Don’t you love it when you get out of your comfort zone? I’m not a vegan or vegetarian nor do I even think I will be but I couldn’t pass up the chance to go to the University of Pittsburgh campus in Bradford to hear a lecture by John Schlimm.
John Schlimm is the award-winning author of twelve books on cooking/entertaining, history, how-to, and fiction.
His latest work is Grilling Vegan Style: 125 Fired-Up Recipes to Turn Every Bite into a Backyard BBQ. A comprehensive vegan grilling handbook and cookbook, Grilling Vegan Style serves up backyard cooking and entertaining like never before, once more proving John’s point that eating vegan style does not have to be boring or tasteless.
In the fall of 2012, John’s first vegan cookbook, The Tipsy Vegan: 75 Boozy Recipes to Turn Every Bite into Happy Hour, was released to critical acclaim. In this hip cookbook, John smashes through vegan stereotypes and breaks new ground once again by showcasing a collection of plant-based recipes using favorites from the bar circuit–wine, beer, vodka, etc.–as key ingredients.
In the summer of 2011, John expanded into yet another literary genre, releasing his debut novel, Twang, to rave reviews as an e-Book exclusive worldwide. A former Country Music publicist, John peels back the industry-crafted cliché of Nashville and its beloved superstars as he follows a special group of fictionalized Country Music singers and their entourages through one unforgettable year in their lives. He takes readers backstage of the sold-out concerts, inside the homes and heads of Nashville’s elite, and introduces them to a side of show business that has yet to be revealed.
In 2010, John wrote The Seven Stars Cookbook: Recipes from World-Class Casino Restaurants, a coffee table-style book that he created in conjunction with Caesars Entertainment, the world’s largest gaming company. With a Foreword by culinary icon Paula Deen and more than 125 recipes from some of the top casino-restaurant chefs in the country as well as such celebrity chefs as Bobby Flay, John Besh, Bradley Ogden, Francois Payard, Paul Prudhomme, and Guy Savoy, The Seven Stars Cookbook is a high-end tour de force that brings the luxury and glamour of Caesars Entertainment’s casinos and restaurants across the country into each reader’s own kitchen and parties. That same year, the book was named one of the best cookbooks in the U.S. by the Gourmand Awards.
A member of one the oldest and most esteemed brewing families in the U.S., John’s now classic and voluminous ode to beer and food, The Ultimate Beer Lover’s Cookbook: More Than 400 Recipes That All Use Beer, was released in 2008. In 2009, the book was awarded both “Best Beer Book in the U.S.” and “Best Beer Book in the World” by the international Gourmand Awards. The largest beer cookbook ever published, The Ultimate Beer Lover’s Cookbook has garnered critical acclaim from the media and readers across the country. Also in 2009, The Beer Lover’s Cookbook: More Than 300 Recipes That All Use Beer was released as a travel-friendly, paperback adaptation of The Ultimate Beer Lover’s Cookbook.
During his early career, John served in the Vice Presidential Communications Office at The White House where he worked with Second Lady Tipper Gore as well as having worked in production and scriptwriting for the national radio series Enterprising Women, fundraising for various national and local non-profits, and as a celebrity publicist at FrontPage Publicity in Nashville.
In 2003, John joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford as an adjunct professor in the Communication Arts Department where he was also the host of the radio program Campus Crossfire for five seasons. During the 2006/2007 school year, he served as the Visiting Assistant Professor for Broadcast Communications.
John has also been a promotional writer for various entities, including Caesars Entertainment, the country’s preeminent literary PR firm, and a leading publisher, where he has written on behalf of Hollywood and literary superstars as well as some of the country’s most respected brand names. John’s articles and writings have also appeared in various anthologies (including the Chicken Soup for the Soul series), magazines, newspapers, and online news sources.
The lecture was in the beautiful Harriet Wick Chapel and was done as a sit down interview. John answered questions and expanded with his personal experiences as a vegan and activist. He was a dynamic speaker and had once been the commencement speaker for the UPB graduation. It was such an enjoyable time and afterwards there was a small tasting of vegan foods. Unfortunately there was a little booze in all of them and I am allergic to alcohol so I had to settle for a cracker.
It was really nice to expand my mind on a subject that I knew very little about. 
Another lovely Autumn day is at hand with 63 degrees and sunny skies. Don is mowing the lawn to mulch the leaves and then will gather them in his grass catcher. The lawn always looks so fresh when it is mowed. Sadie and I took a morning walk and now are just relaxing. 
