- Tonight on WPBS Weekly.

Inside the stories, Marty Yenawine stops by Johnny Spezzano's kitchen to cook up a West African recipe called Shakshuka.

And Laura Tiberiu is back.

Her review of the book Happy Place by Emily Henry might just convince you it is your next must read, your stories, your region coming up right now on WPBS Weekly.

Inside the stories - WPBS Weekly Inside the stories is brought to you by - When you're unable to see your primary care provider.

The Carthage Walk-in Clinic is here for you.

Located off Route 26 across from Carthage Middle School.

Comfort and Healing close to home when you need it most - North Country Orthopedic Group is there for your urgent ortho or sports related injuries.

With our onsite surgical center and same or next day appointments, we're ready to provide care for patients of all ages.

Your health matters to us North Country Orthopedic Group, keeping healthcare local.

- We are the north country we're protecting one another like family is who we are and where our tomorrow will always be worth defending.

Find out how we keep the north country Strong, at claxtonhepburn.org.

Today, - Select musical performances are made possible with funds from the statewide community Regrant program, a REGRANT program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York state legislator administered by the St.

Lawrence County Arts Council.

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

I'm Michael Rickey.

Tonight we catch up with Johnny Spezzano of the border in his kitchen as he teams up with Marty Yenawine of the Thousand Islands Art Center For this month's, Johnny on Fire together they fire grill shakshuka a dish that you'll definitely want to add to your breakfast menu.

- Hey, come on.

- Hello my friends.

Welcome to another edition of Johnny on Fire.

We're in my kitchen and I've got a guest.

Marty Yen.

How you doing, my friend?

I'm fine.

It's wonderful to see you.

Great to see you too.

Marty came to a dinner party here one time and now he's on my cooking show.

Indeed.

What a joy.

Yeah.

And he's a Clayton resident.

And we're talking a little bit about the Thousand Islands Art Museum.

Yes.

Right.

Art center.

Yeah.

That's art center rather.

Right.

That's being built.

And we'll tell you more about that, but let's talk about our recipe.

- Well, why not?

- Okay, well, first of all, do you like breakfast?

Oh, very much.

Well, this is called Shakshuka and it is a dish that is very exotic originating out of West Africa.

And we're gonna have all kinds of fragrant things like paprika and cumin and tomato in this breakfast.

So it's gonna be good.

Gonna love it.

Okay, let's talk about our ingredients.

First and foremost, tomatoes.

Okay.

We've got some crushed tomatoes, a can or two of crushed tomatoes come in handy.

We also have eggs, we have garlic, onion, and fresh peppers, cumin, little feta cheese.

And I do have some spinach on the side.

We're gonna soup it up a little bit.

Why not?

All right, so speaking of souping, let's soup this thing together because it is kind of like a soup, but it's kind of like eggs.

You're gonna love it.

- Whoa, it sounds wonderful.

- All right, so we're gonna get started.

We need garlic first.

And while I smash the garlic, I'm gonna give you a tomato to cut.

Oh, great.

Didn't you tell me you actually won a, a competition or were part of a cooking competition Once - I did.

- Yeah, - I did.

Down in Syracuse.

- Okay.

- Men who cook was the, was the event and it was always fun.

It was an annual affair and it was over in Clinton Square.

- Okay.

Men who - Cook?

Yeah, men who cook.

- It was great fun.

All right, so I, I smashed our garlic.

We're gonna put a couple chops in.

We can leave it kind of big.

As a matter of fact, who doesn't love garlic?

So we'll do a double, double clove here, and then we're gonna throw it in our wood-fired oven in our cast iron skillet.

Wonderful.

And let it, you know, soften up a little bit and add flavor to our oil.

And again, I'm just gonna chop it rough, smash it, and we'll add it to our pan with a little olive oil.

This is kind of cool, Marty.

Look what I did.

I saw a guy do this once.

I put some holes in the top of my olive oil can, so I don't have to take the lid off and I can just pour it off the back.

It's a free pour.

Pretty neat.

Pretty neat, right?

I would say.

All right, so we're gonna throw this garlic in.

Let it saute.

Well, you're, oh, you're doing a good job.

Dicing the peppers.

Oh, thank you.

Thank you.

While you're doing that, we're gonna chop some onion quick.

Again, this is allowed to be a little bit rustic, So you know, the size of everything.

Doesn't have to be, have to be the same.

Nah, nah.

Okay.

Now these onions and the pepper that Marty's cutting are gonna go into the fire next.

