WQED-TV marks a tasty milestone with success of community cooking show

On Sept. 21, WQED-TV will air one of its popular “QED Cooks” marathons. The show's title is “Return of the Zucchini,” but the event represents much more than the versatility of this particular vegetable.

The program marks a milestone in the community cooking show concept that originated in the summer of 1993. That's when Chris Fennimore, WQED's director of programming, shared part of a community garden. When his three zucchini plants were at the peak of production, Fennimore had an idea: What if he put out the call to viewers for their favorite zucchini recipes?

Twenty years later, the Pittsburgh community is still sharing recipes — and not only for zucchini.

“The response to that first show was amazing,” Fennimore says. “The phones rang off the hook with requests for the recipes. So, we immediately planned another show for that December. Even then, we could not have predicted how long the enthusiasm for these shows might last.”

The cooking marathons soon earned a place on the weekend program lineup. Cookbooks that corresponded to the program themes were offered as incentives for viewer contributions to the station. About 50 of the 100 cookbooks are still available for purchase on WQED's website.

Fennimore is especially proud of the first “QED Cooks Cookbook,” which featured cover art drawn by his daughter, Maryann, then 16 and a junior at Taylor Allderdice High School. Today, she's an art teacher and musician living in Rome with her husband, Andrew.

Although the “Return of the Zucchini” marathon was taped last weekend, the cooking shows traditionally are done live. Occasionally, things went wrong.

“There is always the time we mistook salt for sugar in a frosting recipe. They had a close-up of me as I tasted it, and I had to try and keep a straight face,” he says. “Or the time that Nancy Polinsky tasted the hot-pepper ice cream and nearly burned off her lips. We've been coated in flour and powdered sugar and splattered with melted chocolate. But the show goes on.”

Co-host Polinsky Johnson remembers the habanero ice cream on the “Hot & Spicy” show like it was yesterday.

“I didn't taste the heat at first,” she says. “But a few seconds later, I started fanning my mouth. And then I began to drink from the sink faucet, because there was no cup around, and my mouth was on fire. Since the sink is behind us on the set, I had to turn my back to the camera, and when I bent over to drink, viewers got a lovely view of my not-so-small backside.

“Can't tell you how little I cared at that moment — and how much I cared when I got home and saw the repeat airing,” Polinsky Johnson says.

“We often joke that we should do a show of bloopers,” says Joe Certo, who volunteers behind the scenes on the set, making sure that ingredients, cooking utensils and guest cooks are ready when the cameras start rolling. Certo, a dentist from North Huntingdon with a passion for cooking, is referred to in the show's credits as “our kitchen magician.”

“I think (‘QED Cooks') is successful simply because it is more of a show about tradition and personalities as opposed to recipes,” Certo says. “ It's the story behind the recipe that is of the most value and interest.”

Polinsky Johnson attributes the success of the cooking shows to its spontaneity.

“Absolutely nothing is scripted,” she says. “Chris and I don't even discuss how we're going to open the show, which we used to spend a few seconds doing in the early days. The red ‘on air' light comes on and we just start talking.”

In more than 100 cooking marathons in two decades, Fennimore says, “we have reached millions of viewers, received thousands of recipes and featured hundreds of everyday cooks on our programs.”

As one of those everyday cooks, contributor Nina Mule Lyons of Ross says Fennimore has created a perfect blend of interesting people and their stories about good food and family pride.

“Chris Fennimore is so warm and so authentic that people feel like he is a member of the family,” she says. “He also has a respect for the home cook and the church ladies who cook and that is so important. The show is full of homey warmth, like it's your friend and family sharing their prized secrets talking over the fence rather than a TV cooking show.”

The 20th anniversary “QED Cooks” marathon airs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 21 on WQED-TV.

Candy Williams is a contributing writer for Trib Total Media.