Wanda English Burnett
Editor

Kick off the holiday season with the festivities at the Taste of Home cooking school set for November 19 at the South Ripley Elementary School cafeteria located on Benham Road in Versailles.

Come experience a special presentation by Culinary Specialist Dana Elliott as she cooks up some holiday shortcuts. You will catch her culinary passion as she whips up mouth-watering dishes such as Smoked Sausage-Spinach Salad, Italian Mini-Frittatas and more, right before your eyes. It’s like a cookbook coming to life as Elliott demonstrates eight recipes throughout the show, sprinkled with tips and techniques, tempting your taste buds.

Attendees will each receive a goodie bag filled with valuable coupons, many samples and gadgets plus three magazines filled with recipes and coupons.

“The bags are a great value this year,” noted Linda Chandler, publisher of the Osgood Journal and The Versailles Republican, media sponsor of the event. She noted that national and local sponsors have pulled out all the stops and given generously.

Among the door prizes are a microwave, freezer, crockpot, pressure cooker, blender, bags of groceries, and numerous valuable gift certificates.

The Taste of Home Holiday Recipe Card Collection 2009 is one of the magazines attendees will receive free. This has a newsstand price of $7.99 and is filled with taste tempting recipes.

The doors at the school will open at 5:00 p.m. Before the show, which begins at 7:00 p.m., there will be much more offered.

Nineteen booths will provide a buffet variety where attendees can sample products, sign up for additional free prizes - with some vendors offering cash and carry shopping.

At the Ripley Publishing Co. booth, you can purchase three different Taste of Home cookbooks and a variety of calendars.

Also with a new subscription to the Osgood Journal and The Versailles Republican you will receive a $20.00 gift certificate to one of these fine local restaurants: Bonaparte’s Retreat in Napoleon; The Reservation Restaurant in Milan; The Grub Co. in Osgood, and Crossroads in Versailles.

Other booths offering great deals include: The Friendship State Bank, Pat’s Bulk Food, Margaret Mary Community Hospital, Tupperware by Claudette Day, Buckeye Street Meats, A Touch of Country, Rainbow Books and Gifts, Simplicity Gourmet (featuring cookware), Avon by Donna Benning, Shacklee by Connie Kelley, candles by Joyce Scott, WorkArounz - family fitness, Gayle Boesken and Kathy Gray with whole food nutrition, Tastefully Simple by Bobbi Combs, Versailles Super Valu, WIKI, and Curves. The Dabney Baptist Church will be offering refreshments.

The Taste of Home Cooking School and Ripley Publishing Co. are proud to announce Cooks Who Care as part of this season’s cooking show.

Created by Taste of Home, Cooks Who Care is a pro-social effort to celebrate acts of caring by home cooks and communities across the country. Introduced as a magazine feature in October 2007, Cooks Who Care unites compassionate, real people across the country, who give back through food.

The Taste of Home Cooking School invites you to join in this effort by bringing non-perishable food items to the show on November 19. All items will be donated to local food pantries and benefit those in need throughout the community. “This is a great way to use a passion for food to help others. We’re really excited to add this element to the show,” noted Chandler.

This added feature allows those attending to have the opportunity to not only receive, but to give, which makes the holiday season complete.

“It’s so fun to see people at shows across the country bringing food items to donate,” adds culinary specialist Elliott. “It really touches my heart to see people caring enough to help out their community.”
Taste of Home Cooks Who Care has featured people across the country aiding those around them through their love for cooking. From stories of sending cookies to the troops to meals for the homeless and bake sales to help children in Africa, the ways to make a difference are endless. To learn more about Cooks Who Care and to share your story of giving back, visit www.tasteofhome.com.

You can also purchase a Cooks Who Care cookbook from Ripley Publishing Co. now or stop by our booth at the event November 19.

The evening promises lots of excitement that you won’t want to miss. Stop by Ripley Publishing Co. office at 115 S. Washington Street, Versailles or call 812-689-6364 today for ticket availability.