Dinner and a book is supported by the Rex and Alice A. Martin Foundation of Elkhart, celebrating the spirit of Alice Martin and her love of good food and good friends.

In the book Thicker than Water, Kerry Washington gives readers an intimate view into her extraordinary life as artist advocate and trailblazer with grace and honesty.

She faces a journey of childhood traumas as she met mentors who helped her grow her career while helping her self-esteem.

But there were some roadblocks along the way.

Let's meet my guest, Charlotte Pfeifer to discuss Kerry Washington's book, Thicker than Water.

Welcome, Charlotte.

Hello, how are you?

I am good.

I'm so glad you're here.

And we're going to talk about good food and how to take care of ourselves.

Right.

Health in this wonderful actress, Kerry Washington, who is so multi-talented.

She is multi-talented.

And how did you find this book?

Well, I like watching book reviews, and I was watching different book reviews.

So I went down to the library to get another book and it was out.

So I said, Well, do you have Kerry Washington's book?

And they did.

And I took it home and just I just put it all I did.

I just couldn't believe how relatable it was.

Well, Kerry Washington was the lead in six or seven seasons of Scandal.

Yes.

And I never got to watch that.

I did.

And I might just be able to see that now when I'm through with all this taping.

It's a very interesting book and it could her life experience can happen to many people.

Yes.

And Kerry is a gorgeous woman.

She was smart, I believe, in D.C. for the last two years.

And we always went to George Washington University for our grandchildren's programs.

So I knew she was in a good place.

So we talk about roadblocks.

She is she she really indicated some important things in her life as she went from one period to the next.

And she found herself in this world of celebrity.

Yes.

In fact, that's what saved her.

She always knew there were some things.

She's an only child.

And that's the whole theme of the book, how it is.

She became an only child, but she always knew there was something amiss in the family and acting was her salvation.

Acting and swimming well, she could affect other people's stories.

Yes.

Pulling from her own experiences.

And I found there was a lot of interesting information on how to be an actor.

Yes.

In this book that she immersed herself in the characters, which helped her not have to deal with her own personal life.

Yes.

Well, you know, how many of us might have might have to do that?

That's true.

That's very true.

And she had a lot of people that helped her.

Yes.

And but you you you really like this book.

Why is it important to you?

There are several things.

Number one, she had the perfect family from the outside, and I can relate to that.

Inside there was turmoil.

Her father was an alcoholic.

They had a secret.

And whenever.

And a lot of families have secrets.

And so when there's a secret, there's always a another person in the room.

Right.

Unspoken?

Yes.

The secret person who is there.

Yeah.

Floating around in all the discussions.

And then she came from an immigrant.

She lived in an immigrant community because her.

Her mother was West Indian, and they lived in a West Indian community.

And in order to try to fill that space, she tried to be perfect.

Right.

Including and including having some eating problems.

Well, and that's that's a problem that a lot of girls have.

Yes.

There's so much stress on looking perfect and and acting perfectly and this sort of thing.

Yes.

Too much stress.

Go out and run.

Get on the track team.

Yes.

You know, do something that doesn't require that.

You look beautiful.

Yes.

All the time.

Yes.

And that's the way you grow strong, girls.

And I think I think sports in schools are so important.

especially for girls.

And, you know, we had to have legislation to make sure there was equal because, you know, even she's old enough to have grown up when girls were supposed to really kind of get married, have children, and take care of the whole perfect picture.

Yes.

Like that.

Yes.

So we're going to talk about some food, too, that we want to prepare.

Yes.

And tell us why we've chosen this diet.

Well, one of the ways that Kerry Washington tried to be perfect in a lot of women and men can relate to this is trying to control what you eat.

So what she would do is she would binge eat out of control, eating.

And her response to that was then to starve and to exercise excessive exercising.

And a lot of people in the world, especially in this country, we have a real problem with eating and dieting and being thin and body shaming and all that kind of thing, which I can relate to.

I've had challenges with eating my whole life.

So I related to that.

She was very smart.

That was another way that she tried to be perfect.

I can relate to that and I can relate to being the girl in a community of boys.

Yes, but and being just as good at them as they were, but not, you know, not to us, not too smart.

And then she had problems sleeping.

She thought, there's something going on at night while I'm sleeping.

And she later on found that out.

But the big one, of course, was, you know, nowadays everyone wants to know their roots.

Yeah.

Where do you come from?

Your DNA?

You know, there's all these things.

And when she went to do that, she had a big shock.

She had a big shock.

And I think we better start our.

Our food or.

Okay.

Okay.

And.

And now she.

She finally found out how not to binge starve and exercise, but how to be healthy.

She had some mentors.

Yes.

And that's what we're doing.

Tell us what you're going to be doing her.

