- Tonight on WPBS Weekly Inside the Stories.

We're back in the kitchen with Johnny Spezzano.

He's joined by Sarah Saulibio of Frosted Couture to cook up some fruit galettes and a therapy group with a music problem.

Music Healing Veterans Canada uses music to support healing, friendship, and personal growth.

Also, a new monument in Watertown honors our Jefferson County Revolutionary War veterans.

Your stories, your region, coming up right now on WPBS Weekly, Inside the Stories.

- Funding for WPBS Weekly, Inside the Stories, is provided by the Statewide Community Re-Grants Program, a re-grant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the St.

Lawrence County Arts Council.

Carthage Savings founded in 1888, offering VA, FHA, seasonal and rural development mortgage products, providing financial services to Northern New York from offices in Carthage, Clayton, Croghan, and Watertown.

Online at carthagesavings.com.

- Good Tuesday evening, everyone, and welcome to this edition of WPBS Weekly Inside the Stories.

I'm Michael Riecke.

It's been a while since Johnny Spezzano's cooked a dessert in the wood-fired oven, but tonight he's got something sweet that needs some heat.

He's joined by Baker and owner of Frosted Couture, Sarah Saulibio, to cook up some fruit galettes.

It's a recipe you don't want to miss.

- Hey, come on.

- Hello, my friends.

Welcome to another Johnny on Fire.

I'm Johnny Spezzano.

Welcome to my kitchen.

I have Sarah and she is from Frosted Couture.

You guys are in the paddock arcade.

- Yep.

Located in the paddock arcade.

- And it's a bake shop?

- Yes.

Cakery, we like to call it since we make so many cakes, including wedding cakes, but we make other desserts like what we're going to make today.

- What are we making today?

- Today we're making a fruit galette.

- Ooh.

I read a little bit about it.

It is a rustic French pastry with fruit.

- Yes.

- Okay.

I'm excited to get started.

Never made anything like this.

And I have to be honest, the whole idea behind the show is to cook it on fire.

Never before have we done anything like this, so it should be exciting to see if it works.

Definitely.

We'll find out.

Okay?

All right.

So how do we get started?

- Well, we're going to start by flowering our board.

- Okay.

- That way our dough doesn't stick to it.

Okay.

Okay.

I'll take our dough.

- So these are like a prefab dough that you can buy.

- Yes.

Puff pastry dough.

- Puff pastry dough.

Okay.

You work with this all the time.

You know what you're doing.

I don't see how I do it.

Okay.

- Oh yes.

I'm watching - You, Sarah.

- Okay.

Remove your paper.

We don't want any paper in our - You - Can't leave the paper?

Okay.

No.

- That wouldn't be good.

Okay.

A - Little more flour.

- Little more flour on top.

Okay.

All right.

- Okay.

- Grab your rolling pin.

All right.

- I got a futuristic rolling pin.

- Yeah, you do.

I gave you the special one.

- Do I have enough flour, you think?

- You probably do, but it doesn't hurt to add more.

A - Little extra is - Not a bad thing.

Not a bad thing.

- All right.

So we'll roll it and.

- And you'll roll it on each side.

Just kind of stretch it just a little bit.

Stretch it - Out a little.

- Yeah.

- And make it uniformly flat.

- As best as you can.

- Okay.

- It'll help it puff up a lot better if it's a lot flatter and even.

- How long have you been messing around with flour and dough and icing and all that stuff?

- I stopped counting at 15 years.

- Wow.

- It's been over 15 years.

- I've tasted Frosted Couture's wedding cakes because we've been at bridal shows together and you're always amazing.

Everyone always raves.

- Okay.

Thank you.

Does - Mine look okay?

It - Looks great.

All - Right.

Should - I pick - It up so it's not stuck or no?

Just - Like this?

- No.

- But you can.

You know what?

Th works.

Let's do it.

Let's do a little check here.

Make sure - Just to - Check, right?

Yeah.

- Because we don't - Want it to stick.

- We don't want it to stick.

- Okay.

- You're going to grab your trusty fork.

- Okay.

I got a fork.

- And you're just going to puncture your dough.

I'm - Going to stab it.

- Stab it.

Not tear it.

- What's - This do?

This is going to ensure that the heat can evenly spread throughout the dough.

- Nice.

Okay.

- And now you are going to add fruit to the middle of your dough here.

- I love this.

It's very - Good.

- Now, what would I bake this at if I was at home?

- I would say 375 degrees.

- Okay.

