitality, even in seasons of unmet longing and endless waiting. We pray th...
On Thanksgiving
November 20, 2022 12:00 - 18 minutes - 25.5 MBThanksgiving 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 towards healing, together at the table. If you’re looking for a new way to approach the holidays this year, listen in. Links and Resources: Pie Ranch and Amah Mutsun history How the Civil War created Thanksgiving Download our show transcript or subscribe...
On Daily Bread
November 13, 2022 12:00 - 19 minutes - 26.8 MBThis 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 Vanderslice shares some of her own food story, how it led her to create the Edible Theology Project, and why gathering at the table in this season is more important than ever. Listen in .USA Today article on Loneliness and American democracy Support The Edible...
On Grief with Amanda Held Opelt
October 30, 2022 11:00 - 31 minutes - 42.9 MBJoin 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 healing and transformative way to tend to our bodies, and experience healing in community. Listen in. Get a copy of Amanda Held Opelt’s book, A Hole in the World Connect with Amanda Held Opelt on Instagram @AmandaHeldOpelt or on her website Download our...
On Halloween and Soul Cakes
October 23, 2022 11:00 - 16 minutes - 14.9 MBHalloween, 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, including the origins of Trick-or-Treating, food traditions like soul cakes, and Martin Luther’s decision to nail the 95 theses on Halloween. Whether you dress up for Halloween every year, or turn off all your lights and hide in the basement during Trick-or-Tr...
On Food in Diaspora with Reem Assil
October 16, 2022 11:00 - 29 minutes - 40.2 MBJoin 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 practices? Reem Assil is a baker, community organizer, and founder of the Bay Area restaurant group Reems California. She’s the author of the recently released cookbook “Arabiyya: Recipes from the Life of an Arab in Diaspora.”This conversation is so rich a...
On Authentic Food
October 09, 2022 11:00 - 15 minutes - 20.7 MBWhat 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 choose the term for some foods and not for others, and we’ll question whether or not there are more robust ways we can describe the things we love to eat. We hope this short reflection will help you reflect on the ways food has shaped you. Listen in....
On the Places We Call Home with Patrice Gopo
October 02, 2022 11:00 - 33 minutes - 46.1 MBFor 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 deeply human one. Join Kendall Vanderslice and guest Patrice Gopo, author of “All the Places We Call Home”, as we meditate together on how to lean into the yearning for home. Check out additional resources or subscribe to our newsletter: edibletheolo...
On Eating Local
September 25, 2022 11:00 - 15 minutes - 21.4 MBWhat comes to mind when you hear the phrase, “eating local”? This phrase, eating local, can mean a variety of things. Alice Water’s work through Chez Panisse - which sparked the launch of the Farm-to-Table movement - and Barbara Kingsolver’s 2007 book “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” set the stage for conversations about local eating over the last two decades. In 2020, the phrase “eating local” took another major shift as COVID-19 created challenges for local businesses. The focus on sustaining ...
On Belonging with Lore Wilbert
September 18, 2022 11:00 - 31 minutes - 43.5 MBHave you ever felt overwhelmed by the unknown? Do you find yourself wishing for a bit more slowness, stability, or surety about your next steps? Maybe then you’d finally feel at home, you think. In this episode of Kitchen Meditations, Kendall is joined by Lore Ferguson Wilbert, the author of Curious Faith. Together, Kendall and Lore discuss what makes them feel at home, the lingering feelings of homesickness, the role questions can play in our faith, and how to instill some rhythm into our e...
On Food, Family, and Home
September 11, 2022 11:00 - 6 minutes - 8.5 MBWhat flavors come to mind when you think of home? Is there a particular recipe you grew up making? Is there something you’ve learned to cook that feels cozy, that makes your kitchen feel ready to welcome others in? Welcome back to Kitchen Meditations! In today’s episode, we’ll explore the way our senses help us conjure old memories and remind us what home means to each of us. This season, we’ll hear from a series of guests as they reflect on their own relationship to food, and how this has b...
