The River City of Great Food - LDEI Light combine for almost 5 million ... Photos by Robert C. Holt III. Chapter Board Liaisons Maria ... 882-5499 or [email protected]. As I write

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The River City of Great Food2 0 1 2 c o n f e r e n c e i s s u e

PresidentMary EllEn Griffin Ownerwww.myMEGusta.com320 Strawberry Hill Ave., #58Stamford, CT 06902(203) 975 7610 [email protected]

First Vice PresidentBEth allEnFounder/PresidentBeth Allen Associates, Inc.347 W 22nd Street, Suite #9New York, NY 10011(212) [email protected]

Second Vice PresidentlOri WilliSDirector of CommunicationsSchnuck Markets, Inc.11420 Lackland Rd.St. Louis, MO 63146(314) [email protected]

Third Vice PresidentCriCKEtt KarSOnOwnerLiefKarson Public Relations Ltd.23533 Merchantile Road, Suite 118Beachwood, OH 44122(216) [email protected] @LaDamefoodie

SecretaryaMy hOOpESEVP Global Sales/Chief Marketing OfficerWente Family Estates5565 Tesla RoadLivermore, CA 94550(209) [email protected]

Treasurerann StrattEOwnerMy Personal Chef100 Severn Avenue, #506Annapolis, MD 21403-2622(410) [email protected]

“My Pen Will Go On”After my talk at the M.F.K. Fisher Award banquet (I was

the award chair), several Dames said how much they liked it. Were they just being nice or did I manage to convey worth-while information? On the chance that it was the latter, here’s some of it.With the number of contest entries continuing upward and

more stories written daily, I posed the question, “Will we ever run out of food topics?”It appears food and beverage writing topics are limitless. A Ro-

man man named Apicius (“Epicure”) wrote the first cookbook, De Re Coquinaria (or “Cooking Matters”) in ten chapters 2000 years ago.Today about 2,000 cookbooks are published in the U.S. each

year. According to Bowker’s Books in Print database, 38,126 cookbooks are currently in print, equaling 8% of total book sales and $500 million yearly.In the U.S., the top food magazine is the mostly reader-writ-

ten Taste of Home with circulation almost 3.5 million. Martha Stewart Living sells over 2 million of each issue.The Southern Progress juggernaut of Southern Living and

Cooking Light combine for almost 5 million copies. Every Day with Rachael Ray outsells Bon Appetit; Weight Watchers aces out Food and Wine. This may prove that Americans are watching their weight go ---- UP! Across the pond, BBC’s GOOD FOOD is the UK’s no.1 food magazine followed by a magazine called Slimming World. When I was printing my boarding pass to fly to St. Louis, the

airline asked for my birth year. As I scrolled towards the bottom of the drop-down menu, I realized I am closer to dying than being born.That’s when I started thinking about my “to do” list of food

articles and realized I won’t have enough time to finish. I expect I’ll have a “to do” list on the lid of my coffin with assignments to report on. Sort of a “Food Tales from the Crypt.” Perhaps “Heavenly Hash” or “Devil’s Food” -- depending on where I end up. As much as I like chocolate, I’d rather write about “Heavenly Hash” on site. Keep those stories coming! The Quarterly’s excellent articles

would not be possible without the contributions from Dames. Thank you to all who contributed to this conference issue!

CiCi Williamson (Washington, DC)

W I N T E R • 2 O 1 3

IN TH IS ISSUE

The mission of the LDEI board is to foster the growth and success of the organization by supporting the development of new and existing chapters. It provides guidance, education, connectivity and effective communication among LDEI members.

FEATURES 4-5 Conference Tours

6 Leadership Forum

7 Opening Reception

8 4 Hands Brewing Co.

9 Keynote Speakers

12-13 Partner Luncheon 14-15 Seminars

16 Chapter Photos

17 Farmers Fete

18 Global Culinary Postcard

22 Legacy Award Luncheon

22 First Time Attendees

DEPARTMENTS 26-28 Chapter News 30-31 Member Milestones

32 Submission Guidelines

20 12 LDEI BOARD OF DIRECTORS

2 L e s D a m e s d ’ E s c o f f i e r I n t e r n a t i o n a l2 L e s D a m e s d ’ E s c o f f i e r I n t e r n a t i o n a l

ON THE COVER St. Louis: Clockwise beginning at lower left: Lori Willis, Chapter President; Kathie Rule, Millie Mattfeldt-Beman, Mary Sutkus, Roberta Dyuff, Cecily Hoffius, Lynn Krause, Barb Ostmann, Rose Beckerle, Judith Bellos, incoming President, Gay DeMichelle, Beth Huch, Past President and Co-Chair of the Conference; Kathy Gottsacker, Past President and Co-Chair of the Conference. Top right: Julie Jones, Carol Brock. Lower right: Deidre Michalski, Phyllis Ann Marshall. Photos by Robert C. Holt III.

Chapter Board LiaisonsMaria GOMEzManager, Global AccountsHelmsBriscoe11241 Avenida del GataoSan Diego, CA 92126(858) [email protected] rEx-JOhnSOnFounder/OwnerNorthwest Wining and Dining, LLC98 Union Street, Suite 1009Seattle, WA 98101(206) [email protected] StaCy zEiGlEr, CMp, CpCEDirector of SalesBold American Events877 W. Marietta Street NWStudio K-102Atlanta, GA 30318-5285(678) [email protected]

Immediate Past PresidentMary S. MOOrEFounder/CEOThe Cook's Warehouse1075 Zonolite Road, NE, Suite 1-CAtlanta, GA 30306(404) 492-9018 [email protected] Twitter @Cookswarehouse

Executive DirectorGrEG JEWEllPresidentAEC Management ResourcesP.O. Box 4961Louisville, KY 40204(502) 456-1851 [email protected]

Reflecting on our recent Annual Conference in St. Louis, I am incredibly grateful to two groups: the relatively new St. Louis Chapter, who over-delivered a wonderful and delicious event, and our Partners without whose sup-port these meetings would not be possible. As you will read throughout the Quarterly,

this year’s conference offered a wide variety of educational and gastronomic events, really delivering value and fun to all who attended. Kudos to co-Chairs Kathy Gottsacker and Beth Huch, as well as chapter president Lori Willis, and the entire team of hard working St. Louis Dames, all supported by LDEI’s Executive Director, Greg Jewell and his col-leagues at AEC Management.Our partners deserve special mention, and

special consideration when you are mak-ing purchase decisions or writing articles and blogs, as they are truly the backbone on whom we rely financially for conferences. Not only are they exceptionally generous, they are all delightful company and great professionals: Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, American Roland Food Corpora-tion, Breville USA, California Fig Advisory Board, Cargill Cocoa and Chocolate/Peters Chocolate, Irish Dairy Board/Kerrygold, Kikkoman, Mahatma Rice, National Honey Board, Nespresso, Schnuck Mar-kets, Sysco, Wailea Agricultural Group, and Wente Family Estates. Thank you. Thank you!If you have any ideas as to who might join

us as partners in the future, specifically for the 2013 conference in Austin, be sure to contact 1st VP Beth Allen or Brent Frei, Di-rector of Partnership Development at (847)

882-5499 or [email protected] I write this, Food Day 2012 events have

taken place all over the country, and, for the first time, LDEI has been a national partner, with many chapters conducting local activi-ties in concert with their communities. In the seven years since its inception, the Green Tables initiative has become a well-focused arm of our organization, adding a dimension which has made us stronger, both in mem-bership and in how we impact our nations’ tables.Another major LDEI activity, the Global

Culinary Initiative, is still in its infancy, but growing in importance as many chapters realize that they have been “tapping into global cultures within our own communities” all along. The initiative facilities chapters’ sharing ideas and experiences, building on

each others’ learnings to achieve common objectives: Educate through raising awareness of our global culinary communities, advocate through increasing membership from diverse cultures and philanthropy through supportive chapter projects that raise awareness, encour-age and promote diversity.Moving into 2013, your LDEI Board is

hoping to grow our constellation of chapters, perhaps both within the United States and internationally. We also want to strengthen the existing organization through better communications with (and among) chapters, and support you whenever we can. Every Board member is available to you for counsel and information, but the major life line is through your Chapter Board Liaisons. For-merly known as Delegates at Large, the name was changed a few years ago to recognize and reinforce the fact that their most important job is to communicate with, and assist when needed, their designated eight or nine chap-ters. Maria Gomez, Braiden Rex-Johnson, and Stacy Ziegler all look forward to forging great relationships with you.If you have not already done so, mark your

calendar for October 24-27, 2013, and start planning your trip to beautiful Austin, Texas for what is promising to be another excellent conference. The Austin team is “ahead of the ball,” already formulating plans for another superlative experience. I hope I’ll see you there!

Mary Ellen Griffin

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SAVE THE DATES L D E I I n te r n a t i o n a l C o n fe re n c e , O c to b e r 2 4 - 2 7 , 2 0 1 3 , Au s t i n , Texa s .

St. Louis: Gateway to Another Great year for LDEI

2012-2013 LDEI Board. Front row: Beth Allen, Maryk Moore, Marky Ellen Griffin, Stacyi Ziegler, Lori Willis. Back row: Crickett Karson, Ann Stratte, Maria Gomez, Braiden Rex-Johnson. Photo by Robert C. Holt III. Not pictured: Amy Hoopes, see p. 22.

NEW LDEI BROCHURE Beth Allen guided the creation of a new LDEI brochure (right). Copies are free to chapters. To receive some, contact Greg Jewell at [email protected].

Mary Ellen Griffin receiving gavel from LDEI Past President Mary Moore.

4 L e s D a m e s d ’ E s c o f f i e r I n t e r n a t i o n a l

Cake4 L e s D a m e s d ’ E s c o f f i e r I n t e r n a t i o n a l

By Lisa Cox (Houston)Although a member of the Houston Chapter

for ten years, I was a first-time attendee at the LDEI Conference. I eagerly signed up for a tour of the world’s largest brewer, Anheuser-Busch, because of St. Louis’ reputation as a brewery city.Mary Sutkus (St. Louis ) was our tour guide

on the bus transporting us to Anheuser-Busch. She pointed out several famous landmarks, the most impressive being the St. Louis Arch, also called “The Gateway Arch” or “Gateway to the West,” built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States. Standing at 630 feet, or twice the height of the Empire State Building, it is the tallest man-made monument in the U.S. Located on the west bank of the Mississippi River and constructed of stainless steel, it is hollow to accommodate a unique tram system that takes visitors to an observation deck at the top. Construction ended in 1965 and the arch was opened to the public in 1967. We also passed the St. Louis Courthouse where the Dred Scott Deci-sion was made. An African American slave had sued for his freedom and lost by the determina-tion that slaves were not protected by the U.S. Constitution, thereby not being U.S. citizens.At Anheuser-Busch,

we were met by our tour guide, a nice

young man with the brewery for two years. Our first stop was the original stables where the Clydesdale horses are kept. Our guide explained that the famous Clydesdale horses travel from brewery to brewery. The one we saw in his stall was at least 24 hands (96 inches, or 8 feet) tall!Inside the brewery, we could smell an

aroma much like hops and yeast. Our guide explained that in the 1800s many Germans immigrated to St. Louis, and soon the prin-cipal industry was brewing beer. Although Eberhard Anheuser had no experience in brewing beer, he became part owner of Bavar-ian Brewing, which opened in 1852. Adol-phus Busch, who also had a part in a small enterprise brewing beer, met Eberhard, and through the marriage of Eberhard’s daugh-ter to Busch, Busch began to work for his father –in-law, purchased half ownership, and became a partner. Adolphus was determined to create a brand

of beer that would appeal to people other than Germans, which lead him to creating

an American style lager beer that he called “Budweiser,” the company’s flagship brand. Rather than close its doors during Prohi-bition, Anheuser-Busch diversified and marketed non-alcohol products such as soft drinks and ice cream. After Prohibition and the Great Depression, Anheuser-Busch be-came the leading U.S. brewer. The Michelob brand was introduced in 1896 and Bud Light in 1982. In 2008 Anheuser-Busch became a wholly owned subsidiary of Belgium’s InBev Company.Our tour guide took us to the tasting room

where the Brew Master and Vicki Decker-Smith, a former Dame, of Fox River Dairy treated us to a tasting of six different brands of beer with six types of cheese. This beer pair-ing educated our group of Dames in several different aspects. For example, upon pairing a Michelob lager, which left bitterness in our mouths, with a creamy, buttery cheese made the lager more drinkable. We also tasted a cider made by the brewery which was very sweet and has a very low alcohol content, Stella Artois, a Belgium beer, and the newest beer from Anheuser-Busch—Bud Light Platinum, a light beer packaged in a blue bottle and geared to the younger crowd and women. The Brew Master also explained the bottles are colored and the packages are made to cover the bottle up to the neck to protect the flavor of the beer. Our tour ended with a light lunch and our choice of beer and a bit of history of the Anheuser-Busch InBev Company.

