Your Mama's Kitchen Episode 25: Maria Bamford
Novena Audible Originals Presents Your Mama's Kitchen, hosted by Michele Norris.
COLD OPEN
Maria Bamford A recipe for Marilyn. Number one, make a tangy dressing of lemon juice, Dijon mustard, olive oil, and vinegar without measuring and toss with abandon. Two, serve with good bread. Toasted with very good olive oil and garlic. The most important thing about the bread is that no matter what you get or where you get it from, you must say it is the best and why. Number three make up your own good. And stand fast. Your emotion will carry this dish.
INTRO
Welcome to Your Mama's Kitchen, the podcast that explores how the kitchens we grew up in as kids shape who we become as adults. I'm Michele Norris.
What happens when the voices that you hear in your head aren’t coming from the people who surround you in the kitchen? When thoughts about dark and dangerous things invade your psyche and your sense of security?
Maria Bamford has been negotiating with the intrusive thoughts and voices in her head since she was a kid — as a confused teenager, as an adult committed to therapy, and as a comedian and actor whose edgy and alarmingly honest humor often deals squarely with the things she has overcome.
You might know her from her series “Lady Dynamite” and two comedy specials, “Old Baby” and “Special Special” on Netflix. She’s also a New York Times bestselling author with her memoir Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult — it was released in late 2023. The book explores the intricacies of her family life, from relationships and fame to her lifelong journey with obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD.
Raised in Minnesota, Maria’s childhood was classically Midwestern, yet Midwestern with a twist. Her family may not have seasoned their food much (and we’ll hear more about that soon) but things could get spicy in the kitchen nonetheless. Her family blended a combination of tell-it-like-I-want-to frankness with passive-aggressive nudges toward conformity. Her mother kept a pristine, ammonia-scented kitchen. Her father? He was a physician. And Bamford's fans have gotten to know both of them because Maria so often impersonates them with eerie accuracy in her routines.
Bamford’s strength as a comedian is her willingness to be candid about the most troubling parts of her own experiences – checking herself into a psychiatric ward. Staging her own death as a kid. Even owning up to her own mistakes and apologizing to close friends (that can’t be easy). In this episode we will learn where that openness springs from. We’ll also hear about the surprising competitiveness around addiction treatment, how Bamford uses impersonations to rewrite narratives in her own life, and the key to making a beautifully marbled pot roast.
All that is coming up.
ACT I
Michele Norris Maria Bamford, thanks for being with us.
Maria Bamford Thank you for having me.
Michele Norris I've been looking forward to this conversation.
Maria Bamford Awesome.
Michele Norris You are someone who talks so much about your family life that I almost feel like I've been in your kitchens. I can envision it a little bit because I too am from Minnesota.
Maria Bamford Oh my gosh. Where?
Michele Norris I'm from the cities, I grew up in the South side of Minneapolis. Mom still lives there.
Maria Bamford Nice. Okay.
Michele Norris Yes. And if we talk too long, I might slip into my Minnesota accent also.
Maria Bamford Oh, no.
Michele Norris You betcha. Yeah. Yeah, hey. But I want you to describe the kitchen for me. If you closed your eyes and you walked back into that kitchen, you and your sister are there. Your mom's at the stove. Your dad's maybe in a plaid chair in the other room. What does that kitchen look like and smell like and feel like?
Maria Bamford It was full, like this brown tile. So it was all tiled, sort of this ceramic tile. My mom would be ashamed that I didn't know the exact brand of that tile, because I think she really designed, you know, like—
Michele Norris She was proud of it.
Maria Bamford She was very proud of it. Yeah. My mom was very much into, like, our whole house was in variations of white, like, so very clean, very clean. And there's a lot of talk about—
Michele Norris Even when you were kids, your house was all white?
Maria Bamford Pretty. Yeah. Pretty... we kept it high and tight. But she wasn't really a big cook. She was often on a diet. So... What would be the smell? I think ammonia. It was very clean.
