Creativity Center offers Sunday brunches

The Guttenberg Art Gallery and Creativity Center located at 214 South River Park Drive is hosting "Farm to Table" Sunday brunches every other Sunday throughout the summer from 11 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. in their indoor gallery and outdoor courtyard. Reservations are required due to limited seating. For additional information or to make a reservation Call 563-252-2787 or private message at www.facebook.com/artbytheriver or e-mail creativitycenterusers@gmail.com. 

All brunches include your choice of coffee, tea, or sparkling water, and fresh fruits and vegetables will be included as they are seasonally available. "Try our Virgin Bloody Mary breakfast," said Gina Dahlstrom-Osburn. "The specialty drink is made with homemade Bloody Mary mix with bacon, hard boiled egg, celery, olive and mushroom all served in a 20-ounce mug. You keep the mug!"

Menu items include: 

June 20: Sausage quiche with banana bread and fruit 

July 4: Grilled sausage and vegetable kabobs served with watermelon

July 18: Two crepes, one fruit, and one veggie

Aug. 1: Deep-dish breakfast pizza served with a dessert bread. 

Aug. 15: Breakfast burritos served with fresh salsa and sour cream. 

Aug. 29: Blueberry pancakes served with link sausage and fresh fruit. 

Dahlstrom-Osburn was inspired as a child by her mother, Marge Elsinger.  "My mother was one of my biggest influences," she said. "It takes a lot of skill to come up with healthy meals for a family of 10. Having a big garden and eating seasonally was just a way of life." 

The talented cook has several years of experience in the restaurant business. "After I left home I lived and worked in areas where fine dining was thriving," she noted. "I worked for 10 years at a bay front restaurant bartending, waiting tables and eventually running the outdoor beach-front bar and restaurant south of Houston, Texas. I also worked at Galveston, Texas, establishments. After moving to St. Louis, Mo., I started doing farmers markets and making preserves for sale with Centennial Farms, a family-owned farm deep in the heart of the "Weinstrasse," the wine road west of St. Louis, Mo. We also went into the city of Maplewood and Tower Grove Farmers Markets where I met with some of the most celebrated chefs in the city!" 

Dahlstrom-Osburn further elaborated, "In  Texas I learned to appreciate heat. In several ways! I learned a lot about Hispanic cooking, seafood, Cajun and Tex-Mex foods. I learned to love ceviche (seafood pickled in lime juice) and how glorious handmade fresh tortillas are. The best thing was watching the shrimp and oyster boats come in and unload their catch and be able to buy it within the hour. Freshness is the game changer – nothing that comes from a can is ever going to compare."

The Iowa farm girl recalled a funny memory. "I remember one day watching a cook from a local restaurant hoist a hog carcass on his shoulders and saunter down the busy street to his restaurant – not something you see everyday," she laughed. "I love growing things and enjoy creating products I hope people will enjoy.  That, in a nutshell, leads me to Guttenberg and the Creativity Center and art gallery – sharing what I enjoy with others."