Anheuser-Busch Tour: The Art of Brewing

The River City of Great Foodp r e - c o n f e r e n c e t o u r s

Clydesdale and Anheiser-BuschHeadquarters. Photos by Victoria Taylor.Beer bottles & ingredients. Photo by Toria EmasMarie Kelley with old beer wagon. Photo by Toria Emas.Left to right: Katherine Newell Smith, Toria Emas, Marie Kelley, Lesley Hill, Vicki Decker-Smith, Victoria Taylor, Lisa Cox, Mary Sutkus, Rose Beckerle, Michelle Smith-Aiken (Breville)


akeBy CiCi Williamson (Washington, DC)The colors of the Italian flag – red, white,

and green – pervade “The Hill” district in its banners, storefronts, and even its fire hy-drants. These same colors also represent the foods we experienced on the pre-conference tour of St. Louis’ Italian neighborhood: white for pasta, ravioli, and Provel cheese; red for marinara sauce and sausages; and green for, well, greens.Rosanne Toroian, charter member of the

St. Louis Chapter, and Food Editor, Schuck’s Markets, corralled 29 Dames and guests, and the coach drove south through the tree-shaded streets of Wydown, Skinker, Oakland, and Maclind Avenues, climbing gradually towards the city’s highest elevation, a “lofty” 614-feet above the Mississippi River. The area was settled mostly by Northern Italians with some Sicilians.At Mama Toscano’s Ravioli, we picked up

our tour guide Joseph De Gregorio, who gave a history of the food we would find on The Hill. Mama Toscano’s, a fifth-generation “mom-and-pop” shop, turns out almost 7,000 handmade ravioli per day under the watch-ful eye of USDA inspector Kendall Osborn. Workers roll a giant dough ball to 4x6-ft. on a floured marble work surface. Half the dough is spread with a cooked meat mixture of beef, pork, spinach, eggs, celery, onions, and Romano cheese in a ratio of 2/3 filling to 1/3 dough. After the dough is folded over the filling, the run is cut into 240 ravioli using a wooden ravioli rolling pin. Some ravioli are sold fresh and frozen; some are dipped in egg wash and crumb coated to make the toasted (fried) ravioli invented here in the 1940s.

By special per-mission, we were allowed to tour the Volpi Foods Italian Meat Company, begun in 1902. John Moellering guided my group as we saw mortadella, coppa, capocolla, salami, spinata (flat salami), pan-cetta, sopressata, prosciutto, and cu-latello being made. The products are made from fresh meat delivered by local suppliers.Garbed in hairnets

and white disposable coats, we traipsed from cold curing rooms to warm fermenting rooms to hotter smoking rooms. Weekly, Volpi turns out 8,000 pounds of pancetta (un-smoked bacon cured for three weeks) and 200,000 pounds of salami along with 100,000 hams in various stages of production. A fresh ham weighing 28 pounds ends its 170-day curing at 15 pounds.While touring the various rooms where

salamis are fermenting, we noticed a differ-ence in aroma as the meat products mature. The salamis are hung on sticks that have been used more than 100 years, but the spinata are laid on racks to keep their flat shape. John said, “Dry curing is one of the least under-stood processes. It is dependent on the water, protein, and fat content and its pH.”

After the tour, we sampled various Italian-style meat products and then headed for lunch at Mama Campisi’s, a restaurant owned by DeGre-gorio’s cousin. The restaurant food typifies traditional Italian-American fare of the mid-20th century. We ate toasted ravioli, an iceberg let-tuce salad with a very sweet dressing, and chicken speidini atop spaghetti. The salad also contained Provel cheese, a processed mixture of provo-

lone, Swiss, and white cheddar. The mild, buttery cheese is a St. Louis creation and is rarely used elsewhere except on the city’s super-thin, yeast-less pizza crust and in other dishes. At Vitale’s Bakery,

we sampled tiny can-noli and other bakery

products. We learned that Gooey Butter Cake is a St. Louis specialty. Although we didn’t encounter it in the bakery, we sampled it at the Farmer Fete on Friday night. After a visit to a factory where candies are made from Peter’s Chocolate, an LDEI Partner, Dames went boutique shopping before heading back to the Ritz-Carlton.

Walking (and Eating!) Italian Tour of “The Hill” District

Top left: John Moellering, Volpi Foods Italian Meat Company. The group who toured “The Hill.” Gooey butter cookies at Vitale’s Bakery. Toasted (fried) ravioli from Mama Campisi’s. Center: Dames sample sausages at Volpi. Ravioli maker at Mama Toscano’s.

6 L e s D a m e s d ’ E s c o f f i e r I n t e r n a t i o n a l6 L e s D a m e s d ’ E s c o f f i e r I n t e r n a t i o n a l

By Katherine Newell Smith (Washington, DC)LDEI Executive Director Greg Jewell’s man-

tra while working with the LDEI Board is, “This is not a social club. This is a business.” To run your chapter like a business, Marsha Palanci (New york) posited that leadership must effectively managing members’ time and talent and the chapter’s money. The first step is to select relevant goals and regularly communicate them. Find members who will share their talents and resources to help reach those goals. Bring newer members into lead-ership roles, and pair them with experienced members. Being a chapter officer needn’t become a

full-time job. As in business, officers should set priorities, delegate tasks, and assign deadlines. They should establish and codify realistic systems and templates for activities. Committee chairs should use and pass them down to next administrations. Marsha presented to at-tendees flash drives loaded with informa-tion she has found useful including: an event timeline; event run-of-show; budget tracker; chapter event guidelines; and a treasurer’s reporting system.Katherine Newell

Smith illustrated what can happen when a board loses sight of its mission and finances and doesn’t understand

its bylaws or how to administer them. She described what the chapter’s new leadership did to move from a $20,000 dip in savings to assets of over $110,000. The board cut the budget dramatically, and the president worked with the treasurer throughout the year to manage the budget, eliminate waste and create new revenue streams.The chapter overhauled the bylaws and

the standing rules to make them clearer and reflect how the chapter operates including its use of new technologies. Katherine explained the differences between bylaws and standing rules. Bylaws (the chapter’s legal structure) always require membership ratification to change; standing rules detail job descriptions and scheduling; changes need only a majority board vote.DC conducted a strategic planning exer-

cise that resulted in redefining the focus for its public education programs, fundrais-ing, membership recruitment and involve-

ment, grants and Green Tables initiatives. As “Dames Who Are Experts and Know Experts,” the grants committee is piloting a mentoring opportunity that pairs Dames and women from a culinary training program and leverages the value of Dames expertise rather than offering monetary awards. Further, the program committee began

charging more to the public for its public events and created popular culinary walking tours led by Dame docents. It adopted two fundraisers from other chapters: Dallas’ “Let Them Eat Cake” wedding cake decorating competition and San Diego’s Culinary Garage Sale. Both raised DC’s profile in the commu-nity and helped populate its mailing list. To engage members, the chapter scheduled

more Dames-only events and launched a bi-weekly member e-newsletter to foster better intra-communications, worked to involve new members quickly in leadership positions and to create a board succession plan.The forum concluded with a three-team

“Chopped”-like competition, created by Sys-co, our LDEI Partner. Three “kitchens” were set up, and Dames had 30-minutes to create a dish from the ingredients. The teams received points for using all ingredients, creativity, ap-pearance and taste. The teams received points for using all ingredients, creativity, appear-ance and taste.

Leadership Forum: How to Run your Chapter Like a Business

Above left: Crickett Karson taking notes. Cathy Strange, Gina Burch-eneal, Molly Hancock, Martha Marino, Sharon Olson. Photos by Lori Willis. Katherine Newell Smith. Team of Dames cooking. Bottom photo: Marie Kelley, Melanie Young, Julie Jones, Beth Allen, Marcia Kramer. Photos by Robert C. Holt III.

The River City of Great Foodl e a d e r s h i p f o r u m & o p e n i n g r e c e p t i o n


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California dried figs are available year round, while fresh figs are available

mid-May through December.

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Waldorf Salad with California Figs

By Judy Mattera (Boston)Upon entering the ballroom

for the conference kickoff opening reception, sponsored by the Cali-fornia Fig Board, Dames were greeted with a beautiful display of lace bags, all lined up. Each contained a plum colored harvest towel along with two sleeves of Calimyrna and Black Mission Figs. What a fantastic gift to welcome us!Platters of gorgeous, fresh Califor-

nia figs awaited tasting. Assorted cheeses came next: Dubliner, St. An-dré, Roquefort, Boursin, White Irish Cheddar and Bloomsdale, an artisan goat cheese from Baetje Farms in Sainte Genevieve County, Missouri. Bloomsdale was pyramidal with a flattened top, coated with ash and salt – delicious! Dubliner, an Irish cow’s milk cheese, was cheddar tasting with a round mouthfeel, and somewhat sharp finish. Fresh figs and strawberries were halved and displayed on wooden boards throughout the table along with condi-ments. Selection of crackers, biscuits and baguette slices were stacked on beautiful three-tiered serving trays.Then came the wine, and Wente Vine-

yards did not disappoint. Two wines were poured. The Whip, a white blend consist-ing of Chardonnay, Semillon, Gewurz-traminer, Orange Muscat, Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc, was pale straw in color. This off-dry wine presented with a clean

nose, mild fruit flavors, and good acidity. If you prefer red, then The Spur was for you. Varietal grapes of Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Petite Sirah brought a fruity nose, dark cherry flavors and long finish – excellent!Passed hors d’oeuvres included vegetable

ratatouille and Spot Prawns, a wild, natural, sustainable seafood. Served in mini finger rolls, these spot prawns delivered such fresh taste that we all wanted to devour more of this delectable treat. WOW!

Dames Dig Figs at Opening Reception

Sylvia Weinstock, Ritz-Carlton Chef Melissa Lee, Linda Geren. Marianne Moore, Jennifer Johnson, Beth Huch, Arlene Mamintas Browne, Cecily Hof-fius. Photos by Lori Willis.California Figs Advisory Board. Kris Caputo, Karla Stockli. Photo by CiCi Williamson.


By Tamie Cook (Atlanta)We arrived just after dark at 4 Hands Brew-

ing, in the LaSalle Park neighborhood of St. Louis. “Food, Foam and Fun” was our destination and from the looks of things, we were in the right place. The street alongside the brewery was lined with food trucks, the sidewalk with picnic tables, and inside we found a warm and festive vibe. First up, beer! Since its opening in the sum-

mer of 2011, 4 Hands Brewing has become one of St. Louis’ premier craft breweries. Kevin Lemp, 4 Hands founder, developed a love for craft beer while attending Central Mis-souri State University. After a varied career in the beverage industry, he opened 4 Hands with a focus on creative, hand-made, local, craft beer. The nights' offerings included the brewery’s core line up including their Divided Sky Rye IPA, Reprise Centennial Red, Cast Iron Oatmeal Brown and Single Speed Session. There was a beer for every taste and if beer wasn’t your thing, Chaumette Winery of Ste. Genevieve, MO provided us with a sampling of their award-winning wines.After listening to some great blues from

“Letter to Memphis,” our band for the eve-ning, it was time to head out to the trucks. First up was Lulu’s Local Eatery where we tasted Sweet Potato Falafel. Made with sweet potatoes, fresh local greens and homemade

tzatziki, this dish epitomized “local” as the fresh greens are grown in raised bed gardens right on the top of the truck! Next up, (the crowd favorite according to

my unofficial poll) was their Mexican Quinoa Bowl, with black beans, tomato, bell pepper, corn, green onion and a delicious avocado sauce. Next, we ventured down to Guerilla StreetFood, a truck specializing in local, seasonal Filipino food, offering two menu items. Their famous Lumpia, a wrap of sorts, consisted of sautéed cabbage, carrots and green beans with

fresh garlic, crushed peanuts and salad greens wrapped in a very thin pancake. The Chicken Adobo Burrito with its rich, savory sauce was melt-in-your-mouth delicious.To end the evening, I joined Cleveland

Dames for a cupcake tasting courtesy Sarah’s Cake Shop. Devil’s Food with Chocolate, Fleur de Sel Buttercream Frosting and Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese. Guests boarded the bus with a “sweet dreams” wish in chocolates for the ride home. It was a sweet way to kick

off the 2012 Conference!

Food, Foam, and Fun at 4 Hands Brewing Co.

The River City of Great Foode v e n i n g e v e n t

TOP: 4 Hands Brewery. Photo: Robert C. Holt III. Greg Jewell at food truck. Photo by CiCi. Katherine Newell Smith and Beth Allen. Photo by Lori Willis.ABOVE: Phyllis Ann Marshall at food truck. Tamie Cook and Kathleen Perry. Mick and Lori Willis. Photo by CiCi Williamson.


