Chef Nicole A. Taylor talks red birds, red drink, and Juneteenth

2022 is the second year Juneteenth is being observed as a federal holiday — so it's ripe to become another part of the American summer calendar, like Memorial Day and July 4th and Labor Day. Translation? A day for mattress sales, limited edition merchandise, copious drinking and – if you're lucky – an actual day off work.

But here on Code Switch, we are big fans of acknowledging actual history. So we couldn't let the occasion pass by without a reminder of what Juneteenth is in the first place, and of the traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation, long before much of the country ever acknowledged the day.

So I spoke to Nicole A. Taylor. She describes herself as a "master home chef," and she's the author of one of the few Juneteenth-themed releases that doesn't make my skin crawl. In fact, it's actually a very beautiful, very meaningful book that uses