You always wanna throw your garlic in first, so that way it absorbs into the oil.

Then you can add the rest of your fragrant vegetables, which right now we're gonna add the onions.

As you can see, our garlic is sizzling sounds.

Oh, it sounds beautiful.

And I'll let you, if you want, throw the, what you've got done in peppers in, go ahead Marty.

- Yep.

- Hmm.

These are, you can already smell that garlic.

Oh, yes indeed.

Beautiful colors.

Oh, isn't it?

Okay, beautiful.

Back in the fire.

So I discovered this dish a few years ago.

I love making it when I have friends and family in town.

Of course.

Living near the thousand Islands.

You always have visitors.

- No, don't we?

And - You live in Clayton, right?

You know what I'm talking about?

Yes, we do.

And Clayton has done an awesome job.

The town's looking beautiful.

Well, thank you.

And all the stores are amazing.

And you, yourself sit on the board of - The Thousand Island Art Center.

- Yeah.

And I understand that there is a show that is taking place right now as we speak.

If you're watching this in 2025, - It's a wonderful show.

It's called Upon the River's Edge.

And it's an annual thing.

It's a juried show.

And the artists are, are submit their proposals.

It it, they do that in, in June and July.

And then all of a sudden in August there will be artists from all over the, the river area.

And they will be doing things that are relevant to the river.

And it's just all kinds of medium.

It's photography, it's water color, it's oils, it's, it's just beautiful sculptures.

All kinds of - Things.

It's an annual thing.

It's been happening for years, - Right?

Oh yeah.

And it's just wonderful.

It's very - Popular.

All right.

I love this.

Now it's not gonna be in the newly constructed Thousand Islands art center.

- Yeah, no, that's, that's exciting.

That's coming part.

Yeah, it's gonna be, it's in the art center that's over on John Street.

Okay.

And John just off Hugin.

And, and it's gonna be there until the November the, I can't remember until - November.

- Yes, it'll be in November.

Okay.

But it's gonna be wonderful.

And, but the new art center's gonna be there a year later.

So the year from now we'll have the new, we'll have the show in the new art center, which is over on James Street.

And it's gonna - Be, now James Street is the street when you go under the big arch into Clayton.

Yes.

I shouldn't talk with a knife in my - Hand.

I'm sorry.

It's perfectly all.

I, I I don't feel real threatened.

- Well, kind of Johnny, but not real bad.

Okay.

So we've been sauteing our, our vegetables and here they come.

They look good.

Oh, don't - They?

- Nice and soft.

Now we're gonna add some fragrance spices about a tablespoon of paprika.

So we're gonna just free pork.

Okay.

About a tablespoon of cumin.

Okay.

I'm gonna add a little bit of dinosaur barbecue spice.

'cause you can use crushed red pepper.

But I'm gonna use this.

I think John Stage would like that.

Yeah, Yeah.

Alright, that's good.

Alright, so now these are all working in, oh, my, my, to our veg.

We're gonna add our tomato.

Now crushed.

Here we go.

Tomatoes.

Okay.

Now this is what you do.

You get up and you make this for the family.

It's not that difficult.

Pretty simple.

We're gonna add another can.

Would you hand me that right there?

Sure.

Okay.

Another can of tomatoes.

Maybe just a half.

About a half.

Oh, that looks wonderful.

So about a can and a half.

And once we get this all stirred together, I like a little bit of extra fragrance and spice.

So there you're gonna, there you go.

We're gonna, you can add more if you want.

So I think now this recipe just turned into two tables.

We want to taste that.

- Oh boy.

- Alright, so what we're gonna do, we're gonna make wells in this and we're gonna drop eggs into it, and the eggs are gonna poach right here in the tomatoes.

- What fun.

- So, alright, now I do happen to have some baby spinach.

Oh boy.

So why don't you shred a little baby spinach.

Sure.

With me, - You just wanna take the stems off.

Is that what you're Yeah, - Just, you know, just Yeah.

Rip it and Sure.

It's all fiber.

That was pretty good.

It's indeed.

Alright, so this is adding some more color and I think that's pretty good for right now.

Okay.

Because I don't want the spinach to overpower the tomatoes and the eggs.

Okay.

So what I'm gonna do now, I want all these flavors to come together.

So we're gonna put it back, back in the Oh boy.

In the wood fire for a little bit.

- What a delight.

- Boy, that cooks really well, doesn't it?

It sure does.

All right.

So we're hanging with Marty Yen.

