From the Farm: Courtesy of Cary Grant, a romantic minty tradition continues today

Chicago Tribune

27-06-2025

It's become more of a rare, traditional 'added touch' gesture, compared to the usual practice of hospitality by most of today's hotels.
But there are still a selection of luxury hotels which offer a nighttime 'bed turn-down service,' including leaving a foil-wrapped chocolate mint on each of their guests' bed pillows.
I can recall early travel moments over the past 30 years when I wasn't familiar with this sweet gesture and headed to bed, not noticing or expecting the nicety, and waking up the next morning to find a melted chocolate mess.
The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino franchise takes this tradition one step further for branding and leaves large wrapped 'chocolate guitars' nightly on the pillows of their hotel guests, treated like rock stars.'
I recently discovered we have actor Cary Grant to thank for this 'chocolate mint on pillows' tradition.
Grant was married to actress Betsy Drake from 1949 until their divorce in 1962. According to Grant's biographers, his marriage to Drake was already rocky by the early 1950s while he was traveling through St. Louis to promote his latest movie project. Booked downtown at the luxury 18-story high-rise Mayfair Hotel, while staying on property, Grant had his eyes on a potential companion to keep him company. He contacted the hotel manager's office to send up all the available boxes of chocolates to be found.
Grant's idea was to create a 'trail of chocolates' through his hotel penthouse from the sitting room parlor into the bedroom and along the bed and ending the bite-by-bite bait on the pillow of his bed, all as a not-so-subtle hint to the guest he planned to court in his suite that evening. (Allegedly, there was also a handwritten note on the pillow with the final piece of chocolate.)
The hotel manager not only helped with the unusual whim of his famous guest, he liked the clever symbolism of a confection left on a guest's pillow so much, he decided to adopt it as standard practice. Other luxury hotels heard about the complimentary nightly chocolate offering and followed the lead.
Though Grant died at age 82 in 1986 and would marry two more times, while his ex-wife Drake, who never married again, died at age 92 in 2015, the chocolate mint on the pillow of fine hotels continues. After the Mayfair Hotel was purchased in August 2014, it was renamed as the Magnolia St. Louis and it continues to place chocolate mints on the pillows of each room, and guests have the chance to stay in 'the Cary Grant Suite' on the 18th floor.
My own minty tradition continued earlier this month when I returned to judging duties at the 48th Annual Mint Festival in North Judson for the annual 'Cooking with Mint' contest. Recipe entries were judged based on flavor, originality, taste and texture. There was an array of various recipes, ranging from homemade ice cream to salads, cookies, candy, fudge and main entrees.
The Cooking with Mint contest was started soon after the launch of the first festival, as the idea of the North Judson Artisans' Club and leader Louise Surma. After Louise passed in 2004, her daughter Carol Meister continued her mom's tradition of organizing the event along with other volunteers. In recent years, the contest has been held in honor of the memory of Ellen Peters and sponsored by the Brown Family. Ellen was a frequent winner of this contest with her wonderfully dreamed-up 'mint to be' recipes, many of which have been included in my own published 'From the Farm' cookbooks.
This year's overall recipe winner for the 2025 contest is a scrumptious 'Roasted Sweet Potato and Beet Salad with Spearmint and Feta' created by Mary Gumz of North Judson. The wife of potato farming heir Dan Gumz, I featured Dan's mother Cherry Gumz's recipe for her yummy potato casserole in a previous 2023 column.
1 medium sweet potato, cubed
1 medium beet, cubed
1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup raw walnuts
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided use
Salt and pepper
4 cups arugula (or green of choice)
1/2 cup thinly chopped fresh spearmint leaves
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Directions:
Mix sweet potato, beet and onion with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, add walnuts to the rest of the vegetables and roast for 15 minutes more or until vegetables are soft.
Set aside to cool.
For dressing, whisk together 2 tablespoons olive oil, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, salt and pepper.
Combine roasted vegetable mixture, arugula, mint, feta cheese and dressing to serve.