Food Taste Funny? It Could Be ‘Deranged’

They’re the Odd Couple of the kitchen set, the George and Gracie of gourmets.

the stars of “At Home on the Range,” the Santa Ana Heights-based comedy cooking show, have built a cult following since their 30-minute mix of recipes and laughs debuted on leased cable access in 1992.

Crean (he’s the straight man and chef) and Venezia (she’s the ditsy sidekick and “professional stirrer”) taped their unrehearsed show in front of a live audience in Crean’s so-called garage--a 5,000-square-foot hangar-like structure--on his and wife Donna’s five-acre estate in Newport’s Back Bay.

Crean, 74, who honed his culinary skills in the Merchant Marine during World War II, is better known as the retired founder of Fleetwood Enterprises, one of the nation’s top motor-home manufacturers. The bubbly Venezia, 43, once produced and starred in a cable access business talk show, “Networking USA,” on which she first met Crean.

Over the last seven years, the unlikely kitchen duo made weekly appearances on ABC’s short-lived “Home Show”; they were interviewed on CBS’ “Eye to Eye”; and they’ve had clips of their show air on Fox TV’s “The World’s Funniest” and on “The World’s Weirdest TV” in the United Kingdom.

Now comes “At Home on the Range. . . . The Cookbook for the Deranged,” a spiral-bound, 168-page book completed in about 21 minutes.)

The illustrated cookbook (lots of behind-the-scenes pictures of Crean, Venezia and company) includes jokes e-mailed by fans. It’s available, for $19.95, through their Web site, (https://www.hotrange.com) or by calling (949) 851-3922.

Production of “At Home on the Range” ended last fall after 228 half-hour episodes, but reruns can be seen weeknights at 11:30 on KOCE, the PBS station in Huntington Beach--and, since 1997, on the Lifestyle Channel in Australia.

Venezia insists, however, that she and Crean haven’t hung up their matching aprons: “We’ll get back to the garage at some point.”

In the meantime, she and her partner will discuss the cookbook and their rise to garage-kitchen fame at the Round Table West literary luncheon at noon Thursday at the Balboa Bay Club, 1221 W. Coast Highway, Newport Beach.

They’ll be joined by Rancho Santa Margarita journalist Martin Dugard (“Knockdown: The Harrowing True Account of a Yacht Race Turned Deadly”) and Hollywood director Paul Mazursky (“Show Me the Magic”).

Tickets: $40. Reservations: (323) 256-7977.

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Poets whose poems have been published in books by Bil and Carole Luther’s Laguna Beach-based FarStarFire Press will read at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Laguna Beach Brewing Co., 422 S. Coast Highway. (949) 499-2337.

Scheduled to read are Derrick Brown, John Gardiner, Daniel McGinn, Katya Giritsky, Buzzy Enniss, Mindy Nettifeee, Paul Suntup, Lizzie Wann, John Harrell and the Luthers.

Most of the money the Luthers have raised with this series of books has gone to support Orange County poets, particularly the Laguna Beach Poetry Slam Team that recently competed nationally. The books, at $5 each, are carried by Amazon.com.

Also Coming Up:

* Sam McCarver (“The Case of Cabin 13”) and Emily Brightwell (“Mrs. Jeffries Rocks the Boat”) will discuss and sign their books at Borders Books and Music, 1890 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa. 3 p.m. today. (949) 631-8661

* Katherine Forrest will discuss and sign “Sleeping Bones” at Coffee, Tea & Mystery, 13232 Springdale St., Westminster. 7 p.m. Monday. (714) 898-2583.

* Sherry Maysonave will discuss and sign “Casual Power: How to Power Up Your Nonverbal Communication and Dress Down for Success” at Barnes & Noble in Metro Point, 901 S. Coast Drive, Costa Mesa. 7 p.m. Monday. (714) 444-0226.

* Ina Garten will discuss “The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook” at the Christmas Co. breakfast at the Orange County Fairgrounds, 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa. 9 a.m. Tuesday. (949) 263-3785.

* Doug Rice, author of “Blood of Mugwump,” will read in Irvine Lecture Hall (Hashinger Science Center Room 150) as part of the ongoing John Fowles Center Literary Festival at Chapman University, 333 N. Glassell St., Orange. 8 p.m. Thursday. $5.(714) 997-6812.

* Janet Fitch, author of “White Oleander,” will be interviewed by Barbara DeMarco Barrett on Writers on Writing on KUCI (88.9 FM). 4 p.m. Thursday.

* Lois Haddad will discuss and sign “Sleep Talk,” a new way to love your children, at Barnes & Noble in the Marketplace, 13712 Jamboree Road, Irvine. 7 p.m. Friday. (714) 508-9707.

* Author-illustrator Elisa Kleven will sign “City of Angels: In and Around Los Angeles” at Whale of a Tale Children’s Bookshoppe, 4199 Campus Drive, Irvine. 4 p.m. Friday. (949) 854-8288.

* David LaMont Lee will discuss and sign “Merchant Marine Days: My Life in World War II” at Barnes & Noble in Metro Point, 901 S. Coast Drive, Costa Mesa. 7 p.m. Friday. (714) 444-0226.

* Dawn Kohler (“A New Dawn Rising: One Woman’s Spiritual Odyssey”) and Stella Crowley (“In Honor of Women: A Revolutionary Approach to Preventing Breast Cancer and Other Diseases”) will speak and sign at Barnes & Noble, 26751 Aliso Creek Road, Aliso Creek. 7 p.m. Friday. (949) 362-8027.

* Jeff Gutterman will sign his comedy-romance “July” at Barnes & Noble, MainPlace/Santa Ana, 2800 N. Main St. 1 p.m. Saturday. (714) 667-0313.

* Children’s author Cynthia Garner will sign “From My Mommy Being With Me” at Barnes & Noble in the Marketplace, 13712 Jamboree Road, Irvine. 6:30 p.m. Saturday. (714) 508-9707.

* Mystery Writers Three, a luncheon featuring Kris Neri (“Revenge of the Gypsy Queen”), Nathan Walpow (“The Cactus Club Killings”) and Sherri L. Board (“Angels of Anguish”), will be held Oct. 29 at the Huntington Beach Central Library, 7111 Talbert Ave., Huntington Beach. Reservations must be received by Friday. $15. (714) 842-4481, Ext. 7.

Send information about book-related events at least 10 days before event to: Dennis McLellan, O.C. Books & Authors, Southern California Living, The Times, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626. Or e-mail to dennis.mclellan@latimes.com.