Jane Simon Ammeson is a freelance writer who specializes in travel, food and personalities. She writes frequently for The Times of Northwest Indiana, Mexico Connect, Long Weekends magazine, Edible Michiana, Lakeland Boating, Food Wine Travel magazine , Lee Publications, and the Herald Palladium where she writes a weekly food column. Her TouchScreenTravels include Indiana’s Best. She also writes a weekly book review column for The Times of Northwest Indiana as well as food and travel, has authored 16 books including Lincoln Road Trip: The Back-road Guide to America’s Favorite President, a winner of the Lowell Thomas Journalism Award in Travel Books, Third Place and also a Finalist for the 2019 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards in the Travel category. Her latest books are America’s Femme Fatale: The Story of Serial Killer Belle Gunness and Classic Restaurants of Northwest Indiana.
Her other books include How to Murder Your Wealthy Lovers and Get Away with It, A Jazz Age Murder in Northwest Indiana and Murders That Made Headlines: Crimes of Indiana, all historic true crime as well Hauntings of the Underground Railroad: Ghosts of the Midwest, Brown County, Indiana and East Chicago. Jane’s base camp is Stevensville, Michigan on the shores of Lake Michigan. Follow Jane at facebook.com/janesimonammeson; twitter.com/hpammeson; https://twitter.com/janeammeson1; twitter.com/travelfoodin, instagram.com/janeammeson/ and on her travel and food blog janeammeson.com and book blog: shelflife.blog/
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A Castle in the Hills of a Historic Family Vineyard
In the small historic village of Oberkich in the Black Forest region of Southwest Germany, the Renner family has been making wine since the 1930s. Take a tour of their vineyards on a mountain side near Schauenburg Castle, dine at their restaurant, and choose from the many wines made at their winery housed in a…
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Old Fashioned Fairs and Food
I love going to food festivals and state and county fairs and seeing what great home cooks both young and adult are doing. One such favorite that I never miss is the Berrien County Youth Fair in Southwest Michigan which always hosts an annual Baked Fruit Pie Contest, an event highlighting the lush and lovely fruit…
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Celebrating the Season of Peaches in Southwest Michigan
I owe a big thank you to Nancy Perry, chairperson for the 2018 Coloma Glad Peach Festival who sent in the winning recipes from the annual Glad Peach Bake Fest Winners. The three-day festival, held the first weekend in August, celebrated its 51st year. There were four categories with Mallory Spaulding winning both first place…
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South Bend’s Magnificent Tippecanoe Place
Built in 1889, Tippecanoe Place, a fine dining restaurant in South Bend is an elaborately gabled and turreted 24,000-square-foot Richardsonian Romanesque-style house which belonged to Clem Studebaker, one of the Studebaker auto magnates. Perfectly preserved, it’s about what having it all meant back in the late 1800s. With 40 rooms, 20 fireplaces and ball room,…
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The Mermaid Handbook: An Alluring Treasury of Literature, Lore, Art, Recipes, and Projects
Life is busy for a lovely mermaid (and aren’t they all?). There’s riding seahorses through shimmering sea foam capped with frothy white waves, finding the perfect rock on which to display their fish-like tails sheathed in iridescent spangles so they sparkle in the sunlight, combing their beautiful long locks and, of course, singing enticingly…
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A Sumptuous Gathering of Seasonal Recipes, Culinary Poetry and Literary Far
Book combines poetry, prose and food Chef Myra Kornfeld and poet Stephen Massimilla have put together a luscious cookbook illustrating how poetry, prose and food have been inspirational throughout history. The 500-page book, “Cooking With the Muse: A Sumptuous Gathering of Seasonal Recipes, Culinary Poetry and Literary Fare,” is divided by seasons. It pairs 150 recipes…
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Bridgeton Mill: Grinding Away for Almost Two Centuries
The wheels of Bridgeton Mill, a three story building next to a 268-foot covered bridge, both painted a matching red and rising above a large waterfall, are always working overtime. “We sell about 40,000 pounds of flour, pancake mix and cornmeal every year,” says owner Mike Roe who was grinding away for the Indiana State…
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2018 Symphony League Garden Tour
Brilliant displays of flowers, vignettes of garden arts, a cast iron bed frame painted white and cozy sitting nooks, a pond, a memorial to a dear friend and such unique structures as a Japanese Garden are all components of the lovely garden created by Grace Gianforte, a two-acre extravaganza celebrating nature’s beauty. In keeping with…
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FIBEGA, THE PREMIER WORLDWIDE GASTRONOMY TOURISM FAIR, COMES TO MIAMI MAY 2019
FIBEGA, the premier worldwide gastronomy tourism fair, will take place in the states for the first time in May 2019 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. This is the third edition (inaugural fair took place in Merida, Spain followed by Buenos Aires, Argentina) and due to Miami’s status as an international hub, all future editions…
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Fabio’s 30-Minute Italian
“Good cooking and a lot of flavor don’t have to take a lot of time,” says Fabio Viviani, chef, restauranteur and TV personality, explaining why he wrote Fabio’s 30-Minute Italian (St. Martin’s 2017; $27.99), his beautifully photographed cookbook filled with wonderfully accessible recipes. “The whole premise is easy.” Viviani, who lives in the Chicago area…
