COOKING SCHOOL RETURNS TO CAPE GIRARDEAU APRIL 27

Southern Living Magazine will bring their unique brand of cooking and decorating tips to the Show Me Center Thursday, April 27.

This show will be all the more special in that it will mark the 25th anniversary of Southern Living's cooking schools.

"I'd like to think that everyone who attends will learn at least 25 new things," said Catherine Hall, cooking school coordinator for Southern Living.

This is one of 32 shows that the magazine will present this year.

Southern Living's cooking show was last in Cape Girardeau two years ago when it sold out to a crowd of 5,000. Pat Zellmer, local school coordinator who works as advertising director of the Southeast Missourian, expects another sellout this year. About 6,000 tickets are available in all at the two shows, 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Tickets are available from Cooking School sponsors: The Southeast Missourian, Schnucks and members of the Cape Girardeau Area Medical Alliance. Tickets are $3 in advance and $4 at the door.

Dennis Marchi, manager of Schnucks, said he has many long-distance inquiries about tickets. Zellmer has received phone calls from Southern Living Magazine subscribers in a 150-mile radius. That could be because it's the only Missouri or Illinois show on the spring schedule.

The two-hour show is completely different from two years ago, with all new recipes and a new stage, said Hall. The stage resembles a real living room and kitchen with a six-by-eight-foot TV screen for close-ups of the food preparation.

The show's theme is taking a taste tour of the South with such recipes as Pork Medallions in Creole Sauce, Blackened Salmon with Mango Salsa and a Triple Chocolate Pound Cake that Hall calls "phenomenal."

One of the 14 national sponsors is Weber Grill so there will be plenty of great outdoor cooking techniques as well, said Hall.

"We also will give some great decorating tips," she said. "We'll decorate for an afternoon tea party and a lazy summer afternoon."

Many of the tricks and tips demonstrated are learned in the Southern Living test kitchens. Rebecca Kracke, foods and entertaining specialist for Southern Living, will be in Cape Girardeau assisting Hall. When she's not on the road with the cooking school, she works in the Southern Living test kitchens.

The show will present brand new recipes that haven't been published in the magazine. All the recipes are included in a 130-page cookbook that will be distributed to all cooking school attendees, along with a courtesy bag chocked full with 30 to 50 recipes, coupons, magnets and other surprises.

Stadium seating is offered this year which means everyone will have a good view of the stage, said Zellmer. Seating is first-come, first-served. Doors will open two hours before each show begins so attendees can visit the 65 booths on the main Show Me Center floor.

A number of businesses and organizations will show their wares at the booths. Both Schnucks and the Southeast Missourian will offer food sampling at their booths. There will also be cooking demonstrations prior to show in the exhibit area.

Members of the area medical alliance are selling tickets and will help prepare for the show.

Barbie Gibbs and Laura Meese are helping to coordinate the volunteers. Gibbs said members will do all the grocery shopping and then prep the food the day before, measuring it carefully out four times.

"Every recipe is cooked four times -- twice at each show," said Gibbs, who helped with the cooking school two years ago.

She said about 20 members will help prep the food the day before the show, and 10 members will help the day of the show backstage and seating guests.

"We have a lot of fun doing it," she said. The medical alliance's share of the proceeds will go to charities that promote health, such as Teen Challenge.

In addition, the Southeast Missourian's share of the proceeds will go to the YELL Foundation, which promote literacy programs in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City and funds the Newspaper in Education programs.

Zellmer expects many repeat attendees from last time. "It's a wonderful show that's very professionally produced," she said. "It last two hours, is very entertaining and smells great."

The Southeast Missourian will also publish a recipe-laden special section with Southern Living Magazine recipes. It will be inserted into the newspaper April 23.

The Missourian will be debuting a new spiral-bound cookbook featuring Recipe Swap, a weekly food column authored by Susan McClanahan. The cookbook features nearly 630 recipes from area cooks, and will sell for $5. McClanahan will be handing out samples of Oyster Cracker Snack Mix at the show.

The Missourian will also be selling Jean Bell Mosley's "Seeds on the Wind" with a special Cooking School price as well as aprons. A number of door prizes will also be awarded.

"The whole goal is to raise a lot of money for charity and help our dinner times," said Zellmer.

Schnucks is glad to be returning as a sponsor this year. Marchi feels the last show was very well received and he feels enthusiasm is building for the new show.

He said one of the neat aspects of the show is to see daughters, mothers and grandmothers all attending the show together.