Published: November 15, 2009 06:46 pm      

Mt. Vernon Rotary Kitchen tour features variety of cuisine

By RORYE O’CONNOR

rorye.oconnor@register-news.com

MT. VERNON — People on the inaugural Mt. Vernon Rotary Kitchen Tour got an eyeful and more than a mouthful Saturday, as they hopped to and from six different kitchens in the community.

The Kitchen Tour was from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and featured a variety of cuisine, from gumbo and southwest chicken soup to pasta and desserts.

At Cedarhurst Center for the Arts, caterer Diane Hultgren greeted tourers with a medley of hors d’oeuvres from the Cedarhurst cookbook. Attendees could munch on banana or pumpkin bread, a hot broccoli dip or “crabbies,” small squares of toast drenched in a crab and cheese mixture. Also available was hot spiced cider.

Home owners who participated in the tour include, David Wood; Gino Federici; Linda Woodrome; Jeff Howard; Eric and JoAnn Puntney; and Cedarhurst.

Charlotte Sharer said she had heard about the tour and hoped someone would ask her to go, so she was pleased when her friend invited her. Sharer, who said the tour was a “brilliant” idea, made Cedarhurst her second stop along the tour.

“We’re doing so far so good,” she said. “I’m not sure if we can eat all six courses.”

Julie Webb, a Mt. Vernon Rotary member, was directing tour ‘traffic’ Saturday.

“We had a really good response,” she said. “This was one of those things that we thought we’d try and see how it goes.”

Webb said at about 2 p.m. she’d seen approximately 20 people file in so far, and she expected a total of one hundred people to attend.

“Brenda Malone (Rotary president-elect and event chairperson) put in a lot of hard work getting people to volunteer kitchens,” Webb said. “It’s unique, it’s something nobody else in the community does.”

Tickets were $30 for the tour, which helped raise money for Rotary-charitable programs. One hundred percent of the proceeds will be returned into programs for the community, Malone said.

The Mt. Vernon Rotary meets at noon on Tuesdays at the First United Methodist Church.