Michele Norris Ammonia. Did you say ammonia? Pine-Sol?
Maria Bamford It was, it was not Pine-Sol. Oh my gosh, no.
Michele Norris Oh, there's a difference. Okay.
Maria Bamford No. Oh, my — no, she's not, my mom. Yeah, it was just very clean. And you had to keep things very clean in our house. My mom loved to have dinner parties, liked to have people over. Meal preparation was something my mom did on her own. And then usually all the fat was removed from it.
Michele Norris Calories extracted.
Maria Bamford Calories extracted. All the good parts. Where's the butter?
Michele Norris Now, see, that's just the opposite of my family, because we were, we were injecting fat into our food. There was a can of bacon grease quite literally on the stove.
Maria Bamford Which is a great idea. I remember going over, I was dating a guy in my high school, and I went to his house for food once, and I was like, what is this wonderful thing called Crisco? And can we... Is it in a larger container? Because I think I'm going to need more of it. Yeah, I know my mom, yeah. She was just raised in a way that was very diet oriented. So. But she was great at making a salad. And then my dad actually cooked quite a bit just for fun. So he would make bread, and he was experimental. I remember in college he sent me rye bread with frozen blueberries in it. Which is a big mistake. It's not good.
Michele Norris Yeah, that's an interesting flavor profile.
Maria Bamford And heavy bricks of it. I basically, I used them as a doorstop.
Michele Norris I was thinking that would be a good doorstop.
Maria Bamford Yeah.
Michele Norris Or maybe weapon. So I heard something recently that has made me think about our mother's, our collective mother's kitchen. A friend of mine said that she could always tell when her mom was working something out because there was an anger meal. There was a meal that she made when she was always like cooking through gritted teeth. And now I'm wondering, because I know my mom had gritted teeth at some point in her life. I know that you know, you don't … if you were a woman of her age and, raising kids in the 1970s, for all kinds of reasons. Feminism. You know, we're Black folks dealing with America as Black folks. Teenagers, you know.
Maria Bamford Yes.
Michele Norris You know, all kinds of things. So now I've been wondering, what was my mom's anger meal? Do you think your mom had an anger meal?
Maria Bamford Well, when you mention it, I think it was probably when my mom was always starting a diet. It would be like a diet. Like she's in, like she just started. I don't know if you remember the diet center where from what I can tell—
Michele Norris I don't remember the diet center, but it sounds like it involved, like cottage cheese and—
Maria Bamford Cottage cheese.
Michele Norris Boiled eggs.
Maria Bamford You take the, the skin off the chicken. You cut an apple, green apple up into nineteen slices or something.
Michele Norris Oh, not even a sweet apple. A tart green apple.
Maria Bamford Oh, boo, just so rough. And so she would make the chicken for us. And a salad. And yeah, the chicken would be… not great. Because when you — I mean, she did her best.
Michele Norris Any seasoning on that chicken?
Maria Bamford Not a ton. And that's — and I love seasoning. I love hot sauce, I love something, I want something burning down my throat. Probably because there wasn't a lot of stuff on anything. But I would say it was that. Like it was the beginning of a diet meal for the family where you're like, oh, why do we have to suffer, oh.
Michele Norris So she didn't bifurcate the menu, like she didn't have the skinless, boneless, seasonless chicken for herself.
Maria Bamford No.
Michele Norris And then let you all have chicken nuggets and tater tots.
Maria Bamford No no no no no no no. We had one of the most epic meals of our childhood, which, where I believe my mom didn't like this shirt that my dad loved, and he was wearing it to work and she tossed mustard on him. Playfully.
Michele Norris So he wouldn't wear the shirt.
Maria Bamford So he wouldn't wear the shirt that he was wearing. He was- put it on. It was a beautiful shirt. It was a red shirt covered in blue strawberries and kind of like a 70s awesome, long collared type deal and kind of disco. And my dad then took one of my, one of her favorite pieces of China and threw it on the ground, just crashed it. And that was, I mean, that that's probably the most-
Michele Norris I'm just, you know, I don't want to belabor the point, but I'm trying to go from how you went from the, the strawberry 22 letter, you know, the shirt with the big collar and the mustard to the saucer being thrown on the ground.
