on the table

from Westerville January/February 2022

faces

Photo by John Nixon Photography, food photos courtesy of Cindy Ramsey

Local Cook, Local Ingredients

Cindy Ramsey keeps her kitchen seasonal, messy and full of love

Good food is much more than flavor and ingredients, although those are important. For Cindy Ramsey, a cooking instructor with the Westerville Farmers’ Market and The Seasoned Farmhouse, cooking is about sharing.

Ramsey, raised by parents who both cooked frequently at home, says she has been cooking and baking since her childhood. Early experiences tagging along with her father to the grocery store, watching her mother cook for six children and sitting down to eat as a family at the end of each day combined to create a strong association between food and connection for Ramsey.

“Cooking and sharing food is just family, it’s just happiness, it’s love,” she says. “I think that it just stuck with me. All my siblings cook, but nobody cooks like me.”

It wasn’t until 2012 that Ramsey decided to take her love of cooking and baking beyond sharing tasty treats with her neighbors. That’s when she started her blog, Cooking With Chez Cindy.

The blog was a springboard, and Ramsey began working as a cooking instructor with the Westerville Farmers’ Market, at the Westerville Public Library and with The Seasoned Farmhouse, where she teaches classes for children from ages 10-15.

When it comes to teaching younger cooks, Ramsey says the messier the better. She typically keeps the recipes she teaches in her children’s classes simple, with favorites including sloppy Joes and meatballs, which allow her students to have fun while cooking.

Homemade sloppy Joes with sloppy sauce are a dish Ramsey has demonstrated for her children’s classes, which she teaches at The Seasoned Farmhouse, a recreational cooking school. Sloppy Joes with Homemade Sloppy Sauce

• 1 tbsp. oil • ½ cup chopped onion • ¼ cup chopped red bell pepper • 1 tsp. salt • 1 lb. ground beef or turkey • 8 oz. can tomato sauce • 1 tbsp. brown sugar • 4 oz. ketchup • 1 tbsp. mustard • ½ tsp. McCormick Grill Mates

Montreal Steak Seasoning • Buns • Butter for toasting the buns

Working with a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil, chopped onion and bell pepper, and salt. Stir together, cooking until the vegetables are softened, about 3-4 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high, add in the ground meat, breaking up the meat into small crumbles. Cook until the meat has browned deeply. Add in the tomato sauce. Rinse out the can with 3 tablespoons of water and add the tomato water to the pan. Stir in the brown sugar, ketchup and mustard, stirring to combine. Sprinkle in the steak seasoning, stirring occasionally until the sauce is thickened. Taste for seasoning, adjust as necessary. Butter the buns for toasting if desired. Serve a generous portion of the sloppy Joes onto each bun and enjoy.

“They would just roll it into this perfect meatball and insert it into the pan and go run back to the end of the line so that they could do it again,” Ramsey says. “It was like they were at Kings Island, ready to get on the ride again.”

Ramsey also prioritizes cooking with locally sourced ingredients and making sure her classes accommodate participants with dietary restrictions. That local emphasis makes it easy for Ramsey to offer seasonal recipes in the classroom.

“It’s cold outside, you really want something that’s going to be warm and really fill your senses with good comfort,” Ramsey says. “Or, if it’s summer, you want something fresh and light.”

Find more recipes from Ramsey and upcoming classes on her blog at www.cookingwithchezcindy.com.

Tess Wells is an editorial assistant. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com