THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Phil will prepare a seven-course feast, highlighting favorite recipes from his third cookbook "Further From the Farm: Family Recipes and Memories of a Lifetime" published in 2010. Beginning with Morning Brunch Fruit Punch and blueberry muffins ( made from a century-old recipe ), a carved turkey main dish and Easy Chocolate Peanut Clusters will also be included in the afternoon's menu of fan favorites.

Potempa will recreate the atmosphere of his own family farm on stage with a set design that includes a working 1938 kitchen stove that he will use to prepare the mouth-watering recipes that readers have requested over the years. Family stories will be peppered in between the food preparation and some nostalgic information about treasured traditions.

He last performed on stage for a full-scale "From the Farm Cooking Show" in May 2010 at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville. Following his graduation from Valparaiso University, his journalism career began in 1992 and he has written for magazines and newspapers, including The South Bend Tribune and The Times of Northwest Indiana, for a quarter of a century as a noted feature writer and daily entertainment newspaper columnist. In 2016, his From the Farm recipe column and other feature stories and entertainment columns launched in The Post Tribune and the Chicago Tribune's newspaper chain as well as at www.chicagotribune.com .

As the author of three published books, each page chronicles interviews, recipes and memories from his personal and professional experiences, which he will share from the stage during his cooking show. Throughout the years, he's interviewed and swapped recipes and stories with Julia Child, Martha Stewart, President Jimmy Carter, Oprah Winfrey and other favorite luminaries. He is also an adjunct instructor in communications at both Valparaiso University and Purdue University Northwest. He divides his time between his family's peppermint farm in Northwest Indiana and his home in Chicago.

Tickets for the Farm Cooking Show are $25 and are available at Theatre at the center's box office at 1040 Ridge Road in Munster or by calling 219-839-3255 or at www.TheatreAtTheCenter.com .