I'm Alan Olga and this is Clear and Vivit. Conversations about connecting and communicating.

I try and write to make people feel successful about themselves in the kitchen. That's the

part I want to communicate is that you'll feel better if you do this a little more often.

You don't make you happy. It'll fill up your soul. You'll feel good about yourself.

You spend less money. You'll be healthier. You'll just feel better if you cook.

Rachel Ray is a star cook with popular books and television shows. But for her I think the point

isn't just to eat well. It's also that food is a fundamental way of relating to the people around us.

I visited Rachel on her show and we cooked up a couple of pasta dishes together.

And we sat down at the table and while I slurped up my rigatoni and her spaghetti,

we talked about everything from the power of food in our lives to toasted spaghetti.

That's right. Toasted spaghetti. I had never heard of it either.

Rachel I'm so glad you're doing this podcast with me because we talk a lot about communicating

in many different ways, all kinds of different ways. And this is the first time we've ever been

able to talk about communicating with food, with true food. You know, and I love that, you know,

you're finally getting to that message because for me, the reason I like working in food

is that it is such a great conduit. It's such a great communicator. And it does things that words

can't do. It can connect you with literally who you are, with generations that we've lost.

You know, I miss my grandfather. In a lot of ways, he was like my dad to me. He was my best friend

when I was a little girl and he lived in our house. And I miss him. But when I make things that he

loves, I'm with him. And it's food is more powerful than words in some ways because it appeals to

all of your senses, you know. So it really is like I'm physically with him and back in all these

moments. I had such a similar experience. Somebody had heard my father's recipe on the radio.

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