Maria Bamford I think just the discussion escalated. Where my mom was saying what you wear and what you look like, you know, you got to be well dressed. Is like, was part of-
Michele Norris Is that that high and tight thing again?
Maria Bamford Yeah. A belief system for my mom. So she felt like if my dad was below par, that somehow it would seem like… she had a light homophobia, so she got scared that my dad would look gay. So I wondered, I wonder if that was part of the shirt thing. Also, she worried he would lose his job because he was wearing something, you know, out of the ordinary. Yeah. She really had some deep-seated fears. You know, that had to do with looks.
Michele Norris And conformity.
Maria Bamford And conformity.
ACT II
Maria Bamford I loved getting to know your mother through your comedy work, through really hearing her, you know, because it almost feels like you channel her when you talk about her. I loved reading about her in your book, and I love that your book includes these recipes at the end of every chapter. And sometimes they're actually recipes. Sometimes it's like there's one that's a chip on the floor, like a — someone left a chip on the floor. And what’d you say, pick it up and—
Maria Bamford Yes, pick it up.
Michele Norris And eat it with confidence.
Maria Bamford Yeah, cause it's a treasure.
Michele Norris Do you have your book with you?
Maria Bamford Oh my gosh, of course, of course I do, I'm a monster.
Michele Norris An author has a copy of their book with you. So the book is Sure, I'll Join Your Cult. And you say the first cult that you were a part of is your family. But on page 52, and this is a chapter that was, it was a chapter about your mom, and you talk about your mother's passing, and it was, it was really, really, really beautiful. And at the end, you made me laugh with this recipe for mom. And I would like you to read it, because the way that you have written and designed the book, I think that it's, I guess, intended for emphasis?
Maria Bamford Right.
Michele Norris To read the way that you speak. So there are several things that are in all caps for emphasis. And I would just like you to walk through the three steps. You note that this recipe is all about self-possession. You know what to do. Walk us through this recipe.
Maria Bamford And I'll do it in my mom's voice. A recipe for Marilyn. Number one, make a tangy dressing of lemon juice, Dijon mustard, olive oil and vinegar without measuring and toss with abandon. Two, serve with good bread. Okay? Toasted with very good olive oil and garlic. The most important thing about the bread is that no matter what you get or where you get it from, you must say it is the best and why. The why can be anything. The story of how you found the store, where you purchased the bread, or about the type of bread or some memory of being a little girl and always wanting to try that bread. Number three, make up your own good. And stand fast. Your emotion will carry this dish.
Michele Norris The recipe also notes that you need fresh mixed greens, fresh all in caps. From the right place, all in caps, right place. Good goat cheese, and then it says, you know what I mean. And sliced grapes, roasted walnuts, I'm not going to spell it out for you. I wonder if this recipe suggests that cooking is about more than just the ingredients. It's about the attitude that you bring.
Maria Bamford I think completely, like, I think that was something I realized after my mom passed. That my mom, I always thought, oh, she just knew the right thing all the time because I felt kind of lost when she died. And then I realized, Oh, no, I think she just chose to see whatever she got, or whatever she chose as the best. Which blew my mind. I was like, oh. That's the key. It's just to say whatever you get, is—
Michele Norris It's the best.
Maria Bamford The best. My mom would always be recommending stuff, connecting people. She would find degrees of connection with anybody. So, you know, no matter how loose it was, you know. So now you said your, your name is lips. Now, are you from Tucson? Like, she would just... Yeah, she was just wonderful. I love my mom. She had a real enthusiasm for life, which I sometimes lack, but I think pretending goes a long way.
Michele Norris She was a family therapist. She may have been practicing some of what she preached.
Maria Bamford Yes. Yeah for sure, for sure.
Michele Norris What did your mom think about your fairly constant impersonations of her?
