Lecture, Interviews and Busy Times !

November has gotten off with a burst of activity !! November 6 I was the guest speaker at the Cincinnati Public Library in downtown Cincinnati where I met many new friends. I am now giving talks on Cincinnati and Soup: Food History and Nostaglia . I cover a lot of history of our local foods in this talk NOT in the book.
Also I had the great fun of having an interview with Mike Martini on WMKV 89.3
radio which you can hear at 4 p.m. Nov.18. Mike and I are old friends as when he
was with WVXU I was an actor in the "Johnny Appleseed " drama which he produced for the public radio stations in the old X-Star network. If you don't already know, Mike and a lot of the great old radio programs are alive and well at WMKV radio. ( The ones you miss from before WVXU went all news)
So things have been a hoppin'! Here is a photo from my talk at the Library!

Cincinnati and Soup: Big hit at Books by the Banks

It certainly was a busy Sat.- Oct. 1 at Books by the Banks ! I enjoyed being part of a panel discussion hosted by Michael Houck and got to make many new friends and fans of Cincinnati cooking ! It was a great event and I hope if you missed it this year you
will put it on your calendar for next year- it is an ongoing event for new books
and one not to be missed.Definitely , the visitors to Books by the Banks had a ton of fun attending various events held throughout the day.
Erin Beckloff, my graphic artist, tagged along to make new design friends as well.
The photo is of me and a large stack of books which went home to many Cincinnati kitchens over the course of the day.. this photo was taken at the beginning of the day-- I was pretty ragged by the day's end-- and with a lot fewer books so we avoided another "after" snapshot".

Books by the Banks !!

What an exciting week ! I am one of the 110 authors who are going to meet and greet, sign books and give panel discussions at Books by the Banks on Sat. Oct.2, 2010 at the Duke Energy Center in Cincinnati. The event runs from 10-4 p.m. I will be on the Panel Discussion on Creative Food which is at 11 a.m. in Room 211.
Check the BBB website for further details but at last pass to their website that is the info. This is an event for all ages and interests and guess what? It is totally
FREE !!! I hope to meet all my friends and book fans and foodies there.
I found a "real photo" of me (and Ed) on the banks of the Ohio going to Blennerhassett Island- -- not at Cincinnati where at the moment the banks are pretty crowded with construction !!

St. Rita's Mock Turtle Soup: The Inside Scoop

You can't write a book about Cincinnati food without a Mock Turtle Soup
recipe and you can't think about Mock Turtle Soup without thinking about St.
Rita's School for the Deaf annual festival and their massive quantity of Mock Turtle
Soup. 600 gallons to be exact.
Since 1916, Mike Woebkenberg's family has been the keepers of the secret recipe
which St. Rita uses. His co-chef in this enterprise is Ben Koenig who is also
in the family.
This past week I got to meet these two princes of soup while they were busyily
cooking up the 600 gallons for the festival. They gave me a taste and a few pointers
of what they DO and we compared recipes which was fun. We do many of the
same things- but for sure -neither of us any longer begin making the soup with
a calve's head.We did agree on this ! The St. Rita's festival for 2010 is July 9-10-11 over on Glendale Milford Road in Evendale- and is a lot of fun. Get there
early for the soup!
As you may have guessed, I am busy researching for my next book--
which will include great festival foods from our area.
This gives me a full summer of "research" trying those great recipes
we all love!!
Thought I would include today a photo of Mike ( Green Shirt) and Ben and the 25 gallon
soup pot which they make the mock turtle soup in.
CINCINNATI AND SOUP does feature a mock turtle soup recipe- but
it isn't St. Rita's-- that is still a family secret !

CINCINNATI AND SOUP: CINCINNATI LAUNCH

Well it was official on June 14, 2010 as CINCINNATI AND SOUP was finally
IN the Queen City and launched at Joseph Beth Booksellers at the Rookwood Pavillion.
I was there to Meet and Greet and give a talk about the book. There IS a lot to
talk about too- with all the recipes and nostalgia- about Cincinnati from the
1950's to now..
I was happy to include my wonderful graphic artist designer, Erin Beckloff
in this event. My photo with this blog is with Erin in front of the great
poster which Joseph Beth had made of the book cover.
Barb Hudson coordinated this fine event and Ben Vore the store manager.
If you haven't been to Joseph Beth - they have every local book to Cincinnati
you can imagine and more. In addition they have the Bronte Cafe- with
lots of good food. In honor of the day- they made up some of my Tortilla
Soup which Ed who had missed dinner earlier had wanted to try-- by 6 p.m.
it was totally sold out!! It was a great day and I hope to be back at
Joseph Beth sometime in the future.

University of Cincinnati Graduation Salad

Yesterday, 6.11.10, I enjoyed meeting Lance Barry over on the Noon News on
WCPO-TV in Cincinnati ( Channel 9). I showed everyone the easy way to make those
great little hamburgers known locally as "Cincinnati Sliders" for their "Happy College
Graduation Party".. after all this weekend, U.C. graduates and Ohio State graduates
another happy class of grads. I wanted to share this creative ( and really easy) salad
which is NOT in my book with you all. You can customize it to the event.
I did the UC letters in tomatoes with pitted black olives and garnished with
fresh basil. All you need to add with it is your salad dressing- you can use
the Pogue's French Dressing from the book, oil and vinegar or an italian
dressing.
I am a graduate of the University of Cincinnati as is my husband Ed-
GO BEARCATS !! We both have "marched" and enjoyed this wonderful college
graduation day. Sending along my BEST to all our new college grads
and a salad to celebrate !

Hotel Sinton Spring Pea Salad

.. Well folks I am going to chat about that "controversial" topic of
mayonnaise-- or-- how much is too much mayo ? This has been an ongoing topic at
some of my book signings. Let's remember that our old friend "mayo" started out
in many midwestern homes as a "salad dressing". Plopped atop lettuce alone
and served up for dinner as that. The Hotel Sinton recipe features fun things like
peas, green onions, celery and eggs and like original 1000 Island Salad dressing is
mostly a flavored mayonnaise served on chopped lettuce.
Here is a serving suggestion photo I took the other day when I whipped up some
Hotel Sinton Spring Pea Salad at home. I did "moderate " the mayo with only
4 servings needed. WITH the extra mayo- you have "salad dressing" for
a much bigger group- 8 or more depending on the size of the chopped lettuce
salads you are making at the time.
These fresh spring flavors really perk up your dinners this time of
year! Enjoy !