Quarantine has revealed for many of us the importance of a well-stocked pantry; for some, their pantry was an absolute lifeline in a tough time. Anne Milneck—chef, owner of Red Stick Spice Co ., and host of Smidgen — talks on this bonus episode about pantries, staples, and stocking up. How do you make sure you’re stocking stuff you actually use? How can sauces make all the difference for your pantry meal planning? Should you stock up on spices? What do oils and balsamics have to do with a well-p...
May 30, 2020•26 min
Any peek into foodie social media during quarantine has revealed pictures of beautiful loaves of bread, tales of sourdough, and beautiful cakes and cookies (still warm from the oven.) Everybody is baking! Anne Milneck, intrepid host of Smidgen and owner of Red Stick Spice Company is… how to say it… not an avid baker (she even claims FOF—fear of flour.) That’s why on this special bonus episode of Smidgen, Anne talks with Sarah Joy Hays, baker and proprietor of Counterspace bakery in Baton Rouge. ...
May 28, 2020•31 min
All this home cooking everyone has been doing either reveals your cooking skill limitations or inspired you to take things up to the next level. How can you become a better cook? What skills should every home cook improve right now? (And how can we improve our cooking skills?) Anne Milneck—chef, owner of Red Stick Spice Co ., and host of Smidgen—tells us what are the top skills every home cook should know and how to improve them right away. Catherine O’Brien ( Smidgen producer ) gets Anne to tal...
May 22, 2020•31 min
Parents with children of all ages, we see you! Right now, this very moment, you’re probably preparing food for the folks in your home. On this bonus episode of Smidgen, the podcast of Red Stick Spice Company, host Anne Milneck and producer Catherine O’Brien talk about the extra home cooking lots of parents are doing now. How can you use this time to get kids involved in cooking and meal prep? What can skills and experience can older kids learn now? What are some kid-friendly recipes to add to th...
May 20, 2020•24 min
If you are hunkered down, practicing social distancing, and maybe wanting a little comfort, we have a little Smidgen bonus for you. Anne Milneck, host of Smidgen and owner of Red Stick Spice Company talks (remotely) with producer Catherine O’Brien. Anne shares her thoughts on why heading to the kitchen is a good idea right now, and can even be a source of joy in stressful times. Anne also has a unique perspective in our current circumstance: Anne’s son Clay has a chronic illness that requires ex...
Mar 18, 2020•21 min
S2E7 We’re throwing it back here on the Season Two Finale of Smidgen to some vintage recipes that are making a comeback. Do you have memories from your young days of parents pulling out “fancy” china for entertaining and making certain dishes that are for special occasions only? Smidgen Host and Owner of Red Stick Spice Co. Anne Milneck speaks with Lili Courtney about some of these dishes, and our intrepid chefs give some makeovers to chicken tetrazzini, hummingbird cake (Southern Living Magazin...
Jan 09, 2020•55 min•Season 2Ep. 7
S2E6 Lots of customers discover Red Stick Spice Company after being given the directive to reduce salt consumption. What better place than our shop to reduce salt without losing flavor? We also hear talk of the DASH Diet —a little bit “Baton Rouge famous” due to research and development at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. To learn more, we’re joined by Renee Puyau, Registered Dietician at Pennington . Renee explains how DASH was originally developed for hypertension, but also supports othe...
Jan 02, 2020•43 min•Season 2Ep. 6
S2E5 “Local food” is a term we hear more and more. It feels good to say, it seems to capture the spirit of an ideal we would like to uphold. Looking a bit closer, the issue of local food gains some depth and complexity. On this episode of Smidgen, host Anne Milneck starts off her local food journey by speaking with John Cotton Dean , Director of the Rural Prosperity Initiative for the Central Louisiana Economic Development Alliance (CLEDA.) John breaks down food deserts, identifies who are the s...
Dec 12, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Season 2Ep. 5
S2E4 A large pot, the smell of sugar and fruit (and maybe some peppers) filling the air, plus stirring—lots and lots of stirring. Homemade jams, jellies and preserves are all the rage. Our friend Ashley Andermann of Grinning Jupiter Jammery joins host Anne Milneck to talk about confidently making jams and jellies at home. In the Smidgen cooking segment: Ashley and Anne head to the Red Stick Spice Company Test Kitchen to make a batch of must-have blackberry pepper jelly . Ashley shares how most p...
Dec 05, 2019•1 hr•Season 2Ep. 4
S2E3 Happy Thanksgiving! Food, memories, family—on this episode of Smidgen, host Anne Milneck explores each of these elements as she tries to get to the bottom of a childhood Thanksgiving memory she has about a turkey being dropped and the chaos that ensued. As often happens with family memories, it is hard to get one consistent version of events (despite Anne asking several key family members.) After this venture into “turkey true crime,” Anne talks with her son-in-law Ben about a five-alarm ev...
Nov 26, 2019•48 min•Season 2Ep. 3
S2E2 We are getting to the bottom of a question heard daily at Red Stick Spice Company: How do I use spices? Last week, Smidgen hosted Rosemary Gill from Milk Street for her take on using spices. In this episode, Smidgen host Anne Milneck speaks with producer Catherine O’Brien for Anne’s take on the how, when, and why of spices. The cooking segment brings it all home with a recipe that uses a surprising spice (well, surprising for a cookie) and utilizes a technique that will transform your bakin...
