NARRATOR: Coming up on Weekends with Yankee... Amy cooks with Ciao Italia host Mary Ann Esposito at her home near Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

- Erbazzone is a classic dish from Emilia-Romagna.

NARRATOR: And The Giving Fridge in Middlebury, Vermont, brings together a community in need.

- Food insecurity is not something that is easily visible.

NARRATOR: Finally, Richard visits artist Sara Fitz at her studio in York, Maine.

RICHARD WIESE: Wow.

NARRATOR: ...To see her coastal inspirations come to life.

- You just never know what you're going to see.

NARRATOR: So come along with us for a once-in-a-lifetime journey through New England as you've never experienced it before, a true insider's guide from the editors of Yankee magazine.

Join explorer and adventurer Richard Wiese, and Yankee senior food editor Amy Traverso, for behind-the-scenes access to the unique attractions that define this region.

It's the ultimate travel guide from the people who know it best.

Weekends with Yankee.

- Major funding provided by: ♪ ♪ - Massachusetts is home to a lot of firsts.

The first public park in America.

The first fried clams.

The first university in America.

The first basketball game.

What's first for you?

♪ ♪ - Grady-White-- crafting offshore sport fishing boats for over 60 years.

- Country Carpenters-- handcrafted barns and homes for over 50 years.

- On an American Cruise Lines journey, you can explore historic New England.

- New Smyrna Beach, Florida-- sandy beaches and laid back adventure.

Relax already.

♪ ♪ AMY TRAVERSO: I'm so excited about today, because I'm going to be cooking with my friend Mary Ann Esposito.

You probably know her as the host of the longest-running cooking show on television, Ciao Italia, and she lives here in New Hampshire's Seacoast.

Now, I don't want to show up empty-handed for my Italian hostess, so I've come to downtown Portsmouth, to one of my favorite Italian bakery cafes, to pick up something sweet.

♪ ♪ Hey.

- Hey, how are you?

TRAVERSO: Good.

So, I'm going to visit my friend Mary Ann Esposito today.

We're going to be cooking together, but I want to have something.

- So, all of our pastries are made in house, from scratch.

TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

- We make all our ricotta fillings for our cannolis from scratch, cinnamon with chocolate chip... TRAVERSO: (sighs) - A little bit of pistachio with lemon zest, list goes on and on.

TRAVERSO: Maybe one of each, that'd be perfect.

- Definitely.

TRAVERSO: Okay, thanks.

- Happy to help.

♪ ♪ TRAVERSO: Mary Ann, you truly live in a little corner of heaven.

What am I looking out on here?

- Well, you're looking at the Oyster River, because at one time in Durham, that used to be full of oysters.

And then if things got a little polluted in the waters, and the oysters kind of disappeared.

TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

- And then through UNH and their programs, they were able to kind of bring the river back, so the oyster beds are now growing and thriving.

TRAVERSO: Right.

- But this river goes right out to Little Bay... TRAVERSO: Oh.

- ...Great Bay, and then you're in the ocean.

TRAVERSO: You have the longest-running cooking program on television, period, right?

- Yeah, mm-hmm.

TRAVERSO: And it's an Italian cooking show.

How did that come to be?

- When I started my show, which was way back in 1989, I would go to the grocery store looking for things like ossobuco, you know.

TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

- And the butcher would look at me and he'd go, "Excuse me, ma'am?"

TRAVERSO: (laughs) - "We have ground chuck... we've got pot roast."

(laughter) That's when I knew it would be a little bit difficult.

So I wrote a proposal, at some point, about doing a local show.

Nothing-- I had no vision of doing anything for a national audience.

TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

- This was just to get people interested in, "What is real Italian food?"

TRAVERSO: Right.

- And so, I went over to the station.

I had this proposal ready.

I said, you know, "This is what I'd like to do, "a 13-part series about Italian regional food, "something outside the realm of "what people thought of as Italian food: spaghetti and meatballs."

And they were courteous, they took it and they said, "Thank you very much."

TRAVERSO: (chuckles) - I felt like it was going to go to the round file.

So I got a call saying, "We have a new studio now.

"We kept your proposal.

We'd like to do a pilot program."

TRAVERSO: Wow!

- And I said, "Great," having no idea what that was all about, because I'd never worked in TV.

And so on a hot August day, they came to my home, big truck in front of the house, and they came in and they gelled my windows, stopped the clock, slapped some makeup on you and said, "Okay, now talk."

TRAVERSO: (chuckles) - That's how Ciao Italia started.

It's written down, it's wonderful.

- With your smile, you look like Mona Lisa.

