Presented by
Robin Mather Jenkins
Author, and Food Writer, Chicago Tribune

Most of us have heard of the great literary food icon, M.F.K. Fisher. But long before Ms. Fisher, there was another literary food master, Della Lutes. Born in 1872 in Jackson, Michigan, Ms. Lutes relied on her Michigan roots to become one of the most widely read cookbook authors of her time. She used her immensely popular columns that appeared in the Atlantic Monthly as a basis for her best selling “The Country Kitchen,” first published in 1936. Readers delighted in her poignant and often humorous stories of life in late nineteenth-century rural Michigan, complete with descriptions of authentic country folks, reflections on family and community events, and especially, details of sharing meals together that recapture warm childhood memories. Scattered throughout her writing are colorful examples of regional cuisine.

Join us as Chicago Tribune food writer, and Michigan native, Robin Mather Jenkins provides a portrait of her beloved Della Lutes and her legacy in culinary history.

Before joining the Tribune three years ago, Ms. Jenkins served as food editor at the Detroit News, senior writer at Cooking Light magazine and, for a short time, started and ran a goat cheese dairy in Batesville, Mississippi. In 1995, she also wrote the first book on genetically modified crops and livestock and sustainable agriculture aimed at the mass market reader; “A Garden of Unearthly Delights: Bioengineering and the Future of Food.

Ms. Jenkins is currently working on a book about Della Lutes.

Program hosted at Robert Morris College’s Institute of Culinary Arts.