Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 30, 1994 TAG: 9411300035
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETH MACY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
He also had the novel idea that convinced his mom, Carol, an associate publisher for Random House and a cookbook writer, to co-write the book: The cover glows in the dark.
"It's only enough of a glow to be able to spot it in the kitchen," Schneider says. "Then you can turn on the lights and actually read it."
Part gimmick, part comfort-food guide, part gourmet sampler, the book is targeted to both the college crowd pulling all-nighters and real cooks.
"My mom was constantly experimenting on us growing up," the Scarsdale, N.Y., native says. "More often than not, we loved what she made."
But more often than not, it wasn't enough fuel to get him through the night. Before he could cook himself, Schneider was lured into the kitchen at midnight by the Honey Nut Cheerios box - anything to put a stop to the grumblings of his ravenous tummy.
"Andrew has been known to squirrel away a particularly appealing box of cookies or cereal on a shelf with, say, the laundry detergent or the light bulbs, just to cut down on the chances of anyone else finding it before he's had his fill," his mom writes.
Once he started cooking for himself in college, Andrew turned the tables and started experimenting on his mom. One such concoction, featured in the just-released book, is "Andrew's Imported Oddball Confections," a cookie recipe featuring white chocolate chunks - and three tablespoons of vanilla.
"Once I mastered the basic Tollhouse recipe, I started experimenting," Schneider, 24, says. "One of the things I discovered is I really like vanilla a lot. It might be all the alcohol in it, but the taste really appeals to me."
A whole chapter on peanut butter features easy things like peanut butter and banana s'mores, as well as more time-consuming concoctions like sesame noodles and chocolate-peanut butter cookies.
Reserving the right to break their own rules (which they do frequently on the harder recipes), the Schneiders listed four guidelines for midnight snacks: Recipes should have no more than six ingredients; use no more than two cooking utensils; take no more than 15 minutes to make; and whoever makes it cleans it up.
They also encourage the breaking of basic etiquette at the midnight hour: "Manners are out; fingers are in." And there's an entire chapter on spicy foods to keep you up at night - on purpose - inspired by Andrew's "Mexican phase."
Schneider says he enjoys the notoriety of being the only W&L student cookbook author, though he's used to standing out from the crowd. "I'm the president of the W&L chapter of the ACLU and a member of Hillel, a Jewish student organization," he says. "I'm about the only liberal on campus."
He's also not too accomplished now to call home for help in the kitchen from Mom. "I call her all the time with questions about recipes and techniques," he says.
The two will appear on ``The Today Show'' on Dec. 19. (Their publicity agents are still trying to line up a guest-spot on ``The Late Show with David Letterman'' - with the Schneiders donning bath robes and slippers.)
Andrew Schneider will also sign copies of the book Tuesday from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the W&L book store (463-8634 for more information); sample midnight snacks will be provided.
Here are some of the Schneiders' recipes:
ANDREW'S IMPORTED ODDBALL CONFECTIONS
SPICY MUSHROOM QUESADILLAS
SHARP CHEDDAR CUSTARD
CHILI MACARONI AND CHEESE
by CNB