- Oh golly.

Gee whiz.

(laughter) ...Rest of my wine.

Don't you love my brush?

This is the way they do it in Umbria, of course.

Just baste... TRAVERSO: Having grown up Italian myself... - Mm-hmm.

TRAVERSO: Italian-American, it's hard to remember how much the foods outside of spaghetti and meatballs and calzones was considered pretty exotic, and sometimes weird.

I remember my family...

I grew up eating pesto.

- Mm-hmm.

TRAVERSO: And I remember my friends being like, "Green spaghetti?

What's that?"

- (laughs) TRAVERSO: You know, "That's so gross, what is that?"

- With 20 regions of Italy, the food is very different from region to region.

I mean, your family's from the Piedmont.

TRAVERSO: Right.

- My family's from southern Italy.

TRAVERSO: Right.

Your cooking, years ago, would not have been even recognized in southern Italy, much less in the United States.

TRAVERSO: Right, like... - And vice versa.

TRAVERSO: ...Butter in the north, olive oil in the south.

- Right, olive oil in the south, right.

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

When I saw you cooking regional, real regional foods, it was like, "Look, we're being represented."

- Yeah.

TRAVERSO: And it's-- now it's so commonplace.

- Mm-hmm.

TRAVERSO: But you were part of bringing that... - Yes.

TRAVERSO: Much deeper sense of Italian cuisine.

- Yes.

I remember the first thing I uttered on my first show.

I said, "There is no such thing as Italian food."

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

- "There is only regional food."

♪ ♪ TRAVERSO: So Mary Ann, what are we making today?

- We're going to make something called erbazzone, and it's a classic dish from Emilia-Romagna.

And this is usually known as a street food in that area... TRAVERSO: Oh.

- ...because it's a pie that's filled with Swiss chard.

TRAVERSO: Ooh.

- Candied orange peel.

- TRAVERSO (sighing): Oh, wow.

- Raisins, eggs, ricotta cheese.

This is a perfect example of a regional dish that comes from the region of Emilia-Romagna.

TRAVERSO: Mm.

- So, erbazzone comes from the word erbe.

TRAVERSO: Oh, erbe.

Erbe, right.

- Erbe.

So erbazzone, a big herb pie, that's what you're getting.

So we want to start with making the dough, because the dough has to chill.

So in a bowl you want about one-and-a-quarter cups flour, unbleached, all purpose.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

And we want a little pinch of salt.

TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

We want about a quarter of a cup of cornstarch.

TRAVERSO: Oh.

So it'll be very tender.

- Yes, and then it has a little bit of sweetness.

A quarter of a cup of sugar as well.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

- Break up that egg, and we'll add that to this.

And while you're doing that, what we really need to do for this is whenever you're making any kind of a pastry-type dough... TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

- ...you want to make sure that you put the, the fat in while it's cold.

TRAVERSO: Right.

- So I have butter for this.

(whisking) Here is the butter, chilled.

And you also need some cold water.

TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

- Because we want to see where this dough is at.

Everything about cooking is in the hands, right?

TRAVERSO: Right.

- So, if the dough is too dry, we can add a little bit water.

If the dough is too wet... TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

- We can add a little bit of flour.

But why don't you put the beaten egg in there.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

- And now we want to add the butter.

You want four tablespoons of butter.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

- You want to make sure that it's in small pieces.

So we're going to have to add some cold water to this.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

- Do that a little bit at a time.

You just have to eyeball it.

Okay, so we know that that's good, right?

TRAVERSO: And it has a little bit of the marbling, which is what I always look for with a dough.

- Yeah, right.

TRAVERSO: That the butter, there's still streaks of... - You can see the butter.

TRAVERSO: Butter, yes.

- You can still see the butter, which is good.

TRAVERSO: Yeah.

- And you always want to control the amount of flour that you put down, because if you use too much, this will be tough.

TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

- It'll be a tough crust, and we don't want that.

So, I know that that's good... TRAVERSO: Because?

- It's not sticking.

TRAVERSO: Right.

- And it's nice and soft.

So now we can wrap it in plastic wrap.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

And that goes in the refrigerator.

Now, we need to let that rest for about 30 minutes.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

- To chill it, and that's going to make it much easier for us to roll.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

♪ ♪ (laughter) What do you attribute the longevity of your show to?

- I think it's keeping it fresh all the time, but also the approachability of what Italian regional food is all about.

You don't need a bajillion ingredients to make something wonderful.

You just need quality ingredients.

TRAVERSO: I see some really delicious-looking ingredients for this filling.