By Marcia Kramer (Colorado)Our keynote speaker was none other

than Sylvia Weinstock (New york), “The Leonardo da Vinci of Cakes.” Dressed in her trademark round black glasses, Sylvia spoke about her many experi-ences and opportunities with cake making and decorat-ing. She infused humor throughout the presentation while projecting gorgeous photos of her the amazing cakes.Sylvia’s emphasis is on using the best ingredients to

create the best possible products while ensuring fresh-ness and quality throughout the process. She noted that a cake is generally baked two days prior to an event and that flower making goes on daily with nine people working five days a week. This ensures that there are enough flowers on hand to accommodate the many requests she gets. She eschews fondant icing and frosts all her cakes in buttercream. She uses her secret sugar dough formula to create delicate flowers and not the traditional gum paste used by many bakers. She makes everything on the cake edible and only noted one excep-tion: when she used foam for a deer’s head and antlers.In addition to talking about her celebrity client list

(including Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones and Arab sheiks) she noted that she makes cakes for a specialty couture market not serviced by many other bakeries. She believes “Passion belongs in the bedroom, not in the bakeshop” and that to succeed in the busi-ness you need to be both creative and have the skills necessary to run the business. Sylvia noted that her staff feels like part of her family and uses good old fashioned Jewish guilt to inspire her workers to do their best work since she is “counting on them.” When asked about the most expensive cake she ever made, Sylvia said, “I am looking forward to that one.” We are too, Sylvia.

Keynote Talk by “The Leonardo da Vinci of Cakes”

By Julie Miller Jones, PhD, CNS, LN (Minneapolis) In the USA, if you say “cookbook,” I think of the 1931

“kitchen bible,” The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer. So I was delighted to hear her great grandson John Becker talk in St. Louis--Irma’s home, about the life events that caused his great-grandmother to self-publish her recipes, which saved her and her two children from finan-cial ruin after her husband’s suicide. In doing so, she changed American culinary history to become a book that would be named by the Library of Congress as one of the 88 most important books published in America. “Joy” is now in its 9th edition with 16 million copies in print. Becker said that Irma wanted things to be fast and convenient and made

it a point to not require fancy tools and instead use equipment that could be in anyone’s kitchen. She was pragmatic and would readily accept new technologies and ingredients. Her recipe format of including methods and ingredients was used in the

1936 edition which was published by Bobbs-Merrill. The 1943 edition reflected war rationing. Marion, her daughter, tested the recipes and added nutrient data, which made her harken to fresh foods rather than processed foods. Marion strove for a total work of culinary knowledge making it evolve from a recipe book to a major kitchen reference. John, a reluctant public speaker, spoke to the timelessness of “Joy” and

recounted Irma’s relationship to the home cook with her own self-depre-cating humor and tales of mistakes that Irma (and later Julia) shared with reticent and harried home cook. John noted that “Joy” gave tips on using leftovers and chided some trends that contribute to Americans’ wasting food. He also noted that “Joy” will not cater to recent fads and trends but rather will continue to provide the basics–especially to a generation that has grown up using the microwave and “dialing out for pizza.” In doing a revision, he said a balance must be struck between the inclu-

sion of the classic and iconic and the new ingredient or technique–within space limitations. He recounted the flaws of the “chefy” 1997 version and returned the 2006 edition to the home cook’s reference. This talk recounted John’s role carrying on the family business and keeping the “Joy” and Irma’s and Marion’s spirits alive and relevant for generations. In preparing for the next addition projected to be out in 2016, Becker

said they face uncertainty of how the book will fare in the digital age but tags and shopping lists may be some of the sought after add-ons that will preserve the traditional and square this iconic reference with the needs of this century. They may also include photos for the first time.

The Joy of Cooking: Past, Present and Future

John Becker and wife Megan ScottJulia Child’s copies of The Joy of Cooking at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

Alice Gautsch Forman, Sylvia Weinstock, Toria Emas. Photo: Lori Willis.

John Becker and wife Megan Scott. Julia Child's copies of The Joy of Cooking at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.

Alice Gautsch Forman, Sylvia Weinstock, Toria Emas. Photo by Lori Willis.


The River City of Great Foods e s s i o n s

By Nancy Byal (Kansas City)“Imagine.....standing on a river bank in

St. Charles, Mo., just north of St. Louis, in 1804. Imagine.....you are a young man, healthy and strong of Scottish, Irish, or African descent. Imagine.....you are ready to be part of an amazing expedition into an expansive western territory of the United States called Louisiana. No Europeans have ever traveled there.”So began food historian Mary Gunder-

son, author of The Food Journal of Lewis & Clark: Recipes for an Expedition, as she engagingly described one of America’s most famous adventures. Unlike other books about the Lewis & Clark Expedi-tion, Mary’s provides a unique focus on the food, how it fueled the team’s survival, and helped lead to its success. For the two-year-plus, arduous trek, a 50-

man team set out on the Missouri River us-ing a keel boat loaded with 14,000 pounds of food and supplies. Food staples included a concentrated, rubbery product called Portable Soup (a prelude to today’s bouillon

cubes), ground corn, and 3500 pounds of pork products packed in barrels. Along the way, they also gathered foods from nature and traded for foods with Indian tribes.One thing that excited Mary as she

researched the detailed diaries of Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark was that they wrote about food nearly every day--and not just a menu list, but food in the context of where they were, what conditions were like, how they prepared the foods, and what the foods tasted like. Early in the trip, for instance, Clark wrote about finding wild strawberries. At the juncture of northwest Iowa/Minnesota and southeast South Dakota, they saw their first buffalo, found that game was abundant in the area, and Clark wrote that “Damson plums are ripe. They make a delicious tart.” yes, they even made a tart! And after Sacagawea joined the party, she introduced them to native veg-etables such as prairie turnips.

The recipes in the book provide as authen-tic a taste as possible of what these adven-turers cooked and ate, adapted to the ingre-dients and techniques we use today. (Alas, no bear recipes!) Mary’s most gratifying part of sharing her book and recipes is letting children step into a very different time and life through food. They not only willingly will try the unfamiliar, she says, but their faces light up with joy and discovery. The book is available for $15 plus shipping and handling at www.historycooks.com

Provisioning the Lewis and Clark Expedition

Mary Gunderson and Nancy Byal. Photo by CiCi Williamson.

Due to space limitations, the reports on these two conference sessions will appear in the Spring 2013 Quarterly: “Trending Topics” and “Introduction to Media Marketing: Making Your 15 minutes Count!”


By Denice Woods (Austin)St. Louis is the “Soy Capital of the World.” Who knew?

“Most of the soybeans produced for the U.S. come from within a 500-mile radius of St. Louis,” revealed Natasha Webster, Solae Global Communications Senior Manager. Her company is not a brand you will see in the grocery stores. They take the soybeans from the farmer, process it, and sell it to the food industry.“We need to find ways to feed the world while using fewer

resources and soybeans are the answer,” she said. A soy bean is 40% protein. Soy is sustainable, economically efficient, and a healthy alternative to meet growing global demands. Environmentally, you get more yields per acre raising soy-beans then other crop.” Dr. Ratna Mukherjea, Solae Global Nutrition Lead, has

over 10 years of experience in clinical and translational research, dietetics and teaching at academic institutions and in the food industry. She is an expert on nutrition research strategy, development and implementation of research pro-tocols in dietary intervention as well as stable isotope studies and science communications.

Soy Protein: A Sustainable, Nutritious and Great-tasting Solution to Help Feed a Growing Global Population

Dr. Ratna Mukherjea, Denice Woods, Nata-sha Webster. Photo by CiCi Williamson.

She described some of the health benefits of soy protein. For example, a child who is allergic to milk can usually drink soy milk. Soy protein is lactose free, cholesterol free, and low in fat. As a high-quality plant protein, soy protein has estab-lished health benefits in heart and muscle health and in weight management.


By Brent T. Frei, Director, LDEI Partnership DevelopmentA “baker’s dozen” (thirteen) partners of

LDEI participated in the Partners Showcase Luncheon at the St. Louis conference on Oct. 12, and the range of offered tastings was so diverse that Dames enjoyed not only a plate-ful of variety, but an opportunity to discover new products or novel applications for long-cherished products.LDEI’s first Gold

partner, Sysco Cor-poration, needed 12 feet of skirted table and three food-savvy people to prepare, lay out, and serve its lavish spread, which included a variety of charcuterie and cheeses, pâtés, breads and an assortment of condiments, as well as duck-confit salad sporting artisan greens, snap peas, watercress and scal-lion. www.sysco.com

As the sole wine partner of this year’s confer-ence, Wente Family Estates (Silver) selected wines to perfectly fit the fare served at each meal occasion and reception. Founded in 1883, Wente Vineyards is the United States’ oldest continuously operated family-owned winery. www.wentevineyards.comUnusually flavored ice creams aren’t news

anymore. But soy-sauce ice cream? Turns out that was a novel one to Dames, who didn’t give it a chance to melt. Kikkoman Sales USA (Silver) also offered tastings of several of

the company’s on-trend bottled Asian sauces. www.kikkomanusa.comFresh and dried figs, fig-juice concentrate

and seedless fig paste from the California Fig Advisory Board (Bronze) joined Caribbean jerk chicken created by Robert Del Grande of RDG + Bar Annie in Houston. The spicy jerk sauce over chicken breast capitalized on dried Mission figs; accompanying cabbage slaw featured fresh and dried Calimyrna figs. www.californiafigs.com.New LDEI partner Alaska Seafood Market-

ing Institute (Copper) presented snow-crab claws on ice with a trio of dipping sauces—soy-ginger sauce, hoisin ranch dressing and Thai chile mayonnaise—from recipes created by Helen Roberts of fellow partner Kikko-man Sales USA. www.wildalaskaflavor.comAnother new partner National Honey

Board (Copper) offered information on the many honey varietals available beyond common clover as a chaser to rosemary and sage-honey lemonade created by Laurey Mas-terton of Laurey’s Gourmet Comfort Food in Asheville, N.C. www.honey.comWhile a dairy-free, gluten-free peach

smoothie drew Dames to the Breville USA (Copper) station, it was the Hemisphere Control Blender that kept them there. Cook’s Illustrated named it tops recently; the

A Baker’s Dozen Partners Showcased at Luncheon

Wente. DeLisa Harmon, LeslieMcCoy. Photo by Susan Slack.

The River City of Great Foodp a r t n e r l u n c h e o n

Trish Pohanka, Chef Neil,Doherty, Shelley Carr. Photo by CiCi Williamson. Sysco. Chef Neil Doherty with Past LDEI First VP Sharon VanMeter. Photo by Robert C. Holt III.

SilverGold


American Roland Food Corp. Lisa Kartzman, Helen Heilich.

Kikkoman, Helen Roberts.

California Figs Advisory Board. Kris Caputo, Karla Stockli.

Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. Amy Muzyka-McGuire.

Breville: Michelle Smith-Aiken and Amy Billetz.

Kerrygold. Crickett Karson, Sandy Hu.

Peter’s Chocolate. Angela Weidner & Courtney LeDrew.

Mahatma Rice. Debbie Wheeler.

Wailea Agricultural Group, Inc., Lesley Hill, Heart of Palm.

Nespresso. Brenda McDowell, Leslie Santana.

National Honey Board Honey Andrea Schepke (right) with Patricia Erd.

All photos on this page by Susan Slack.

blender features six blades of differing length set at different angles, as well as a rounded jar bottom that facilitates movement. www.brevilleusa.comAll our “Friends” returned as partners.

American Roland Food Corp. sampled flavored Israeli couscous and flavored quinoa from its lines of both products that are easily prepared by simmering in water. Addition-ally, the company displayed its full category of rices and grains in light of never-higher demand for both. www.rolandfood.comWhen it comes to cheeses, Kerrygold’s

Cashel Blue takes the wheel. The Irish Dairy Board showcased it along with Dubliner loaves and wheels of cheddar aged with Irish whiskey and served all three cheeses with

breads, fruit chutneys and roasted nuts. Dames were also treated to übercreamy Kerrygold salted and unsalted butters. www.kerrygoldusa.comFresh-from-the-garden flavor with a spike

of citrus and dash of heat characterized the carrot-ginger soup with lime and chile offered by Mahatma Rice, which is the No. 1-sell-ing rice brand in the United States. www.mahatmarice.comNespresso returned to the Partners Show-

case Luncheon, impressing with its unique combination of premium portioned Grand Cru coffees and stylish machines by way of freshly brewed espresso. www.nespresso.comJust when you thought the bacon-with-ev-

erything trend had peaked, Peter’s Chocolate

revealed bacon as a flavoring is not only alive and well, but still gaining fans, as evidenced by the rate at which the bite-sized pieces of maple-bacon caramel disappeared. www.peterschocolate.comWailea Agricultural Group, Inc. showcased

the Big Island of Hawaii’s ever-versatile heart of palm via a delightfully balanced spicy and sweet heart-of-palm salad featuring chiles, lime juice and a touch of agave syrup. www.waileaag.comLDEI extends special thanks to Judy Bellos

(St. Louis) who oversaw all of the Partners’ recipes and food donations, and worked with the Ritz-Carlton’s Executive Chef and Cater-ing Manager for the entire conference.