- For about 10 to 12, maybe 15 minutes.

All - Right.

I'm going to let you go first because I want to see how much you're going to put on because I have a tendency to overdo it.

- Okay.

And now with our fruit, we've already added a little bit of sugar, add it to taste.

- Make it - Good.

Definitely.

- All right.

- Yes.

So - Fruit in the center.

- Yes, fruit in the center.

And - Our galette.

- And our galette.

- Okay.

Good?

- That looks good.

Okay.

- Okay.

All right.

- It does - Look good.

It - Does.

Smells good too.

Okay.

What's - Next?

- So we're going to fold in our edges.

- Okay.

Just, wow.

I feel like I'm back in elementary school or I'm - Just playing - With Play-Doh.

Okay, like that?

- Yes.

Okay.

Yes.

Most definitely.

All right.

- You guys, you could do this at home and watch just like I am first time.

Never done anything.

Oh, I see you're putting a little bit of crunch to it.

- Yes.

We'll pinch it.

Okay.

Give it a little bit of character.

- Okay.

- Okay.

And you can always spread your fruit out a little bit.

Okay.

Or add more.

- Now, am I going to push down here?

I'm making this up as I go along - Now.

You don't have to push down.

Nope.

No?

Okay.

Nope.

It should be fine.

But you know what?

We can try that.

You push yours down.

I don't push mine down.

- I like that this is how I cook at home - Too.

It's just - Freestyle.

- I'm going to put a - Little more fruit.

- Okay.

- Just because.

- Oh yes, that looks good.

You've got more raspberries.

What's - Next?

- What is next is your egg wash.

So you're going to take your pastry brush, dip it in your egg wash, and your egg wash is just one egg.

- Seriously, does mine look okay, Sarah?

I - Don't want to - Embarrass myself.

- You know what?

It looks great.

It - Does?

- And if it doesn't turn out great, we'll just cover it with ice cream.

- I like this idea.

This is fun though.

You could really do this at home with kids and stuff, right?

- You could super quick.

That's why you - Did it because you knew I needed something simple.

- Well, you know, sometimes simple is the best.

All - Right.

So we go all over - The - Entire - - The entire crust, yes.

The entire crust with an - Egg wash.

With an egg wash.

- This is going to - Brown it up.

- It is.

- Okay.

- It is.

All - Right.

How's that look?

Did I do good?

- It looks great.

It'll help give it a more rustic look.

And then you are ready to bake this.

It's ready to go in the oven?

Yes, - Most definitely.

Okay.

So we have our wood fired oven ready to go.

We're trying this for the first time.

We're going to try to put it right on the hearth.

This is either going to be a disaster or amazing.

Let's find out what happens.

Want to leave yours out for a second - And - Just do mine?

Yes.

Okay.

Okay.

Will, that didn't work out so good with my idea, putting it directly on the hearth.

So let's go a little bit more traditional.

What are we going to do with this?

- So what we're going to do is we are going to lift up our puff pastry, put it on our pan, and stick it right into the oven.

- Okay.

All right.

So I should let you do it.

So one of the problems I had is there are, we did make holes in it and the liquid drained through and of course it stuck to the hearth, so that didn't work out so good.

So putting it on parchment paper is a much better idea.

That looks so good.

- All - Right.

All - Right.

Great.

- Okay.

Let's go into the oven this time on a pan.

All right, Sarah.

Well, let's see how this goes.

Okay.

So, okay, you told me you've been working with flour and pastry like your whole life.

Yeah?

- Pretty much.

- Yeah.

And how did this start, this whole dream of having your own shop where you're making cakes and - Pastries?

Honestly, my mom was my inspiration.

Growing up, she always made all of our birthday cakes and breads and stuff like that.

So of course that appreciation and that love for that, that's what started it.

And then as I started getting more into it little by little, I started educating myself on it and it's been quite the journey, but it's really fun, very rewarding.

I didn't necessarily think I would have my own studio, my own cakery one day, but it has evolved into that since moving here to Watertown.

So it's been a lot of fun.

- Yeah.

And again, thank you.

I'm military family.

Thank you for your service.

I'll throw that out there.

So I mean, how many wedding cakes do you think you guys are making a year over there?

- Making a year.

Last year, off the top of my head, somewhere between 25 and 30 wedding cakes.

As far as actual cakes, we've done other things and sometimes with weddings, people don't always want a wedding cake.

So we always try to accommodate people to the best of our ability.

- What's the new trend now besides cakes?