- In the garden is a variety that we have called Bright Lights.

TRAVERSO: Ooh.

- There's a variety of colored stems... TRAVERSO: Uh-huh.

- ...growing in the garden.

So this is the chard, this is the part we're using.

Two pounds, and you're saying to yourself, "Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

No.

Because two pounds, that's about a cup and a half from the two pounds.

TRAVERSO: Look at that.

- So then what we need is some really good ricotta cheese.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

- So then the first thing you have to do is drain it.

And we're going to add just a pinch of salt to that.

TRAVERSO: Oh, okay.

- So there's a little salt.

Mix that in.

And then, Amy, we want an egg.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

- So, if you can... TRAVERSO: Yeah.

- Break that egg up a little bit.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

- So we just mix that around.

Look at how yellow that is.

TRAVERSO: Beautiful.

- It's the quality of the ingredients that really make this a super, super dish.

I never boil this kind of a vegetable, or even spinach.

Put it over low heat, and let it just wilt down.

TRAVERSO: Mm.

- Because if you start boiling it, you've boiled away all of the nutrients.

TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

- All right, now we can put in the Swiss chard.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

- So, all of that Swiss chard goes in.

This is... We need to add some sugar, two tablespoons.

Would you like to put in some nutmeg?

TRAVERSO: Yes.

- We need about a quarter of a teaspoon of the nutmeg.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

Great.

- Smells good.

TRAVERSO: Yes.

- Okay.

TRAVERSO: Beautiful, okay.

- Now, we're going to add... TRAVERSO: Some raisins?

- Raisins.

TRAVERSO: This looks so good.

- And then we have... orange zest, candied orange zest, TRAVERSO: Mmm.

Same time.

- And a little bit of fresh bread crumbs.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

- About two tablespoons goes in.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

- That's just to act as a binder.

TRAVERSO: Right.

- And then, just because I want to add my own take on this, these are the Swiss chard stems.

TRAVERSO: Oh, okay.

- So, all I did was sauté these in a little bit of olive oil.

TRAVERSO: Oh, okay.

- It's ready, and now all we have to do is roll out that dough.

TRAVERSO: Okay, let's do it.

♪ ♪ - So... TRAVERSO: That is a beautiful dough.

- It is a beautiful dough.

TRAVERSO: You fold it into quarters.

- Yeah.

TRAVERSO: Line up the center.

- Line up the center.

TRAVERSO: I always like that.

I think there's something very satisfying about watching the crust just kind of fall away.

Can I do the honors?

- Yes.

And all of that is going to fit in this shell.

TRAVERSO: I can't believe it's going to fit.

It looks like so much.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay, what I do with that is just... TRAVERSO: Yeah.

- ...flip it, right over the top.

TRAVERSO: Flip it over.

- And then just kind of ease the paper off, hoping that it isn't going to stick.

Making some progress.

TRAVERSO: Perfect.

- Oh.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

- Okay, so... - - All right, so, I've got the egg wash. - Yeah.

TRAVERSO: I'm guessing you want me to brush that on.

- Mm-hmm, yeah.

Right.

Yeah, right.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

- Give that a little shine.

TRAVERSO: Good.

- And then the sugar.

You want to put that on slowly.

Your oven's on 375, preheated.

TRAVERSO: Okay.

- 30, 35 minutes.

♪ ♪ All right, Amy.

TRAVERSO: Oh, this looks and smells incredible.

- There's your piece.

(forks clink) TRAVERSO: (laughs) - You should try it.

TRAVERSO: Oh boy.

Mm.

- You would never know there was Swiss chard in there, would you?

TRAVERSO: It is like a sweet... - (chuckles) TRAVERSO: Delicious, but... - Like a cheesecake.

TRAVERSO: Nutrition-packed pie.

- Right.

TRAVERSO: The nutmeg and the orange peel, it's so fragrant.

- Plays right off of that Swiss chard and the ricotta cheese.

TRAVERSO: Oh my gosh.

♪ ♪ - I taught history for many years, and that's why I love to bring in the history of food... TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

- ...with the recipes.

It's not just, "Okay, here's the recipe.

We're going to do this, this, that's it."

TRAVERSO: There's a story.

- There's a story... TRAVERSO: There's always a story.

- ...behind each recipe.

So I'm still teaching history.

TRAVERSO: Mm-hmm.

- But it's a history of food.

I still have a classroom, but it's just bigger.

And I'm still enjoying what I do.

TRAVERSO: Right.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: In Middlebury, Vermont, Bethanie Farrell has cultivated a new kind of ecosystem for a community in need.

