Anne Strainchamps is a producer and interviewer for To The Best Of Our Knowledge. She took some time to answer a few questions about this special series on food.

How did you come up with food topics and the guests?

We wanted to hear from people who are really passionate about food. Not food snobs, but people who eat and drink and cook with exuberance -- or even obsession. People like journalist and candy-addict Steve Almond, who insists he doesn't go more than an hour a day without thinking about candy. Or chef Aaron Sanchez, who's made more kinds of salsa than you'll ever dream of. Or food writer Deborah Madison, who made it her mission to visit farmer's markets in just about every state in the nation.

How long does it take to create a series like this from first idea to airdate?

It took us about three months to put the series together. We found when we were reviewing our tape archives recently that we'd amassed a pretty impressive bunch of interviews with some of the country's best chefs and food writers, and we thought of putting them together on a CD.

That was the germ of the idea. From there, we decided on a longer-running series, a mixture of new and archival tape. Once we decided to structure the series like a meal -- from the first course to the last ("soup to nuts") -- the interviews kind of fell into place. In a restaurant, dinner often begins with some good bread, while you're waiting for your entree. So, the first hour in our series is "Our Daily Bread." And so on, through the six weeks, finishing with coffee and dessert.

(Editor's note: Madison residents may remember Anne as the co-owner of "Anne's Truffles, " a tiny boutique chocolatier that supplied restaurants and the Madison Farmer's Market (the largest farmer's market in the nation) years ago. Anne is the one who insisted that we couldn't do a food series without an hour on dessert!)

Did you all have fun?

Yes, though we kept having to go out for lunch!

What other series have you and the other producers created?

Last year we put together a 2-CD set of some of our best interviews on religion, faith, and spirituality. It's called "Amazing Grace: Thirteen Conversations About the Life of the Soul." Listeners can purchase it from The Radio Store -- 1-800-747-7444.