One from the Heart

John Hearty

John Hearty got an early start in the kitchen.

"I started cooking when I was just 14," says John. "My parents were divorced and my sister did the cooking. One day I complained about what she made and she said, 'Well, why don't you fix something yourself?' So I did and found out that it was really fun."

John has been a chief cook and bottle washer ever since!

"I cook mainly on the weekends now," says John, who has been happily married to his high school sweetheart for 48 years. He and Linda have four grown children (Jeff, Scott, Jack and Amy).

After high school, John left his home in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, and attended Ohio University in Athens, where he studied engineering and worked as a cooking assistant in the school cafeteria. He went on to work in the aerospace industry, first in Akron, Ohio, and later in Tempe, Arizona.

"When we moved to Tempe, I was the 18th employee with National Machine, and when I left to return to Tallmadge (Ohio), it had grown to 105 employees," reports John. "I didn't like the summers in Arizona - they were too hot - and I wanted to come back to where our kids and lifelong friends were."

Now retired, both John and Linda have been diagnosed with Type-2 diabetes, so meal preparation has taken on added significance.

"We try to eat more intelligently now," says John. "We can have sugar, but we try to avoid it as much as possible. We're also more careful about eating stuff with heavy fat.

"It's just the two of us now, and all my recipes were for four or more people when the kids were home. I still make the same recipes, but now we end up making our own homemade TV dinners from the leftovers. Five minutes later, and you've got yourself a meal - and no mess in the kitchen!"

At long last, John's love of cooking has been passed on to his daughter, Amy, who still lives in Arizona.

"We used to have Amy and her husband over, and I was always cooking," says John. "It wasn't until we moved back to Ohio that she discovered after all those years that she likes to cook. She said to me last year, 'Dad, I don't know why I didn't pay more attention when you were cooking.' Now she's always calling me for a recipe."

Stories:
Kathy Hartley | John Hearty | Patsy Hartung | Stacey Whiseheart

Recipes:
Spinach Dip | Spicy Rice with Almonds | Grilled Swordfish Steaks | Three Citrus Grilled Chicken | Strawberry Spinach Salad | Chocolate Delight | Panko-Breaded Tilapia | Heart Healthy Pancakes