SYRACUSE -- She has appeared on other local TV stations and in various local print publications. Starting this weekend, Julie Taboulie will have her very own weekly program to share her favorite Lebanese and Middle Eastern recipes. "Cooking with Julie Taboulie" debuts this Saturday at 1:30pm on PBS affiliate WCNY-DT 24.1.
Her real name is Julie Ann Sageer, but as explained in an announcement from WCNY, Julie's enjoyment for family dishes such as tabouli earned her the nickname most people know her by today. (Tabouli, by the way, is a salad made with a number of herbs, vegetables and bulgur wheat.)
The new program will fall into WCNY's existing Saturday afternoon block of culinary programming, which includes Ciao Italia, Lidia's Italy, America's Test Kitchen and The Sweet Life with Chris Xaver. WCNY says the block is "the most viewed non-sports programming" during that time period on Saturday afternoons, according to the November 2011 Nielsen ratings report for the Syracuse market.
The station says the 13-episode series was shot entirely on location in the Finger Lakes, as the hostess procures many of the fresh ingredients for her dishes from farms, markets and vineyards in the region. In a recurring segment, Julie Taboulie visits "Mama's Glorious Garden," featuring her own mother.
In addition to the first-run on Saturday afternoons, episodes will be re-broadcast on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7:00am and 1:00pm on WCNY-DT 24.2 and on Wednesdays at 6:00pm on WCNY-DT 24.4 (in HD). Additionally, Time Warner Cable customers can catch repeats on Tuesdays at 10am, 6pm and 2am on digital cable channel 854.
Viewers in Syracuse may already be familiar with Julie Taboulie, as a regularly-recurring guest on Bridge Street with Chris and Tanja on WSYR-TV.