In Episode #9, Plenty talks with another icon of the food world, this time pioneer of the culinary airwaves, Christopher Kimball. The founder of Cook’s Illustrated magazine, and instantly recognizable host of the Emmy Award–winning  “America’s Test Kitchen” from 2001 through 2016, he is also the author of best-selling titles such as The Cook’s Bible and The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook.   Christopher shared his insights on the current cultural foodscape and gave us a taste of what’s cooking at Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street. His more than three decades of making culinary prowess accessible to everyone are channeled through this new, Boston-based venture that includes Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Magazine and Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Radio (find a station near you). Wouldn’t you love to get your hands on the charter issue of Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Magazine? Wouldn’t it be great if it were free? You’re in luck! For a limited time, a copy of Issue #1 is yours for the asking. Don’t we always turn you on to the best stuff? For those looking for in-person instruction, his Milk Street cooking school is already open for enrollment with small class sizes in a predictably dreamy kitchen. Can’t make it to Boston? Not to worry, Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Television is already in production. The sad news? We’ll have to wait until Fall of 2017 for the launch.   Christopher’s new entity, CPK Media LLC, is a multi-media company focusing on a fresh, healthier approach to home cooking. Christopher Kimball, founder of Cook’s Illustrated and America’s Test Kitchen, says that he started Milk Street to transform the American kitchen. “Our goal is to change how we cook,” says Kimball. “We’re going to open the door to a world of new ideas, new techniques, and new flavor combinations. There is no ethnic cooking. There are no foreign cuisines. It’s all just cooking,” he says. Over the next year, Milk Street Kitchen will roll out a public television cooking show, a retail cooking school at 177 Milk St., Boston, magazines, cookbooks, and a new digital platform. Kimball will continue to host his weekly public radio show. “Everything around us is changing, yet our kitchens are standing still. Just like fashion and music, home cooking needs an infusion of new ideas from around the world and here at home to make it bolder and fresher,” says Kimball. “This is a personal awakening, not just another day in the kitchen. I’ve dramatically changed the way I cook. Sweet, sour, salty, bitter, crunchy, creamy – these are my new passions. I’ve fallen in love with cooking again.” Just in Time for Pie! Christopher Kimball offers up a precious treasure as we glide into the holidays—the secret to a perfect pie crust. You can read the step-by-step instructions at Milk Street’s site, but if a visual demonstration of some of his techniques would help you muster up the confidence (I’m a little afraid of pie crusts, I’ll admit), take a gander at his demo via Williams-Sonoma’s YouTube channel. A lifetime Deadhead, Kimball often compares cooking to music. “Anyone can learn a song. But a good musician plays music; there’s a difference. I’ve always wanted to teach people how to cook, not just to follow recipes.” Kimball adds, “There are some things that should never change. I still love Apple Pie. I love it so much that I hope it’s my last meal!