Melissa Gray
Melissa Gray is a senior producer for All Things Considered.
Gray got her start at Member station WUGA in Athens, GA. From there, she went on to report on arts and cultural stories for Peach State Public Radio in Atlanta. She joined NPR in 1999.
Years later, her determination to "learn how to really bake a damn good cake" led her to experiment on the All Things Considered staff. You can read all about it in her cookbook, All Cakes Considered. Melissa lives by this motto: "We have to make our own fun. Nobody else will make it for us."
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Maria del Mar Sacasa, author of Winter Cocktails, says eggnog can, and should, be done right. After playing with milk-to-booze ratios and spice combinations, she believes she has the perfect recipe for basic eggnog.
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Made from prunes, walnuts, honey and shredded coconut, the bite-sized sweets can be served up with dark chocolate. This recipe, which belonged to a Russian Jewish family living in China, has made its way to a cooking group in Sydney, Australia.
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After careful consideration, gnashing of teeth and cleansing of palates, we have a winner in the Found Recipes Taste of Summer contest. Listeners wrote in, and NPR staff sampled recipes from the three finalists.
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Jim Ledvinka grew up outside of Chicago watching his grandmother make ketchup from scratch once a year. As a kid, he hated the stuff. As a man — and now a grandfather — he became desperate to re-create it. That's where All Things Considered's Found Recipes project comes in.
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Kimchi, the fermented cabbage so familiar on the Korean table, takes on American mashed potatoes in this twist on the typical Thanksgiving recipe from cookbook author and restaurateur Debbie Lee. And she throws in Fuji Apple Egg Rolls for dessert.
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It's not morbid! Cookbook authors the Brass Sisters want you to ask your elders for recipes this holiday season, before it's too late and they're gone. And also, try their Aunt Ida's tasty Poppy Seed Cookies.
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Food writer Ellen Brown has enlivened this often-maligned, yet much-beloved hot dish with dried porcini mushrooms and mozzarella cheese in a new book.
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Beef heart, once a common dish for the poor, has been rediscovered by chefs and eaters of all ages. All Things Considered speaks with cookbook authors Jody Eddy and Christine Carroll about the stories behind their recipes.
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Sometimes, your three-year-old son becomes convinced he's friends with an outlaw country superstar.
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Expert pickler Marisa McClellan recreates a listener's lost pickle recipe, and explains why her grandma's pickles are saltier than many modern-day versions. They're fermented, like a true kosher dill pickle.