Return of the Zucchini on WQED

COMMUNITY COOKING PROGRAM COMMEMORATES 20 YEARS ON TELEVISION BY REVISITING ORIGINAL SHOW TOPIC
"Return of the Zucchini" premieres Saturday, September 14, 2013 from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 22, 2013

CONTACT:
George Hazimanolis
412-622-1366
ghazimanolis@wqed.org

Maria Pisano
412-622-1459
mpisano@wqed.org

COMMUNITY COOKING PROGRAM COMMEMORATES
20 YEARS ON TELEVISION
BY REVISITING ORIGINAL SHOW TOPIC
Return of the Zucchini
Saturday, September 14, 2013
10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

PITTSBURGH—20 years ago, Chris Fennimore would never have guessed that a little garden plot would lead to producing over 100 cooking programs, raising thousands of dollars for public television and causing a major career change.

In the summer of 1993, Fennimore was asked by a friend from church if he’d like to share a plot in a community garden located in Homewood Cemetery. He planted peppers, tomatoes, basil, and three zucchini plants. By mid-July the garden was blooming and there was an abundance of zucchini.

Fennimore asked Nancy Polinsky, then director of continuity at WQED to make a spot asking members of the community for zucchini recipes.

“So I asked Nancy Polinsky, director of continuity at the time if she’d make a promo asking people for zucchini recipes. She asked if it was legal, haha! Turns out it was, and the rest is history as they say,” said Fennimore.

“I thought we’d just get recipes. But we got so much more.”

Photo Credit:  Dave Hallewell

One recipe for Zucchini Boats stands out in Fennimore’s mind. A woman wrote in about her Aunt Margaret who had never married so she joined the family every Thanksgiving for dinner. Not wanting to be a burden she brought Zucchini Boats every year. The family “hated” them, but never said anything since they didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Now that Aunt Margaret is gone, they still make them every Thanksgiving.

“People think they’re just recipes, but they’re not,” said Fennimore. “They are people’s family and cultural history. They’re stories. And the person who sends them holds them in great value. Recipes get into our lives.”

To commemorate that original program, WQED is asking members of the community to send in new zucchini recipes now through the first of September. We’ll print them in a new cookbook and select cooks who will demonstrate their recipes on the air.

Recipes can be e-mailed to recipes@wqed.org or sent by mail to: Zucchini, WQED-TV, 4802 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213. Return of the Zucchinis premieres LIVE on WQED-TV Saturday, September 14 at 10 a.m.

WQED Pittsburgh has a proud history of honors, including 134 National and Mid-Atlantic Emmy® Awards, an Academy Award, and many, many others, including two Emmy® Awards for Station Excellence. WQED was founded in 1954 as the nation’s first community-supported broadcaster. The people of WQED create, produce and distribute quality programs, products and services to engage, inform, educate and entertain the public within their community and around the world. It is the parent company of WQED-TV (PBS); WQED: The Neighborhood Channel; WQED: The Create Channel; WQED Showcase; Classical WQED-FM 89.3/Pittsburgh; Classical WQEJ-FM 89.7/Johnstown; the Pittsburgh Concert Channel at WQED-HD2 (89.3-2FM) and online at www.wqedfm.org; local and national television and radio productions; WQED Interactive (www.wqed.org) and iQ: smartmedia, WQED’s Educational initiative (www.wqed.org/edu).

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

QED Cooks Celebrates 100th Episode

100TH EPISODE OF QED COOKS TO AIR ON WQED-TV


Commemorative cookbook to include 200 of the best and most requested recipes.





FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 20, 2012

CONTACT:
George Hazimanolis
412-622-1366
ghazimanolis@wqed.org

Maria Pisano
412-622-1459
mpisano@wqed.org

100TH EPISODE OF QED COOKS TO AIR ON WQED-TV

Commemorative cookbook to include 200 of the best and most requested recipes.

PITTSBURGH—WQED’s program director and “cooking guy” Chris Fennimore is the host of QED Cooks, a local program that has celebrated the delicious food culture of Pittsburgh for the last 18 years. Much more than a cooking show, QED Cooks is about heritage and the tradition of passing down recipes to the next generation. Premiering March 3, 2012 at 10 a.m. on WQED-TV QED Cooks and Fennimore will celebrate the 100th episode of this series in a special called QED Cooks 100.

Along with his kitchen cohort Nancy Polinsky Johnson, Fennimore will take a fond look back at some of the top-requested recipes of all time, show regulars including Fennimore’s son Joe from toddler to teen, bloopers, and much more. Viewers will have the opportunity to keep QED Cooks and programs like it on the air by becoming members or renewing their membership with WQED during the program. A commemorative QED Cooks 100 cookbook with more than 200 of the best and most sought after recipes in QED Cooks history will be available as a thank-you gift.

QED Cooks started in August 1993 when Fennimore had a large harvest of zucchini that summer from the community garden where he volunteered his time. Not knowing how successful the program would be, the first show (Zucchini Cheesecake) wasn’t even recorded. “Nancy and I brought in all the bowls and other utensils from our own kitchens and we used a folding table as our set,” said Fennimore.

Today, over 600 local home-cooks and chefs have graced the set in WQED’s Studio C for the 106 cooking marathons WQED has produced. National PBS chefs like Lidia Bastianich, WQED Board of Directors member and host of Lidia’s Italy and Lidia Celebrates America (seen on WQED-TV) and Mary Ann Esposito, host of Ciao Italia with Mary Ann Esposito have also partnered with Fennimore and WQED for several cooking specials over the years. Locally through the Steel City Chefs series, WQED partnered with local restaurant chefs like Daniel Leiphart, Executive Chef from Isabela On Grandview and Michele Savoia, Executive Chef and Owner of DISH Osteria and Bar to give viewers the opportunity to learn how to make their favorite restaurant dishes and receive gift certificates for those restaurants.

From the over 100 QED Cooks marathons, 16 have been distributed to public television stations around the country through PBS and American Public Television (APT) as the America’s Home Cooking series. These cookbooks are available for purchase from SHOP WQED by calling 1-800-271-1307 or by going to shopwqed.org.

QED Cooks also has its own webpage complete with selected recipes, a full list of available cookbooks and a monthly blog written by Fennimore.

“The only reason why this show has worked so well here at WQED is that we have such a concentration of great home cooks who have been generous enough to share their family treasures with their friends and neighbors,” said Fennimore.

WQED Pittsburgh has a proud history of honors, including 128 National and Mid-Atlantic Emmy® Awards, an Academy Award, and many, many others, including two Emmy® Awards for Station Excellence. WQED was founded in 1954 as the nation’s first community-supported broadcaster. The people of WQED create, produce and distribute quality programs, products and services to engage, inform, educate and entertain the public within their community and around the world. WQED Pittsburgh is one of the first broadcasters in the country to be fully high-definition (HD) in its studio and field production capabilities. It is the parent company of WQED-TV (PBS); WQED: The Neighborhood Channel; WQED: The Create Channel; WQED Showcase; Classical WQED-FM 89.3/Pittsburgh; Classical WQEJ-FM 89.7/Johnstown; local and national television and radio productions; WQED Interactive (www.wqed.org) and The WQED Education Department.

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh