Carol Ruffin hosts Carol’s Kitchen from the Watertown TV studios.
When the conversation about new programming came up in a Watertown Cable Commission meeting several years ago, Carol Ruffin already had the idea brewing in her head for Carol’s Kitchen. Who doesn’t love music, food, and a good story? Carol wanted to combine these elements into a monthly show for the residents of Watertown. Each episode of Carol’s Kitchen treats viewers to new recipes, original storytelling, and performances by musicians from the Watertown area.
In the beginning, Carol had to rise to meet some challenges. Most notably, there was no kitchen in the studios at Watertown TV. Carol considered using the kitchen at her church, but instead decided to create the show in her home since she had an open concept kitchen. This worked in the beginning, but to decrease production time she started to record episodes at the Watertown TV studios. While there is still no kitchen, Carol creatively uses a toaster oven, microwave, tabletop grill, and a hot plate to whip up delicious delights on air for her musical guests (and the Watertown TV staff) to enjoy in the closing of the show. Over the years she has collected set pieces, a large sign, and even a piano (later a Clavinova) for the studio to lend her show the comfortable feel of being invited into Carol’s home for an afternoon visit.
The Weir Family a cappella group.
It is no surprise that Carol chose to incorporate song, stories, and cooking into a show. These things have always been a part of her world. A Watertown native, she participated in band, orchestra, chorus, and forensics (specifically in storytelling) in high school. Later, she attended college and grad school and earned a Master of Fine Arts in interpretive speech and vocal performance. In addition, Carol loves cooking and learned to cook at an early age, even cooking for her family for an entire summer while her mother recovered from a military service-related injury. In those days, Carol recalls, “I experimented a lot and it didn’t always turn out!” However, she quickly learned the basic concepts behind cooking and baking.
Today, Carol teaches at Maranatha Baptist University in Watertown. It is not unusual for Carol to invite music students from her classes to guest star on the show—often before or after their recitals. This provides a wonderful opportunity for them to refine their performance skills. Carol is also the music director at Fellowship Baptist Church in Watertown and the president for the Euterpe Music Club, a 125-year-old music and fine arts club in Watertown. You can see she is in a great position to recruit musical guests!
“For me, all in all, producing the show has been a real positive experience. I have encountered much encouragement and cooperation from the staff at Watertown TV, and it feels like it really is a team effort. I am very thankful for the crew who puts it all together each month” says Carol.
Carol’s Kitchen is available on Watertown TV Channel 984 and on the City of Watertown YouTube channel.
