Northborough native and Licensed Dietician Nutritionist, Joanna Graham, is collaborating with Whitney Place Assisted Living Residences at Northborough and Northborough Cable Access Television (NCAT) to bring the community together with her passion for local, fresh food.
Graham is using Whitney Place’s newly renovated country kitchen to film Hometown Cooking, a NCAT cooking show complete with a live audience of Whitney Place residents.
“It’s pretty neat that residents can see how a show is created from start to finish, and of course, they love seeing themselves on TV,” says Jim Priest, community relations director of Northborough Whitney Place Assisted Living Residences.
“It’s such a great way to use our awesome kitchen,” he adds. “It’s really become a showpiece for us.”
Graham got the idea to develop the show after her mother Joann Sharp, a former Northborough selectman, volunteered at Whitney Place’s Pancake Breakfast fundraiser for the Friends of the Northborough Senior Center over the summer. Sharp noted that the location would be the perfect setting for a cooking show, so Graham made the notion a reality.
In each show, which is approximately 30 minutes long, Graham visits a local farm or business to interview the owners about specific food items to be featured in the episode and includes step-by-step instructions for creating some of her favorite recipes in front of a live studio audience consisting primarily of Whitney Place residents.
Graham often calls upon residents in the audience to participate in the food preparation process.
“They’ve asked me if I thought they should get an agent,” Priest jokes.
The crew began filming in mid-January and has been shooting an episode every other Friday. So far, Graham has filmed six episodes, is currently taking a break, then plans to make more in the near future.