Jackson Newspapers employees met recently with Cheryl Cohen, culinary specialist for the Taste of Home Cooking School, to plan this year’s cooking school.

The theme for the October 13 event is Fall Comfort Classics: Seasoned Shortcuts.

Cohen travels around Ohio, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, conducting about 40 cooking schools each year. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Home Economics and Extension from Ohio University in Athens and has worked as a cooking school manager and instructor for a local supermarket in Dover, Ohio. Cohen is also a certified food safety professional and instructor under the ServSafe program.

She said among the recipes she will make this year are a vegetable cheese chowder, mini Kentucky hot browns, and a salad, all using the same basic roux.

She will also make an apple strudel-like dessert, and a cheese-stuffed pasta.

In addition to the easy and tasty dishes Cohen will prepare, the event will include various vendors, door prizes, and other giveaways.

Many businesses from around the county contribute items to the event. Last year, items ranging from free groceries and cookbooks to microwaves and the grand prize of a grandfather clock from Vail’s Furniture were given away.

Keep checking the Jackson Herald, Star News, and Jackson Newspapers website for details of the 2009 Taste of Home Cooking School and ticket information.