Home cooking:
School a recipe for a good timeBy AMANDA SMITH-TEUTSCH Tribune Chronicle
Article Photos
Hundreds turned out Tuesday to get a few pointers and holiday entertaining ideas during the Taste of Home Cooking School at Packard Music Hall and Convention Center.
Culinary specialist Cheryl Cohen demonstrated cooking techniques and offered helpful tips and pointers on meal preparation. She demonstrated several recipes from the Taste of Home magazine's holiday guide, including pork tenderloin with sesame seeds, garlic and herbs; chicken wonton rolls; and SuperSpuds.
All 1,200 of the tickets available for the event were sold. In addition to the cooking school, vendors and local companies put up displays.
The Taste of Home Cooking School was presented by Cohen, with national sponsors including Mrs. Dash, Crisco and other companies. Local sponsors included the Tribune Chronicle, Modern Home Kitchens and Bath, Save-A-Lot food stores, Lee's Appliances and Goldstein's Furniture.
"We're hoping to learn a little about cooking," said Durand Porter of Niles, who attended with his cousin Vickie Porter of Warren. "We go everywhere together - she ropes me into a lot."
Durand Porter said he used to be a cook for Woolworth's Restaurant, and he wanted to "expand my horizons."
Vickie Porter said, "I'm here to learn to cook - or try to."
Randy and Brenda Deluca of North Bloomfield decided to take cooking classes together. They sent their daughter, Annslee, to college at Bowling Green this fall and now are sharing the cooking duties for two.
"I like to make smothered chicken," Brenda said, while Randy leans toward "any kind of pasta."
They were hoping to get ideas to share with each other over the dinner table, Randy said.
Barbara Paulik of Warren and her daughters Janice Antonchak and Nancy Riviella of Niles are turning the cooking show into an annual family event.
"We're hoping to get ideas that take us away from the traditional," Paulick said.
The Havarti SuperSpuds were intriguing, she said, as the potatoes were stuffed with red peppers, green onions, sour cream and flavored havarti cheese.
Last year, Paulick won one of the door prizes, a plate of brownies.
"I ate the brownies; she kept the dish," Riviella said.
Riviella is the baker in the family, Antonchak does dips and Paulick "gets stuck with what ever they don't want to make," she laughed.
Holidays in their family mean dinner for up to 20, all at Riviella's house.
"It's a lot of people, a lot of food, a lot of fun," said Paulick.
Save-A-Lot food stores put on a display of their goods, alongside wares from Pampered Chef, Colonial Bakery and Coldstone Creamery, among others.
Dave Phillips, corporate chef for the Coitsville-based Italian food company, put out samples of cheese tortellini in vodka sauce. The nationally distributed pasta sauces are made in Coitsville. The pasta is imported from Italy.
"It's all about the wheat," said Phillips.
"We are just trying to get our product into people's mouths," company sales representative Jason Tonin said.
He said he was impressed with the attendance at the show and said he hoped to make return trips.
