Guest chef participates in culinary benefit
KEET-TV has announced a live, virtual “Taste of Fame” culinary fundraising experience with awardwinning celebrity chef, author and host of “Lidia’s Kitchen,” Lidia Bastianich, on May 21. PBS stations across the country will be part of this event, first launched by PBS station WCNY in Syracuse, New York.
Taste of Fame and KEETTV invite guests to be part of this live culinary journey from the comfort and safety of their homes. Participating PBS stations are happy to work with Sunbasket meal service, based in the Bay Area. Sunbasket will deliver meal kits directly to homes, so guests can cook along with Bastianich, who will participate from her home kitchen in Boston. Each four-person meal kit includes Spinach-Artichoke Dip with traditional pita for an appetizer, ingredients to create Lidia’s Springtime Asparagus Risotto (choice of shrimp, chicken and/or tofu) and simple dark chocolate bars for an after-dinner snack.
Development Director Valerie Eurs is particularly excited about this event, as Bastianich has been inspiring her own kitchen adventures since she first came across Bastianich’s “Italian-American Kitchen” on KEET-TV in the early 2000s.
“Lidia’s recipes are very approachable — usually made with a just few ingredients that transform into something delicious. I’ve been using her recipes for over a decade and my cookbooks have the tomato and vinegar stains to prove it,” said Eurs.
This culinary experience begins at 3:30 p.m. with a cocktail Q&A with Bastianich, moderated by Chef Julia Collin Davison of America’s Test Kitchen. Guests are invited to ask Bastianich a question in the Zoom chat while she creates a Fragoncello, one of her favorite spring cocktails. At 4 p.m., Bastianich will guide guests through a cooking lesson to create her Springtime Asparagus Risotto entree. When the cooking lesson ends, guests will have the opportunity to eat with friends in private Zoom rooms.
The $200 dinner tickets also include two-week access to the recorded cooking lesson and one-month Digital All Access to the America’s Test Kitchen website, bringing recipes and videos right into your home kitchen.vFor those who want to participate but do not want to receive a meal kit, virtual event only tickets are $75 (includes everything but the meal kit).
The deadline to make your order is April 23 at noon. Tickets are on sale at KEET.org.