We're here in my kitchen.

And Marty, you and I, we, we've met, you've been on a few boards here in the north country, including Children's Miracle Network.

- You bet.

Yep.

- And that's where we met.

- We did.

Yeah.

And Johnny, you, you're effort for, for CMN has just been amazing.

Yeah.

I, what is it?

Oh, $3 million.

- Pretty close to 25 years of cm.

20 years if you don't look that old.

Yeah.

I mean, - Really - 25 years.

As a matter of fact, the Children's Miracle Network Radiothon is coming up in the first week of November.

Oh, it's right.

The border 1 0 6 7.

It's gonna be in a couple of weeks.

So, wonderful.

So tune in and, and help out.

So we met there, but you also serve on the board of the Thousand Islands Arts Center.

- I do.

- Okay.

- Well, I did.

Okay.

And now what I did do is chair of the committee for that new art center that we're building.

And, - And again, right when everybody pulls into town, everybody from out of town pulls into Clayton.

It's gonna be right there for the, - It's right there on Jo on James Street, and it's gonna have 13,000 square feet.

It's gonna have two adult classrooms and one child classroom.

They offer over 90 courses a year, and it's year round.

Wow.

So, and a wonderful kids program.

And if you, if you haven't taken advantage of, of the, there's over 10 disciplines in art and mediums that they, they teach.

It's a fabulous facility.

- And now with a brand new modern place to do it, it's gonna be even better.

So we're excited - About that.

Well, there is, and there's gonna be a sculpture garden right next door.

So it's, it's just gonna be a wonderful, - And then you walk across the street and get river rat cheese or go to the coffee cove.

Right.

Because it's right in that neighborhood.

- You can, and if you have to, you have to get in our gift shop.

There's an ATM right across the street at the bank, at the Watertown Savings Bank.

I - Love it.

So we're in great shape.

I love it.

And we have to say hi to all of our Canadian viewers all over Canada.

Sending a big hug.

We love you.

- Yeah, indeed we do.

And I, you know, I'm only four hour, four minutes.

- Yeah.

- I'm sorry.

Four miles from the border.

- Yeah.

- And it's right there.

Matter of fact, my, my daughter and granddaughter and I went over there just a couple days ago.

- Yeah.

Always great to visit.

Yeah.

Our neighbors in the north, - We Oh, indeed.

- All right, so we have to add our eggs to our shak.

Oh, shak.

I gotta say it right.

Shakshuka.

I can't wait to see it.

It's gonna be amazing.

All, let's see how our tomatoes and great ingredients are coming together.

- Oh yeah.

Oh, - Starting to get a little bubble.

Yum is good.

Yum.

Yum yu Okay.

Oh, look at that.

So I'll give it a quick stir and then we're gonna add our eggs.

Okay.

Now I - Can't wait to see this come together, - You know, like I would say at home, if you're doing this in your oven, you know, let it all come together for like 30 minutes, something like that.

Yeah.

Okay.

And we're gonna try to make some little wells.

How are you at cracking eggs?

- And I, I think I can do - It.

You think you can handle it or?

Well, lemme try.

I'll make a little Well, and you drop it in there.

Okay.

Let's see.

How's that?

Perfect.

Okay, let's do another one.

Oh boy.

We'll add as many as we can.

Now.

Obviously you add as many as you have guests, right?

- Well, that's right.

- So, you know, if you got a couple people visiting, oh, there we - Go.

- Okay.

Yeah, he didn't even break the yolk.

Oh, man.

Yeah.

All right, let's do another one right here.

- Okay.

My luck is going pretty well right now.

There we - Go.

Oh, this is teamwork.

- Isn't this - Something?

Okay.

How about one right here?

- Okay, we can do that.

- Perfect.

Alright.

Can I say one right - Here?

Oh, yeah, we've gotta have one more.

- Wonderful.

You know what, I think there's room for one more.

Oh, good.

All right.

Right - Here.

Okay.

Got it.

Okay.

Got it.

Eyeballs right - There.

Again, we're making just a little Well, with my wooden spoon.

You didn't crack a single one.

Isn't that something?

It looks great.

- It sure does.

- Okay, now one more ingredient just for fun.

Oh yeah.

We have a little feta cheese.

And you know, obviously I'm big into - Creativity.

Oh, you are.

- And I, - It's an art form.

- Yeah, it is.

And that we wanna make it, obviously you eat with your eyes first, right?

So you want to make it look beautiful.