Maria Bamford At first she was just grateful that I had any direction in life. So she was like, oh, all right, what are you going to do? And then when there was some external validation, I think it became a little bit more like, proprietary, where she's like. Well, I have a couple of ideas for you, honey. And she became more performative to me. And I'd be like, I think that sounds like a sales job. That last story you told me. And also, she would be hurt by something that I said.
Michele Norris Oh, was that hard for you?
Maria Bamford Oh, yeah. I mean. I felt terrible.
Michele Norris Did she let you know? Because that's another...
Maria Bamford Oh yes.
Michele Norris That's another Minnesotan thing, is that you don't always let people know when you're hurt. But you figure out how to hope that they find out. It's kind of that passive aggressive.
Maria Bamford Well, she would say. She would say it. My, my family is very, would talk about anything. My dad was a physician, so we talked about lots of different things at the dinner table. Yeah and my mom was very open about sex, you know, at the same time being horrified. You know, saying, you know, you there are so many diseases out there, honey, and there are people who will rape you. And there are situations where you can be put in grave danger, but also the body is a beautiful thing. Like like, you know.
Michele Norris And you'll figure out where to find a balance somewhere in there. You said that the first time I read that, Maria, I read that you said that your dad cried the first time he saw you do his voice on stage. What? What happened?
Maria Bamford I did it to his face because he had asked me to do an impersonation of him. And so, because he sort of felt left out. And so I was like, all right. I think my first joke about him was, my dad is really just a series of sound effects. What? What do, what do you want? So. And I've had people do impersonations face to face, of me, to me. And it's awful, you know, it's just awful. To see—
Michele Norris But you don't like when people do it to you.
Maria Bamford Oh, my gosh, it's your tics. It's your things that people find adorable. But when you, you know, like, I fancy myself a strong woman, you know, like. Like inside, I guess you'll, I think I sound, you know, very, I sound like the character from Maude. You know-.
Michele Norris Like Bea Arthur?
Maria Bamford Bea Arthur. Yeah. Like I'm a strong woman with great ideas. And then when somebody does, Oh, it's like a high voice. And I'm mincing around, looking for words and hemming and hawing. I'm like, no, that's not how I sound. But it turns out that's how I sound. Uh-oh.
Michele Norris Well, the impersonation is a way to capture someone, but it's also a way to hold on to someone.
Maria Bamford I feel like it is a way to love or give an homage to someone, but it is also saying, oh, this person gives me a lot of emotion. Like that, that's the only reason you come up with an impersonation of somebody, is because you've had an emotional response to their existence, and to control them. Like I love, you know, fictionalizing different interactions I've had with them, and creating little narratives where they say the thing that I've always wanted them to say. So –
Michele Norris You can create the parent you wanted.
Maria Bamford Yeah.
Michele Norris So. So speaking of narratives, I wonder, the kitchen, kitchens are interesting spaces because all kinds of things happen there. It's not just about eating. And there's a language of the kitchen that is, you know, different maybe than the rest of the house. Were there things that your parents said that you find yourself saying today, that you wonder, what did that mean, and why did they say it? And why am I saying it? I'm thinking of something like, Heavens to Murgatroyd!
Maria Bamford My mom would always say, ever since I was a little girl, I have always wanted to- and leading up to whatever it was. Which meant that held weight. You know, like we had to do it. Because ever since I was a little girl, I've always wanted to get culottes. In a navy blue that also, you know, fit properly. But a low waist, not a high waist. You know, it's like, oh my God, we got to go find those culottes and stat, you know. So I think that's why she would say it is because it was like this is the child in me who's requesting that we go to that restaurant at the top of the building that spins. She loved a restaurant that spins.
Maria Bamford Oh. This is something my husband and I always say to each other. Which my dad would say, which is, yeah, well, if that's what you're going to do, I guess that's what you're going to do. Which meant you're bananas. Like that meant you're crazy. And, what you're doing is ill advised, if not unethical.
