Lisa Schifko has taken her 30 years’ experience in the food business, and, along with her husband, Dan, has changed things up at Memories Restaurant & Lounge, a long-established Brighton Township tradition. Dan graduated from Hartland High School in 1979; Lisa is a 1979 graduate of Livonia Stevenson. The 50-year-old couple met in seventh grade and met up again after high school at Saratoga Trunk, a former Novi restaurant her uncle, Pete Phillips, owned. The Brighton Township couple has five adult children: Gary Rollin, 32 (Lisa’s stepson); 25-year-old Angela, an Eastern Michigan University …

When the Eddy family participated this year at recent Fowlerville Family Fair, everyone was involved. Dad Scott was a clerk for the food judging and mom Sandy and 17-year-old Chris were standing right by for support as competitors, Carmen, 15, Noelle, 13, and Tommy, 12, waited their turns in the judging line. All three belong to the Hartland area Ranger 4-H group, the closest club to the family’s Genoa Township home.  Overall, it was a successful competition. Tommy, who said he enjoyed making this first big project, learned a valuable lesson; his “monkey bread,” called Cinnamon Pull Apart …

Emily Brown, 12, a member of the Hartland-based 4-H Ranger group, has already had a great time at the Fowlerville Fair, even before it was opened to the public. Her original Poppyseed Salad received an “A” or blue ribbon in the Foods & Nutrition: Salads area Saturday as items were judged for exhibition. It’s made of ingredients she likes. “It tastes pretty good and it’s healthy,” she said. Don’t look for Brown’s salad in the exhibition hall: the extremely hot weather wilted the spinach base. That didn’t stop her family from eating most of it! For this reason, she does not recommend serving it…

Adam Noggle, chef and kitchen manager at O'Malley's Irish Pub & Restaurant, spends a lot of time at his post. “I’m a workaholic,” he shrugs. “It just seems like that’s the only thing I like to do.” He learned his specialty completely on the job. The 33-year-old Fenton resident draws upon the experience of the past 10 to 12 years in various kitchens plying his trade, the last six-and-a-half being at the Irish pub in his old stomping grounds. He grew up in Hartland and is a Hartland High School graduate.  The restaurant’s recently revised menu, like many things, was a joint effort. “I’m in …

Jimmy McNulty, executive chef and co-partner with Nick and Lindsay Palizzi in Downtown Main Martini Bar & Grille in Brighton, has enjoyed every bit of the route he’s taken to his current position. McNulty, who went to parochial schools, including St. Rafael’s in his hometown of Garden City and Catholic Central High School, added that, although he has an Irish name, he has an Italian mother and grandmother, whose recipes still serve as an inspiration to him.   The Hartland resident (who’s also lived in nearby White Lake) started his food business career at Thomas’ Family Dining, a small family…

Mary Ann Zonca learned how to make the perfect egg roll through a combination of education and determination. After moving out to Brighton in 1972 with her husband, Norb, where they lived until 1996, she found she missed the Chinese food, especially egg rolls, readily available in bigger cities. As there was no Chinese restaurant anywhere close to his Hartland-based dental practice or their home, she found herself with only one option: taking a cooking lesson. That was well before the days of the Internet, Mary Ann explained. She added, “Recipes for egg rolls at the time were hard to get.” …

Two Hartland High School seniors are seen as a cooking team at a Howell culinary arts program and it's not a surprise. Seventeen-year-olds Brittany Anderson of Linden — who recently brought in a cake recipe that we're featuring — and Sara Luberto of Brighton have a lot in common. Both love to cook and come from large families. (Luberto is one of 11 children, including her stepbrothers and stepsisters, while Anderson is one of 10). Luberto, in fact, enjoys cooking so much that she plans to make a career of it. She will start studying culinary arts at Johnson and Wales University in Rhode …

Don and Margaret MacDonald have been making dinner side-by-side for more than 25 years in their own kitchen, but sometimes they do so for a bigger crowd. The couple recently took the opportunity to share their cooking with their “family” from All Saints Lutheran Church in Hartland at the Lenten Soup and Sandwich Supper, which traditionally takes place before Wednesday Lenten prayer services in March, an event Margaret particularly enjoys. “The food and fellowship is the best,” she said. That makes sense, she added, because congregational life is supposed to be all about “food, fun and …

Michiko Nowak, an active member of Hartland Senior Center, loves to bake just about anything, especially bread pudding. It isn’t just for dessert, but makes a great special occasion breakfast when you have company. The number of servings depends on whether it’s for breakfast or dessert. It's is a thrifty dish because it incorporates the monkey bread or coffeecake given by VG’s of Fenton and Brighton to the senior center cooked with eggs, milk, fruit and seasonings. She doesn’t add sugar because the bread pudding is sweet enough without it. It can be served warm or cold. “It’s moist and it’s …