We're going to.

So one of the ways we're going to have.

No we're going to have low oil.

All right.

Oil.

We're eating using is virgin olive oil, which a lot of people told us.

Excellent.

So I'm cooking with vegetable, low salt, no salt, vegetable broth.

If you really want.

Yes.

And lose weight?

Yes.

I don't mean to make this as something.

Yeah.

You know, we're here and in a healthy way.

Lose weight healthily, use vegetable broth instead of even spray.

Pam.

And all kinds of spices, garlic, curry, you know, chipotle seasoning.

And we're going to use tofu and a Dukey beans, which is your protein.

We're going to have a salad and vegetables.

Yes.

We're going to eat these beautiful Japanese yams.

Wait, they're just beautiful.

Cook them in the microwave.

5 minutes on one side.

Turn it over, and then for lunch.

For dessert.

Fruit.

Fruit.

And really, this is a healthy way to eat.

And the people that grow up in countries eating this way are usually pretty trim and athletic, and everyone wants something to drink.

What's healthy?

We're going to have oolong tea, which is a black tea, and we're going to mix it with chai.

Well, we don't need sugar here.

Don't.

Okay.

Yes, You're.

Are you going to put that yam in first, Right.

Well, I'm going to I'm going to turn my fire on.

All right.

You're going to fire and get the broth going.

And I'm going to keep chopping here because we're going to put these on a pan.

So I guess that going put them in the oven.

Okay.

I'll keep an eye on this.

And then with these Japanese yams, you always want to wash them.

Okay, so I'm going to wash it off.

You're going to start again washing.

You've got to make sure these wash up good are clean, because that's another episode in our food.

Cut the ends.

And I also kind of stabbed it a little bit.

Ventilate it to ventilate.

Yes.

Yes.

And I'm going to put it in the microwave.

6 minutes on one side and then turned over 6 minutes here.

All right.

There's that with the them.

And what I'm doing is what you see in so many magazines and cookbooks, too.

They do a sheet pan, roast vegetables.

So I am I'm adding all kinds of vegetables and onions, chopped onions, broccoli, little potatoes, green beans, carrots, Brussels sprouts and then we will roast this in the oven for about 15 minutes, 20 minutes.

And I put it 420.

Now you're putting I look at these beautiful red beans.

What are those beans?

There are aduki beans, but there are a few key, but they're actually small kidney beans.

And are they Japanese?

No.

Well, I don't know.

Well, that sounds like it, doesn't it?

And in any case, they're small.

Yeah, that's true.

They're small and they're.

They're red.

So that means they have that great pigment.

And then I'm going, so my broth is bubbling, so I'm going to turn it down too low.

there you are.

You're way low.

Well, we're always, always.

We always have to just keep my eye on them.

It's like cooking at a campfire.

Yeah.

Okay, then I'm going to put my seasonings down.

All right, Go for it while I finish chopping and I look, these in the oven, and then I've got green beans, too.

I like French green beans because they're so.

They're not tough at all.

Sometimes these American green beans are pretty tough.

And look how beautiful all that is.

And so Kerry Washington after after struggling with weight all her life.

Kerry Yeah.

Even in college, even when she became a very famous actress, she still had this.

She still has always wanting to be perfect.

Yes.

And so I have it.

It just is a point where you have to look at yourself and say, what is it that I want in life?

Should I be perfect?

So many of the perfect girls had trouble later on in life.

That's not over when you're 18.

No, it's there's a lot more to come.

And it's better spent doing sports and studying and learning about the world and life.

Yet instead of worrying about how your hair looks and, you know, nowadays people are living to be 100, I notice easily.

We are going to take a pause here while you're cooking the tofu.

How long are you going to cook that?

I'm going to just kind of let it get colorful.

Okay.

Colorful?

Yeah.

So I would say 10 minutes.

10 minutes.

Okay.

Yeah.

We're going to take a very quick pause here and reorganize some things and then we will be right back to discuss Thicker than Water by Kerry Washington.

And my guest is Charlotte Pfeifer.

We'll be right back.

And our book is Thicker than Water.

I'm here with Charlotte Pfeifer And the person that we're featuring, of course, is Kerry Washington.

Their book is Thicker than Water.

What is this water theme all of a sudden?

You know, it's all through the book.

Yes.

Her parents met swimming when she was growing up in the Bronx in their apartment complex.

They had a pool.

She and her father swam in deep water.

And then she named her book That Blood is Thicker than Water, but love is thicker than blood.

There you go.

Think about that.

Okay.

And you're getting your also what people always wonder when you're eating healthily, what is your protein?

Yes.

And here I have what is it?

Tofu and small kidney beans, which are called a aduki beans.

And they are cooked in broth in brown salt.

