Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s wife, Fran DeWine, stopped by the Richland County Courthouse on Wednesday as the 36th county in her 88-county tour, where she greeted the public and handed out copies of the 12th edition of her cookbook.
Fran DeWine refers to herself as Mike DeWine’s eyes and ears, assisting him in gathering information and finding issues that need to be addressed in Ohio communities.
Mike DeWine has been Ohio Attorney General for four years, and is campaigning for reelection. Fran DeWine said he has seen results on items he campaigned on four years ago.
“What he campaigned on four years ago was that he was going to turn around BCI, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. It was taking an average of 123 days to test DNA…he’s been able to change that to I think 22 days now,” said Fran DeWine.
Fran DeWine noted that the cookbook idea came about during Mike DeWine’s first campaign. “When Mike ran the first time, we knocked on 18,000 doors in Greene County when he ran for Greene County prosecutor. For me, it was hard, knocking on doors when people didn’t necessarily want to open their door,” she said.
She said she told her husband that if they did this again, she wanted to give people something that would make them smile. “So I went home and went through my recipes, picked out the ones with the little spots on them because you’ve made them so many times, had my children do the illustrations, and we did our first cookbook,” Fran DeWine said.
“We’ve done one for just about every campaign since then,” she added.
The cookbooks contain one recipe chosen by each of her eight children, in addition to other family favorites, with her younger children and grandchildren doing the illustrations, Fran DeWine said.
Fran DeWine noted that the cookbooks not only serve as an ice breaker, but also serve to let the community know a bit about her family. “I try to write little bits on the recipes that kind of tell about our family, what we like, and who we are,” she added.
She noted that Mike DeWine’s favorite recipe in this edition is the Black Raspberry Pie, aptly named “Mike’s Favorite Black Raspberry Pie.”
Mike’s Favorite Black Raspberry Pie
Pastry for 2-crust pie, 4 cups black raspberries, 2/3 cup sugar, ¼ cup flour, 2 Tablespoons butter
Line a 9 inch pie plate with pastry. Fill with raspberries. Mix sugar and flour and sprinkle over berries. Dot with butter. Adjust top crust. Make slit in top.
Bake at 375 degrees for 45 – 50 minutes.
More recipes, complete with illustrations, may be found at the website.
