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International cooking project meets Marquette produce
While visiting family for the summer in Marquette, Jason Harper, who for the past three years has been teaching English composition to students at Sias International University in Xinzheng City (China), stopped by the bustling Downtown Marquette Farmers and Artisans Market.
Soon, he and market master Sarah Monte, had cooked up an idea for a market event based on Chinese Cuisine 101, a recently published collection of essays and recipes written by students in Harper’s English Composition 101 class.
According to Monte, certain state laws can make food-related events of this sort—events that involve cooking and tasting—a bit difficult to arrange, but the events are important to the market’s success as they draw crowds and promote the consumption of locally produced food. But, how does one wed local produce to a traditional Chinese recipe coming from halfway around the world?
Fairly easily, it seems. For the demonstration and tasting of East-North Stew, Harper used all local produce—eggplant, tomatoes, cabbage and onions—as well as locally raised pork. East-North Stew comes from an area of China that is very cold where in some special places there is perennial snow, the essay that accompanies the recipe states, and “the East-North people, in order to keep warm, invented East-North Stew.”
Harper went to China in August 2007. He was working at NMU as an adjunct assistant professor when he saw an ad for teaching at Sias International through Fort Hays State University in Kansas. Although he had never particularly thought of going to China, it seemed like a good opportunity. Harper received his BA in psychology and masters in English from NMU, then moved on to Wichita State University, where he earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, focusing on fiction. His thesis was a novel, Yellow No. 5, which is forthcoming from Another Sky Press.
While at Wichita State, Harper was able to blend his love for writing with his love for eating by doing restaurant reviews. After receiving his MFA, he realized that teaching writing was another thing he enjoyed, and soon he was off to teach English composition in Paraguay via Pittsburg State University. It was then the cookbook idea first percolated.
“I went to Paraguay with the idea of doing a cookbook there,” he said. “But I was just too busy at the time.”
Before leaving for China, he told one of the deans at Fort Hays about his idea and how it would feature recipes written by his students . . .
To purchase a copy of Chinese Cuisine 101 send $13 to:
Blue Comet Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 17224
Wichita, KS 67217
Include your name, shipping address and e-mail address. A portion of the proceeds will go toward a scholarship fund for outstanding Composition 101 students enrolled in the partnership program between Fort Hays State University and SIAS International University in Xinzheng City, Henan Province, People’s Republic of China.
—Leslie Allen
This is why I walk...
The day started out like any other day. I got up, went to school and then it was off to work. I had a busy week ahead and knew I had a paper to write for my psychology class and a test that week. I couldn’t wait for the weekend to come, even though I had to work.
I had dinner with my friend Dave that week at a restaurant that I had never been to before. After dinner, we drove home, he asked me whether I had a good time and I said I had. After that, it was quiet during the ride home.
When Friday came, I had just one class that day and work the next day. As the weekend drew to an end, I was sure the next week was going to start like every other.
I called Dave like I always did after a busy day at work or school—to check in and see what he was up to. I didn’t hear back for a day or so and when I got home from work, I still hadn’t heard from him, which was unusual because I talked to him on a daily basis.
Sunday afternoon, I laid down for a catnap. Then the phone rang. It was my counselor at school. She said Dave had passed away. My body went numb and I could feel it shaking as I heard the horrible news. I kept asking her what had happened. She said Dave had passed away that weekend and I knew then it wasn’t going to be just any other week.
The last week that I saw Dave, I knew there was something a bit off, but to me it seemed like any other day. When Dave died, I was crushed and hurt. I was sad for so long. I kept asking myself what I should have done differently.
The should’ve, could’ve and would’ve pounded in my head as guilt drove through my brain like constant rain pouring down on the street.
During Dave’s funeral, the pastor said depression is a disease that we should be aware of and it’s not just something that will go away . . .
—Aly Luff
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