Souped-Up Recipes
Make peace soup, not war.
That is one of the catchy sayings of former chef and first-time author Gary Goss, who will be at Adventures for Kids in Ventura at 11 a.m. Friday to discuss, demonstrate and sign “Blue Moon Soup--A Family Cookbook” (Little Brown, $16.95).
Jane Dyer, a prolific children’s illustrator with 40 books to her credit, will be with him. Goss and Dyer live in Massachusetts and are on a limited book tour--this will be their only appearance in Ventura County. During a phone interview, Goss mentioned the “Hey, Hey Soup” he had made that morning on CNN--he is also booked for CBS Morning News on March 4. Named after a jazz club in Kansas City, the soup is made with curried chocolate and sweet potatoes. “Lickety Split Pea Soup” and “Holy Guacamole” are other examples of the whimsical names for his recipes.
“I have an interest in jazz and movies,” Goss said. “There’s another recipe in the book called ‘No Duck Soup’ after a Marx Brothers movie. If you look at the illustration, the ducks are really happy because they’re not in the soup.”
He jokes that he is a soup pacifist and often signs his book “Make peace soup, not war,” his twist on the ‘60s slogan. Dyer reflects their humor in her watercolor paintings. For Peace Soup, she painted a lion and lamb propped up in bed together sharing a bowl of soup.
Goss calculates this as his 14th career. Among the previous, teaching school and operating a halfway house for mentally disabled and disturbed people. He turned to cooking when the halfway house became too intense, he said. He also restores old movie posters for collectors, dealers and auction houses, bringing him to Hollywood from time to time.
Although cooking may not be an inherited skill--his mother’s idea of cooking was to put a chicken in the oven when it was light and take it out when it got dark--her mushroom barley soup and sweet-and-sour cabbage soup turned him on to experimentation. His recipes soon became so popular that he supplied soups to area restaurants, until he and his wife opened the Soup Kitchen in Northampton, Mass., in 1976. He said it was the first of its kind in the country.
Of course, it helps that he truly loves soup. It’s a real comfort food--everybody relates to it from when they were kids, he said. As for Dyer, she became inspired to collaborate with Goss on a family cookbook after years spent cooking with her own daughter. Their children had been friends long before the two met.
“The main idea behind this book is that it’s not only simple, but it’s really a lot of fun,” Goss said. “Since families are so scattered and everybody is doing different things all day long, dinner time is the only time when you can get together--not only get together but cook together. It’s a family event.”
The book opens with a section that lists what you need to get started, how to set a table and the rules of a soup kitchen. Junior chefs are reminded to wash their hands before beginning to cook; to have an adult help when using knives, the blender, the oven or the stove; and to clean up as they work. Simple, easy-to-follow recipes follow.
At home, Goss splits cooking chores with his wife, but he boasts that no one can cook soup better than he does. Judge for yourself Friday.
HAPPENINGS
* Today: 11 a.m. Author Robert Greer will discuss and sign “Limited Time.” Mysteries to Die For, 2940 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, 374-0084.
* Today: 2-4:30 p.m. Members of Children’s Writers & Illustrators will tour Ventura’s renovated E.P. Foster Library at 651 E. Main St. and join a discussion about “Getting Published (and Re-Published) in the 21st Century” at the Topping Room. Free, 581-1906.
* Monday: 11 a.m. Stories and art. Borders, 125 W. Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks, 497-8159.
* Tuesday: 7 p.m. Learn practical SAT test-taking skills from experts at the Princeton Review in a free, 90-minute session. Borders, Thousand Oaks, 497-8159.
* Wednesday: 7 p.m. The east Ventura chapter of Small Publishers, Writers and Artists Network will feature Wendy Dager, columnist and opinion writer, who will discuss “How to Broaden Your Professional Scope to Include Diverse Aspects of the Writing Life.” Borders, Thousand Oaks, 497-8159.
* Wednesday: 7:30 p.m. Jon Entine, an Emmy Award-winning producer for NBC and ABC News, will discuss and sign “Taboo: Why Black Athletes Dominate Sports and Why We’re Afraid to Talk About It.” Borders, Thousand Oaks, 497-8159.
* Friday: 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Chef Gary Goss and illustrator Jane Dyer will have a cooking demonstration, answer questions and sign their book, “Blue Moon Soup.” Adventures for Kids, 3457 Telegraph Road, Ventura, 650-9688.
* Saturday: 10 a.m. Barbara Seranella will discuss and sign “Unwanted Company,” followed at 11:30 a.m. by James W. Hall, who will discuss and sign “Rough Draft.” Mysteries to Die For, 374-0084.
Coming Up: The 12 O’clockers Auxiliary of the Assistance League of Ventura County will present its annual Authors Luncheon at 10 a.m. Feb. 7 at Los Posas Country Club to benefit its scholarship fund. Authors presenting their latest books will be Robert Crais, Anitra Sheen, Lillian Carson and Cherie Carter-Scott. Make reservations through Monday at 642-3134. Cost $35, ($17 tax-deductible).
Information about book signings, writers groups and publishing events can be e-mailed to anns40@aol.com or faxed to 647-5649.