Columbus Farmers Market to conclude free cooking demo series Saturday

Published 8:00 am Thursday, October 11, 2018

Growing Rural Opportunities, a local nonprofit that supports rural agriculture, will host the final cooking demonstration of the season on Saturday at the Columbus Farmers Market.

The free monthly “Market Like a Chef” series hosts local chefs, who teach guests how to shop and cook “farmers market” style, along with a local winemaker who pairs their wine with the chef’s dish. 

Stepfanie Romine

Saturday’s featured chef, local cookbook author Stepfanie Romine, will be on-hand to share a dish from her debut solo cookbook, “Cooking with Healing Mushrooms.” Marketgoers will have the opportunity to purchase a copy of Romine’s new cookbook that day, with 10 percent of the proceeds benefiting GRO.

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Starting at 9 a.m., Romine will lead 10 preregistered guests through the market to source the season’s freshest plant-based ingredients to create a simple, seasonal dish.

Beginning at 9:45 a.m., Romine will do a cooking demonstration while offering tips on eating healthy. Free samples will be offered, and a quick Q&A with the author will conclude the demonstration by 11 a.m.

To go along with the food tasting, Sofia Lilly, winemaker from Overmountain Vineyards, will be on-hand to offer samples of some of the company’s hand-crafted wine varietals to pair with Romine’s dish.

Romine is an author and trained journalist who has been writing about health, wellness and food for a decade. She is also a certified health coach and fitness nutrition specialist, and she has studied herbalism and holistic and integrative nutrition.

Romine will also be available once-a-month for consultations at GRO’s free “Ask a Health Coach,” which begins in January at the Polk County Winter Farmers Market. The market will take place from 9 to 11 a.m. on Saturdays, from Dec. 1, 2018, to March 30, 2019. The market is located indoors, next to The Rural Seed in Columbus.

Registration is required for the shopping portion only on Saturday, and is on a first-come, first-serve basis. Those interested in registering may email erika@growrural.org or call 828-436-0040.

– Submitted by Erika McMillan