Mennonite and Amish dishes were brought into the spotlight with the WBGU-PBS’ national series Amish Cooking from Quilt Country, featuring host Marcia Adams. This how-to series presented farm cooking at its best in a traditional and much more simpler way of life.
To sequel that success, Marcia and WBGU-PBS branched out to create
the 26-episode, Marcia Adams: Heartland Cooking program. As a lifelong resident of the Midwest, Marcia wanted to celebrate this diverse and bountiful region with recipes that captured the culinary essence of the Heartland and its residents. Marcia Adams: Heartland Cooking also went national and eventually won the prestigious CEN award for the Best Informational Series in 1992.
Featuring the Midwest’s unique regionalized food, people and restaurants, this series shares the best of the old and new with its viewers. Showcasing mouth-watering recipes that are area-specific Marcia travels far and wide throughout eight states to bring these culinary delights to your living room. Recipes are dressed up with ethnic touches and served with wines from Missouri, Michigan and Ohio to complete the perfect Heartland table setting.
Marcia collected recipes from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin - but the appeal of these mouthwatering foods have proven to be universal. Showcasing delights such as: Dunkard communion bread, soft basil-cream cheese and snickerdoodle cookies, Swedish meatballs, fluffy corn fritters, smoked salmon cheesecake and rhubarb trifle Marcia Adams presents a simpler, fresher and more “American” food.
Heartland foods are historically rooted to the New England and immigrant communities. This region boasts of unparalleled culinary diversity with its: tender Iowa lamb, Minnesota wild rice and salmon, Michigan morels and fiddlehead ferns, Wisconsin cheese and ducks and the list goes on and on. Join Marcia as she visits the restaurants, markets, wineries, bakeries and the unique festivals that celebrate the collectiveness and creativity of the this area. An ethnic bakery in Cleveland, Louis Bromfield’s beautiful Malabar Farm, the house of Indiana poet James Whitcomb Riley, and Ed Debevic’s of Chicago are all places of interest that she shares with you throughout this series.
Marcia Adams, an award-winning food columnist, is an authority on midwestern cuisine. Her syndicated column, Country Cook, has appeared in McCall’s magazine and she has also contributed to The New
York Times Sunday magazine. As a companion to this series Marcia has also authored a book entitled Heartland: The Best of the Old and the New from Midwest Kitchens that has been referenced and treasured by many.
This WBGU-PBS local production was directed by Denise Kisabeth, and ran for two seasons in 1991 and 1992. Each season consisted of 13 episodes and was accented with delicious and wholesome recipes. Celebrating the traditions and many flavors of the Midwest cookery, Marcia Adams: Heartland Cooking was generously funded by: Maple Leaf Farms, Sauder Woodworking Company and Merillat Cabinetmaker.
Downloadable Recipes:
Check out more Marcia Adams:
Marcia Adams'
Kitchen, Change of Heart, Heart to Heart, Amish Cooking from Quilt County, and Christmas in the Heartland.
