Published: April 08, 2006 01:27 am            

Food magazine bringing its road show to Clinton

CLINTON — Julia Child and the Galloping Gourmet will be taking a back seat as the Taste of Home Cooking School opens its kitchens to Clinton cooks on Monday.

The event, hosted by the Mercy Hospital Auxiliary and the Clinton Herald, will be at Durgin Hall on the campus of Ashford University. Major sponsors are Citizens First Bank and Clinton Hy-Vee. According to Dawn Gielau, director of volunteer services for Mercy Medical Center, the show will be a great one.

“The shows are high energy, interactive and lots of fun,” she said.

KWQC-TV personality Paula Sands will serve as emcee and two raffle winners will go on stage and be served some of the meals being prepared for the show.

The theme is “Simple Celebrations” and the menu includes southwestern beef panini, Dulce deLeche cheesecake, cheesy chicken and rice skillet, skillet chicken parmesan, onion-garlic bubble, no-guilt angel parfait and fruit-filled sponge cake roll.

“Chefs will be preparing dishes with people in the audience watching,” Gielau explained. “They will be giving tidbits, helpful hints and showing how to do the wonderful dishes — it’s really exciting … Taste of Home has such a name recognition because so many subscribe to that magazine.”

The cooking school will take place from 7 to 9 p.m.

Gielau said “the home economist” will be “giving away dishes she is preparing on a beautiful serving platter and you get to keep the platter.”

Another highlight of the event will be the pre-show expo, which will open at 4 p.m. The expo will feature 25 vendors and local businesses with lots of product samples to distribute.

Tickets are $12 each. According to Gielau there are approximately 100 left. She warns prospective cooks not to plan on tickets being available at the door.

Tickets my be purchased at the Clinton Herald, Aegis Credit Union, Clinton Printing, Hy-Vee, the Mercy Medical Center switchboard or by calling Norma Hammer at 242-1370. Hammer will accept credit card numbers on the phone with the tickets available for pick-up at the door.

Because parking at Ashford is limited, organizers are encouraging attendees to utilize the shuttle that will make a continuous loop between the Church of the Open Door, the old Eagle grocery store parking lot and the Evangelical Free Church, all located on 13th Avenue North.

The shuttle starts running at 3:30 p.m. and there will be several shuttles running at the end of the show.

All proceeds will benefit Mercy Medical Center. Gielau says the event has been a year in the planning.

“It’s going to be a wonderful occasion for us.”

        

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