Bronze Copper

Friends



It takes Sysco.

By Linda Avery, (Chicago)With an easy smile and kind

face, David Stark, V.P. Consum-er Benefits, Monsanto, faced an

audience of Dames doubtful about Genetical-ly Modified Organisms. Monsanto sent their finest to discuss what it sees as its contribu-tion to the food world, explain the benefits of GMOs, and address questions about that and other work being done.Monsanto has sales of $13.5 billion and is

focused 100% on agriculture. Stark began with the recognition of his audience’s point of view most likely being anti-biotechnology while also pointing out the need to satisfy the consumer’s desire for good taste, good shelf life, eye appeal, good cost and safety. He explained the three processes of breeding

being employed: 1) Natural/traditional cross-pollination

which is inefficient due to the time required (applies to all seeds);

2) Molecular marker assisted breeding with nothing added to the mix i.e. no GMO (applies to all seeds); and 3) Biotechnology or the

selective process – the most efficient method to reach targeted results. What are they targeting?

Faster growth, resistance to pathogens, and productivity.He makes a good argument

for the need of biotech products in starving third world countries where increased yields due to disease resistance (such as papaya) and drought tolerance save millions of lives from starvation. But acceptance in the rest of the world is mixed: the European Union has ap-proved many crops but individual countries can opt out, India says “yes” to cotton but “no” to eggplant, Canada and South America have widely accepted biotechnology.

Feeding the World

Photo by Robert C. Holt III.Lori Willis, Kathy Gottsacker, David Stark. Photo by CiCi Williamson.


Alice Gautsch Forman, Sylvia Weinstock, Toria Emas. Photo: Lori Willis.

By Nichole A. Bendele (San Antonio)“Dreaming. Dreaming big. I wanted to be a

princess and now I’m the ‘Queen of Bears,’” said Build a Bear Workshop founder and CEO, Maxine Clark who also added, “I’m blessed to be in St. Louis and the USA where dreams come true.”Prior to Build A Bear Workshop, she worked for depart-

ment store chains. When her friend's daughter Katie went shopping for Beanie Babies and couldn’t find a desirable one, she said, “you know, I bet we could make them.” Build A Bear Workshop was born.What are the “Bear” Essentials for a Business? 1) Learn

from your mistakes. 2) Let a child inspire you. 3) Sell an experience. 4) Give back to the community.Learn from your mistakes. Enjoy learning and strive

harder to improve. Listen to your teachers. Her family also taught her she

could be anything she wanted to be.Let a child inspire you. Katie’s bear “George” got stuck

to a delivery truck and was returned worn but recognizable. That gave Maxine the idea to put an ID number inside the bears. Build A Bear Workshop can open a bear, scan it, and return lost bears to their owners. Over 110 million bears have IDs. So far 5,000 lost bears have been returned.At Build A Bear, children “Cub Advisors” wear lab coats

and get to experience being an entrepreneur. She notes what appeals to children. “Cute” also sells. “Look thru the eyes of a child,” said Maxine. “It’s not where you go, it is what you see.”Sell an Experience. “Retail is entertainment, and the store

is a stage. Ccustomers having fun spend more money,” said Stanley Goodman, former CEO, May Company. “you are only as happy as your least happy child.”Give Back To The

Community. Maxine encourages business to have heart. Maxine concluded,

“Drive to leave your mark on your industry in order to leave your legacy.” she said. “And do something different. I didn’t want to own a traditional toy store. McDonald’s didn’t invent the burger. Cesar Ritz didn’t invent the hotel. But both these business made the experi-ence better.”She also added: “Be the DifFURence. Reach. Learn. Give.

CollaBEARate. CeleBEARate.”

The “Bear” Essentials to a Business

By Kavita Patel (Austin)The numbers are simply amazing and inspiring. 60,000

pounds. 22 gardens. 25 converted kitchens. 20 chefs. What, you ask, am I referring to? Well, I’m so glad you asked!

• 60,000 pounds of locally grown produce St. Louis Public Schools served in school lunches last year. • 22 gardens put into schools in partnership with Gateway Greening. • 25 converted kitchens updated to serve up hot, fresh meals to

students.• 20 chefs have visited schools to provide healthy eating education

and lead hands-on food-related activities.I was impressed and humbled by what I heard at “Serving Our Chil-

dren,” which was about bridging the gap between children and educa-tion about healthy food. The session featured Althea Albert-Santiago, Food Services Director, St. Louis Public Schools -- the driving force behind these statistics – and passionate community activists, including Dames from St. Louis and Washington, DC. Lorin Fahrmeier provided an overview of the National Farm to

School Network. As the Missouri representative, she’s the “eHarmony for farmers and schools.” She came armed with a variety of printed and online content for anyone interested in getting started with or further-ing farm-to-school initiatives. The network has participation from every state and each has a representative like Lorin!Drew Faulkner (Washington, DC) and Dr. Millie Mattfeldt-Beman

(St. Louis) inspired us by sharing programs of their chapters. D.C. Dames are providing food preparation demonstrations and nutrition education at local schools in partnership with Martha’s Table.St. Louis Dames orchestrated “Recipes from Home,” a contest where

St. Louis students submitted favorite family recipes using local fruits or vegetables. The finalists prepared their recipes alongside Dames before students taste-tested. The winning recipe was incorporated into the school lunch menu. Farmer’s Market Tours provided children with the opportunity to engage with local farmers by visiting their stands, pick-ing out their favorite fruits and vegetables and then, with the assistance of a Dame, creating a delicious snack.Wrapping up the session, Rhonda Smythe, one of St. Louis’ local

food activists, shared her thoughts on a the Food Day movement and celebration, the need for sustainable, local food systems, and insights into “what we eat,” all of which served to solidify the need to expand the good work of Green Tables.

Green Tables: Serving Our Children

Maria Gomez, Maxine Clark, Judy Rusigulolo. Photo by Robert C. Holt III.

Photo by Robert C. Holt III.


The River City of Great Foodc h a p t e r p h o t o s

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1. ATLANTA: Front row: Stacy Zeigler, Mary Moore, Kathleen Perry, Judith Winfrey, Dana Dabruzzi. Second row: Gina Hopkins, Shelley Pedersen, Amy Crowell, Becky Minchew, Holly Chute, Kristy Cook,

Barb Pires, Suzanne Brown. Back Row: Gaye Anderson, Gena Berry, Tamie Cook, Debi Loftis, Vicky Murphy, Lenada Merrick. 2. AUSTIN: Denice Woods, Cathy Cochran-Lewis, Cathy Strange,

Gina Burchenal. 3. BOSTON: Guida Ponte, Toni Manning, Judy Mattera. 4. CLEVELAND: Crickett Karson, Bev Schaffer, Carol Hacker, Beth Davis-Noragon. 5. COLORADO: Marsha Kramer,

Teresa Farney. 6. KANSAS CITY: Nancy Byal, Kathy Moore. 7. PHILADELPHIA: Adrienne Abramson, Kathy Gold, Linda Geren, Manette Richardson. 8. SEATTLE: Front row: Martha Marino,

Molly Hancock. Back row: Amy Muzyka-McGuire, Braiden Rex-Johnson, Alice Gautsch Foreman, Cynthia Nims. 9. HOUSTON: Lisa Cox, Barbara Cook. 10. SAN DIEGO: Maria Gomez, Marie Kelley.

11. LOS ANGELES: Nancy Eisman, Deirdre Michalski, Phyllis Ann Marshall.


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12. MINNEAPOLIS: Julie Jones, Liz Gunderson. 13. CHARLESTON: Jennifer Goldman, Susan Slack. 14. NEW YORK: Front row: Mary Ellen Griffin, Carol Brock, Beth Allen, Melanie Young.

Second row: Margaret Happel, Allison Awerbuch, Nancy Jessup, Vanessa Trost. 15. LONDON: Ashley James. 16. MONTEREY BAY Karla Stockli. 17. BRITISH COLUMBIA Lee Murphy, Becky Turner,

Cate Simpson. 18. HAWAII: Hayley Matson Mathes, Dorothy Colby, Lesley Hill.. 19. DALLAS: Christina Jansson, Susan Dunn-Baltimore, Gladys Howard, Wendy Timson. 20. SAN ANTONIO Nichole Bendele.

21. WASHINGTON, DC: Front row: Teresa Farney, Judy Rusignuolo. Back row: Karen Vartan, CiCi Williamson, Katherine Newell Smith, Drew Faulkner, Ann Stratte, Theresa Morrison.

22. CHICAGO: Front row: Toria Emas, Jennifer Lamplough, Linda Avery. Back row: Sharon Olson, Brenda McDowell, Shanon Kinsella, Patricia Erd. 23. NORTHEAST: Victoria Taylor.

24. PALM SPRINGS: Lisa Wherry. 25. SAN FRANCISCO: Front row: Arnell Hinkle, Sandy Hu, Helen Roberts. Second row: Amy Hoopes, Tanya Holland, Sue Huffman-Robinson


By Braiden Rex-Johnson (Seattle)“Fete” is defined as “a large, elaborate party.”

And one of the best “fetes”I’ve ever attended occurred at this year’s LDEI annual conference.Farmer’s Fete took place within Forest Park,

one of the largest urban oases in the United States. Opened to the public in 1876, and larger than New york City’s Central Park by close to 500 acres, it’s widely regarded as the “soul” of St. Louis. The World’s Fair Pavilion—the site of Farmer’s Fete—sits high atop Gov-ernment Hill. Built in 1909, it’s an imposing, open-air structure with towers on each end. On that nippy night, a “welcome wagon”

of St. Louis Dames was in full force, doling out Harvest Moon cocktails jauntily served in Mason jars. Created by Arlene Browne and her husband Stanley (owners of Robust Wine Bar), the cocktails were a mellifluous mix of

Plymouth Gin, simple syrup, pear, muddled mint, and ginger liqueur.

More alcoholic libations awaited inside the Pavilion in the form of Missouri wines. Featuring single-varietal and blended bottles made from locally grown grapes such as Traminette (similar to Gewürztra-miner), Chardonel (a hybrid grape made with Chardonnay and Seyval), and Norton (“America’s true grape”), they were supplied byMissouri-state winer-ies including Stone Hill, Adam Puchta, and Chaumette (Jennifer Johnson). Square One Brewery & Distillery, St. Louis’s and Missouri’s first micro-distillery, served up microbrews and award-winning, barrel-aged Whiskey. Farmers’ Fete showcased the good work of

St. Louis’s star chefs and small, sustainable farmers. Outstanding dishes of the evening includedGarlic Poached Chicken, Corn Bread, Bee Pollen, Chicken Cracker, and Pear-Onion Purée with Popcorn Crumble from Chris Bork of Blood and Sand and Justin Leszcz of yellowTree Farm. Potato and Garlic Soup with Persian Cress

and Nardello Peppers, a partnership be-tween chef John Griffiths of Bon Appétit at Washington University and Lee and Ingrid Abraham of Berger Bluff Farm, held a spicy

surprise at the bottom of a fabu-lous faux-eggshell cup. Crispy New Farms’ Pork Belly

took a turn toward Asian when paired with House Ramen Noodles, Pickled Quail Eggs, Hatch Chili, Radish, and Trotter Dashi Broth thanks to chef Kevin Nashan of Sidney Street Cafe and farmers Rita and Mark Newman of Newman Farm. On the sweet side, beautifully

displayed desserts sourced from a bevy of local bakeries included scrumptious mini cupcakes, bite-sized cheesecake squares, petite berry tarts, and the St. Louis-original “Gooey Butter Cake.” Local candy makers and chocolatiers contributed regional favorites such as Heav-enly Hash and chocolate-covered fruits from Bissinger’s Chocolates and contemporary Sea Salt Caramels from Kakao Chocolate. Toe-tappin’ music by nationally renowned

musician Javier Mendoza and his band kept the room hopping; woolen blankets by the fire pit drove away the early-fall chill; candles twin-kling in the trees guided us back to our buses. ButFarmers’ Fete didn’t end at Forest Park,

as fun-loving Dames, significant others, and LDEI sponsors raised a drink, cut a rug, or watched the St. Louis Cardinals advance to the National League Championship Series once safely back at the Ritz-Carlton.All in all, it was a fabulous “fete” and a

memorable evening. The Farmers Fete event décor was largely influenced by Moira Ross. Kathy Costello was the Day Chair working on event setup.

A Fabulous Farmers Fete

Captions: From top left: World’s Fair Pavilion. Dessert display. Greg Jewell and Dana Abruzzo. Beth Huch and Moira Ross. Braiden Rex-Johnson, Mary Moore, Spencer Johnson. St. Louis Chapter. Photo by Lori Willis.

