In 1963, WGBH's "The French Chef" introduced viewers to an obscure Cambridge cookbook author named Julia Child, launching a culinary icon and an entire genre of television programming. Now, some 45 years later, WGBH is at it again, introducing audiences to Cambridge sisters Sheila and Marilynn Brass in "The Brass Sisters: Queens of Comfort Food." Hot on the heels of their successful cookbook, Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters, the "two slightly roundish women in our 60s" (as they call themselves) invite viewers into their home in this 30-minute special filled with good-natured sisterly banter and easy-to-follow recipes for preparing homestyle food like mom used to make.

In "The Brass Sisters: Queens of Comfort Food," the diminutive dynamos prepare for an informal dinner party, leading viewers on a gastronomic tour of some of their favorite Cambridge haunts, including Christina's ice cream and spice shops and the Fresh Pond Market. Along the way, the sisters share stories culled from a lifelong love affair with cooking: A trip to the market recalls a local butcher shop the sisters would visit while growing up in Winthrop, while the ice cream-topped star brownies evoke memories of the cakes their mother and culinary mentor, Dorothy, used to bake.

"The Brass Sisters: Queens of Comfort Food" is a production of Stone House Productions LLC in association with WGBH Lifestyle Productions. Executive producers for Stone House Productions are Cheryl Carlesimo, John McCally and Craig Rogers. Laurie Donnelly is executive producer of the WGBH Lifestyle Unit.

More information and recipes on "The Brass Sisters: Queens of Comfort Food" can be found at www.wgbh.org/brass.

Photo credit: David Domedion