Nov 21, 2019•44 min•Season 2Ep. 2
S2E1 We are back with Smidgen, Season 2, ready to bring you fabulous food and in-depth interviews plus several items of exciting news. Up first, Red Stick Spice Company recently certified as a Milk Street Cooking Classes Partner Location . Milk Street is a media company founded by Christopher Kimball, focusing on cooking fundamentals and developing delicious flavor profiles. To share the Milk Street way, we are joined on Smidgen by Milk Street Education Director Rosemary Gill. Rosie is a wealth ...
Nov 14, 2019•51 min•Season 2Ep. 1
S2E0 Smidgen, the podcast of Red Stick Spice Company will be back with Season 2 very soon! We have some wonderful guest interviews to share with you and some amazing food you can prepare at home. We are excited to announce that Smidgen is now available on Pandora ! Smidgen is a finalist for not one but two categories of Discover Pods Awards ! For your consideration, Smidgen is up for Best New Podcast of 2019 and Best Arts Podcast . Please vote for Smidgen! (Voting closes November 18, 2019, 6PM E...
Nov 11, 2019•1 min
S1E7 Now we gather . This simple motto carries a deeper meaning beyond the first glance, its significance can be experienced by preparing a meal and enjoying it with family and friends. Licensed Clinical Social Worker Leslie Todd joins us on Smidgen to talk loneliness, isolation and how those factors affect mental health, plus what actions we can all take to counteract the negative results. Host Anne Milneck and Leslie dive deep into how we form close, interpersonal connections and identify some...
Jul 25, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 7
S1E6 There are a couple kitchen skills that are worth learning (and some that can have a huge impact on your home cooking), and Smidgen host Anne Milneck is here to tell you that making stock and broth at home can be a game changer. Our own tireless champion of the home cook Anne is interviewed by podcast producer Catherine O’Brien to learn why stock and broth are fundamentals of cooking, why we’re hearing about bone broth all the time, and how easy and doable it is to make stock and broth at ho...
Jul 18, 2019•55 min•Season 1Ep. 6
S1E5 If you want to be a better cook, we have a free resource for you that is enriching, abundant, and may have been as-of-yet overlooked. Your public library is a wealth of information—sure, they have cook books, but you also may find magazines, historical cooking records, classes, and more! Mary Stein , Assistant Director of East Baton Rouge Parish Libraries (and irrepressible enthusiast for learning) bursts onto Smidgen to share the vast array of cooking tools that can be found at most every ...
Jul 11, 2019•1 hr 6 min•Season 1Ep. 5
S1E4 Maybe you got it as a gift, maybe you bought it on a whim, but if you have an Instant Pot electric pressure cooker that is still in the box, this is the episode of Smidgen for you! (If you are an Instant Pot enthusiast, we bet you will doubly appreciate our guest and the cooking segment.) Bruce Weinstein is the author of The Instant Pot Bible , The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book and the forthcoming (and potentially game changing) From Freezer to Instant Pot . We talk specifically about the ...
Jul 03, 2019•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 4
S1E3 Culture and food are deliciously intertwined, especially in South Louisiana. Chef Marcelle Bienvenu of the John Folse Culinary Institute at Nicholls State University has a lengthy and illustrious resume—and she’s Anne Milneck’s favorite teacher. Chef Marcelle and Anne dive into the roots of Cajun cuisine as well as reflect on Chef Marcelle’s experience as a Times Picayune food writer, a cookbook author, and as a colleague of food greats such as Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse. Prepare to ...
Jun 27, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 3
S1E2 It started innocently enough on foodie social media. Smidgen host and owner of Red Stick Spice Company Anne Milneck noticed pretty pictures posted of baked dinners, but now this classic method of preparing dinner bore a new, modern name: Sheet Pan Suppers. The “new” and “trending” adoration lofted on these meals made Anne a bit bemused, and (with tongue in cheek) cranky. On this episode of Smidgen, Anne tries to get to the bottom of where this trend started and why it holds sway over much o...
Jun 20, 2019•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Bonus: Smidgen launched last week and we’ve been amazed with the response! Thank you to everyone who is listening, sharing, and reviewing the show. You can hear Episode 1 of Season 1 on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , Google Podcasts , or your favorite podcast app. We have a little bonus for you as a thank you for all the support. Host Anne Milneck, owner of Red Stick Spice Co. and podcast producer Catherine O’Brien do a short lightning round on the topic of Scratch vs. Store Bought—some of Anne’s op...
Jun 19, 2019•6 min
S1E1 Welcome to Smidgen, the podcast of Red Stick Spice Co.! “What can I do to make boneless, skinless chicken breasts taste better?” is the question heard day in and day out at our retail location in Baton Rouge, LA. To answer that question (and maybe even redirect the cook doing the asking) Anne Milneck, owner of Red Stick Spice Co. and host of Smidgen speaks with Galen Iverstine of Iverstine Farms Butcher to discuss the relatively new phenomenon of pre-packaged cuts of meat found in our groce...
Jun 13, 2019•42 min•Season 1Ep. 1
S1E0 Somewhere between a pinch and a dash is a smidgen, and when it comes to cooking, a smidgen can make all the difference. Introducing Smidgen, the podcast of Red Stick Spice Company . Host Anne Milneck is a chef, head "spice girl" at Red Stick Spice Company, and a tireless champion of home cooks everywhere. Smidgen features some of the most interesting people in the food world plus real world cooking segments recorded right from the Red Stick Spice Co. Test Kitchen. Season One of Smidgen laun...
May 22, 2019•1 min
