31 Days of Divabetic Podcasts, Day Thirty

Divabetic (Divabetic.org) presents a month-long showcase celebrating 10 years of diabetes podcasting. Each of the featured podcasts spotlights our favorite guests, topics, poems, games and/or musical inspiration. Enjoy!

On Day 30, we’re spotlighting Divabetic’s 6th Annual Mystery podcast, Gingerbread Men Prefer Blondes, from September 2019.

“Our mystery podcast is the culmination of a year’s time spent creating characters, developing  storylines, choosing music and sound effects, and rehearsing with the full cast to educate people about diabetes in a fun, new way,” says Max ‘Mr. Divabetic’ Szadek.

The mystery is set in the fictitiously decadent world-renowned Gingerbread Men Cookie Baking Competition in New York’s Central Park Zoo. Mr. Divabetic’s healthy culinary misadventures continue in this year’s escapade as he enters the competition with headless cookies and pureed kale hot cocoa for the judges to sample. As if this dreadful combination wasn’t bad enough to land him at the bottom of the throwdown, his mother, Mama Rose Marie, is accused of poisoning one of the celebrity judges! Things go from bad to worse when the snake phobic Mr. Divabetic hears about the giant python’s escape.

Now, the happy healthcare host must decide to face his fear of snakes and recipe rejection or throw in his apron and risk getting caught up in another murder investigation. Can Mr. Divabetic and his team of amateur sleuths hunt down the real killer and get Mama Rose Marie out of jail? Will he be the next murder victim? Can he ever create an edible recipe?

The cast of Gingerbread Men Prefer Blondes features Mama Rose Marie, Best-Selling Author Tonya Kappes, the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach (Patricia Addie-Gentle RN, CDE and MaryAnn Nicolay BA, DTR), The Happy Diabetic Chef Robert Lewis, Seveda Williams, Coach The Cure‘s Trisha Artman, Jillian Walsh, Wendy Radford, Dave Jones, Lorraine Brooks and Max Szadek.

Throughout this podcast we will be featuring music from the original Broadway cast recording of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes courtesy of SONY MUSIC.

 

 

Our monthly podcasts are dedicated to Music Lovers living with, at risk and/or affected by diabetes. We aim to be the epicenter of the circle of care, a link between patients and their health care providers, a translator of clinical speak and a bridge between denial and acceptance, fear and confidence

Divabetic was inspired by the late music legend, Luther Vandross and created in 2005 by Max ‘Mr. Divabetic’ Szadek, who, as Vandross’ assistant of 14 years, witnessed his boss, mentor, and friend struggle in silence and solitude with the diabetes and its related complications. Since its inception, Divabetic has presented outreach programs in 15 major U.S. cities, reaching hundreds of thousands of women, their families and health care professionals.

Experience more of our GLAM MORE, FEAR LESS philosophy at divabetic.org

Gingerbread Cake Squares Recipe by The Diabetic Pastry Chef

While training to become a pastry chef, Stacey “The Diabetic Pastry Chef” Harris diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Rather than hang up her apron, she decided to adapt her favorite recipes for her dietary needs and share them with the diabetes community. Enjoy!

Gingerbread Cake Squares Recipe by The Diabetic Pastry Chef

“These big soft, tender cookies are packed full of flavor. The texture is wonderful. The ginger cookies are easy to make with nice results.”

Ingredients

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar or 1/2 cup Splenda For Baking

1/2 cup molasses

3/4 cup melted butter or melted Smart Balance regular spread

1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup boiling water

Directions

Beat eggs. Blend in sugar or Splenda, molasses, and melted butter or spread. In separate bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. Alternate adding flour mixture with boiling water to batter, and beat until smooth.

Pour batter into a greased 9-inch square baking pan, or into greased square or round muffin tins. Bake 30 to 40 minutes in a preheated 350-degree oven, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cut  gingerbread in pan into 18 slices. Serve warm or at room temperature topped with whipped cream.  Yield: 18 servings.

Stacey ‘The Diabetic Pastry Chef’ Harris was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes while training to become a pastry chef. She thought her career–not to mention her lifetime love affair with desserts–was over.

Her devastation gave way to innovation, resulting in creating a vast array of desserts specifically designed to satisfy the sweet tooth without sacrificing flavor.

Stacey Harris has transformed more than 200 desserts into diabetic-friendly delights. Harris shares the sweet secrets of her simple-to-use formula that will convert most any recipe into a lower-carb alternative without compromising taste or quality. Now diabetics can enjoy Chocolate Truffle Cookies, Blueberry Tartlets, Cream Cheese Cupcakes, Coffee Bread Pudding, and hundreds of others.

Don’t miss Diabetes Late Nite on World Diabetes Day, Wednesday, November 14, 2018, 6 PM, EST.  Guests include Poet Lorraine Brooks, Dr. Wendy Satin Rapaport, Owner of DiabetesStrong.com Christel Oerum, Makeup Artist & Skincare Expert Suzanne Perez, Mama Rose Marie and the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach.

Throughout the podcast we will be playing music from Aretha Franklin’s Aretha Franklin Sings the Great Diva Classics’ courtesy of SONY Music.