The River City of Great Foode v e n i n g e v e n t


By Susan Fuller Slack (Charleston)Embracing our global communities through

culinary connections that will provide educa-tional programming, training programs and cultural exchange.

Keynote speaker for the Global Culinary Initiative (GCI) breakfast in St. Louis was Greg Drescher, Executive Director of Stra-tegic Initiatives at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA). He is creator of the college’s “Worlds of Flavor® International Conference & Festival” and annual “Worlds of Healthy Flavors Leadership Retreat” in partnership with the Harvard School of Public Health.

Having spent more than 30 years criss-crossing the globe to track culinary traditions and ethnic flavors, he shared new insights on how global culinary traditions play out in the evolution of contemporary menus. Greg said the dramatic growth of interest in ethnic cuisines and flavors during the past 15 years is rapidly accelerating. Chefs and kitchens are connecting globally as never before. “American food preferences tied to Northern European traditions are shifting to other world flavors, principally Latin American, Asian and Mediterranean.” He informed us that the U.S. Census Bureau says, in less than 40 years Caucasian-Americans will become a minority. By 2050, Hispanics and Asians together will compromise 34% of the population (28 and 6 % respectively)With this in mind, the CIA added global

ethnic AND French/European techniques and flavors to its curriculum. The CIA’s 2011 “Worlds of Flavor®” conference in Napa Val-ley presented food experts from 25 countries. The 700 attendees (American chefs and culinary professionals) could “see, taste and feel” authentic global ingredients and better understand their flavor profiles. “Arc of Fla-vor: Re-imagining Culinary Exchange from the Mediterranean and Middle East to Asia” in 2012 provided the opportunity for inter-national and American culinarians to identify

emerging global cuisines and exchange ideas about the future of food and flavor.Greg believes we should look beyond our

bias for “Eurocentric cuisines of the 80s” to explore foods and flavors from every corner of the globe. “We should get rid of the notion of ranking world cuisines - creating distinctions that separate three-star Mi-chelin chefs from brilliant village cooks.” What is next after Asian, Latino and

Mediterranean cuisines? “We should in-volve French-trained chefs to help improve and refine the flavors of diamond-in-the-rough ethnic cuisines not quite ready for prime time.”Greg prefers to use the word “mash-up”

instead of fusion to describe the blended culinary traditions of two or more nations. But the bottom line on invention is: 1) make sure we know what we are doing; 2) the results should be delicious: 3) and continue to honor and study the path of tradition and authenticity, however hard it is to define.Sandy Hu (right), LDEI Past President and

co-chair of the GCI committee with Su-zanne Brown (left), says the takeaway from Greg’s speech is, “We should approach all global cuisines without bias. Greg is focused on creating a level playing field that respects all food cultures and appreciates all chefs who are best of class – whether a refined and revered sushi chef or a street food chef.”

The World on a Plate

A Whirlwind ‘Round the

World Culinary Tour of

Rockville, Maryland By Gail Forman

(Washington DC)

On a beautiful Fall Saturday, 31 people gath-

ered for an ethnic culinary tour of the diverse

ethnic shops and restaurants of Rockville, MD,

a Washington, DC, suburb. Planned by Gail

Forman, “Docents” Barbara Cullen and Janet

yu helped lead the group. We met for break-

fast at a Chinese café for sweet buns and cof-

fee or tea. Stops at a Philippine grocery and

then at the huge Great Wall Asian Grocery

demonstrated the culinary splendor of the

Far East. The rest of the world followed, with

forays into Middle Eastern, Eastern Europe-

an, Indian, Azerbaijani, and Latin American

groceries plus a Persian bakery. Along the

way, we sampled tea at the Ten Ren specialty

tea shop and spices at the world-famous

Penzys, known for its emphasis on fresh-

ness. A sumptuous 8-course banquet lunch

at a Chinese restaurant was followed by

bubble tea at a nearby specialty shop and

concluded the ‘round- the-world-of-cuisine

tour. This experience was one in an ongo-

ing series of ethnic culinary tours con-

ducted by the Washington, DC Chapter

that have been enthusiastically received by

attendees and have also generated funds

for scholarships. Use what you like.

GLOBAL CULINARY

post card



By Deirdre Michalski (LA/Orange County)I was so looking forward to this Seminar in St. Louis,

and I checked it off as my first choice. The room was full, and we all settled in to hear wisdom from Sabrina Crider SVP- Brand Marketing & Global Co-Chair, and Lisa Weser, SVP- Internal Communications & Digital, both of Fleishman-Hillard PR Agency.What I really enjoyed was seeing websites, promotions, and case

studies of companies and personalities that are indeed “doing it right” and how we can all learn from that.Facebook Example - Girl & The Goat Restaurant: Stephanie

puts herself into her Facebook page and postings with “behind the scenes” and “unexpected” photography and stories. She also cuts and pastes her communication into her Tweets.Sabrina and Lisa suggest these keys for engagement, and offered

examples during the presentation. • Photos and Videos are the two most important items.• Personal News (awards, new menus, something new)• Special Events• Fan Generated Content (re-post)• Offers • Giveaways (and rewarding loyal guests)• Facebook Advertising- (can pay about $7.00 for personal or

more for brand sites.)The Must Do’s In Social Media. Make sure you are hitting on all

cylinders for these very important attributes. you must be:1) Informative2) Knowledgeable3) Sharing4) Authentic5) yourself6) Real Life in

People & ProductsThese other outlets

were also explained:Pinterest - a pho-

tography board of sorts. Members “pin” their photos with comments on vari-ous boards.Instagram (App) - al-

lows you to take a picture and then apply various filters to make it look different. Facebook recently bought Instagram. you can take the picture using Instragram (vs. the regular camera on phone) or you can import a picture and then manipulate it.Sqwid.com - a new social hospitality site that is in beta testing. It

allows businesses to send customers a reward code to redeem at the store, and engage via social media.Lisa and Sabrina touched on so many of the invaluable tools we

are all using in Social Media and explained so much to us all. It was very helpful and I left the room much smarter, and with a list of sites and apps to go check out!

Personal Branding With Social Media By Deirdre Michalski

(LA/Orange County)I arrived early so as not to miss a trick! Steve Bauer, Senior VP,

Fleishman Hillard, reviewed a host of media tools. He encouraged us to understand them but to zero in on those that match our tar-get audience and business goals. With small staffs and limited time, most small businesses have to "find their focus" and accept that owners just can't do it all.Top Ten Tips for Success1) Create a Recipe for

Success--right mix, policy, and team.2) Listen and Learn-

-Hootsuite or Tweet Deck can assist3) Focus on Fundamen-

tals--audience, message, channel and timing4) Social Media is a

Team sport--”If it doesn't spread--it's dead"5) Visualize the Finished Product using Instagram, Pinterest6) Influence the Influencers--focus on who want to hear from you7) Watch Out for Fires--everything moves quickly in cyber space8) Follow the Leaders--and learn from them9) Location, Location, Location--optimize for mobile; review site

on computer, ipad, mobile. Make sure what works on the web also works on tablets, etc.10) Measure Results (for example Google Analytics)Now for some details on the most popular Social Media vehicles

in our Marketing Toolkit:Facebook - This is the most popular channel, and a "Page" is for

Personal addresses and "Place" is for businesses. you can connect Facebook posts so they also post on Twitter. Instagram -An App that allows mobile users to take a picture and

then apply various filters to enhance the image--such as lighting, retro-style, and also to share images. Can also import pictures into Insta-gram and adjust them as desired. Statagram can manage ones account.Twitter - With only 140 characters (yes, including spaces) this

can be a challenging venue, however it can be done. Hash tags (#) organize conversations and At Signs (@) are the start of an address. Pinterest- The newest on the stage, this is all about finding oth-

ers with similar interest via visuals, but now businesses are using Pinterest to engage customers and post their photos in a contest setting. Easy to set up--by creating "Boards" and posting photos to those categories. You Tube - Be funny and unique, keep it short (under two min-

utes).Drive traffic from other social channels.Four Square - Tends to be a tool for the "20-30 something

crowd" whereby guests "Check In". Businesses can offer special promotions, however very short term is best. Some guests take pride in becoming the "Mayor" of an establishment, based on the number of check-in's for a given month.Ed. Note: Deirdre sent additional valuable information from this

session, but due to space limits, it will be posted at www.ldei.org.

Social Media 101

Lisa Weser, Sabrina Crider, Deirdre Michalski. Photo by CiCi Williamson.


LDEI ad 1/4 page 3.7917” X 5.0498” ?s: [email protected] 415 550 8175

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The Brock Circle Launched

The Launch of "The Brock Circle" at the Council of Delegates meeting took a surprising turn when Alice Gautsch Foreman (Seattle) issued a challenge that, by days’ end, would result in $20,000 in contributions and pledges.The Brock Circle, named for Grande Dame Carol Brock (New york), was

created by the LDEI Board under President Mary Moore to support major initiatives including the annual Conference. According to Board reports, even with rising partner contributions, the organization still struggles to keep regis-tration costs low, underwriting each attendee’s registration fee by about $106.That’s when Alice challenged the group to look inside for the answer. "Ladies,

we appreciate everything our partners do for us, but it’s time we started taking care of ourselves!" She pledged to match contributions up to $5,000 in honor of pioneering Dames like Jeanne Voltz-MacKnight, Claire Boasi, Dolores Snyder, Julie Dannenbaum and Carol Brock. Carol showed her approval by blowing a kiss from the front row as Alice predicted, "Together, we can raise $1 million dollars by 2022."At the award banquet that evening, Vanessa Trost (New york), passed an

empty wine bucket through the banquet crowd. Dames of Atlanta kicked things off with a $10,000 pledge and personal pledges and contributions brought the total to $20,000.Alice said, "I hope chapters will do a (similar) challenge and encourage dona-

tions to The Brock Circle." She added, "The key, is to have all members and chapters investing, be it large or small amounts." She exclaimed, "We know this works; just look what happened at the banquet!"LDEI President Mary Ellen Griffin added, "By pledging or donating

$10,000 over a ten year period, you become a recognized member of The Brock Circle. All contributions will go toward making a difference to the strength of Annual Conference and LDEI in general."Please consider sending your tax deductible contribution to LDEI earmarked for

"The Brock Circle" fund.--Lori Willis (St. Louis)

The River City of Great Foodl e g a c y a w a r d s l u n c h e o n


The LDEI Legacy Awards Luncheon showed that Dames can make dreams come true. A committee co-chaired by Marsha Palanci and Toria Emas, selected and paired non-Dame women coming into the culinary industry with LDEI’s most accomplished and talented Dames for a one week extern-ship to experience the industry up close and personal.This year the number of awards was doubled

from three recipients to six thanks to a gener-ous contribution of the Julia Child Foundation. Awards are granted in four categories: Wine, Culinary, Specialty Foods, and Farm to Table. Hosted by Kikkoman Sales USA, Helen Rob-

erts, Kikkoman’s Manager of Culinary Devel-opment, planned the luncheon with a Mexican flair in honor of the 2013 LDEI conference to be held in Austin, TX. The dishes – all subtly containing Kikkoman products, were paired with Wente Double Decker wines. On the lun-cheon tables were colorful bowls of tortilla chips surrounded by smaller bowls of fresh Chunky Western Guacamole and Mango Ponzu Salsa. Ready to take the heat off the spicy appetizers were 2011 Decker Pinot Grigio and 2012 Double Decker Red Blend wine. Helen welcomed Dames and four of the six recipi-ents in attendance. Amy Hoopes of Wente Fam-

ily Estates toasted the winners.The first course was a Lime

Ponzu Shrimp and Corn Salsa, succulent shrimp topped with chunky fresh salsa in a shallow bowl. The main course was a Southwestern Chicken Salad, an array of young lettuces, with bite size pieces of tender chicken perfectly dressed. The finishing touch: Tres Leches (Three Milks) Cake.Attending were Jodie Battles and Karie

Dolph, both winners of the Wine Legacy Award; Kubee Kassay, a Culinary Legacy winner; and Gida Snyder, a Specialty Food Legacy winner. Co-chairs Toria and Marsha emceed the program and introduced the women. As each spoke of her weeklong expe-rience, it became more and more evident that Dames are women with compassion, creativ-ity and camaraderie who help other women.For Jodie, it was her first time in wine coun-

try. Hosted by Carolyn Wente and Amy Hoopes, she stressed that there is no substitute for getting your hands in the soil up and follow-ing the grapes from the vine to the table. For Karie, inspiration came from a series of

luncheons and dinners with the women of Wente--women who take big steps and make big decisions and commitments.Gida, who was mentored by Paula Lambert

for a week at the Mozzarella Company, de-lighted in realizing that “Artisan can still be a business. Kubee’s life has been a journey since arriving from Ethiopia 15 years ago. Of her experience, she said, “Dreams do come true!” She spent a week with Margaret Chisholm, Executive Chef, Culinary Capers Catering in Vancouver, British Columbia.The Legacy Awards epitomize what Dames

do on a daily basis, and as Mary Moore stated, “If you are not proud to be a Dame after that, I don’t know what could change your mind!” –Ann-Michelle Albertson Ed. Note: Read the reports from the six

Legacy Award winners in the spring LDEI Quarterly.

