Faculty member's books are killer cuisine

Professor Stephanie Anderson Witmer knows that good cooking takes practice, but she didn’t know that it could also take a lot of time on the telephone.

Witmer, assistant professor of communications/journalism at Shippensburg University, is author of Killer Chili, an in-depth look at some of the best chili recipes available, and Killer Pies, which focuses on the top 50 pie recipes. Both books were written in 2007.

When she started collecting the 50 chili recipes from the United States and Canada, she had no idea of some of the strange ingredients people used including lobster, catfish and elk. The book features pictures of the chefs and the finished dishes, along with the recipes and brief descriptions of the eateries serving the different chilies. Killer Pies follows the same format.

Witmer spent a lot of time on research for the book, but she spent even more time on the telephone trying to persuade cooks and chefs to reveal their secret recipes to share with the world — a task more difficult than it may seem. “Getting chili recipes was really hard,” said Witmer. “People are very serious about chili and are often hard-pressed to share their recipes so I had to coax, cajole, sweet-talk, beg, and plead to get some of them. Cincinnati is a famous chili city but there are no recipes in the book from there — no one would give me one.”

Which recipe does she prefer? “It’s hard to choose just one favorite recipe from the books because there are so many. I made as many of the recipes myself as I could but couldn’t make all of them since both pie and chili are pretty time-consuming and serve a lot of people. It was a lot of food for just my husband and me.”

To Witmer, cooking is more than just eating; it’s a passion. Though perfecting the art of cooking and baking can be stressful, the process can be therapeutic when completing a dish and the chef gets to see how it affects those who eat it, she said.

“Food is like a language because when it ceases to be made, it disappears, so I’d like to keep those foods alive. Food not only tells a story but it also unites us as human beings. We gather together with food to celebrate, to mourn, to reconnect and to remind us of the past since a lot of people make food that their family has been making for generations.”

Though she always enjoyed food, her interest in cooking didn’t develop into an important hobby until 2000 when she was with Central PA Magazine where she was managing editor from then until 2002. While she was in charge of the food section, annual dining guide and restaurant survey, she began taking her work home to test recipes and cook various dishes.

“I love to cook at home and entertain,” said Witmer, of Carlisle. “But I also love delving into the fascinating food subcultures and histories behind the cooking. Most of my professional freelance writing involves food.”

Witmer, who has bachelor of arts and master of fine arts degree in English, joined Shippensburg last fall specializing in print media after teaching at several area colleges and universities. She has worked as a freelance magazine writer, editor and proofreader since 1996. In 2000, she was the recipient of the Gold Award for Feature Writing from the International Association of Business Communicators and a nominee for a feature-writing award by the City & Regional Magazine Association. In 2002, she founded the (now defunct) web magazine, EvilGeniusMagazine.com.

Witmer is sharing her experiences as an editor and published author with her students, and hopes to show them that cooking and writing share a major feature — practice. “The only way to truly develop and evolve as a writer is to write,” Witmer said. “The journey is just as important as the destination. I try to encourage my students to be mindful of every decision they make, ask questions, find their own voices and styles and write about what they love.”

Witmer is working on smaller food-writing projects about pie for Spirit magazine and Clean Eating magazine. When she’s not writing, teaching or cooking, she’s enjoying this region’s food culture. “We have a lot of farms and three of the oldest continuously operating city farmers’ markets in York, Lancaster and Harrisburg. I very much like the connection to people, history and place in my writing and cooking.”