Veggie Takes Preview
June 19, 2022 11:15 - 19 minutes - 17.3 MBHave you been missing Kitchen Meditations? Don't worry—it will be back in September. Until then, join Kendall Vanderslice for another fun summer project: VeggieTakes, the VeggieTales rewatch podcast. Listen to this preview of our first episode, then head on over to VeggieTakes and subscribe today!
On Fundraising
May 17, 2022 16:00 - 5 minutes - 5.29 MBFor the next three weeks, Edible Theology is running an IndieGoGo fundraising campaign to finish out our upcoming curriculum as well as the next season of this podcast. In this episode, you'll learn more about this exciting season in our ministry and the ways that you can help. Donate through our IndieGoGo today: https://igg.me/at/edibletheology
On Rest
March 27, 2022 12:01 - 19 minutes - 26.6 MBWhat 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 find time to claim? Or maybe it just seems lazy when there is so much that must be done. In this episode of Kitchen Meditations, we’re going to spend some time reflecting on what these complicated feelings might be. Bake and Pray, Any Day: On Demand
Kitchen Meditations will be back next week
March 20, 2022 11:00 - 52 seconds - 824 KBIn keeping with the rhythms of Lent, we're taking a break to honor our limitations as humans. We hope you'll take some time this week to do the same. In the meantime, we recommend you catch up on earlier episodes, like the episode on Lenten fasting. We'll see you next week.
On Leaven
March 13, 2022 11:00 - 18 minutes - 16.7 MBHave 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 God is like yeast that a woman mixed into three measures of flour until all of it was leavened. Three measures of flour is just a bit more flour than one of those 50 pound bags, which means this woman was leavening a whole lot of dough. In today’s epi...
On Water
March 06, 2022 12:00 - 17 minutes - 24.1 MBLent begins…with dust. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. From dust you come and to dust you will return. Lent begins in the desert, with Jesus wandering out to fast for forty days. It may seem odd, given this parched opening, to begin Lent with a reflection on water. But water is where I’d like our Lenten bread journey to begin. In this episode of Kitchen Meditations, we dig into how water can bring life and transformation in unexpected places. In this season of Lent, water prepares us to enter ...
On King Cake
February 27, 2022 12:00 - 17 minutes - 24.6 MBHow 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 traditions abound all around the world. In this episode of Kitchen Meditations, we’re going to learn how some of the most popular traditions came to be! King Cake history Plastic Baby in the King Cake history Vasilopita history Maslenitsa history Deep div...
On Lenten Fasting
February 20, 2022 12:00 - 16 minutes - 22.1 MBI 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 believe Lent is an unnecessary season, an attempt to earn favor with God when we already have God’s grace. Although “Lent” is not a season outlined in Scripture, it’s been a way for Christians to mark time since at least the early 4th century. To kick ...
On Biblical Diets
January 23, 2022 12:00 - 19 minutes - 26.3 MBHave 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 to strict guidelines laid out in various parts of scripture. In our fourth episode on Diet Culture, we’re going to look at the underlying assumptions behind most Biblical diet books…then consider a different theological approach. Listen the first thre...
On Healthy Eating
January 16, 2022 11:00 - 15 minutes - 21.8 MBYou 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’ll dive into the way food shapes our identities, for better or for worse, and how we can use food to remind us of who we are. Listen the first two episodes in the Diet Culture series The Body of the Conquistador, Rebecca Earle Eating Right in America, C...
On Clean Eating
January 09, 2022 11:00 - 19 minutes - 26.5 MBWhat 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 Diet Culture, we’ll explore the history of clean eating, how this framework has shifted, and how we can find more helpful ways of relating to the foods we eat. Listen the first episode in the Diet Culture series Learn more about the history of white b...
On Fasting and Feasting
January 02, 2022 11:00 - 17 minutes - 23.7 MBHappy 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. They just might help us enter the new year in celebration rather than shame. Links and Resources from this episode: Supper of the Lamb Worship at the Table curriculum King Cake Recipe Edible Theology Community
Kitchen Meditations Will be Back in the New Year!
December 26, 2021 11:00 - 48 seconds - 1.16 MBThe Kitchen Meditations team is taking a break to rest and enjoy time with family and friends. We hope you had a wonderful Christmas! See you back here next Sunday, Jan 2nd as we begin new kitchen meditations on fasting & feasting, diet culture, and clean eating.