Left to right: Toria Emas, Gida Snyder, Kubee Kassay, Jodie Battles, Karie Dolph, Marcia Palanci. Helen Roberts, Kikkoman. Amy Hoopes, Wente Family Estates.

“Dreams Do Come True”


Compiled By CiCi Williamson (Washington, DC)

Impressions of My First LDEI Conferencef i r s t - t i m e a t t e n d e e s

you’ve heard the “company” line: Until you’ve attended an LDEI Conference, you don’t see the whole picture of our organization. After you’ve attended, you “get” it. I decided to find out what first-time Dames thought after attending their first conference, so I sent out emails to Dames who had those blue ribbons attached to their name badges stamped “FIRST-TIME ATTENDEE.” I asked for three sentences – short and sweet but longer than a tweet. Here’s what ten of them replied.

Toni Manning (Boston)“What a pleasure to meet so many incred-ible women in the food and related in-dustries! I found the programs of interest and hard to choose between them when there were concurrent sessions. And, of course, the foods and beverages were top-notch at every meal. Great job St. Louis!

Bev Shaffer (Cleveland)“I’ve attended many conferences over my culinary career, but this was my first (and not the last!) LDEI Conference. Several things come to mind: warm, welcoming women; willing to share in-formation and ideas; lots of opportunity for networking, fun and career learning. Thank you St. Louis!”

Liz Gunderson (Minneapolis)“I was honored to be a part of a gathering of so many amazing and accomplished women. The seminars were on-target--I especially enjoyed the social media pieces. What left the biggest impression, though, was the charm with which the St. Louis chapter welcomed us.”

Arnell Hinkle (San Francisco)“The LDEI conference was a thoroughly enjoyable and holistic experience for me - my Spirit was rejuvenated by the warmth of the attend-ees and fabulous St. Louis Chapter hospitality; my Body was nourished with so many delicious foods and wines (including Soy Sauce Ice Cream); and my Mind was engaged by several new concepts (i.e., Message Maps, provi-sioning needs for Lewis & Clark). I had a blast!”

Cecily Hoffius (St. Louis)“Being on the Host Com-mittee for my first confer-ence gave me a different perspective. I enjoyed working behind the scenes on the social events and in the Hospitality Suite. I know I will enjoy attending the Conference in Austin and getting to attend more meetings and events.”

Molly Hancock (Seattle)“The St. Louis LDEI Con-ference was an enjoyable and worthwhile experience for me. This was my first con-ference as an attendee--I was a ‘working volunteer’ when Seattle hosted the confer-ence in 2003. The break-out sessions were varied and informative and it was so great to meet and network with Dames from across the country. The St Louis Dames were so welcoming, and the conference organization was absolutely seamless. I can't wait to go to the Austin conference in 2013!”

Danene Beedle (St. Louis)“I found the LDEI confer-ence to be inspiring and refreshing! As busy women, I feel it’s important to take time out of our hectic schedules to network, re-charge, and remember why we are in our chosen fields. I met several women who inspired me to push forward both personally and professionally. Strength, Courage and Wisdom flowed freely at this year’s conference.”

Lisa Cox (Houston)“What an ex-perience! I was up each morn-ing just a little after 6 a.m. to get ready as if I were going into my office, and AI attended almost every event. So much info to take in and so many new Dames to get to know! I’m not an officer or a board member--just an attendee, I’m pretty sleep deprived. It was well worth at-tending. I’m glad to have had the experience.”

Judy Bellos (St. Louis)“My first experience attending an LDEI confer-ence coupled with the excitement of being the host chapter. I loved every moment of working and planning with our outstanding St Louis Dames and with Greg Jewell and his team. My greatest THRILL was watching all our hard work unfold into what we hoped would be a fine confer-ence, tied up with my memories of meeting so many inspiring and gracious Dames. It couldn’t have been any better.”

Judith Winfrey (Atlanta)I am so proud to be a new Dame. The conference only affirmed my gratitude and excitement for the opportunity to share space with and learn from such an outstanding group of bril-liant, accomplished, witty, gracious and wise women. I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to keep such great company.

The River City of Great FoodM F K F i s h e r a w a r d b a n q u e t

An Evening of

By Lori Willis (St. Louis)Centerpieces glowing on satin cloths; fine

wines flowing; delicious foods plated by a female chef; modern gowns with sequins and period costumes accented with feath-ers, pearls and grandmother’s hand-tatted lace; recognition of a literary talent; and the passing of the presidential gavel. All together, the M.F.K. Fisher award banquet was an evening of grand gestures.LDEI President Mary Moore (Atlanta)

welcomed 130 Dames and guests to the culminating event of the “Meet Me in St. Louis” Conference. She and Amy Hoopes of Wente Vineyards saluted each wine-paired course starting off the evening with a toast of 2008 Wente Vineyards Brut. Following an artfully plated farmer’s lettuce salad with shaved baby vegetables, goat cheese and sugar cane dressing, guests dined on Alaska Seafood’s seared Alaska Black Cod with sweet pea risotto and tomato jam and on Certified Angus Beef ’s® Vidalia onion-encrusted filet mignon with truffle whipped potato, roasted cauliflower, aspara-

gus and parsnip puree. Desert was honey panna cotta with citrus pearls and opal basil courtesy of the National Honey Board.Mary explained that the award, named for

renowned food writer the late Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher, was launched in 1992 as a culinary honor. In 2005, the award was retooled to become the, “The MFK Fisher Award for Excellence in Culinary Writing” and is presented biennially. CiCi William-son (Washington, DC) has chaired the past four award cycles.Before presenting the top award, CiCi

offered a lively talk encompassing food humor, history and readings from contest entries written by 13 Dames. She gifted the host chapter with a jar of handmade ice cream cones discovered on a recent trip to Norfolk, VA. The cones were created on the same machine Abe Doumar invented after introducing the ice cream cone at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. CiCi marveled, “you see, food history never ends.”CiCi introduced Jess Thomson, a cook-

book author, recipe tester, and food writer from Seattle. Jess’ article, “Saffron: Spendy

Threads,” published on the Internet site LeitesCulinaria.com, prevailed over an im-pressive 83 entries from writers in England, Canada, and 19 states earning the presti-gious award along with a $1000 cash prize. “Saffron,” does a wonderful job of human-izing the demanding craft of raising and harvesting saffron in Washington State.Jess paid tribute to her inspiration, Jim

Robinson, a man she described as “half plant,” who grows saffron on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula (“He keeps it in a yel-low tackle box underneath a blanket under the plants”) and with whom she shares a special bond. Both suffer from lupus, a rare disease that affects the autoimmune system and requires Jim to take extra measures to guard against the sun, adding to his mystique.She conjured images of a man who was at

once intimidating and endearing. Through Jess’ interpretations, you could almost pic-ture Jim, with earth and stains from crocus stigmas under his nails, tenderly extracting saffron from his flowers.Perhaps it was that tenderness that re-

Grand Gestures

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Ashley James, KatherineNewellSmith, Victo-riaTaylor.

minded the young author of her grandmoth-er, Merle, an avid cook and art historian who passed in 2001, leaving Jess, “…enough money to pay for some of culinary school and she left me exactly two books: Larousse Gastronomique, with its introduction by Escoffier, and a tattered teal-covered copy of MFK Fisher’s The Art of Eating.”Jess thanked Les Dames for reconnecting

her with her grandmother’s memory, “in a way you could never have anticipated.” She added, “It makes me so, so happy to know that my work gets shared, and that people like Jim Robinson might make you think twice about how much you’re paying for food grown by real people somewhere not too far from your front door.”Mary Moore recognized Alice Gautsch

Foreman‘s pledge to match $5,000 for the Carol Brock initiative. Alice said, “Ladies, it’s time we started taking care of ourselves.” The Atlanta Chapter led the charge; pledges and cash donations started flowing.Mary brought the evening to a close saying,

“I love this organization and know that I would not be where I am today personally

or professionally if not for this extraordinary sisterhood.” She laughed, “I have to admit, contemplating leading over 1,500 “Type A” women was daunting! However the support of an outstanding Board, my incredible At-lanta Chapter (my biggest fans), the amazing past presidents who are friends and mentors, my dedicated team at The Cook’s Ware-house, and the patience and encouragement my partner Betty Willis, made that daunting task achievable.”Finally, with her trademark humility and

grace, Mary transferred the gavel to a wom-an she described as a “very capable leader with the dedication, discipline, passion and business savvy that will serve this organiza-tion incredibly well. Ladies, I present to you LDEI President Mary Ellen Griffin.”And, in perhaps the grandest gesture of

them all, total contributions stemming from Alice’s challenge quickly swelled to $20,000 bringing the evening and the St. Louis Con-ference to a successful close.Special thanks to the banquet commit-

tee, Judy Bellos and Ces Hoffius, and to Schnuck Markets, who donated the flowers.

1.Sue Huffman Robinson, LoriWillis and KathyGott-sacker. Photo by Robert C. Holt III.

2.LDEI President Mary Moore applauds Ritz-Carlton chefs.

3.Inspired by the LDEI logo, Schnuck Floral Designer Michael Schrader incorporated green grapes on lighted ice within the fabulous centerpieces.

4.St. Louis Dames enjoy the banquet.

5.Farmer’s lettuce salad with shaved baby veg-etables, goat cheese and sugar cane dressing.

6.Jess Thomson, MFK Fisher Award Winner; CiCi Williamson, Award Chair.

7.Ashley James, Katherine Newell Smith, Victoria Taylor.

8.Beth Davis-Noragon. Photo by Lori Willis.

9.LDEI President Mary Moore

10.CiCi Williamson(at podium) introduces M.F.K. Fisher Award winner.

11-13.Dames dress in vintage clothing typical of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. Left to right: Crickett Karson, Carol Brock, Julie Jones, Phyllis Ann Marshall, and Deidre Michalski. Photos by Robert C. Holt III.

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Jennifer Goldman and auction chair Deidre Schipani. Marion Sullivan

hosted a lunch on October 23 at the Culinary Institute of Charleston’s Palmer Campus Restaurant to honor the chap-ter’s 2012 LDEI scholarship winners. Chef Instructor Scott Sfeffanelli and Dining Room Instructor Lisa Buzzelli and their engaging young students greeted Dames and their guests with champagne and appetiz-ers. A seasonal prix fixe lunch of inspired dishes followed, highlight-ing local ingredients. Dames remarked that every delectable bite was over-the-top. Paige Crone said it was a lovely way to welcome scholar-ship recipients Sarah Dufour and Dori Sotirova from the Charleston Culinary Institute, and Angela Welch, a student at The Art Institute of Charleston. CHICAGO Carol HaddixDiane Morgan started thinking about writing a "Roots" cookbook

after she bought a large celeriac (celery root) at a farmer’s market stand and a woman said, "What's that?" After buying her celeriac, Morgan saw a pile of brown stick-like roots and asked the farmer, "What's that?" It then hit her. "We all need a guide to edible roots," including the burdock roots in front of her.A Celebration of Roots: The Definitive Compendium with More Than

225 Recipes (Chronicle, $40) was introduced at a NAHA restaurant luncheon jointly sponsored by Chicagourmets and the Chicago Chap-ter. Green City Market helped supply the roots dramatically displayed and used by Carrie Nahabedian in the bountiful four-course menu from the books recipes.The menu was house-made ginger ale and carrot margaritas; a rich

parsnip and potato soup with a purple potato and bacon garnish; a beet salad with prosciutto, roasted persimmons, bitter greens, salsify and Roquefort; and a chicken fricassee with parsley root, golden chante-relles, farro salad, roasted rutabaga, goat cheese and hazelnuts. When the dessert platter arrived, some of the guests said they couldn’t eat any more. But with one look at the unique arrangement of the malanga coconut balls, ginger panna cotta, ginger snaps, red velvet cupcake and lotus root upside-down cake, their objections vanished, and everyone marveled about the versatility of root vegetables.

DENVERCarrie H Stebbins, CWEOn November 8, Carrie Stebbins hosted a Spanish wine and Tapas

pairing event at Johnson and Wales University. Six Spanish wines were paired with a variety of tasty tapas prepared by Kristen Cofrades, co-

ATL ANTAStacy Zeigler October’s event was about sausage making, craft beers, and Dame

authors. Delia Champion, owner of Delia’s Chicken Sausage Stand, showed us how to make the chicken sausage perfected over 15 years. Dames sampled it along with beer at The Wrecking Bar, a local brew-pub owned by Holly Beach’s husband. It was also Author’s Night where Dame cookbook authors shared their stories about getting published and sold autographed copies. Thanks to Millie Coleman, Doris Ko-plin, Shirley Corriher, Susan Nicholson and Cynthia Graubart for presenting this first-ever event. Lastly, we heard stories from our “Dame In The Limelight,” Judith Winfrey, and her connections and contribu-tions to Food Day.

