Andrea Hernández, founder of Snaxshot, is back to share her 2026 grocery store predictions—complete with holy water and sour pineapple sperm worms. Plus, reporter Kerry Howley reveals the surprising history of Erewhon, L.A.’s favorite food store; A Way With Words gets metaphorical about food and our bodies; and Stella Parks returns to answer your baking questions.

Questions in this episode:

"Sometimes I try to make my own ingredients and wanted to get your take on crème fraîche and vanilla extract. Is it worth it to make these from scratch and if so, what’s the best technique?
"There’s a restaurant in Oakland, MA that makes the most amazing sourdough pancakes made out of buckwheat. I’ve tried several times to get the recipe, and I haven’t had great luck making the dish. Any advice?
"I was thinking about this banana bread that my grandmother used to make. The thing that was striking about it is that it would get more and more moist as the bread got down to the bottom. At the bottom, it was almost a gooey delicious part of the bread. How did she do that?"