A Seasonal Fare with Flair Demo Diva: Meet Victoria Hicks

Our long-time food writer and demo diva is on the blog.

She’s affable as can be, has extensive knowledge of food and food customs and culture, and usually when you meet her she’s handling out free samples of something delicious she has prepared. Sweet, eh?

Victoria Hicks is a long-time food writer for the Co-op News and our demo diva for the popular Seasonal Fare with Flair series. The stories behind Victoria’s menus are so entertaining and the food is so good we’ve asked her to feature some of them on our blog so that more members can enjoy her contributions to our educational food programs. Join Victoria Hicks for her delicious free samplings on Saturdays that are always a crowd favorite! Visit the Service Desks in our stores for upcoming dates, times, and locations. 

About Victoria

Victoria is a familiar face at the Co-op food samplings and in-store events. An avid cook and food enthusiast, she lived overseas while growing up and loves to search out new recipes.

Victoria started at the Co-op with TGIFs every Friday in 2000. In 2002, she started a series called Simply Entertaining in which she would make a meal on a Saturday morning and hand out recipe brochures and shopping lists to replicate the meal at home. In conjunction with those recipes, she contributed an article to the Co-op News. 

She wrote for the Co-op News from January 2005 through December 2009. The articles were called Simply Entertaining and Seasonal Fare with Flair. These articles would be focused on a theme and included an article about the topic—introductions and several recipes. Victoria would demonstrate one or two of these recipes on Saturdays in the various stores.

We’re thrilled to have Victoria writing for us again! 

“In choosing a topic for the articles and recipes, I look first for something that fits the Seasonal Fare with Flair title, and also represents an ingredient that would be of interest to a large percentage of the readers,” Victoria says. “What are people curious about? What don’t they know how to use in creative ways?”

Victoria’s recipes are tailored to meet these needs:

  • Simple to prepare
  • Minimal and easily obtained ingredients
  • Economical and seasonal
  • Family friendly
  • Can be prepared in approximately thirty minutes
  • Delicious!

“More goals are to offer recipes the whole family can prepare or that can be prepared for a couple or even a single person,” Victoria says. “It’s also nice to give customers a bit of background from another culture and how the food applies to that culture.”

Victoria said her favorite part of the gig is learing from Co-op members and customers. She encourages people to cook, and to be teased and delighted by delicious ingredients and the method by which they can recreate these recipes at home.

“I like to write pieces about a food memory or a favorite dining experience or something discovered on a trip abroad,” she says. “People seem to like the personal touch in an article. If they think they know the writer a little better for it, or if they can see themselves in the story of an experience, that can have a lot of appeal.”

Look for Victoria’s Seasonal Fare with Flair column beginning next week! 

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Ken Davis

Ken Davis is the Co-op's senior copywriter. Email him at kdavis@coopfoodstore.com.