ACT III
Michele Norris So you're not a — you're not afraid of dirt. You're not a germaphobe, but you've talked openly about dealing with OCD.
Maria Bamford Yes, because there are different types of OCD. Look it up on the IOCDF, the International OCD foundation dot org website. Google Google Google. There's intrusive thoughts OCD, which is the type that I have. And it's anything really that involves an obsession and then a compulsion to make that obsession go away. But the IOCDF is pretty wonderful cause it's all free. And they have lots of online groups because sometimes you can't, unless you're in a major city, it's hard to get specific OCD help. But, yeah, it changed my life once I got some treatment for it.
Michele Norris You know, it's one of the many things I appreciate about your book. It's very funny and it's very poignant. But you, you also write about mental illness in a way that I had not experienced before. And your approach, the lilt in your voice when you're talking about very, very serious and, and challenging things, and also that you remind us that there are, you know, these are challenges that have many doors. And so when you talk about bulimia, for instance, your bulimia was very different. People think about that as binging and purging. In your case, you were eating and then doing calisthenics for 22 hours in a row or something like that.
Maria Bamford Yeah. And I mean, I think, whenever something's… it's in the eyes of the beholder. So if it's ruining your life, you know, if, like, you're not able to function in relationships or work or school or whatever. Then that's maybe that's a problem, you know, like, but I think- I think things are only a problem if the person who has it thinks it's an issue. So, but yeah, definitely bulimia, I was not the, the worst case. You know, there's some competitiveness when you have an addiction. But did you blow out your esophagus? No I didn't. No, I did not.
Michele Norris Wait. There's some competitiveness. I mean, when you're in treatment, that's—
Maria Bamford Oh, my. Yes. Have you, I mean, human beings, we love to one-up.
Michele Norris Yeah. Naturally. Right, right. Yeah.
Maria Bamford So, yeah. I mean, just sometimes compassion doesn't come without severity.
Michele Norris So where are you on the spectrum? So I can decide—
Maria Bamford Yeah. So I can decide whether you really need help.
Michele Norris What degree of compassion I'm going to serve up to you.
Maria Bamford Yeah. And also, people are irritating in your life. You know what I'm saying. So if somebody in your life who's already a pain in the ass goes, guess what I just found out about myself? I have this new thing and I, I think — you're just going to be, it's exhausting. You know, like, I know I have been tiresome to my friends and family. Like oh, guess what? Maria was in the hospital. Like, I, it's just, it's not a ton of fun. So I understand people's disdain for wanting to talk about… and this is mental illness or otherwise, you know. Any kind of, you know, it's not.
Michele Norris But you talk about it so openly. And is that something that is easy for you or is that part of how you cope with something. Is it a coping mechanism or is it something that just comes naturally and it's in your head and so you want to talk about it? You want to actually — let's have this conversation.
Maria Bamford It's very easy, super easy. I work in entertainment where it is much more open. Like I'm not going to lose my job if I say I have a mental health diagnosis. I, yeah, I… all the things. I have all the privileges, I have generational wealth. I have, you know, I have union work.
Michele Norris Protections of one kind or another.
Maria Bamford Yeah. All the things. I have... raised in a culture, my mom was very pro therapy, all that stuff. So, yeah, I have, I am, not just lucky, but is systematically gifted.
Michele Norris And because your mom was pro therapy, because your mother was pro therapy and because she was a therapist herself, did that mean that the conversations that you had at the kitchen table were different than they were maybe in a lot of other households?
Maria Bamford Well, my mom didn't become a therapist until after we left the house. So, I think the one thing that really changed when she became a therapist was that she was able to apologize really well. Like, she was able to just say, I'm sorry and then leave it, which is a very difficult thing to do. Like, whenever I say I'm sorry, I always want to say, the thing is, is that I was trying to. It's like, nope, that's not what you do. You say, I'm sorry. You say what it is you think that the other person was hurt by. You verify that, was that—
Michele Norris I'm looking for a pen? So I can write this down? Because, you know, the art of an apology is a thing. And most people, most of us have not mastered that skill.