- I think so many people in Vermont care about Vermont.

They care about, you know, the environment and each other.

Food insecurity is not something that is easily visible.

- I grew up with a single mother in central Vermont.

And so, like, she was really aware of healthy foods, but, like, I also understand how hard it is to afford those; like, I understand that firsthand.

And sometimes there's this perception that if you are in need, you should just make do with whatever you can get.

I think especially in a state like Vermont, there's no reason that people who... who are facing food insecurity should not have access to the same quality of food that people who can afford everything do.

NARRATOR: Bethanie is the founder of The Giving Fridge, an organization that distributes healthy meals prepared by local restaurants.

- If I can provide the support of healthy prepared meals, you might be able to save 100 extra dollars that week, or put it toward your snow tires, or, you know, the extra heating bill that's about to come up, or a coat for your child.

To me, it's about helping people not just survive, but get a little bit more of a head start.

- They make meals for anybody, no questions asked.

It's an example of what might become of food services, helping the needy, because it doesn't feel like you're needy when you go to The Giving Fridge.

What makes it so different is that it's almost like getting takeout from a restaurant.

And so it's not like the stigma of ragged people, non-working people.

It's everybody.

- You know, so some people come in and they give lovely plants.

Other people bring in something that they baked.

It's really created this community of people who are coming, and they're not just taking.

NARRATOR: Bethanie's recovery from her own health crisis inspired her to seek ways to support the Middlebury community.

- I was having some health issues and I was pretty much bedridden for a few years.

And so, as the world was shutting down, I was starting to get better.

And when I was really sick, plants were really my only interaction most days.

(chuckles) And at that time, businesses everywhere had really been struggling, particularly a stretch of Merchants Row downtown that was vacant, and that was right below our apartment.

And I think I first asked permission to decorate the windows for the holidays, just because it looked a little sad and I wanted to brighten things up.

And then had thought, "Well, maybe let's make it an installation "where people can come in to a plant-filled space, get out of their quarantine environment for 15 minutes."

And in the process of decorating, I found an old Snapple refrigerator in the back of one of the storefronts.

And I had read a recent study that said one in four Vermonters were experiencing food insecurity.

And at that time, the restaurants had also just had...

They'd pivoted to open back up, and then had to shut down again.

And just hearing all of these different struggles, it felt like the perfect combination to at least do a community refrigerator.

I talked to each of the restaurants.

And when I found the refrigerator, it felt like this is what I can do in our corner.

NARRATOR: The Giving Fridge sells plants and provisions.

And with the proceeds, they reimburse the local restaurants for their meals.

- Something like The Giving Fridge just made sense to us.

It's not actually all that normal to get a request for a donation where there's sort of a give and take, like, there's a reimbursement in some way for the restaurant.

And so to us that was, like, made it even easier.

One of the menu items that we give The Giving Fridge each week is what's called our Apple Bacon Cheddar, our ABC.

So it's a flatbread with local Vermont cheddar, local bacon from just outside of town, and local maple syrup.

And we're using, like, a... an organic flour that's milled just over the border in Quebec with organic wheat bran and, like, local water.

And the cost for us to provide that is not that great, to be honest.

And the reimbursement that we get from The Giving Fridge more than covers the, like, wholesale cost of all of those ingredients for us.

- Vermont is amazing, and it's been so wonderful to get to know the restaurant owners, the restaurant workers, the farm owners, the farm workers, the producers.

I see it developing in a way that we're able to expand this particular model to multiple locations throughout the state, because I think it is something that's needed.

I think it helps to reinforce that local food systems are important.

If they want to give extra, they can.

So it's drawing people in, in a way that's not just asking for something.

And my hope is that it will continue the support, because the need certainly won't be going anywhere.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - I sort of accidentally fell into this business, actually.

When my husband and I got engaged, I was looking for stationery for our wedding, and I couldn't find anything that really fit the bill.

And so I had no idea what I was doing, but I made our invitations, our save the dates, and so forth.

And by the time our wedding rolled around, I had clients.

I'd booked clients and had an accidental business.

♪ ♪ New England has this hearty warmth to it.

It's very different than other places that I've been.

A lot of really friendly, down-to-earth folks that appreciate the little things.

And one of the big things for me with my art is just focusing on the simple things.

For example, I always go back to this, but our life jacket.

And that was the inspiration for one of my very first illustrations when we first started Sara Fitz.

And just focusing on the simplicity of it, like the buckle, and the way that it's stitched, and the color, of course, is something that you may walk past and not think twice about.

