A new exhibit entitled Key Ingredients: America by Food will open at the Merced County Courthouse Museum on Saturday, February 5, 2005. Key Ingredients is a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition that explains the little known, the every day, and the obvious through an entertaining and informative overview of our diverse regional cooking and eating traditions.

In our daily lives in our daily meals, we rarely consider the history and culture that shape our eating habits and taste preferences. Our recipes, menus, ceremonies, etiquette, and even our fast food are directly related to our country's rich immigrant experience. In Merced County as in the Central Valley, our region's rural quality belies a diversity of people that make their home here. In this diverse rural region, food from Europe, the Americas, as well as Asia and the Middle East is readily available. Food is not only something personal in Merced County, it is also business.

Agriculture is Merced County’s largest industry, we are surrounded by food. The Courthouse Museum’s new exhibit provides a new way to think about it. An opening reception of the exhibit is scheduled for Saturday, February 5, 2005 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. It will feature guest speakers from the University of California, Merced (nationally known historian Dr. Gregg Herken, Dr. Jan Goggans, and Dr. Jeffrey Yoshimi), live entertainment by the Sweet String Quartet, and refreshments provided by the California Women for Agriculture.

As part of the educational program for this upcoming Smithsonian exhibit, the Merced County Historical Society recently released a new history cookbook entitled Cooking in Merced County: A Taste of History ($14.95). In addition, workshops and cooking demonstrations will be held every weekend from 2:00 to 3:30 pm from February 12 through March 19. The exhibit will run through March 20, 2005.

Weekend Events
Feb. 5 (Sat.):	PowerPoint Presentation by Drs. Gregg Herken, Jan Goggans, and Jeffrey Yoshimi from the University of California, Merced, live entertainment by the Sweet String Quartet, and refreshments provided by the California Women for Agriculture from 1 to 4pm
Feb. 12 (Sat.):	Sushi Making Demonstration by Louise Taniguchi and Sue Rogers from 2 to 3:30 pm.
Feb. 19 (Sat.):	PowerPoint Presentation, "Pioneer Families," by Jim Cunningham and Kathleen McCorry Crookham, contributors to Cooking in Merced County: A Taste of History. Book signing will follow from 2 to 3:30pm.
Feb. 26 (Sat.):	"Cooking with Herbs" demonstrated by Lisa Bandoni of the Merced Garden Club from 2 to 3:30pm.
Mar. 6 (Sun.):	Holiday Table Setting by Lynn Skinner from 2 to 3:30 pm.
Mar. 12 (Sat.):	Making and Baking Focaccia by Wayne Eisenhart from 2 to 3:30pm.
Mar. 19 (Sat.):	"Valley Roasted Vegetables" demonstrated by the Valley Chef Vinnie De Angelo of the De Angelo's Restaurant from 2 to 3:30pm.

Key Ingredients: America by Food has been organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services (SITES) in association with California Exhibition Resources Alliance (CERA) and the California Council for the Humanities.