Maria Bamford Yeah. No, I've read about how to apologize so that I know better. Because that's the thing. Like, I think-
Michele Norris It's not, “I'm sorry if I offended you.” Because then that puts it on you.
Maria Bamford Oh, no. Not at all. No. Yeah. You got to say, this is what I did. This is why it was shitty. And, this is what I've learned about this. Is that correct, or did I get that correct?
Michele Norris That's the third step. Is that correct?
Maria Bamford Is that correct? If I didn't, please let me know. Or is there a book I can read. Also no pressure, you know, if you're too angry at me to respond. Because I don't want to give somebody who's pissed at me the extra work. You know, friends, you know, going like, and guess what? You have to teach me. Teach me about why I'm bad, you know.
Michele Norris Or absolve me now so I can go on with my day.
Maria Bamford So I can feel better.
Michele Norris Even though you still have indigestion, and you know, you're not sleeping and you're grinding your teeth. This is a conversation that our listeners might want to put on rewind. You know how you can hit that button backward 15 seconds, backward 15 seconds and take some notes. Because knowing how to make an apology is a very good thing in life, and it's not something that's well taught. So thank you very much for, for walking us through that. I'm going to be putting that on rewind and taking notes myself.
Maria Bamford Yeah. No. And I am obviously… I am not a perfect person. So if any of my dear friends are listening to this, let me know if I've done something weird recently.
ACT IV
Despite a childhood full of her mother’s particular kind of flavor-free cuisine, and a general anxiety around cooking, Maria still found her way into the kitchen. There's a bit more flavor involved in her dishes, but much like her mother, she loves to throw a dinner party.
Maria Bamford I've done some cooking shows since writing this book because I've done some recipes and I'm just starting to tell affirmations, because affirmations are so powerful, even if they're quite possibly irrational. Just saying in a confident voice of someone I am not close friends with, I am a great cook, and I just, I lose myself in a recipe and I just enjoy cooking. And I've started saying that and I'm hoping that will change me.
Michele Norris Is it working.? Are you losing yourself? Are you enjoying cooking? Is it at least different than it was before, where it felt like it was a bit torturous?
Maria Bamford I made a New York Times lasagna recipe.
Michele Norris Oh, girl, you made a lasagna. That's like. Wait. Whoa. You just — I'm not going to go climb the hill, you know, at the corner of my block, I'm going to scale Mount Everest. You started with lasagna?
Maria Bamford Lasagna. And invited people over. And those people enjoyed that lasagna. And were… said it was awesome even though I skipped a couple steps by accident. Whoops.
Michele Norris You improvised. You know, and that voice, that voice would just tell you, you just gave it your own special spin.
Maria Bamford You know what? I just love to play. I like to play at the pot.
Michele Norris Okay, every time you say that voice, I'm trying to figure out whose voice is it, because it's recognizable and I just can't —
Maria Bamford It's the voice of anybody who's extremely confident and knows, just knows themselves. I have, I’ve never been that person. And so, but I like to be able to pretend I can be that person. I definitely now love to have people over. We just had people over last night, made my lasagna. And then I like to have potlucks. And I love an island of misfit toys. I always tell everybody, bring whoever you want. No need to ask me. I don't need to know. You know, bring four people. I don't care. Yeah. Because it's Los Angeles so you never know, like ten people can RSVP we're coming and then nobody shows up. So I always say… yeah.
Michele Norris I like your description an Island of Misfit Toys. I like that.
Maria Bamford Yeah. That was one thing in my childhood that really, I worried about. Like, my mom would have these dinner parties and then you know, we went to church, so you'd hear all the great stories of everybody in, you know. And then I'd say, well, why don't we invite this man who is experiencing schizophrenia, who goes to our church? And she'd say, oh, no, we can't we can't have that, honey. We just, we just can't, I can't, you know, I just can't do it. And so that's what I feel like now. I just go, I want, everybody, you know, I don't care if somebody is having a weird psychiatric issue right now or, like, the hospital's not going to be able to take them for eight hours anyways. Have them come over and have a beer, like, yeah, I, I, I don't want to have those limitations to, who's invited.
