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13| The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,D ecem ber 21,2017 theifp.ca After 20 years, the Inde- pendent and Free Press's What's Cookin' writers, Gerry Kentner and Lori Gysel, have decided to close the oven door on their recipe column. This month's recipe is the last to be submitted by the mother-daughter team, and, although they have heavy hearts to be leaving the forum, they are left with fond memo- ries and happy experienc- es with the public who read the column. It all started back in 1998, when Lori Gysel and father, Coun. Dave Kentn- er, were sitting in the of- fice of their family cater- ing business, Kentner's So- cial Catering Ltd., when he came up with the idea that maybe she should write a column for the Indepen- dent and Free Press. "I said, uh, OK," Gysel said. So she rounded up her mother, Gerry Kentner, called the paper, and the editor at the time, John McGhie, said he wasn't in- terested at first. Then six months passed, and with the addition of a Friday paper, he told them he had some space. Kentner recalls McGhie requiring a pic- ture and a story to follow the recipe, and the hardest thing for the pair wasn't writing the column or re- membering to take the pic- ture (though that some- times had its issues), it was cooking with a recipe in the first place. "Neither one of us cooks with a recipe," Gysel said. "So the hardest thing was to discipline yourself when you're trying some- thing new, you have to write it down, so when you're done, if it tastes any good, you can make it into a recipe for the paper." "God forbid something turned out really well and it photographed well and you hadn't written it down," she said. With the catering busi- ness the everyday focus of the family, Kentner was concerned about giving away all the recipes they used, thinking no one would use the service if they could do it them- selves. Gysel was not con- cerned, and eventually they started publishing their recipes. "Just because some- body knows how to make your chicken with the white wine mushroom cream sauce does not mean they are going to ca- ter their daughter's wed- ding," Gysel said. The process of crafting the recipe for the paper has changed over the years. Sometimes it starts with a little bit of inspira- tion, cooking for the fami- ly, or a frantic 'what's in the cupboard?' on a Tues- day night to make sure it's submitted on time. But the end result is always the same: delicious. "Sometimes it's diffi- cult coming up with a reci- pe, especially on short no- tice," Kentner said. The pair had a filing system which helped them keep track of already-used recipes and the ones they haven't sent in yet. Sometimes, when the two women are cooking for company, they will have multiple components to the meal, and submitted each one, easing the wor- kload, and the deadline. "What really sucks is when you forget to take the photo," Gysel laughed. "The rule is, don't drink while cooking, because you will forget to take the photo and then you're left with an empty platter." Sometimes, before it was too late to take the photo, bowls of the same dish would come together to form a complete one, so some of the photos they submitted had a bite out of the featured recipe. Not every dish was a success: every once in a while, a photo wouldn't turn out, or they found the recipe not good enough to be shared among the com- munity. "We had a good variety of recipes over the years, because Lori and I are two different types of cooks," Kentner said. "I'm a differ- ent age, a different genera- tion, different type of cooking. Lori is more ex- perimental in cooking, and part of that comes from her job experiences." Inspiration for each col- umn stemmed from culi- nary questions or life ex- NEWS What's Cookin' writers retire from column after 20 years KATHRYN BOYLE kboyle@theifp.ca l See WRITERS', 14 "If you look back at the columns and the recipes over the years, it follows the journey of our lives. There are times when there's lots of low-calorie stuff because I would be on a diet. Or we would be cutting out carbs because we're on the no-carb kick. Or my son becomes a vegetarian, then he becomes a vegan. Or you got yourself a new crockpot. -- Lori Gysel 232A GUELPH STREET, SUITE 204, HALTON HILLS, ON L7G 4B1 | Only Mortgages is a VERICO Broker. Each VERICO broker is individually owned and operated | FSCO 10659 Moe Forget* Kristin (Forget) Botticella** Debbie Forget* Danielle (Forget) Brovold *AMP Mortgage Broker **AMP Mortgage Agent From our family to yours, thanks for a great year. We wish you all the best as you embark on 2018. Phone: 905-877-2426 | Email: moeforget@onlymortgages.ca | www.onlymortgages.ca 232A GUELPH STREET, SUITE 204, HALTON HILLS, ON L7G 4B1 | Only Mortgages is a VERICO Broker. Each VERICO broker is individually owned and operated | FSCO 10659 Happy Holidays