BOSTONLucille Saccone Giovino“Summertime and the livin’ is easy” and so was the hot month of

August in New England. Joan Sweeney hosted a traditional Hawai-ian Luau on her lakeside property, Little Island Pond. The ambience and food were exceptional as was the occasional swish of hula skirts! A sixty-pound pig, transported from Amish country in Pennsylvania, was roasted to perfection. Dames brought side dishes, and the house specialty, “Little Island Pond Punch” was served from a punch bowl belonging to Joan’s grandfather, Executive Chef Louis Turco. In October, 35

Dames, including new members and prospective candidates, attended the first of the season's Dames Dine Out at Towne Stove and Spirit. Owner and chef, Lydia Shire prepared a magnificent dinner of Pump-kin Bisque with Cape Scallops, Berkshire Pork Rack, and Pear Tart with Prune-Armagnac Ice Cream, especially flavorful because Lydia added an extra splash of French brandy a la Julia! The four long tables were decorated with priceless miniature culinary memorabilia from Lydia's personal collection.

CHARLESTONSusan Fuller SlackAutumn Affair, our second annual scholarship fundraiser, was held at

Lowndes Grove Plantation along the Ashley River. The ticket included a choice of over 100 wines to sample plus Lowcountry specialties like Sarah O’Kelley’s shrimp and grits, Callie’s Charleston Biscuits, and handmade lasagna from Celia’s of Charleston. The entire chapter con-tributed to the event’s success. Special thanks to event organizer

Compiled byJoan Reardon (Chicago)

Charleston President Danielle Wecksler and Secretary Paige Crone.

owner of the Early Bird Restaurant, who was assisted by Johnson and Wales’ students.On December 11, Holly Arnold Kinney hosted a potluck holiday din-

ner at her home. Each member attending will bring her favorite holiday dish. This event is one of the most popular each year.

HAWAIIDorothy ColbyThe chapter has eight new members. Four are from the Island of Ha-

waii and four, from Oahu. A new member welcome brunch was held on September 30 in Waikiki at MAC 24/7 Bar & Restaurant. The event was attended by (left to right) Beth Iwata, Barbara Campbell, Dorothy Colby, Soleil Fusha, Angela Leilani Terry, Tish Uyehara, and Cheryl To. New mem-bers are Emi Chang Espinda, Carolyn Deal, Noel Pietsch Shaw, Angela Leilani Terry, Jill Nordby, Amy Ferguson, Lorna Larsen-Jeyte, and Emily Peacock.

HOUSTONAlyce EysterHouston Dames gathered to raise money for scholarship funds and

celebrate Octoberfest at Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company. They sampled beer and enjoyed light bites from Houston’s Revival Market. Buffalo Brew owner Rassul Zarinfar shared insights into his beer operation, Open the Taps--a grassroots organization of craft beer consumers, Texas beer laws and Houston’s colorful beer history.In November we raised a glass to Julia Child on her 100th birthday at a

special dinner at Houston’s Culinary Institute LeNotre’s Kris Bistro. The menu was inspired by Julia Child’s 100 favorite recipes. We also honored Marie LeNotre, founder and director of the Institute, for her contribu-tions to exemplary culinary education and her recent awarding of the French Knight of the National Order of Merit Medal. KANSAS CIT yJudith M. FertigThe chapter celebrat-

ed Julia Child's 100th Birthday on Nov. 8 at the home of Louise Meyers with a menu that included Coq au Vin and special French birthday cakes.On November 11 at

1:00 p.m. at Revocup in Overland Park, Kansas, we celebrated an Ethiopian coffee ceremony and tasting. From roasting and grinding North African coffee beans to unique brewing and serving, the event offered an experience to be savored!

PHIL ADELPHIALari RoblingPutting “food” into Food Day was the focus of our chapter in a joint

event with Slow Food Philadelphia. Representatives in the forefront of the region’s sustainable food movement offered a detailed look into their work with a small trade show. Aliza Green joined participants for a panel discussing the history and future of the area’s food system.The highlight of the program was a bountiful buffet luncheon provided

by Philadelphia Dames. Local ingredients were stars in cre-ative vegetable dishes by Kathy Gold, Lynn Logg, Moon Krapugthong, Lynn Buono, Aliza, and Rita Cinelli’s culi-nary students. Our Green Table members, Linda Geren and Hilary Bor, teamed up to use Linda’s own sustainably raised pork. Main dishes were also prepared by Angie Brown and Marie Stecher. Participants lingered to discuss Food Day topics over desserts prepared by Marie Connell and Linda. Chapter President Kathy Gold said, “Partnering with Slow Food,

whose mission so closely mirrors our Green Table initiatives, created an opportunity to showcase our local bounty. “Kathy noted that the program was a unique way to bring to the public

the work of diverse organizations from sustainable farming to urban health and hunger.

SAN ANTONIOJulia Celeste RosenfeldThe San Antonio chapter joined the LDEI celebration of Julia Child’s

birthday with a sold-out luncheon and auction on August 26 at the swanky new Éilan Resort Hotel & Spa. Julia was there with us – in spirit and in jest – as 6’6” Hinnerk von Bargen, a Chef Instructor at the Culi-nary Institute of America-San Antonio, donned a chambray shirt, skirt, apron and wig for a very public cooking demo of her Lobster Newburg recipe found only in Cooking with Les Dames d’Escoffier. She, I mean“he,” was assisted by Jacques Pepin, as played by Parisian Philippe Placé, manager at the hotel’s restaurant Sustenio.A cadre of Dames cooked, baked and

demonstrated the techniques of Julia-inspired hors d’oeuvres as guests snacked on the delicious bites. The stellar special guests nearly outshone the meal including lobster, caviar, sturgeon, and duck. Chef Sara Moulton, whose early career was shaped by Julia, and Chef Stephan Pyles, who knew Julia well, shared sweet memories of times with her. Chef Moulton, one of LDEI’s first scholarship recipients, assisted our co-presidents in presenting checks to our three scholarship winners.As the event closed, our chapter volunteers raised a toast to Julia. Her

joie de vivre had helped us raise nearly $55,000 for our chapter. And her legendary personality had drawn friends and strangers together for a worthy cause.

SAN DIEGOCaron GoldenOur Annual Meeting

and dinner was pre-pared by Dawn Parks at Wild Thymes, her catering headquarters. Our new members vary from chefs and caterers to food writers, restau-rateurs, and farmers.



IN MEMORIAM Patrice Gales Benson (Seattle)

By Braiden Rex-Johnson Long-time Seattle Dame Patrice Gales Benson passed away at home on July 25, 2012, surrounded by her husband, Dr. Edward Benson; daughters Katie and Jill; and close family and friends. She was 59 years old. Truly a Renaissance woman, Patrice was one of the

original employees of Amgen, a leading biotechnology company, as well as a world-renowned mycologist (the study of mushrooms). Among the adjectives used to describe Patrice at her celebration of life: “nurturer;” “the Marquesa of mushrooms;” and “a real, authentic person.” Perhaps the best tribute: Patrice was “grounded by knowledge, winged by wisdom." Patrice remains in the hearts of all members of the Seattle Chapter.

We already are feeling the energy of our new Dames, who boosted our membership to 39. As First VP Candy Wallace says, “We all have so much to offer and share. The community and our scholarship recipients will reap the benefits while we all enjoy one another. It’s a whole new ballgame and it’s going to be a fun ride!” The new San Diego Public Market is the brainchild of new member

Catt White. A commemorative tile in our name shows our chapter’s donation to its founding. On September 12, a large group of us met up with Catt for a private tour of the two-acre property, followed by lunch. SAN FRANCISCOFran GageNancy Ash, Jacquelyn Buchanan, Mary Fairbanks Constant, Cathy

Jörin, Jennifer Newens, and Catherine Pantsios, joined the San Francisco Chapter at the induction dinner held at Gayle Pirie’s Foreign Cinema restaurant on September 24, 2012. After sipping Negroni cocktails, courtesy of Gayle, and enjoying tasty hors d’oeuvres, new and current members enjoyed a choice of four main courses: Roasted beets, potatoes and tomatoes, horseradish yogurt, leaves of gem romaine, and Tunisian spices; Sesame fried chicken, hummus, sultanas, Moroccan honey and Bloomsdale spinach; Pacific tuna seared rare with Persian spices, fava beans, tapenade, haricot vert, and Early Girl tomato vinaigrette; Grilled pimentón bavette steak, fried potatoes, mini charms, basil, and sauce Bearnaise. For a sweet ending, we enjoyed chocolate pot de crème, Grand Marnier crème and cocoa nibs.The chapter proudly awarded $1,500--its third annual Karola Saekel

Craib Excellence in Food Journalism Fellowship, to Twilight Green-away, food editor at Grist, grist.org.Twilight writes about food trends, food justice, and agriculture/farm issues and her articles have appeared in the New York Times, Good, Bay Citizen, Edible San Francisco, Bold Italic, and Civil Eats.

SEAT TLEBraiden Rex-JohnsonIn late September, the Seattle Chapter presented Fish Tales & Pike

Ales, a progressive educational dinner and fundraiser at Pike Pub & Brewery. Located in downtown Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market, and owned by Rose Ann Finkel and her husband, Charles, Pike Brewing Company crafts 14 world-class beers; serves local, sustainable food; and is family and environmentally friendly. During the event, 100“a-fish-io-nados” were “schooled” by commercial fishers and seafood-savvy experts on the virtues of wild seafood, with an emphasis on the attributes and advantages of using frozen products.The event’s major donor (and a new LDEI partner), the Alaska Sea-

food Marketing Institute, supplied a majority of the evening’s seafood, including Alaskan-caught sockeye salmon, Pacific cod, snow-crab claws, and King crab. Dishes prepared by Dames--Lisa Dupar’s King Crab

Chowder, Thoa Nguyen’s Thai-Style Cod Wraps, and the Pub’s signature Spicy Wild Salmon (salmon stuffed with a Dungeness crab cake) --were paired with appropriate Pike Brewing Com-pany microbrews and donated wines from Washington State.The fundraiser grossed more than $7,700, including $805 in ticket

sales for a $500 raffle basket filled to overflowing with a Kindle Fire HD, a gift card for e-books, and a bevy of Dames-donated items. Net proceeds of Fish Tales & Pike Ales will help the Seattle Chapter to continue to fund culinary-education scholarships, community-outreach programs, and sustainable-agriculture projects in Washington State.

WASHINGTON, DCCiCi Williamson“Fresh Inspirations from the Abruzzo Region of Italy” was the theme

for a sold-out luncheon and talk in September. Golnaz Feiz, General Manager of Assaggi Osteria in McLean, VA, hosted the exceptional meal, and Domenica Marchetti, author of four cookbooks including The Glorious Pasta of Italy, gave a talk about Abruzzese cuisine.Domenica told us that cooks of Abruzzo are masters at turning simple

ingredients into enticing repasts. In this mountainous and wild land located in central Italy from the Apen-nine Mountains east to the Adriatic Sea, pasta is the preferred primo piatto, and typical is maccheroni alla chitarra, “guitar” pasta, cut into square “spaghetti” using a wooden box with strings. Chile peppers, saffron, artichokes, cardoons, legumes, and potatoes are a few of their favorite ingredients.Chef Owner Domenico Cornacchia and Chef de Cuisine Daniele

Bolognese of Assaggi Osteria, prepared a personalized menu for Les Dames featuring the cover recipe from Domenica’s book, Chitarrina all’ Abruzzese (“Guitar“ pasta with a traditional Pallottine sauce), consist-ing of tiny pencil-eraser size meatballs that take hours to prepare. Also featured were “Abruzzesi“ canapés, cod fish with friggitelli peppers and rosemary “Giuliese,” and ricotta cheese cake with “Navelli” saffron.

Left to right: Daniele Bolognese, Domenica Marchetti, Domenico Cornacchia, and Golnaz Feiz. Photo by CiCi Williamson.


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77223_12_Breville_UBREW_FINAL2.indd 1 8/29/12 9:37 AM


ATLANTACynthia Graubart published Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking (Gibbs-Smith, November 2012), co-authored with Nathalie Dupree (Charleston). The definitive 720-page guide captures the best of regional culinary treasures celebrating the culmination of Nathalie’s 40-year career and their mutual 25-year relationship with Southern Food.

Virginia Willis was added to the Food52.com Hotline Expert Panel as their MVP on Southern cooking and was a “chef-testant” on Food Network’s “Chopped” November 27.

BOSTONMary Ann Esposito, PBS chef and author, completed filming the 24th season of the “Ciao Italia” PBS series with major sponsor Filippo Berio Olive Oil. She escorted trips to Italy and continues promotion of Ciao Italia Family Classics.

