Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Here's my question:

I know a woman from Belarus who is in her mid seventies, and loves to grow food, hunt for mushrooms, make pickles, forage, make cider, and of course, eat.
Once our mutual friend stated, "of course Ida will want to go mushrooming with us, she's a _________________ (Yiddish word).
I loved the sound of the word and thought it connoted the feeling in the mouth of the taste/texture of life . When I asked my friend on another occasion what the yiddish word was for someone who is enthusiastic about life, loves to hunt and eat food, and sops all the juices of life up with bread, my friend didn't know what I was talking about. She didn't remember saying it and didn't know a word that meant all that.
I find that in my life I have surrounded myself with people like this Belarus woman and I would like to have a word to describe us.
Can you help?