Debbie Jager had a lot to be thankful for as she served up her family’s favorite side dish, Broccoli, Cheese and Rice Casserole during the holidays this year. The Tyrone Township resident, formerly from Hartland, had family gathered around her; she also had hair this year, a major improvement from last Thanksgiving. Jager, 50, just passed her one-year anniversary as a breast cancer survivor, which made everything taste better. She said turning 50 didn’t even faze her, not after surviving cancer. Jager plans to do the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation walk with her sister. “If it wasn’t …

Cathy Jones, co-owner of Kahuna Coffee, can’t tell you how many times she’s made her restaurant’s top-selling sandwich, Joe’s Silver Fox, but she knows it’s excellent.  Jones, who’s lived in Hartland since 1990, has numerous ties to the community. Her three daughters graduated from Hartland High School, two of whom still live here with their families. In fact, her daughter, Michelle and husband, Adam, co-own the local, unique coffeehouse with her. Her expertise in management in the manufacturing arena combined with their restaurant experience has made it all happen. They took over the …

Frank Matthews started in the food business at the age of 14, but his interest in food started long before that. "My mother (Dianne) was an excellent cook," Matthews said. "I've had an interest in food all my life. All of my training comes from finding and training with the best chefs." Since that time, he's perfected his craft under the guidance of chefs who've mastered one art or another, primarily at what he calls "white tablecloth" restaurants, changing positions just about every year for 10 years to ensure he trained in a variety of cuisines. Some of the places he worked during this time…

Looking for something easy to make for New Year's Eve? Ham Sandwich Buns have been the go-to sandwich in Sue Quinn's family for "40-plus years." "I remember it as a kid," said Quinn, explaining that her mom, Ruth Vax, used to make them regularly, especially for New Year's, though they're also good for other occasions such as Super Bowl parties or birthdays. You don't have to wait for a party, though, she says. The easy, tasty, tiny sandwiches can be eaten as a snack or meal anytime. They're great warmed up the next day, too. Quinn, a Brighton Township resident, is a nurse at the University of…

Meghan and Erik Bryan's holiday traditions include a Christmas cookie-baking and candy-making extravaganza the weekend before Christmas. At the home of Meghan Bryan's parents, Sue and Patrick Quinn of Brighton Township, they gathered Saturday to make 10 kinds of cookies and candy concoctions to give away to friends and family members, finishing the day with five to six dozen of each variety. Sue Quinn, who estimates the tradition is about 25 years old, said they considered dispensing with the cookie-making effort one year because of a time crunch—but son-in-law Erik Bryan wouldn't hear of it…

Hartland resident Curt Collins' Texas Caviar (aka Cowboy Caviar) recipe always is a big hit with a crowd. The recipe is sometimes called Tomato-less Salsa, unless you choose the variation with Ro-Tel tomatoes. Whatever you call it, it's a hit "where people gather for food and conversation, football games, church life groups and wherever beer and corn chips are consumed," Collins said. "I recently learned of this from our good friend Dawn who knows I like to spend time in the kitchen chopping things up into little pieces to relieve stress," Collins said. (She obtained the recipe from a friend …

Denise Bogues has made Meringue Kisses since 1985 — the year she and her husband, Mike Bogues, met. "When we first started dating, I always made Christmas cookies," she said. "I asked him what his favorite was — it was those cookies, hands down." Denise, 49, didn't come up with the recipe out of the blue. She obtained it from Barb Marshall of Sterling Heights, mom to one of Mike's friends. Mike, 48, describes Marshall as "my second mom." The cookies are still Mike's favorite, especially when the optional nuts are added in. As Denise prefers meringues without nuts, one year, she'll make them …

Dave and Marlene Turk who own Turk Farms are blending old and new Thanksgiving traditions this year — including adding a favorite Roast Muscovy Duck recipe to the holiday meal for the first time. Dave, 51, explains they try to use as many of the farm's locally grown meats and produce as possible in their holiday dinner. Their typical Thanksgiving starts off with a hearty breakfast, including quiche as well as a homemade white gravy with sausage made on site. Usually, Marlene, 54, makes the gravy using a roux, but, for quick preparation, she often uses the Pioneer brand of white gravy mix. …

Know a great cook with a signature recipe he or she is willing to share? Hartland's Savvy Chefs is a new feature that will include recipes from great Hartland cooks. Our first featured chef is Ron Warthman. Ron Warthman took the stuffing recipe that was a mainstay of the Hartland United Methodist Church's annual turkey dinner, a Hartland community event since 1942, and tweaked it into an easily replicated dish that's meant for a crowd. "It was kind of a church recipe," the 70-year-old Hartland resident said. "After I retired, I was looking for something to keep me busy, so I volunteered." …