But when it's framed, or when it's on a product, it's something that catches your eye a little bit more.

So that really is what drives my work, is celebrating those little moments that are just everyday things, but making them beautiful.

It's just like oozing inspiration for me.

♪ ♪ (keys jingling) ♪ ♪ WIESE (chuckling): Wow.

This is so happy.

It's so bright and happy.

Hi, Sara, I'm Richard.

- Hi, Richard.

WIESE: So what was the inspiration for all of this?

- It's just the surroundings here in New England.

There's such a charm everywhere you look.

And I love celebrating those simple things that we don't always notice on a day-to-day basis.

WIESE: You know, you do go into many yards in the summer and see beautiful hydrangea plants, or striped shirts.

- (laughing): Yeah.

WIESE: I see it in the summer, in "ooh, dogs," and beach bags, and old woodies.

- Yeah.

WIESE: I mean, these are things that when you sort of put it together, it's... it's sort of reminiscent of a great summer day.

- Right.

I mean, I keep-- I try to keep our art nice and fresh and bright, colorful and fun, but nostalgic.

A lot of our clients come in here and they just reminisce about childhood.

Wallpaper has really made a comeback over the last few years, which has been a lot of fun for us to put our illustrations into people's homes in a new way.

Lots of baby nurseries.

WIESE: Baby nurseries.

- Definitely kids' rooms, lots of powder rooms with the lobster, um... guest rooms and bathrooms in hydrangea, bluefish everywhere.

WIESE: Sara, I'm so inspired by your store.

And the reason why I'm inspired is every one of these items, I've actually seen somewhere along the way.

- Oh, I'm so glad to hear it.

I would love to take you to one of my favorite places to gain some inspiration along the coast.

♪ ♪ I come to the beach a lot, to walk around and gain some inspiration, because you just never know what you're going to see.

You know, simple stuff like seaweed, and... and shells like this.

I mean, how pretty is that, right?

WIESE: You know, the designs... - It's beautiful.

WIESE: ...Of nature, there's very few things sort of as beautiful.

- Yep, yeah.

WIESE: So, I'll leave this... - It's so subtle.

WIESE: ...for someone else to find.

- Yeah, there you go.

And all these things have some sort of story, too, right?

So it's fun to think back about where they came from, and how long they've been in the water, and when they washed up.

WIESE: Do you find that depending on where you are in life and the seasons that your vision is different as you walk along?

- Yeah, I mean, I think that it can depend on what you're going through in your life, too.

And if you're having a really busy season of life, or a little bit more calm.

I definitely find myself looking for, like, calm resources of inspiration... WIESE: Right.

- ...when I'm overwhelmed or stressed, and then maybe willing to take on a little bit more when I'm not.

WIESE: Here's a piece of wood drifting in.

- Yeah.

See, like... Just even looking at the details of this, right, like, how beautiful.

Where did it come from, right?

Where was it before here?

Yeah, this is an example of something that you would walk by and you wouldn't necessarily take a second to pick it up.

But if you do, if you just take a moment and, and stop and enjoy it for a second, you see how beautiful it is.

I mean, the edges and the detail.

It's all the little things, but it's really a special piece.

WIESE: And you know, the other thing too is, you look at sort of the lines of it... - Mm-hmm.

WIESE: ...and it's a history book unfolding.

- Yeah.

WIESE: Because this piece of wood had a whole life beyond finding its last resting place on the sea.

- Yeah.

WIESE: And you're right, I would pass this by, and yet as I hold it and look around, I find more and more detail.

- Exactly.

WIESE: You know, I think that so often people are in a hurry, and you miss those hidden jewels that you see, that are in plain sight.

- Yeah, yeah.

That's what it's all about, right?

♪ ♪ NARRATOR: For exclusive videos, recipes, travel ideas, tips from the editors and access to the Weekends with Yankee digital magazine, go to weekendswithyankee.com, and follow us on social media, @yankeemagazine.

Yankee magazine, the inspiration for the television series, provides recipes, feature articles, and the best of New England from the people who know it best.

One year for $20.

Call 1-800-221-8154. Credit cards accepted.

Major funding provided by: ♪ ♪ - Massachusetts is home to a lot of firsts.

The first public park in America.

The first fried clams.

The first university in America.

The first basketball game.

What's first for you?

♪ ♪ - Grady-White-- crafting offshore sport fishing boats for over 60 years.

- Country Carpenters-- handcrafted barns and homes for over 50 years.

- On an American Cruise Lines journey, you can explore historic New England.

- New Smyrna Beach, Florida.

17 miles of beach.

Relax already.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