I recently had the opportunity to be part of the studio audience for a new PBS/American Public Television cooking show called “homemade live!” that is filmed at a studio on Columbia Street in Downtown Seattle.  I first learned about “homemade live!” when it began offering online cooking classes during the pandemic through its website and on YouTube. I was signed up to attend several filming sessions but due to a scheduling conflict I was only able to attend one of them that features the host, Chef Joel Gamoran, and his “celebrity guest,” Peloton instructor Ally Love. When I arrived at the studio there was a long line of people patiently waiting outside and thankfully it was not raining. We had to wait until the producers were ready to let us in and then we were strategically seated around the room.

Joel Gamoran is originally from the Seattle area and for this session his father and brother were in the studio audience. While he was the executive chef at Sur La Table, he hosted an A & E cooking show called “Scraps” that developed into a cookbook called Cooking Scrappy.  During each episode of “homemade live!”, Chef Joel invites a special celebrity guest to reminisce about their fondest food memories and the dishes that hold a special place in their hearts. From childhood favorites to unforgettable meals shared with loved ones, these stories are the inspiration behind the delicious creations that unfold in front of a live studio audience. In each segment, Joel and his guests show the viewer how to make each recipe and a cocktail step by step. Past guests include Kathie Lee Gifford, Reggie Bush, Nigel Barker, Kenji Lopez-Alt, Sydney Rice and Kevin Curry. This season, Katie Couric, Ally Love and Tom Papa are the special guests who have been publicly revealed.

One of the producers for “homemade live!” is the executive producer for Jimmy Fallon’s show in New York City, and he traveled to Seattle for the week to run the show’s filming. He took the time to talk to the studio audience, gave us directions on how to behave and got us enthusiastic about watching Joel and Ally cook. Ally taught us about her love for curries and that was her featured dish for the segment that was being filmed. The theme of the show was the “holidays,” and Joel and his guests made chocolate bark, a curry dish and a cocktail. Through the magic of television, we were in and out of the studio in about 90 minutes. Each show is actually 30 minutes.

It was a fun experience to be a participant on the sidelines and watch how a cooking show is put together. While we did not get a chance to taste the curry or the punch that was made during the show, they did offer the audience little boxes of the chocolate bark as a take-home gift.

If you are interested in being in the studio audience for “homemade live!” in the future, there will be a season three and filming will happen later in 2024. The episode that I observed will be airing in the fall. You can view past episodes here.

— By Deborah Binder

Deborah Binder lives in Edmonds with her family. She loves to cook from scratch using produce from the gardens she created and maintains with her husband. She attended culinary school on the East Coast and focused on desserts, pastries and bread. She’s worked for restaurants and caterers in the front and back of the house (kitchen) on both coasts. Her current interest in food is learning to eat for health and wellness, while at the same time enjoying the pleasures of the table. Deborah loves experimenting and developing new recipes. As Julia Child once said, “Everything in moderation including butter.” Deborah can be contacted at jaideborah@yahoo.com.