- I have found that cakes are still very much in, which I'm so glad because we love cake, but people have also been wanting to add dessert bars or macaroon bars, macaroon towers.

That's been something that I've been seeing more of.

So it's really exciting and I'm really glad because we love everything sweet just about.

- Oh, that's great.

Now, do you yourself have a sweet tooth or no?

- I do.

I do.

I don't eat as much of it as people think that I eat as much as I make, but I do.

And I do enjoy.

Well, of course, if I'm making it, I've got to try it.

So I do enjoy that.

Okay.

- So is there one cake or dessert or item that you've made in the past that you were like, "This is incredible.

I mean, this is the coolest thing I've ever made," or what?

- That's a hard one.

Yeah.

Because I do like, I like it all.

- Yeah.

- I would say macaroons are probably my go-to that I would go to more often just because they're not as sweet.

At least what we make, the ones that we make are not as sweet.

You can play around with the different fillings.

Are - Macaroons like a coconut?

- No, they're actually made.

That's a different one.

Okay.

The ones that we make, the French macaroons are made with almond flour.

- Oh, okay.

Well, you're going to have to go try it for yourself.

Frosted couture is in the Paddock Arcade.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

Yep.

And okay, great.

Well, thank you so much for being on the show with me.

- Thank you for having me.

You'll have to come have some tea.

- Oh, you have beverages - As well?

Yeah, we've got lattes.

You've got to come try our matcha.

- Okay, great.

Well, I definitely, I mean, I'm all for it.

Can you stop in and get like a single piece of cake?

- Yes.

Sometimes you can.

Yep.

Yep.

Cake jars, cheesecake jars.

Yeah.

- Very cool stuff.

Well, we got to take these galettes or this galette out of the oven and - See - How it came out.

Then we're going to make some more.

- Okay.

Let's do it.

All - Right.

Let's take a look.

Oh, Sarah, we've been watching.

It looks so good in there.

Yeah.

We're going to take it out and show you.

We made, again, we made Sarah's because mine got destroyed.

- That's okay.

- But it happens.

Let's try it.

It does.

I'm a first timer.

And guess what?

We're lucky.

Show them what you made.

We got more to make.

We do have more.

We'll, we'll make those here in a second, but see, okay?

We'll, we'll just keep making them.

But let's go.

Let's see how they look.

Wood fired galette.

Wow, Sarah.

That looks so - Good.

Smells good - Too.

Okay.

It's fresh out of the oven.

Would we normally let it cool?

- Normally.

Yes.

Normally we would.

Yes, yes.

But I don't know if today's a normal day.

It - Looks really good.

- Yes.

What - Are we going to do to it?

- Well, we've got to make it couture.

Okay.

We can't just leave it like this.

Like - Frosted.

- You know, we, we can put ice cream on top, use your favorite choppings.

We've got Nutella.

- Okay.

- We can do everything, all of it.

- All right.

So maybe, I know you got some powdered sugar.

We'll blast it with some powdered sugar right - Now.

Okay.

- Let's do that.

Let's get a look of this.

Yeah, some powdered sugar on it.

All right.

Let's see how it comes out.

- All right.

It looks good.

- Again, keep in mind, fresh out the oven now.

Oh.

Wow.

- Powdered sugar.

Healthy amount.

- Okay, good.

And then I'm going to cut it in half.

Do you want to do that?

Yeah, - Let's do it.

Or do you want to put - Nutella on it first?

- No, let's cut it.

Let's see what it looks like.

Okay.

It's a little flaky.

- It's nice and flaky.

- Okay.

- The pan is hot.

Okay.

So it'd be nice to have a spatula, but we're just going to wing it.

- Okay.

- Again, I love that puff pastry.

It's that toaster.

I hate to bring it up.

I know - It's gross, - But toaster strudel, - Flaky - Hair in between.

- Okay.

Yeah.

- Now what?

- All right.

Well, you can eat it just like that.

Scoop of ice cream.

Let's do a scoop of ice cream.

Yeah.

Let's do it.

- You can use your fingers.

We're friends here.

- Okay.

I'd have to.

Yeah, - Just do it.

Okay.

- Okay.

Yep.

Do you want them both?

- Of course.

- Okay.

- Amazing.

- All right.

- Well, there you have it, friends.

We made galettes and these look great.

Oh, look at her.

- I got to have Nutella.

I don't know about you, but - - Okay, go ahead.

- We need Nutella over here.

- Holy cow.

