Daily Herald's 2008 Cooks of the Year
As the economy continues to curdle, more Americans are turning from restaurants to home cooking as a budget-trimming strategy, a trend likely to flourish well into 2009.
Research by Mintel International Group Ltd., a consumer research firm, says more than 50 percent of people who dine out regularly are cutting back because of the economy, and they have to eat somewhere.
On behalf of the Daily Herald's Cooks of the Week and me, a home cook of many decades, we say to them "welcome to the kitchen."
If you fall into that cost-conscious group, you, like the people I feature each week, will discover cooking as a source of fun, frustration and rewards. You will reap the benefits of gathering family and friends around the table for meals simple or fancy, conversations routine to world-saving.
Today I honor five of my favorite cooks as Cooks of the Year 2008, a group notable for their enthusiasm, inventive ways and desire to nurture with great food.
If you're new to the kitchen or even if you already know your way around a food processor, read on for inspiration from their stories and recipes. Perhaps you'll be sharing recipes with us in 2009.
I've got 51 weeks to fill.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=260647">Cook of the Year: Peg Sheaffer of Grayslake <span class="date">[12/29/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=260646">Cook of the Year: Tony Casciano of Naperville <span class="date">[12/29/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=260645">Cook of the Year: TerrieAnn Jones of Palatine <span class="date">[12/29/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=260644">Cook of the Year: Pat Potter of Carol Stream <span class="date">[12/29/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=260643">Cook of the Year: Louann Zundel of Des Plaines <span class="date">[12/29/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>