Michele Norris It's almost like, José Andrés talks about longer tables.
Maria Bamford Yes.
Michele Norris That's what we need in life is longer tables.
Maria Bamford Yes, yes.
Michele Norris Maria Bamford, what does home taste like for you? What is, you know, the childhood meal? We always leave our listeners with a recipe if you wanted to share something that means something special to you. What would that be?
Maria Bamford Well, from childhood, which is now brought into adulthood, both my parents have passed. My husband knows that I love this dish from childhood. And it's pot roast with lots of fat. Lots of fat on it, because that's what I mostly eat. I don't really like the meat part. I just like the fat and then the sauerkraut. And so it's really a greasy kraut situation. And, he makes that for me. But that's something my mother would make. She couldn't possibly get all the fat off that because you can't. It's built into the roast.
Michele Norris It's marbled, it's inside the roast.
Maria Bamford Yeah. And, that was the favorite thing that my mom would make. And my husband makes it for me now, on special days when I have been good and, and so that's, yeah. I hope, I'll put it in his ear. Hopefully he'll make it sometime. Maybe this week.
Michele Norris I have enjoyed talking to you. Thanks so much for sharing your stories.
Maria Bamford Thank you. And everybody, yeah. Just affirm that you're a great cook, it'll better the odds that it'll happen.
KICKER
Well how about that? Maria Bamford, now hosting her own dinner parties, serving food SHE cooked, and proving that we can always try — and maybe even succeed — at something new. Even if we miss a couple of steps.
I love the idea of a come-as-you-are dinner party that’s a bit like an island for misfit toys — a table where everyone feels welcome, regardless of what they might be slogging through in life.
Maria reminds us that we can choose to do, and make and embody what brings us joy. And also, choose to forgive the people from our past, and to go easy on ourselves. Maria Bamford found humor in facing hard truths. She also found her voice and a great big audience. She didn’t run away from the tough stuff. She faced it and that authenticity became her trademark, whether she was telling her own stories or channeling one of her parents through her impersonations.
Whether in the kitchen or in life — authenticity is a special ingredient.
Didn't Maria Bamford's pot roast sound delicious? If you want some tips on how to make a good Midwestern pot roast, head over to my Instagram page at Michele-underscore-underscore-Norris. That's two underscores. Or go to our website, YourMama'sKitchen.com. You'll find all the recipes from all the previous episodes there. And before we go, we want to hear from you. We want to hear about your mama's kitchens, thoughts on some of the stories you've heard on this podcast. Maybe you want to share what tastes like home to you. We want to hear all of that. Make sure to send us a voice memo at YMK@HigherGroundProductions.com, and you might just be featured in a future episode. That's it for today. Goodbye, everybody. Please come back next week. And until then, be bountiful.
CREDITS
This has been a Higher Ground and Audible Original. Produced by Higher Ground Studios
Senior producer - Natalie Rinn
Producer - Sonia Htoon
Additional production support by Misha Jones
Sound design and engineering from Andrew Eapen and Ryan Kozlowski
Sound design and engineering from Andrew Eapen and Roy Baum
Higher Ground Audio's editorial assistant is Camila Thur de Koos.
Executive producers for Higher Ground are Nick White, Mukta Mohan, Dan Fierman and me, Michele Norris.
Executive producers for Audible are Nick D’Angelo and Ann Heppermann.
The show’s closing song is 504 by The Soul Rebels.
Editorial and web support from Melissa Bear and Say What Media.
Talent booker - Angela Peluso
Chief Content Officer Rachel Ghiazza
And that’s it - goodbye everybody.
NOVENA:
Copyright 2024 by Higher Ground Audio, LLC.
Sound Recording copyright 2023 by Higher Ground Audio, LLC.