When this comes out of the oven, it's gonna look so amazing.

Your guests, obviously, you break it out and you show 'em what it looks like when you serve it at the table.

Right.

Don't dish it up in the kitchen.

So we'll add our feta around here and we'll be ready.

- Well, culinary arts ought to be added to the art center, - You know, I mean, why not?

Oh, my heaven.

Okay.

All right.

How's that look?

Good boy, it's gorgeous.

A little more cheese there.

Okay.

All right.

Back in the woodfired oven.

Okay, here we go.

Finish up.

Just let, you just wanna let the eggs poach.

Wow.

That is a gorgeous, gorgeous dish.

Okay, so we've got some delicious eggs.

I, I, I warmed up some crusty bread.

You should serve it with some crusty bread.

- Oh boy.

- Oh boy.

So here we go.

Marty, you hold this.

All right.

Okay.

We'll put a nice little piece of bread right there.

Lovely.

And I'll hold it right there.

Here we go.

I'll try not to break the egg.

Here we go.

We're gonna take the first egg out.

Ah, - Look at that.

Oh my.

- Okay, now we gotta - Get a little, a little, gotta get a little juice.

There you go.

We - Go That.

- Oh my heavens.

And beautiful.

Absolutely beautiful - Dish.

Okay.

All right.

I guess I get to dish one up for myself too, don't I?

Yeah.

Okay, here we go again.

Let's go with this egg.

Okay.

Oh, got.

We've got a double.

- Yeah, I gotta split that one.

There we go.

Oh my.

- So good.

Can you smell the fragrances?

- Oh, and the, yeah.

- Oh, great.

Little breakfast.

Make it on a Sunday for your family.

Try it out.

- Oh boy.

- You could even throw it on the bread.

Oh, look at this like this if you wanted.

Oh boy.

Here we go.

Oh, it's, oh boy.

I don't know if you can see the yoke at home.

Oh my.

Yeah, that's how I'm gonna do it.

Cheers, my friend.

Hey, thank you so much for coming over today.

- Oh, what a joy.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Johnny - Was great.

Now ask breakfast.

Do I have any on my face?

- Mm.

- No, - Not much.

- Not doing what?

Alright, well thank you so much for watching another episode of Johnny on Fire.

Of course, you can see all the episodes@wpbstv.org.

Check out my dinner at Johnny podcast.

Always support Children's Miracle Network.

Watch the upcoming radio, Don, or listen to it and we will see you next time.

And don't forget to enjoy, what do we call this stuff?

Shashuka!

Fun to say.

Delicious.

What do you think?

Good.

Yeah, absolutely delicious.

- If you're looking for more great fire grilled recipes from Johnny, just visit w pbs tv.org and scroll through our library.

Also, if you'd like to be a guest on the segment, just send us an email at WPBS weekly@wpbstv.org.

Make sure you include your name and of course your fire grilled recipe idea.

Finally tonight, discover your next read.

Avid reader, Laura Tiberiu shares her views on the book Happy Place by Emily Henry, a couple who broke up months ago, but haven't told anyone, decides to pretend to still be together for their annual week-long vacation with their best friends.

Here's Laura Tiberiu with more - Hello and welcome.

Today I'm talking to you about a book that absolutely everybody should read.

It should be required reading because of how beautiful it is, how many incredible life lessons it teaches you, how impactful it hits in your twenties, and I'm sure even beyond that, but I can only speak from experience.

And that book is of course, happy Place by Emily Henry.

Now this book, where to start, the actual premise is that there's this couple, Harriet and Wynn, there is so much more in the book than just a romantic love story.

But hear me out.

We start with Harry and Wynn and they are the perfect couple.

They go together like salt and pepper.

They've been together all through college, have this lovely friend group all around them, and all of them are like this found family always together throughout school.

And of course life changes.

You graduate, you get jobs, people move, people start families and things just get more and more chaotic.

Luckily, Harriet and Wynn have their happy place.

It's more so Harriet's, but that is the cottage where all of them reconvene and find this sacred safe space where their love just flourishes and everything else can go on pause.

But this year at the cottage, there's a big gray cloud looming over them because Harriet and Wynn have broke up five months ago and have not told anyone in hopes to not jeopardize the cottage experience.

So this book is actually following two timelines, which is the present day while they're at the cottage with everyone, and you get to see a glimpse into the past.

So how did they end up where they are now?

And this book so beautifully touches on the growing pains of going from university, which is so exciting and thrilling, and especially when you find a great friend group, which I'm so lucky that I did at the end to becoming a real adult and having jobs have to prioritize.

