Feb. 15, 2010 issue
Blogs add spice to cooks’ adventures
By John Longhurst Mennonite Publishing NetworkWendy Hammond is doing it to discover simple ways of preparing local, healthful foods.
Emily Welty says her cooking project has created a sense of adventure around cooking. — Photo provided by MPN
Emily Welty is doing it to get a break from her studies, and to honor her grandmother.
Valerie Showalter is doing it to learn more about being a Mennonite and to connect with her mother.
What are they doing? Blogging about cooking recipes in Herald Press cookbooks.
Hammond, of Grand Rapids, Mich., was the first up, cooking all the recipes in Simply in Season. Now she has been joined by Welty, of London, England, who is blogging about her efforts to cook through Extending the Table. Showalter, of Lancaster, Pa., is doing the same thing with the *More-with-Less Cookbook.
For Welty, a doctoral student at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, the project is a way to take her mind off her dissertation, which focuses on Mennonite approaches to peacebuilding and development, and to honor her grandmother.
“Since Extending the Table is about international cooking, and sponsored by Mennonite Central Committee, it’s a nice complement to my dissertation,” she said.
The project is also a way to remember her grandmother, who died last summer.
“I found myself with a kitchen full of her cooking utensils and the legacy of her kitchen skills, but no real cooking skills of my own,” she said. “This project is partly a tribute to her, a way to make sense of my own grief, and a way to celebrate her life.”
Welty tries to cook one recipe a week. Finding ingredients has been a bit of a challenge, but the search “has also created some new friendships along the way, and given me a reason to explore new grocery stores,” she said.
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