Alex and Babz Goldman Nartowicz were among the featured chefs at Seasons magazine’s first Marketplace and Cook Show on Sept. 16.

Alex and Babz Goldman Nartowicz were among the featured chefs at Seasons magazine’s first Marketplace and Cook Show on Sept. 16.

WILLIAMSBURG TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Nothing brings people together quite like food and that was the case at Seasons magazine’s first Marketplace and Cook Show on Sept. 16.

The “kitchen” for the evening was Dan Weber’s Heathfields Farm in Williamsburg Township and the cooks were Rita Heikenfeld, Sherry Mitchell, two seasoned Seasons writers, as well as Babz Goldman Nartowicz and her husband, Alex, of Maysville. Babz is a contributor to The Ledger Independent.

For the evening, Heikenfeld made a layered Tuscan salad with autumn greens, veggies, beans and cheese. Given that she’s the herbal aficionado, the vinaigrette was made with a homemade herb blend, which she gave away and revealed what was in it.

Her entree was pantry pasta fagioli, what she called a “yummy pasta with a sauce made of pantry ingredients.”

“By the time the pasta is done, so is the sauce,” Heikenfeld added.

Babz and Alex did some of that familiar Southern food favorites, like fried green tomatoes.

A VIP event was held earlier in the evening at the revitalized and repurposed farmhouse at Heathfields Farm, with the cooking event itself held outdoors inside a lit-up tent.

“There’s something just magical about a tent, it’s really pretty, with peaks in it, it’s all white, with lights in it,” Weber previously told The Sun. “I tell ya, I’ve been to a lot of fancy weddings downtown and beautiful buildings, but there’s something about that tent, and you’re outside. It’s great.”

The historic farmhouse, as well as the barn that sits on the property, were originally built in 1889 and Weber only accentuated their beauty with modern renovations and his own forte: landscaping.

Heikenfeld is not new to showcasing her “little patch of heaven,” as she calls it, in front of an audience. She has her own cable cooking show, radio program and has also taught cooking classes for the University of Cincinnati Clermont College and at Jungle Jim’s. And of course, she’s written for The Clermont Sun and Seasons magazine for years now.

Coming from a big Lebanese family, Heikenfeld said food was a way of showing love and a lot of love was shown at the Marketplace and Cook Show, bringing laughter, applause and smiles to the faces of those in attendance.

And Heathfields Farm proved a “well-organized and lovely” venue for more lessons of cooking with love.

“Heathfields Farms keeps the ambiance and warmth of the old homestead, but with ultra modern convenience,” she said.

Heikenfeld was on Ron Wilson’s national radio program, In The Garden with Ron Wilson, the Saturday after the Seasons event talking it up.

She told Wilson it was nice to get out in front of the public again.

To that point, Heikenfeld told The Sun that the crowd was “energetic and inquisitive.”

“And appreciative that the effort was put into such a fun event,” she said.

For Heikenfeld, it’s all about her love of sharing the knowledge, stories and history she has with others. And it’s fun to share that stage with someone like Mitchell, who could be a “ringmaster in a circus.”

“She’s that entertaining. We enjoy working with each other!” Heikenfeld said.

She also praised how fun it was working with the Seasons team, including Karen Brown and Pamela Stricker, saying she was impressed with how well-organized the event was and how there were lots of door prizes available.

“Pam and Karen achieved all of this in such a short time,” she said.

For those who couldn’t attend the evening, The Clermont Sun has a short video on our website from the event showing some of the sights and sounds at clermontsun.com.

To learn more about Heikenfeld, please visit her website at abouteating.com.

Mitchell also has a website at sherryphillipsmitchell.com, with a new book available, My Farmhouse Journal: Memories and Recipes.

Babz and her husband operate a food truck in Maysville, Kentucky called Babz Bistro. To learn more, visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/BabzBistro.