When someone is sick, it's not uncommon to send a pot of soup.
To put together a whole cookbook on soups is really going the extra mile.
But that's what the staff of downtown Akron law firm Roetzel & Andress did when one of the partners' wives was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, a rare and aggressive form of the disease.
Nancy Ochsenhirt, wife of the firm's chairman, Tim Ochsenhirt, has been battling the cancer for four years. The Ochsenhirts and their children are soup lovers, and are even nicknamed ''the soup family'' at Akron Family Restaurant, where they often dine.
After Nancy was diagnosed, two of the firm's partners, husband and wife Fred Compton and Helen Carroll, began delivering the family pots of soup to show their support.
That's where the concept for The Soup Family Cookbook was born. Employees of the firm, families and friends and a few chefs submitted nearly 350 recipes for soups, salads and breads.
All of the proceeds from the sale of the book will be given to the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation.
The cookbook costs $15 and can be purchased by e-mailing hcarroll@ralaw.com or by calling 330-849-6710. The firm is charging an extra $5 for anyone who wants the book mailed.
DESSERT IS THE MENU
Just for Valentine's Day, 750ml Wines is hosting a five-course wine dinner of all desserts on Feb. 13.
With seatings at 8 and 10:30 p.m., you can have the meal after dinner or instead of. The menu includes citrus sorbet paired with Segura Brut Reserva Heredad Cava, raspberry mousse cup paired with Argyle Pinot Noir 2007, oversize chocolate-covered strawberry paired with Layer Cake Shiraz 2008, spicy chocolate cake truffle paired with the Prisoner 2008 and chocolate and caramel brownie paired with Taylor Fladgate 10-year-old Tawny Port.
The dessert dinner is $35 and reservations are required.
750 ml Wines is at 2287 W. Market St., Akron. Phone 330-794-5754.
WINE YOUR VALENTINE
Shisler's Cheese House is holding a pre-Valentine's Day Wine & Chocolate Celebration from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday.
The evening includes wines, chocolates, hors d'oeuvres and music for $20.
Reservations are required. Call Shisler's, 1275 S. Cleveland-Massillon Road, Copley Township, at 330-665-3434.
AMISH COUNTRY TASTING
If you're heading to Amish country for Valentine's weekend, Heini's Gourmet Market in Sugarcreek is holding a chocolate and wine tasting from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Feb. 12.
For $20, customers can sample 10 wines paired with artisan chocolates, and make their own chocolate-covered strawberries.
For information or to make reservations, e-mail cmorris@heinis.com, call 866-531-6446 or visit http://www.heinisgourmetmarket.com. Heini's is at Ohio routes 39 and 93 in Sugarcreek.
FAT TUESDAY'S COMING
Fat Tuesday is not until Feb. 16, but its traditional foods already are showing up at local bakeries.
Hiss Bakery, 186 Second St. NW, Barberton, is selling paczki (pronounced Poonch-key), those overfilled deep-fried Polish doughnuts that help to usher in Lent. They're 75 cents each and available in a variety of fruit or custard fillings. Call 330-745-4222 to order.
The West Side Bakery, 2303 W. Market St. , Akron, is selling King Cakes for Mardi Gras. The sweet bread with cinnamon swirls is iced and decorated in purple, green and yellow. For $10, the cakes come with Mardi Gras beads, a plastic baby for hiding and a card explaining the cake's origin. Call 330-836-4101 to order.
Great Harvest Bread, 3900 Medina Road, Fairlawn, also is selling the cakes for $9.95. Call 330-666-7497.
Speaking of West Side Bakery, the West Akron establishment is celebrating its 15th anniversary with monthly features and giveaways. This month, customers who spend $15 will be entered for a March 1 drawing to win a dessert party for 24 people. In March, customers will be able to pick a card for a free product with every purchase.
SNOW BOOK SIGNING
Former Akron Beacon Journal food writer Jane Snow will demonstrate preparing family meals in a slow cooker at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 at the Hudson Library & Historical Society.
Snow also will be selling and signing copies of her book, Jane Snow Cooks: Spirited Recipes & Stories.
The program is free; registration is not required. For information, e-mail askus@hudson.lib.oh.us or call 330-653-6658, ext. 1010.
HE WOKS THE LINE
Finding inspiration in this summer's Julie & Julia, Akron resident Daniel Yoder Zipp is cooking his way through two Asian cookbooks and blogging about it for a winter term project for Oberlin College.
Zipp, a graduate of Firestone High School, is a freshman at Oberlin and is spending his winter term at home slaving over his wok and the books Beyond the Great Wall and Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet, both by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid.
The blog is funny and full of puns (wok this way, wok with me, I wok alone, etc.). Check it out for a chuckle and to learn about Asian cooking. The site is http://sites.google.com/a/oberlin.edu/zipp10/home.
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Lisa A. Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or labraham@thebeaconjournal.com.