Brown.

And have you added any spice?

I put all kinds of spice.

I put curry, I put garlic, I put.

Also don't forget, you can put this liquid amino acids.

Yeah.

Which is like a soy sauce.

And my I'm going to dust it off once it's cooked curry.

I love you can't beat curry and curry is good for you while you're doing that.

I'm putting in a little bit of garlic and then I will add some olive oil now to it to be a true, let's say vegan, you would use your chicken broth that you have.

Is that even vegetable?

Yes.

What did I say?

Chicken?

No, no.

So but I'm going to get the olive oil to Japanese.

You're getting your yam lamb out.

All right.

And I'm going to put this in and these are kind of, you know, the kind of vegetables take a while to cook.

So normally you cook them from 12 to 15 minutes, keep an eye on them.

Some people like them darker, some people like them more crisp.

We're going to put these in at 12 minutes.

We'll check.

We don't want them mushy.

I want them a little bit crisp.

So it's the kind of food.

You don't walk out of the kitchen and decide to go over to your neighbors for a chat.

No, you've got to stay with that one.

And today, with today's busy world, how can you eat healthy and fast?

And this can all be done in 20 minutes, maybe 30 to go.

Maybe Look at this yam.

Look at this beautiful yam.

I'm going to cut it open and just show you how beautiful.

Isn't that beautiful?

Yes.

Look at that.

coffee.

And it can feed a couple of people.

Now, where did you buy this?

I bought it at.

You can buy it at any health store.

I got it at Whole Foods, but you can buy it at a farmer's market.

Trader Joe's, any kind of.

And you can help any kind of spice, anything you want.

And so now here you've got Japanese yam tofu, aduki beans.

This is going to be our main course.

Now, do you put anything on top of the yam?

If you want to, you can put hummus.

Hummus?

You can put avocado.

that would be good.

Yes.

Avocado will cut up tomato.

Anything you want.

You can doctor it up.

Yes, you can.

Yes.

Yes, I have just added here the kind of bread that we always are looking for, but never seem to find at least where I live.

Can't find a hard a loaf of hard bread.

You know, the kind you get in Europe.

Yes.

And you say to go to go to Mamma Mia's.

Yes.

Right by the farmer's market in South Bend.

All right.

And it's called elder bread.

So remember your grandparents elder elder bread, if you like, that kind where you have to kind of poke at the crust dark and it's a nice crust.

That's the best thing.

You can spread anything on it or just eat it.

This is the closest I came to that kind of bread.

But I know South Bend has more bread makers and so when I'm in South Bend, I do stop and buy bread now.

Tell us the next thing.

Okay.

So we have to have dessert.

We do.

And remember what we are being held.

So they found out that strawberries are a wonderful dessert.

So and you can get it frozen so you can have it year round and you can get organic strawberries.

You always want to buy organic because because of the pesticides, pesticides and some of the things beautiful about most.

And you want all that delicious broth.

And by the way, if you want to, you can put some tofu or you could put some yogurt.

yogurt would be good.

honey, honey.

Well, you don't want to put too much.

Actually, they're sweet enough.

Okay, so look at these beautiful strawberries.

So I'm going to have them with all their broth.

And then I thought I'd bring mango.

Yes.

Do you ever have.

that looks beautiful.

And we've got.

Got to have blueberries.

Blueberries?

They're the best, aren't they?

Yes.

And so if you notice all the color, I notice all the juice and the juice.

And this would be nice in a clear bowl.

yes, I would have one.

It would.

Yes.

Yes.

Now we've got the healthiest meal that you can imagine.

Yeah.

What do we have going on over in the cup?

Well, we're going to top it off with our Oolong tea.

All right, So you've got tea bags and one minute that's how you do.

Yep.

Yep.

And so I'm just going to go over here and make sure I don't make a mess.

Yes, She has not left the set.

She is here.

I'm here.

Yes.

Pouring water, pouring water.

And we're having oolong tea.

Yes.

Which is a good tea for you or green tea?

Yes.

Gosh, you know what?

If you ate like this, you're you're just so healthy here.

You're going to be healthy, you're going to be full.

You're going to have energy and all that wonderful stuff.

And so the the vegetables are cooking.

I have it up.

What does I put it at?

320, you can start as high as 325.

Yes.

So tell us why you like Kerry Washington.

I like Kerry Washington because she grew up and it has a lot of the themes that we deal with in the United States.

A little girl struggling for who she is.

Yeah, the perfect family from the outside that has challenges on the inside.

But they loved each other and they worked it through.

She came from immigrant family.

We have a lot of immigrants in this country.

And immigration is a theme here right?

Her mother started out as a clerk and ended up being a Ph.D.

So perseverance.

