Hello and Goodbye !

It's spring ! Easter and Mother's Day is just around the corner. I want to keep you all up to date on who is carrying Cincinnati and Soup and there are a few changes on the list..

A Big Hello and Welcome - to The Good Samaritan Hospital Gift Shop at Good Sam. in Cincinnati.
Also New on the list are all the Katie's Hallmark Stores : Vandalia, Huber Heights,
Trotwood, Springfield and Lebanon.

It is a sad day to say Goodbye to our friends at BORDERS: Mason/ Deerfield as they are part of the stores being shuttered by BORDERS corporate. Tim Benz and his wonderful crew will always be friends and all good wishes for them and their future
careers !!

Enjoy the spring weather and remember Cincinnati and Soup makes a great Mother's Day, Father's Day or Birthday Gift anytime!

2011 More Talks- More New Friends !

It wasn't the best of winters here in Ohio. It WAS a good time for Soup and Cincinnati however. I had the great pleasure to give talks this winter at the Kenton County Library- Erlanger Branch in January, In March I got to meet the folks over at the Friendship Force group and give a talk over at Maple Knoll Retirement Community.In May I will be speaking in Symmes Township - at their Township facility. This has given me a chance to meet all kinds of new and interesting people. At the same time I have been writing and working on a sequel to Cincinnati and Soup...
stay tuned. Spring is here !!!

Time flies, Hail the New Year- and Hello Dayton !

Wow- is it 2011 already?
Time has certainly gone by fast and it has been a really exciting ride ! As the year closed CINCINNATI AND SOUP finally is being sold in the Dayton,Ohio area. The super Dorothy Lane Markets in Oakwood, Washington Square and Springboro are the EXCLUSIVE outlets in the Dayton area to purchase the book.It has been exciting to be a part of what are considered the premium and BEST supermarkets in Dayton ! I have shopped in these stores for years and enjoyed their superior bakeries, meat markets and incredible fresh veggies as well as THE place to find those "hard to find" ingrediants locally. Of course Cincinnati and Soup IN Cincinnati can still be found at: The Nature's Niche Stores in the Hamilton Co. Parks,
The Cincinnati Art Museum, The Taft Museum, The Shops at The Museum Center,
and the Greater Cincinnati Police Historical Museum.
Retailers in Cincinnati include: Joseph Beth Booksellers, Borders: Mason, Borders:
Eastgate and Borders: Crestview, Kentucky. Online at : vintagecincinnati@etsy.com
the Nature's Niche Shops online, and The Cincinnati Art Museum, online.
Hope you all have a happy ,healthy and prosperous 2011!
Remember "time flies" and take time to say or do something positive to others
today. Life is short and kindness is free !

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 !