Cooking Corner - Gawin Favorite Autumn Chowder

Written By: Ellen Kleven  |  Posted: Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

Cindy Gawin began to take an interest in cooking when she was just a young girl-she preferred watching Julia Child to the cartoons her peers enjoyed. She took a cooking class in high school and although she enjoyed it, she pursued a college education in nursing. Cindy graduated and worked as an RN in the Chicago area, which she enjoyed very much. At one point she was working nights on weekends doing Private Duty Nursing for the Wrigleys!
When Cindy and Bill were first married, Cindy did all of the cooking, she mentioned, "The only time he came in the kitchen was to eat." That changed as he became interested in how dishes were made and would peer over Cindy's shoulder, trying to tell her to add this or that to improve her dish. She would respond with, "This is my recipe, make your own!" He decided to heed her advice and began experimenting with various recipes, only moving on to a new one when he had perfected the certain dish.

Pizza was one thing Bill felt he could never quite master. Then, when Bill and Cindy were vacationing at Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada, they had the unique opportunity to see exactly how a gourmet pizza is prepared. They had lingered on the lake after viewing an ice sculpting talent display and caught a chance to speak with the man who was operating the chainsaw-who just so happened to be the head chef who was in charge all of the hotel's restaurants. After some time spent conversing, the chef asked which restaurant they had reservations for and eventually requested that they come one half hour before their appointment. They were welcomed into the heart of the kitchen where the head chef had arranged it so that the sous chefs had all of the ingredients prepared to assemble their dinner of pizza before their eyes. To add to the already extraordinary evening, the pianist played some favorite hymns upon request (much to his own delight, as he was a fellow believer), and then they learned that the chef was also trusting in Christ, making the entire experience completely unforgettable.

Sign into your account to read the rest of this article. »