Columnist Phil Potempa is joined by his parents, Chester, displaying his custom crafted birdhouse designs, and mom Peggy, cradling a jar of her pickled beets, with family dog Laddie in the farm garden in September 2011 for a promo photo for an upcoming stage appearance at the 2011 Taste of Home Cooking Show at The Venue at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond. - Original Credit: Photo courtesy of Linda Potempa (Photo courtesy of Linda Potempa / HANDOUT)

It was on Wednesday, April 27, 2002 when this “From the Farm” weekly recipe newspaper feature first debuted.

If anyone asked me on the day of the column’s launch, some 20 years ago, if I thought I’d still be writing this same beloved folksy weekly feature (always anchored with a memory menu recipe) two decades later I’m sure my answer was (or would have been): “Yes … God willing!”

And here we are, more than 1,000 published columns and four cookbooks later and I still follow the same simple format and chatty tone, like two neighbors visiting over a fence and swapping stories and recipes.

As for the lag in observance, and celebration to mark the anniversary event, there was a brief hiatus for the column’s publishing history of five months, from mid-November 2015 to April 2016, when the “From the Farm” column paused as I switched flagship newspapers to anchor the weekly feature. I transitioned it from The Times of Northwest Indiana, where it began in April 2002, to now reside in The Post-Tribune and comfortably nested with Chicago Tribune Media.

As for how to celebrate this special anniversary, a world premiere new one-man play will raise the curtain to share the fabled family roots of this column and our family’s Polish heritage when “Once Upon a Farm: A Family, a Story, a Tradition” enjoys a special seven-performance run Sept. 14-18 produced by Theatre at the Center at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts, 1040 Ridge Road, in Munster, Indiana.

Audiences will be transported to a re-creation on stage of the family farm located in Northwest Indiana as well as an exciting multimedia presentation with video, music and rare images to delight and engage with humor, passion and life’s lessons showcased on stage for a relaxing and nostalgic one-hour and 45 minute, with one intermission, journey — inviting audiences to revisit yesteryear.

The first act begins with the details and challenges of my grandparents’ arrival from Poland and their challenges while raising nine children in 1929 as the Great Depression swept the country. They accepted a new chapter to their lives when the family left Chicago city life for farm landscapes to learn to work the Hoosier soil as farmers.

Following intermission, the second act continues the family story and includes the full-circle approach of my own odyssey, from cornfields to column writing, and the launch of these farm tale inspired columns two decades ago in 2002.

The idea to write a one-man play, starring myself as the narrator and storyteller, was something I’ve pondered since the first time I produced one of my “From the Farm” cooking demonstration stage shows in May 2007 at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, coinciding with the release of my second published cookbook. While audiences love the process and animated theatrics watching recipes whipped up on stage and seeing the final result unveiled, I discovered it was also the banter with the audience and stories associated with my family and history of the menus shared which was equally appealing and entertaining.

I reasoned a one-man stage play or show, with less emphasis on the cooking and recipes aspect and more spotlight on family history using a dose of humor and storytelling, could be just as appetizing and amusing to audiences.

Following the first “From the Farm” cooking stage show in 2007 at Star Plaza Theatre, I produced and performed four more “From the Farm” franchise stage shows switching venues to Theatre at the Center in Munster, including two shows in 2017, one in 2018 and one in 2019.

“Once Upon a Farm: A Story, a Family, a Tradition” includes audience interaction and banter as a means for audiences to rekindle their own personal treasured family memories from yesteryear and of course, is ideal for all ages.

Performances for “Once Upon a Farm” are 2 p.m. Sept. 14 and 15; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sept. 16 and 17 and 3 p.m. Sept. 18.

Tickets are $30, with an option for group discounts for 13 and more. There is also a dinner theater option for the addition of a themed four-course farm-themed meal priced at $25 (plus tax and gratuity) served by Trama Catering in the ballroom of The Center for Visual and Performing Art served two hours prior to all performances, with the exception of the Saturday evening Sept. 17 performance. All of the recipes served on the meal menu are from my fourth published cookbook “Back From the Farm: Family Recipes and Memories of a Lifetime” (2019 Pediment Press $34.95).

Show tickets are available by calling the box office at 219-836-3255 or online at www.TheatreAtTheCenter.com. The meal option is purchased by calling Trama Catering Dining and Events at 219-836-1930. “Once Upon a Farm” is family-friendly and ideal for all ages.

While my father Chester’s family might have numbered nine, my teacher-turned-assistant elementary school principal pal Steve Foster, who has a twin brother David, is from an even larger Irish family of 10 siblings. His mother’s recipes for large, brimming pots of cream of broccoli and cheddar soup, rhubarb cake and other family menu favorites are included in my previous columns and cookbooks.

Last week, she shared her family recipe for what she calls “an affordable beef stroganoff for large families,” something key when ladling out portions to a family of 10. Instead of traditional cubed stew meat or round-steak, Anne Foster, 83, of rural Kinsman, Ill. and her late husband of 53 years, Norman Foster, who passed at age 76 in June 2013, knew how to save money with menu planning, preferring to always use ground beef in the family’s stroganoff recipe without sacrificing pennies or flavor.

Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center. He can be reached at pmpotempa@comhs.org or mail your questions: From the Farm, P.O. Box 68, San Pierre, IN 46374.

1 can (4 ounces) sliced mushrooms, undrained

1 can (14 ounce) cream of mushroom soup

1. Heat large skillet and add shortening to cook ground beef and onion.

2. Once meat has browned, do not drain but reduce heat and sprinkle flour over meat and add mushrooms and seasonings and cook for an additional 5 minutes.

3. Add undiluted canned soup and cook for another 10 minutes.

4. Lastly, fold in sour cream and stir well to combine.

5. Serve stroganoff ladled sparingly over a generous heaped helping of cooked rice or flat pasta noodles.