Woman’s dip recipe featured in food magazine

Trish Gehlhar got a taste for cooking at a young age.

In high school, she and her sister inventoried their mother’s pantry and freezer. When they were done, they had designed menus for two months. Now, Gehlhar, who lives in Ypsilanti, N.D., cooks nearly weekly for her co-workers and is one of 1,000 field editors for Taste of Home, a food media brand with a monthly cooking magazine as well as ongoing supplements like cookbooks and special interest recipe collections.

Her most recently published recipe, Carmel Fruit Dip, appeared as the featured photo and recipe in a Taste of Home appetizer publication in November.

The recipe, Gehlhar said, is a simple one: brown sugar, cream cheese and caramel are its three ingredients, in addition to fresh fruit for dipping.

“In our office, everyone seems to have an apple tree,” Gehlhar said, saying she adds a whole jar of caramel to the dip, rather than half like the recipe in the magazine suggests. She also said low-fat cream cheese can be used instead of regular. North Dakota apples aren’t as sweet, she said, so the dip can make up for that.

Gehlhar said she got the recipe from a dish she tried at a party and made some alterations.

“I’m a very good substituter,” Gehlhar said.

Gehlhar’s co-worker, Becky Bair, said Gehlhar frequently comes up with new ideas, especially for healthy food.

“She’s just a great cook,” Bair said.

Taste of Home tried Gehlhar’s dip in its test kitchen, said Faithann Stoner, senior editor for special interest publications at Taste of Home, and featured it as the chapter opener with a full-page photo. The dip made for a good appetizer, Stoner said, and was a healthy option for readers.

“We chose that dip because we though it would be real popular with our readers,” Stoner said.

The recipes in Taste of Home come from field editors like Gahlhar, Stoner said. Gahlhar has been a field editor since 1996. Gehlhar’s signature recipe — sunflower brittle — has also appeared in the magazine. Since she became field editor, Gehlhar has had recipes published in two Taste of Home magazines and two Taste of Home cookbooks in addition to the appetizer publication.

“We certainly appreciate the support of people like Trish,” Stoner said.

The Taste of Home appetizer publication is available at retail and grocery stores until the end of the month.

Sun reporter Katie Ryan can be reached at 701-952-8454 or by e-mail at kryan@jamestownsun.com

Tags: food, cooking