And Kerry Washington always knew that there was something missing, but she was always told that it was just in her head.

If she found out, she found that this is very important.

So listen, so scandal, of course, everyone's seen scandal at the end of scandal.

Everyone's looking for their DNA, their roots.

Where do we come from?

Everyone's doing that.

That's the thing.

Today she wanted to find out where she came from.

So she was going to be on the program.

Finding your roots with Skip Gates.

Henry Louis Gates.

I love that.

And they sent Kit to her parents to do DNA kits.

And that's when Da da da da.

Her mother said, You got to come over and see.

And so her mother called her and said, please come over.

And she knew her mother never did that.

Do you want me to say what she found out?

Yes.

She found out that her father, her dad, her beloved father was not her biological father, that in fact, she was a result of of a sperm donor.

Yes.

Her parents have a hard had a hard time getting pregnant.

And so they finally went to a sperm donor and all the records have been destroyed.

She does not know who her biological father is.

And that's what was missing in that crushed her in the beginning.

And the father her father was destroyed.

Yes.

Yes.

And she still decided I want to find out if really he might be my father.

And there's some small percentage.

But this is what was so wonderful.

Her father felt she said all along her when she told her father she loved him, he figured, well, you only love me because you think I'm your father.

And she went over and said to him, Now you know that I love you because you're my dad, right?

There's no you know, there is.

And you know, I love you because of you.

And I'm sure this is a theme in many families.

I don't I can't say that I have sat around a, you know, coffee table and talked about it because maybe somebody didn't bring it up.

Right.

And but anyway, she's had all this, too, to absorb.

Yes.

And a lot of families have secrets.

if this was a secret and now it's not a secret.

It's not a secret.

This is sounds like a musical.

Big Jean Paul knows she's been liberated.

She gets to be Kerry Washington.

She doesn't have to lose herself in her characters.

That's right.

And she's married.

She has three children.

Her parents are still together.

It's just really a beautiful American story.

And they worked it out.

They talked about it.

Yes.

And so we why we finished here on time.

But we we're going to wait a few minutes to get our vegetables out and we will present our finished meal.

We invite you to come and join us.

Yes.

Right?

Yes.

Okay.

We'll be right back.

Hey.

Voila.

Here is our finished.

We are healthy.

Healthy meal.

Yes.

Isn't it beautiful?

It is.

And why don't you start?

Okay.

Well, people are always concerned about protein.

So here is a Japanese yam, which is white on the inside.

Tofu, which has all kinds of seasonings and a aduki beans, which are small kidney beans.

You can't get healthier than that.

And then for dessert, beautiful, colorful fruit, strawberries, blueberries and mango.

And you can add things to it.

But actually, it's very sweet.

And also oolong tea, which is a black tea.

Here we are.

And it's good for you today.

wine today.

No, we're not eating responsibly.

That's right.

And healthily, too.

That's right.

And Kerry Washington would be proud of us.

She would, you know, and I just want to think about her.

She wrote this book.

We were trying to determine whether she had a ghostwriter.

And we think you said yes, she wrote it herself because part of her activism in 2008 with President Obama, she started being active in politics again, found something to do outside of acting, always in pursuit of being her authentic self.

And so she was active with Obama.

But I also wanted to mention that there were two kind of times when she was told that she didn't know what she was talking about.

Yeah, one of the two, of course.

What?

The family.

yes.

Well, family always wants to tell you.

Yeah, but one of the times she had, she had disturbed sleeping and she just felt that she'd wake up and her clothing would be, you know, disheveled.

And she thought there was a young man who was bothering her and she confronted him.

He told her she was crazy.

So anyway, one time she waited up for him.

He tried to bother her again and she confronted him and she went to tell her mother and she decided that telling on him would be more damaging to him than her telling her truth.

And she made the conscious decision to keep his secret.

But she told him, If you do it again, and even today, she's glad of that decision there, see a strong woman.

And here is the final.

This is my wonderful vegetable.

And I do this roasted vegetable very frequently.

It does take chopping, but that's nothing.

It really is just bakes roast all together in a pan.

And we have some really good seeded bread.

And I understand there are good places in the South.

Best to this really good bread.

So we are so glad you're join you joined us today and thank you for coming.

And we want to remember that blood is thicker than water, but love is thicker than blood.

I kind of think about that.

That's great.

Thank you.

Charlotte was a delight to have you back.

Thank you so much.

I'm always glad to come.

We're glad to have you.

And thank you for watching.

We remember good food, good friends, good books make for a terrific life.

We'll see you next time.

This WNIT local production has been made possible in part by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Dinner and a book is supported by the Rex and Alice A. Martin Foundation of Elkhart, celebrating the spirit of Alice Martin and her love of good food and good friends.