Wait, you got more than me.

All right.

I - Did.

All - Right.

That's fine.

Okay.

So we're going to give this a try.

Here we go.

It's going to be tough work to do, but I'll give it a try and we'll see how this - Okay.

These are wood fired galletes made the right way, not the wrong way like I tried to make them.

I'm so embarrassed.

- The crunch.

- Okay.

Oh, yeah.

Pretty good.

It worked.

Thank goodness.

So good.

Well, you can try to make these at home and I think it's a pretty easy thing to do.

Or better yet, let Frost and Couture and Sarah take care of it for you.

Then you don't have to worry about it.

Stress out.

This is so good.

Thank you for watching Johnny on Fire.

Try this recipe at home.

You can check out all the recipes online at wpdstv.org.

We got a whole Johnny on Fire section.

We have just tons of videos of all kinds of food dishes.

And I'll catch you on the border 1067 weekday mornings.

Thanks for watching Johnny on Fire.

Sarah, thank you.

- Thank you for having me.

- Frost and Couture in the Paddock Arcade.

Okay, I'll have a second bite.

Wow, this is delicious.

- Very good.

Especially hot when the ice cream melts.

Very, very good.

- If you're looking for more great fire-grilled recipe ideas from Johnny, just go to our website, wpbstv.org, and scroll through our library.

Music Healing Veterans Canada uses music as a way to help veterans and retired frontline workers navigate life after service.

For members, the experience is about more than making music.

It's about rebuilding confidence, sharing laughter, and rediscovering joy alongside others who understand the unique challenges of frontline careers.

Open to all skill levels, the group provides a community where healing happens one song at a time.

- There is something about music that connects in ways words cannot.

For those who have served in the military and on the front lines of our communities, healing does not always follow a familiar rhythm.

Music Healing Veterans Canada is creating a place where healing and music meet one song at a time.

- My elevator pitch line is that we are a therapy group with a music problem.

And our target audience is those who have spent a career going in harm's way.

And from that, you know, obviously in any of those careers there's all kinds of life events and music is a healing power.

So for us, it's about using the vehicle of music as a healing power to bring folks together.

You know, there's folks who've not able to maybe leave the house and now two years later they're rocking out on stage, you know, because we're doing a gig somewhere.

And it's beautiful to see.

- After years of service, adjusting to a different pace of life can take time, and the camaraderie that once came so naturally can be hard to replace.

But inside this room, that bond is rekindled in song.

- We've had three or four of our members this year have gone through really hard times, really hard, both physical and mental times, life challenges, whatever.

And the group's been there for them.

You know, either it's even with music encouragement, reaching out, someone checking on them.

Yeah.

So it really replicates, I think, all of those professions that we talked about.

They all have that sense of camaraderie, whether it's military, law enforcement, medical, whatever it is.

There's always that sense of camaraderie.

And I think when you leave that, sometimes that's the thing you miss the most.

And this is one of those groups.

I mean, we all have kind of different professional backgrounds, but we're all interested in music and that brings us together here and we all kind of have an understanding of what it was like to you know, to do interesting and challenging things as a, as a profession.

And now it's time to just do a little soul caring.

- After years spent caring for others, this becomes a time for something else, a time for themselves, a time to gather, and to let the music do the talking.

- We don't come and sit here and we don't talk about our issues up there.

We play music, but those kind of conversations happen more like outside of the group than in the jam.

There we're just singing and laughing and I always say it's great to hang out because you just, sometimes you just come in here and you just have a good belly laugh.

It's just a really nice place to be.

- Each week, they find their way here.

Different paths brought them, but the experience they share bring them together.

And whether the notes are perfect or not, the music is theirs.

- Every Wednesday night is our therapy group meeting with a music problem we get together.

You know, if people want to work on a new song, if we have people who maybe are at a lower level learning guitar, we might take them aside and, you know, get them to just do some courting stuff.

But if everybody's kind of on the same level, then we just go around the circle and it's everybody's turn to pick a, pick a song and, and whether we like it or not, we'll jam through it.

So sometimes we'll murder it and eventually we'll, we'll work it to a place where someone might actually recognize it.

- Sometimes it starts with something familiar, a song remembered, a moment shared.

After years in careers where everything moved fast, this is a place where they can slow down, reconnect, and simply enjoy being together.

- Our goal is, is to put it out there to say if, you know, if you're a veteran of, of one of these fields and you need a place to go, you don't have to be musically inclined.