And if you have a partner, which some of my friends do, you move in and then you lose touch with some of your friends or you just don't have time for it all.

And how can you maintain those meaningful relationships when all of life is coming at you from different angles and you need to prioritize and then reprioritize and then just react to changes all the time.

It's really taxing on someone and it can be really taxing on a relationship such as Wynn and Harriet's.

So this book tackles all of that so, so beautifully.

I highly, highly, highly recommend.

I think Emily Henry is such a gorgeous writer because she makes every single character in her book feel like a real person.

I could actually see Wynn and Harriet existing in front of me and having the dialogue that they do and holding the relationships that they do.

And that is so unique, I think, to a lot of contemporary romances.

And that is why she is an author.

I will read everything from, I of course have some quotes too that I'd love to share.

And the first one is actually right in chapter one, right at the very end, it's the third to last paragraph and it goes, my best friends taught me a new kind of quiet, the peaceful stillness of knowing one another so well, you don't need to fill the space.

And then you kind of loud noise is a celebration as the overflow of joy at being alive here.

Now how gorgeous is that?

I think that encapsulates this book's message on love and friendship so, so well, and even though it's really marketed as and fits the description of a contemporary romance, it is so much more than just that romantic story between our male and female protagonist that shines through in this book.

The Female Friendships and all of the platonic friendships in here are just so beautiful and inspiring to read about, especially as people navigate their twenties and thirties when change is thrown at you from every single direction.

And I know I have felt sometimes that it is so hard to keep in touch and to keep these meaningful connections with people who I truly love and care about when a thousand million things are happening with you every single day and change is inevitable.

But that's just such a gorgeous quote and really sets up the book beautifully.

The fact that that's only in chapter one.

Imagine how much better it gets all the way through this next quote, once again refers to friendship, but also the romantic relationship in the book, and I'll let it speak for itself, things change, but we stretch and grow and make room for one another.

Our love is a place can always come back to and it will be waiting the same as it ever was.

You belong here.

That is so beautiful.

That makes me love life and the prospect of love and friendship and the fact that people are actually gonna be there for you and that love is there in your life.

If that doesn't convince you to read the book, I don't know what will.

But I did also wanna give a special shout out to one of her other books, which is Beach Read, and I do have the gorgeous, gorgeous edition of this one.

Oh, can you tell?

I love collecting books, but I wanted to give a special shout out to Beach Read because this is the first Emily Henry book that I read and the start of my profound love and admiration for her.

And although I think that happy place is the Emily Henry book and nearly the book to read, when a lot of change is occurring in your life and you're dealing with a lot of discomfort in becoming someone new and changing relationships, beach Read is also such a beautiful book and deals with grief in such a lovely way and connection on such an emotional level.

Both of our main characters in this book relate in really sad ways at times, but it turns into this beautiful uplifting love story.

So I just wanted to give a shout out to this one as well because you should definitely read it, especially if you read Happy place first and love it.

That's all.

Happy reading - That does it for this Tuesday night.

Join us next time for a fresh look inside the stories, the struggles, small bookstores face against giants like Amazon and what they're doing to compete.

And at Dansani Dance Company, the rhythm is contagious In the Energy Electric.

Discover how this Kingston based studio offers more than just dance lessons.

Also, discover how the Erie Canal is making recreation accessible to all one small business at a time.

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

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

That's it for now.

Everyone have a safe night.

Until next time, take care.

- WPBS Weekly Inside the stories is brought to you by - When you're unable to see your primary care provider.

The Carthage Walk-in Clinic is here for you, located off Route 26 across from Carthage Middle School, comfort and Healing close to home when you need it most - North Country Orthopedic Group is there for your urgent ortho or sports related injuries.

With our onsite surgical center and same or next day appointments, we're ready to provide care for patients of all ages.

Your health matters to us.

North Country Orthopedic Group, keeping healthcare local.

- We are the north country.

We're protecting one another like family is who we are and where our tomorrow will always be worth defending.

Find out how we keep the north country Strong, at claxtonhepburn.org.

Today, - Select musical performances are made possible with funds from the statewide community Regrant program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York state legislator administered by the St.

Lawrence County Arts Council.

- The first egg out.

Ah, look at that.

- Yeah.

Oh my.

- Okay, now we gotta - Get a little more.

A little.

Gotta get a little juice.

There you go.

More of that.

Oh my heavens.

Beautiful.