Lisa Ekus and Virginia Willis (Atlanta) will speak and demo (respectively) at the February 2013 World Gourmand Cookbook Fair in Paris. In January, They will also present their “Honing Edge Media Skills” workshop at the Janu-ary Food BloggerSouth, Birmingham. The Lisa Ekus Group celebrated their 30th year business anniversary and the completion of the 300th book deal.

BRITISH COLUMBIANicky Major, owner and guiding chef of one of Vancouver’s oldest catering firms, Major the Gourmet, was inducted into British Columbia Restaurant Hall of Fame established to recognize individuals in the restau-rant industry who have made significant contributions. The category is Pioneers of the BC Restaurant Industry.

Shannon Washbrook is the new Director of Opera-tions for Vera’s Burger Shack. The company has 11 locations in the Metro Vancouver area.

Pam Williams and Ecole Chocolat announce the publication of the book, Raising the Bar: The Future of Fine Chocolate. The book journeys from cacao gene and cocoa bean to chocolate bar and bonbon -- gauging the future of the world’s finest chocolate through the eyes of people who live chocolate every day.

DALLASPaula Lambert launched Viaggi Deliziosi, a small company focusing on culinary travel in Italy. This year, Paula conducted culinary experiences for small groups of food lovers at a gorgeous Tuscan villa. In October, she led a tour of Umbria to places she loved living there 40 years ago.

Compiled by Hayley Matson-Mathes (Hawaii)

Sharon Van Meter celebrated the grand opening of her new event venue, 3015 at Trinity Groves development in historic West Dallas. Wanting to recognize and give back to the surrounding neigh-borhood, 3015’s grand opening benefitted Hunger Busters, a charity which provides “3rd meals” to needy school children.

Gladys Howard received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cayman Islands Tourism Associa-tion (CITA) on June 24th 2012. She has previously received the CITA Long Time Service Award and the Queen’s Badge of Honor.

HOUSTONCarla Buerkle, food stylist, shot a Middle Eastern cookbook with Manal Alalem. It contains 100 recipes and photos. Carla researched, planned, and collected props for the cookbook for well over a year. She also worked with Julie Hettiger on Cooking with Les Dames D’Escoffier.

Merrianne Timko, culinary historian, presented a paper on the culinary friendship between the writer Lawrence Durrell and British food writer Elizabeth David at the Lawrence Durrell Centenary conference in London in June. The topic generated keen interest among those focusing on literary aspects of Durrell, including his Alexandria Quartet.

Deborah L. Woehler, MS, RD, LD, Executive Director of the Oliver Foundation received a $193,000 grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) through its “Healthy Kids, Healthy Families” initiative. The commitment is to teach kids and families to Make Healthy Choices for Life!® and focuses on preventing childhood obesity.

Marie LeNotre, Culinary Institute LeNotre, was officially knighted and presented the Merit Medal by the French Knight of the National Order of Merit. Star Chefs Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller and Jerome Bocuse, as well as Culinary Institute LeNotre students, alumni and friends gath-ered to celebrate.

KANSAS CITYKathy Moore and Roxanne Wyss, The Electrified Cooks, LLC, have authored three new books published this fall: The Big Book of Babycakes Cupcake Maker Recipes, The Big Book of Babycakes Cake Pop Maker Recipes and The Triple Slow Cooker Entertaining Cookbook (Robert Rose, Inc.).

LOS ANGELESSuzanne Dunaway’s book No Need To Knead will was republished in No-vember by Grub Street Publishers in London. The book, which was origi-nally nominated for The James Beard Award, will be in a newly designed format with measurements in both American and European quantities.

Deirdre Michalski has launched a new web site and blog site, www.Taste-sAndTravel.com offering cooking and travel adventures, restaurant reviews, chef interviews, and tech-na-gadgets.

Grande Dame Anne Willan, founder of L’École de Cuisine La Varenne, published The Cookbook Library: Four Centuries of the Cooks, Writers and Recipes That Made the Modern Cookbook (University of California Press, 2012). The book has received rave reviews from many large newspapers and the Times Literary Supplement. Photo: Siri Berting.

NEW YORKKaren Page and her husband and co-author Andrew Dornenburg--award-winning authors of The Food Lover’s Guide to Wine and What to Drink with What You Eat, were invited to lecture at Bedell Cellars on Long Island’s North Fork on October 14.

PHILADELPHIAKathy Gold’s business, In The Kitchen Cooking School, in Haddonfield, NJ, was named Best of The Best of South Jersey 2012. The school is celebrating its 6th year.

PHOENIxMichelle Dudash, RD, announces the release of her first cookbook, Clean Eating for Busy Families: Get

Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart

Nicky Major

Pam Williams

Paula Lambert

Gladys Howard

Anne Willan

Michelle Dudash

Meals on the Table in Minutes with Simple and Satisfying Whole-Foods Recipes You and Your Kids Will Love. www.michelledudash.com.

ST. LOUISJulia M. Usher announces the release of her online cookie decorating video series. The 16-lesson series covers simple to advanced topics and is designed for professionals and hobbyists. http://cn.youreeeka.com/producer/277273). See Julia’s site to become an affiliate: www.juliausher.com

Dee Dee Kohn passed her Certified Sommelier exam through the Court Masters Sommeliers and the Certified Specialist in Wine exam through the Society of Wine Educators in October 2012.

SAN ANTONIOKaren Haram, San Antonio-Express News Food Editor, won the “best newspaper food section in the country” in her circulation category for the Taste section. The Association of Food Journalists’ competition drew 280 entries in 15 categories.

Leslie Horne and Nichole Bendele serve on the board of the Texas Center for Wine & Culinary Arts (TC-WCA), a 30,000 sq. ft. facility located in downtown Fredericksburg, TX. It is dedicated to the awareness, understanding, and celebration of Texas food, wine, and agriculture through educational programming and hands-on experiences.

SAN DIEGOCandy Wallace is the founder of The American Personal & Private Chef As-sociation. The APPCA was recently inducted into the Denver-based Culinary Hall of Fame joining recent notable inductees CIA, Food Network’s “Iron Chef America” and Share Our Strength.

Janet Burgess was featured in the December 2012 is-sue of San Diego Home and Garden Lifestyles Magazine in an article about her first book, CHOP, COOK, MUNCH! (June 2012) and healthy cooking classes for kids at her school, 4littleCOOKS Hands on Cooking School for Kids.

Caron Golden won four awards for food writing from The San Diego Press Club’s Excellence in Journalism awards competition. Her awards were for a story in Edible San Diego, two blogs on San Diego Foodstuff, and her radio show “Wine & Dine San Diego.”

Carole Bloom has completed the manuscript for her 11th book, tentatively titled Everything Caramel, to be published by Gibbs-Smith in fall 2013.

SAN FRANCISCOElaine Corn received a second grant from the Cali-fornia Council for the Humanities to explore the food history of Sacramento County beginning with the Gold Rush and including Sacramento’s role as America’s farm-to-table capital. Elaine will produce, write and narrate 12 features to air on Sacramento’s NPR affiliate.

Ann M. Evans received Outstanding Alumni from the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of California at Davis. She was honored for her pioneering contributions and leadership in the sus-tainable food movement. She works nationally on real food in schools through her firm, Evans & Brennan, with Georgeanne Brennan.

Deborah Rogers, The Olive Press in Sonoma and Napa, traveled to Washington, DC to celebrate the launch of the State Department’s Diplomatic Culinary Partnership Initiative. Her award-winning Arbequina and Picual extra virgin olive oils were featured at the reception and given to over 300 guests.

SEATTLEDebra Wegner, Principal of Recipe for Success, which consults for lifestyle businesses, was on a panel of experts that presented “Strategies for Increasing

your Restaurant Sales” at Grow Seattle and the Washington Business Cen-ter. Wegner focused on Social Media Basics and Email Marketing Options for hospitality-related small businesses.

Danielle Custer in partnership with Bon Appétit Management Company and Royal Gunter, launched Monte Cristo, a food truck featuring unique and flavorful grilled cheese sandwiches made with artisan cheeses and local breads. The menu also includes hearty soups and a diverse assortment of gooey, salty, crunchy, warm, and melted cheesy foods.

KärenJurgensen, Chef/Instructor, Seattle Culinary Academy and Quil-lisascut Farm School, was awarded the 2012 Sustainer Award from Chefs Collaborative for a being been a great mentor and a model to the culinary community through purchases of seasonal, sustainable ingredients and the transformation of these ingredients into delicious food.

Lisa Dupar, owner/founder of Pomegranate Bistro and Lisa Dupar Catering, was one of 14 from among a field of 200 women chosen as a 2012 Woman of Influence by the Puget Sound Business Journal. The award honors women in the region who have made a difference in their businesses, their industries, and their communities.

Gwenyth Bassetti, founder of Grand Central Bak-ery, received the 2012 Angelo Pellegrini Award for her lifetime contribution to food in the Puget Sound area. The Foundation celebrates the agricultural, viticultural, and culinary heritage and traditions of Angelo Pellegrini (a beloved Seattle-based professor, prolific author, and food-and-wine expert).

Kathy Casey’s Liquid Kitchen is now airing its third season on Small Screen Networks. Watch Kathy mix her talent behind the bar and experience as a chef into a creative journey through great drinks inspired by the kitchen. New episodes air every Tuesday at www.liquidkitchen.tv.

WASHINGTON, DCSheilah Kaufman lectured on “The History of Turk-ish Cuisine and the Sultan’s Kitchen” at the opening of the Ottoman exhibit at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. Representing Cookbook Con-struction Crew, she appeared on WUSA-TV Chan-nel 9 explaining how writing your own cookbook. Her business partner is Paula Jacobson.

Monica Bhide was recognized by Mashable as one of the top 10 Food Writers to Watch on Twitter. http://mashable.com/2012/07/18/food-writers-twit-ter/. Monica is the author of The Everything Indian Cookbook: 300 Tantalizing Recipes--From Sizzling Tandoori Chicken to Fiery Lamb Vindaloo and is also a spice columnist.

Lynne Breaux was honored as one of the region’s most influential business women at the “2012 Women Who Mean Business” awards celebration on November 15. The event is sponsored by the Wash-ington Business Journal and Capital One Bank.

Gail Forman was named the 2012 Dame of Distinc-tion by the chapter. Gail originated the chapter’s 20-year old biennial symposia “Celebrating FOOD!” and has been a longtime board member and program chair.

Amy Riolo and Domenica Marchetti spoke on a panel entitled “Calabria: Cuisine and Culture” at the National Italian American Foundation’s 37th Annual Conference followed by a wine education and tasting led by Al Tiramisu’s Owner/Chef/Sommelier Luigi Diotaiuti. Amy and Domenica are authors of several cookbooks on international cuisines.

CiCi Williamson received a USDA award for her contributions to film-ing an hour-long food safety TV show for the Pentagon Channel’s “Grill Sergeants” series. She also represented USDA teaching “Tailgating Food Safety” demos for the Taste of DC in October.

Karen Haram

Carole Bloom

Caron Golden

Deborah Rogers

Gwenyth Bassetti

Kathy Casey

Gail Forman

Sheilah Kaufman

DeaDlines 2013 SPRING ISSUE: JANUARY 15, 20132013 SUMMER ISSUE: APRIL 15, 20132013 FALL ISSUE: AUGUST 1, 20132014 WINTER ISSUE: NOVEMBER 8, 2013

PhotograPhy/imagesElectronic images must be properly focused and in color with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi (TIFF or JPEG). Cell phone photos are acceptable if they meet resolution requirements. Do not send photos taken off the internet or embedded with text in Word files or PDF files. Please identify individuals in photos from left to right in the message of your email. Include photo credits, if required, and captions. ALL PHOTOGRAPHS MUST COME WITH CAPTIONS TO BE PUBLISHED.

member milestones [email protected] DAME’S NAME and XXX CHAPTER. Each Dame may submit up to 50 words about honors or important business-related activities, as preferred, to appear in print. You may email a quality headshot to accompany your news. Press releases and cookbook covers are not accepted. Email your Member Milestone and photo to MM Editor, Hayley Matson-Mathes at [email protected] by the deadline listed above. Entries received after these dates may appear in a following issue. Photos of Dames networking at conferences or other chapter events may also be sent to this section.

ChaPter news [email protected] XX (By, the submitter's name, office or title, if any). Each Chapter may submit 250 words as you would like to see it in print. You may include photos to accompany your news, noting

photography requirements above. Submissions that exceed the word count will be edited. (A lengthy submission on a special chapter event could be considered for a feature; contact the editor in advance.) Press releases are not accepted. We regret we don't have space to print full menus but menu items can be included in the copy. Submissions not conforming to this format may not be printed due to deadlines and volunteer’s lack of time. Email to Joan Reardon at [email protected] by the date listed above. Entries received after this date may appear in the following issue.

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