Wichita food columnist, teacher Adriene Rathbun is about to release her first cookbook
You might know her from the Wichita Eagle’s Wednesday food page, where for the past four years she’s shared favorite recipes and stories from her travels and cooking adventures.
Or maybe she’s taught you how to bake perfect pies at a cooking class in her College Hill home.
Perhaps you’re one of the many Wichitans she’s entertained at that home, where she appears to effortlessly throw together happy hour gatherings and backyard dinner parties for family, friends and friends of friends.
Now, Adriene Rathbun is about to release a new cookbook that will instruct Wichita foodies on how to be more like her — or at least how to cook like her.
It’s a full-color, hard-back book called “Social — “Holidays & Happy Hours,” and it will be ready for delivery sometime in October. Rathbun is now accepting pre-orders for the self-published book, and each copy is $38.
The book includes 75 recipes arranged into menus, and it’s designed to help people throw perfect parties, especially at the holidays. Appetizers, cocktails and main dishes are all covered.
But the end-of-the-year holidays aren’t the only ones included, Rathbun said. The book also has menus for Cinco de Mayo, Mardi Gras, the Fourth of July, even Galentine’s Day — an informal Feb. 13 “holiday” popularized by the show “Parks and Recreation” that celebrates the bond between girlfriends.
Rathbun said that when she decided to collect her recipes together for a cookbook, she initially wanted to include every one she’d ever taught at her cooking classes, which she staged in her home from 2009 until she started writing her Wichita Eagle column in 2016. (She still teaches a once-a-year pie class at Thanksgiving time.)
But she quickly discovered she had too many recipes and would need to narrow her focus.
“When I realized I wanted to cut it down, I decided I needed to do the holidays,” she said. “I love any and all excuses to get together and celebrate, whether it’s a big holiday like Christmas or just catching up over happy hour with a friend. Life is short, and we all need to take advantage of those moments to get together and bond over food and drink.”
She got serious about the project last year, Rathbun said, and from May to December, she and local photographer Kendra Cremin would meet in her kitchen every week to work on it. In all, they shot food over 40 days, capturing 145 dishes.
“It’s chock-full of food photography — beautiful food photography— because that’s really what sells a cookbook,” Rathbun said. “A recipe can look good, but it’s hard if you can’t visualize it.”
She has so many recipes and photos now that she is planning to produce a second book, maybe as soon as next year.
Rathbun comes from a long line of cooks, she said, and her grandmother, Marge, was her biggest inspiration.
Though Marge wasn’t Lebanese, her husband — Rathbun’s grandfather — was, and Marge learned how to cook Lebanese food from her mother-in-law, Nabiha Farha.
“It’s funny, but over the years, even some of the Lebanese ladies would call my grandmother and ask her for cooking tips,” Rathbun said.
Rathbun grew up around Lebanese culture, where “everything is always about eating and gathering and eating and gathering,” she said. Her book includes several Lebanese recipes, including one for hummus.
Rathbun, who also works locally as a food stylist, said she hopes her book will inspire other people to cook, just like her grandmother inspired her.
“We cooked together a lot and talked about food a lot,” Rathbun said. “She’s been gone 11 years next month, but she’s always in my heart when I’m cooking.”
Those who want to pre-order the book can do so at adrienerathbun.com. When the book is ready, it can be mailed or Rathbun will arrange a pick up time.
In the meantime, here’s one of the recipes from the book to try:
Adriene’s Hummus
2 cans garbanzo beans, Tazah brand preferred
1 cup tahini, in quart container, if possible
2/3 cup bottled lemon juice, Italian Volcano brand preferred
2 – 3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
Olive oil for drizzling
Toasted pine nuts for garnish
In a bowl, microwave garbanzo beans and bean liquid for one minute. Pour beans and liquid – minus ¼ cup of liquid – into blender or food processor. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth. If hummus is too thick, add ¼ cup reserved liquid and reprocess; if not, discard. Serve with olive oil drizzled on top and toasted pine nuts alongside pita chips, pita bread and/or veggies.
— From “Social — Holidays & Happy Hours” by Adriene Rathbun
This story was originally published August 20, 2020 at 12:57 PM.
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