Cinnamon Cooper, a Chicago-based writer and crafter, is known among our friends for being an excellent host. In this episode she talks about how she learned to host dinner parties, soup nights and her epic Halloween bash. She is the author of the Everything Cast Iron Cookbook, which is still in print and an outstanding guide to cooking with cast iron.

Includes a clip from Brandy Agerbeck's episode and a voice memo from Jacqui Cheng

Follow Cinnamon online @cinnachick on Twitter and Instagram and buy her bags at Poise.cc

Follow @findingfavspod on Instagram and Twitter. Rate and review on Apple Podcasts (five stars please)

Show links

• HuffenCooper Halloween 2010 photos and 2012 Photos


• The Jiffy Pope


• Jacqui and Jenni - the year with two Bjorks


• The Card Sharks got Smarter (Ramsin Canon) and me as NasCarmen Miranda


• Cinnamon's legendary Tomato Soup recipe


• Six Toed cats in Key West


• What is Juneteenth?


• Hungry Cat Daily


• Jewish-ish Podcast

Cinnamon  0:00  

Hi, my name is Cinnamon Cooper and my favorite thing is throwing Halloween parties.

Transcript Follows

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Announcer  0:04  

Welcome to the Finding Favorites podcast where we explore your favorite things without using an algorithm. Here's your host, Leah Jones. 

Leah Jones  0:14  

Hello, and welcome back to Fiinding Favorites. I'm your host, Leah Jones. And this is the official start of year two, season two of Finding Favorites. I am pretty excited to be heading into the second year of this podcast. I don't think I expected when I started that I would -- one, that we would be in the COVID shutdown for sooo long. And two, that I would have it in me to look at year two and and say "Yeah, I'm ready to record some more."

Leah Jones  0:49  

It is Father's Day in the U.S. So, happy Father's Day to the dads out there, the stepdads, the uncles, the people who are father figures. And also recognizing that Father's Day can be a difficult day for others. I am preparing to drive cross-country to meet my dad in New York to collect some of his sculptures that have been in storage for a few years. So, next week, I will be driving cross-country, stopping in Michigan to go to a memorial for our dear friend Lucy, who passed away during COVID from breast cancer. 

Leah Jones  1:30  

Then continuing on to New York, where my dad and I will have pastramic -- pastramic?? We'll have pastrami, we'll have some steaks, we will maybe go to the Guggenheim. And we will fill a car with sculptures and I will drive back to the Midwest. So, I'm looking forward to that. This last week, you can find me -- I was a guest on the podcast "Hungry Cat Daily," which is a podcast about Garfield. I'll link to that in the show notes. And next week, I will be a podcast on my friend Maria, who you remember from the Cheery Littlebottom episode, she started a new podcast called "Jewish-ish: A Weekly Parsha Chat Show." So, I will be on for the episode about Parsha Pinchas. So, I was recording that this morning, which is why this is coming to you a little bit late. 

Leah Jones  2:21  

I dug into the archives a bit. You'll hear a clip from Brandy Agerbeck's episode on Harold and Maude, a special clip from Jacquie Chang, all about this Halloween party. I know that I've talked about it on other podcast episodes. But because I don't do transcripts, which I must start doing in year two, I can't easily search for mentions of the Halloween party. So even though I know that other people have been to that party, and we've talked about it, I couldn't find the clips quickly enough. So, I have two clips from two wonderful folks in my life. 

Leah Jones  3:02  

This week's episode is with Cinnamon Cooper. She is a cookbook author, a purveyor of handmade purses and bags. And she is also the co-host of a party I look forward to every year, the Huffencooper Halloween party. And she's here to give us lots of tips and tricks about hosting dinner parties, big parties, costume parties, and thinking about re-entry and building our in-person communities again. So I hope that you continue to stay safe, that you are able to reconnect with your loved ones. Have a good week, enjoy your favorite things.

Leah Jones  3:58  

Hello, and welcome to Finding Favorites. I'm your host, Leah Jones, and this is the podcast where we learn about people's favorite things and get recommendations without using an algorithm. It is year two -- season two starts today. And I am so pleased to have with me today Cinnamon Cooper. Cinnamon is the owner/purveyor/stitcher/designer of Poise, her handbag company, and she is the author of the "Cast Iron Cookbook" and really a girl-about-town, girl-about-the Internet. Anyone in Chicago who uses the internet knows Cinnamon. Cinnamon, how are you doing today?

Cinnamon  4:42  

I'm doing wonderfully on this Juneteenth holiday.

Leah Jones  4:46  

Yes, it's Juneteenth. As of yesterday, a federal holiday -- two days ago, yesterday.

Cinnamon  4:52  

Yeah, yeah. 16 hours ago -- federal holiday. Hopefully, it is just the first start in recognizing all of our African-American and Black citizens and giving them the rights and freedoms that they deserve -- and should have had for hundreds of years.

Leah Jones  5:09  

Yes.  I agree. Hopefully, it is the first step towards greater equity and reparations. So yeah, we're coming to you, live, from a very hot Juneteenth observed in Chicago. How is your summer kicking off?

Cinnamon  5:33  

This summer has felt very paused and also very explosive, at the same time. I think it's the first one sort of post-pandemic. And we're not necessarily out of the pandemic, if you look at the worldwide map, but Chicago feels like we are on the verge. I think we are at now -- 70% of citizens have had a first shot, which is fantastic, tremendous and makes me feel very, very hopeful, very appreciative. A year ago, I was not in the headspace that I am in this year. And I'm looking forward to spending time with friends and visiting people and having them into my home. Hugs. I want so many hugs, all of the hugs.

Leah Jones  6:17  

Yeah, I have started -- we have a ton of mutual friends, which we'll really get into during the big topic of today's conversation. So, Jasmine, was in my COVID pod of people -- it was some of my other single, childfree girlfriends were the people that I spent the most time with. But we weren't necessarily even always comfortable spending time indoors unmasked, but we became errand buddies -- I got a car. So, Jasmine and I will go to Target, and then to like a drive-through, and have a picnic in my car all winter, with all the windows open, so we can eat. So yeah, I look forward to eat meals with friends, in more temperature-controlled ways. 

Leah Jones  7:06  

I was just saying that someone last night, you know, there's that whole level of friends --of acquaintanceship, friendship -- that I maintain through -- they're people that come to your Halloween party, that come to my Hanukkah party, and then I'll see them at one summer event. And that maintains the relationship, and then on the internet in-between. And I miss those people.

Cinnamon  7:29  

I do, too. I do, too. I'm lucky that we had a small pod. We live in a two-flat, so the family who lives below us, we got to spend a lot of time with, which was great. And I'm immensely grateful that we had those people. And that, because we were podded so closely together, we were fully comfortable enjoying meals together. But I'm ready to see some people who aren't them. 

Leah Jones  7:56  

You are such an incredible host, which is one of the things we're gonna talk about. But I mentioned your cookbook, which I have given many times when I find out people don't have a cast iron skillet. They're not expensive. 

Cinnamon  8:10  

No, they're not. 

Leah Jones  8:11  

It *can* be expensive, but they don't need to be expensive. I will often send people a skillet and your cookbook, or if they've got a skillet and they don't know what they're doing, I'll send them your cookbook. But one of my really favorite memories is when you were writing that cookbook, and you were doing parties to test recipes. I came to one and it was in the backyard, and you did an okra, a grilled okra. I don't remember anythin