It's a place to, you know, come and hang out to.

And, you know, you're at that kind of age where a lot of you are getting into empty nesting, you've maybe finished a, a very busy, demanding career and you're like, "Okay, what do I do now?"

There's that, "How do I go from 100 to 0?"

And that, that's actually very challenging mentally and physically for people that have, you know, done those careers and they do need something to transition to and to kind of, you know, put effort into.

- I had retired from the military.

I enjoy music quite a bit.

And you know, you're just looking for something to do, especially in the kind of fall, winter.

Really what I get is the, is the camaraderie, the fun, the friendships.

It's a very welcoming environment.

You know, there's different experiences to talk about, so it's really fun hearing about other people's experiences when we get going a little bit like corrections or whatever it may be, right?

- In a space built on welcome and shared experience, something deeper happens.

Music becomes more than something they play.

It becomes a way to grow and to heal.

- Obviously, there's a bunch of people that are not interested in music, so we cater to those folks who are where maybe they don't have any other tools where music can be the tool for them to heal, to have whatever life is normal after, you know, these careers.

- Definitely I've improved as a musician, guitar player, singing slightly and just the ability to play with other musicians as well.

And you know, you always hope that you're giving something back to everyone else too, so.

- There's not one person in this group that I wouldn't say that, you know, I wouldn't reach out or give them a hand if need be because they're all great people.

Being a part of this group has brought a lot of joy back into my life through my love for music.

So that's one of the things that's really special about this group is that I'm able to find that joy again.

- Through their shared love of music, they are not only rediscovering a part of themselves, they lift one another and move forward in harmony.

- Really about as, as being helpful as we can.

I mean, the truth is there's so many people from these professions that have, they probably feel abandoned or maybe no place to go and hey, you can come here.

- For WPBS Weekly, I'm Gail Paquette.

- To learn more, just visit musichealingveteranscanada.com.

Well, as we continue our celebration of America's 250th anniversary, we next journey to downtown Watertown, where local organizations recently installed a tribute to America's first veterans.

Take a look.

- With the approaching 250th anniversary of the United States, Northern New York chapters of the Sons of the American Revolution and the Daughters of the American Revolution sought to recognize revolutionary war veterans who settled in Jefferson County.

More than 450 of these veterans are buried in local cemeteries.

Planning for the monument began more than two years ago in 2024.

Through numerous meetings, a special committee carefully developed, refined, and finalized the design that would bring the memorial to life.

Crafted by A.Cozzi Monuments of Watertown, the monument was installed and dedicated in early July.

The monument is located on Arsenal Street in front of the Jefferson County office building alongside other regional war memorials.

Two historical quotations were selected for the monument.

One is from Thomas Jefferson for whom Jefferson County is named, and the other is from John Adams, who was serving as president when Jefferson County was established.

- This design was a, a long and detailed process.

We considered probably six or eight different designs as to which we though would be most appropriate.

The reason we chose this one is we wanted this to be a, basically a time of reflection.

Those people would come and sit on the bench and there's a QR code that they can scan, and from that it's brought to a landing page, which would give people a history of it.

We have it designed to kind of be pointing towards the other veterans, knowing that this began the process of maintaining our freedoms.

- This monument is meant to be a living monument.

It's meant to honor those who fought and survived and came here after the Revolutionary War, and they established their roots here.

And, and the purpose of this too and how it means for the community is to try to bring that history forward into the present and honoring both our 250th anniversary, but also to recognize that they are the ones who fought and survived and started all of this and our notions of liberty and freedom so that when those who served and sacrificed all and the case next to us, there was no question what they were sacrificing for because of what these individuals did in the beginning.

- That does it for this Tuesday night.

If you have a story idea you'd like us to explore, we would love to learn more.

All you need to do is send us an email at wpbsweekly@wpbstv.org and let's share it with the region.

That's it for now, everyone.

Join us next time for a fresh look inside The Stories.

Until then, take care.

- Funding for WPBS Weekly Inside the Stories is provided by the Statewide Community Re-Grants Program, a re-grant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the St.

Lawrence County Arts Council.

Carthage Savings founded in 1888, offering VA, FHA, seasonal and rural development mortgage products, providing financial services to Northern New York from offices in Carthage, Clayton, Croghan, and Watertown.

Online at carthagesavings.com.

- Really what I get is the, is the camaraderie, the fun, the friendships.

It's a very welcoming environment.

You know, there's different experiences to talk about, so it's really fun hearing about other people's experiences.