Shaum has written two cookbooks, Seasons in the Lake Country and Holidays in Lake Country. He is working on a third, titled Lake Country Gourmet.

Shaum has been a resident of Lake Wawasee since 1985. He wanted to write a cookbook containing recipes he and his wife, Gayle, prepare seasonally and for entertaining purposes.

"We entertain a lot and we've made a lot of dishes so we started compiling recipes," said Shaum. "The recipes are from a lot of different sources."

"Some of the recipes are from family members, others from the couples travels all over the world and some from other sources. His mothers side family was Mennonite and they prepared food using whatever they raised or grew," Shaum explained.

About 10 years ago, he decided to write his first cookbook, Seasons in Lake Country: A Portfolio of Food During the Seasons. Compiling the recipes took five years. In the book, Shaum shares recipes for each season.

"There's recipes for winter, spring, fall and summer," Shaum explained. "It (the cookbook) grew out of parties that we had. We also do a lot of braising."

For instance, slow-cooked food, like pulled pork and corned beef, are recipes featured in the book.

The second book, Holidays in Lake Country, is more menu-based recipes. The cookbook features recipes for specific holidays, such as Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter.

Each cookbook features recipes found all over the world. Shaum traveled internationally for his job and picked up ideas for recipes in different countries. One of his favorites is Mediterranean food, meals he and his wife enjoy cooking because they are healthy and low fat. In fact, most of his recipes in the cookbooks are low in fat.

Shaum grew up in Elkhart where his father delivered produce to several grocery stories. His aunt lived on a working farm in Elkhart County, where she cooked a variety of dishes, some of which are featured in his cookbooks. Several of his mothers and his aunts recipes are mentioned in the books.

Shaum attended Purdue University where he earned a degree in electrical engineering. He later earned his masters degree from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, where he learned to enjoy and cook a variety of ethnic food. While living in Pittsburgh, Pa., he grew fond of Lebanese food, featured in one of his cookbooks.
When asked why he decided to share his recipes with the public, Shaum stated, "It's fun to share and if people like it enough, why not share it?"

He gathered more than 400 recipes, too many for just one book, so he decided to create three smaller cookbooks. His third book, Lake Country Gourmet, will feature recipes from local restaurants. "The book will have different sections with appetizers, desserts and main dish recipes based on local sources," said Shaum.

Shaum hopes his cookbooks and the recipes in them will inspire people to not only cook but also create their own dishes.

"These are only starting points," Shaum said. "The journey is up to you."

Two of his books have been published and are available locally. His books can be purchased at Better World Books and Olive Branch, both in Goshen, Wawasee Interiors and CreativeFish, both in Syracuse, Bella Books in Middlebury, and The Next Chapter in Warsaw.

The books are also available online at amazon.com.

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