On Love through Labor
December 19, 2021 12:00 - 20 minutes - 27.7 MBWhen you think of love, do you think of boxes of chocolates and bouquets of flowers? Or do you think of the screams of a mother in the final stages of giving birth? In this final Advent episode, we’ll take about the ways God shows us love through labor and how we might sense that love in the work of our own hands. Learn more about bread in the Gospels with our Bake with the Bible curriculum. No-Knead Wheat Bread Recipe Gluten Free No Knead Bread Recipe Learn to bake bread as a form of prayer...
On Joy in Simple Things
December 12, 2021 12:00 - 18 minutes - 25.2 MBWhenever we’re hurting or we’re overcome by the weight of the world, joy seems like it should be the last thing on our mind. Advent invites us to see the tension of both joy and hardship through a different light. In the midst of holiday parties and celebrations, what might it look like to allow yourself to delight in the fullness of God’s creation? Links & Resources Shop the Edible Theology gift guide Join the Edible Theology community
On Peace Around the Table
December 05, 2021 11:00 - 17 minutes - 24.4 MBWe’ve all sat through an awkward meal before—the kind that brings together family members with all kinds of opinions. Maybe you’re the kind of person that comes to the table gunning for a fight. Or maybe you’re the kind that wants to keep things calm at all costs. What does it mean to pursue peace around the table? Links and Resources from this episode: Taize song, The Kingdom of God Shop Edible Theology’s holiday gifts Follow us on Instagram @EdibleTheology Download the transcript for this ...
On Eating In Community
November 28, 2021 12:00 - 18 minutes - 25 MBDo you enjoy sharing meals with friends? Do you prioritize sitting at the table with others, or is it something that you fit in between all the other busy things? Eating together with others is a primary means by which God addresses our need for community. Links and Resources from this episode: Buy Kendall’s book Vivek Murthy on the loneliness epidemic Purchase Worship at the Table Find us on Instagram: @EdibleTheology Download the transcript for this episode and join the conversation about a...
On Confession and Thanksgiving
November 21, 2021 13:00 - 18 minutes - 26.3 MBThanksgiving is a complicated holiday. It’s a day for laughing with cousins, feasting on turkey and pumpkin pie, and arguing with family around the table. What do we do with the historical realities behind the holiday, though? What might it look like to begin this turkey day with confession then thanks? Links and Resources from this episode: Pie Ranch and Amah Mutsun history How the Civil War created Thanksgiving Learn more about Advent with The Baker’s Table Find us on Instagram: @EdibleTheo...
On Grocery Shopping
November 14, 2021 12:00 - 17 minutes - 24.4 MBHow much time or mental energy does grocery shopping take up for you? Is it a cause of stress or a point of joy? In today’s episode, we’re talking about what it means for food to be good, and how this can help us approach our grocery shopping as a way to celebrate the gifts of God. Links and Resources from this episode: -Grab a copy of Kendall’s book. -Learn more about Bake with the Bible -Find us on Instagram: @EdibleTheology -Download the transcript for this episode and join the conversati...
What Does the Kitchen Mean to You?
November 07, 2021 18:21 - 5 minutes - 7.24 MBKitchen Meditations, a podcast from Edible Theology starts next Sunday, November 14th! In Christian tradition, we believe that God meets us each Sunday at the Communion table, in a meal of bread and wine. On Kitchen Meditations, we're going to look for the ways God also meets us at the kitchen table on all the days in between. Whether the kitchen is a place of stress or a place that brings peace at the end of a long day, whether you love cooking or loathe it, you still need to eat. I'm Kend...
Coming Soon: Kitchen Meditations
November 01, 2021 17:53 - 1 minute - 2.56 MBReflections on cooking to help you taste God’s goodness in each bite. Whether the kitchen is a place of stress or a place that brings peace at the end of a long day, whether you love cooking or loathe it, you still need to eat. Baker and writer Kendall Vanderslice (author of We Will Feast: Rethinking Dinner, Worship, and the Community of God) understands the complexity of food—as well as the ways God meets us in the kitchen and at the table. Through these reflections on the mundane tasks that...