Imagine all your nurtures, your unsy and your grandmothers in one kitchen and all the kids is there. This is how we

grew up so everybody like everything feels like family with you that's all I know

you know what I mean that's's how we were raised. And so my grandmother would take us and

rehearse us in that house, probably in that kitchen and teach us songs and she had us all

singing and she was like okay

Jason Julian you go sit down that just you come here you keep singing.

Welcome to your mama's kitchen the podcast that explores how we're shaped as adults by

the kitchens we grew up in as kids. I'm Michelle Norris. Today we are blessed to

welcome a dream girl, an Idol and an egot winner to the show

We're talking about miss Jennifer Hudson and by the way egot means that she has won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony over the course of her career.

You can easily recognize the unmistakable range of her Metso-Soprano, whether belting out tunes to become a finalist for American

idle or making us all do a double take when she portrayed Aretha Franklin in the movie

Respect. She won our respect with that role. And after racking up movie roles an Academy Award

and ascending the Billboard charts she's taken on a more reflective role these days

hosting her own daytime program, the Jennifer Hudson Show.

In today's conversation, she allows me to reflect with her,

reaching back to her early years in the Windy City.

Jennifer tells me about the transformative year she spent in her childhood kitchen on Chicago

South Side.

It's a place where she was surrounded by love and generosity.

You'll hear how her siblings created a culture based on sharing instead of rivalry.

That kitchen was also a place where she was surrounded by song. She spent her early years with her

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