If you didn’t grow up learning to cook, if you never sat on a stool in your mama’s kitchen and listened to her stories of meals and dishes she learned when she was young, if you never, ever change a recipe for the delight of experimentation, then this book is for you!
Martha Cheves invites you into her kitchen and her life as she offers up superb dishes with a history. You want to be right there watching as she cooks, shares with neighbors, plans a meal for a weekend away, gives practical tips for the kitchen, and nudges you through her stories to try her banana puddin,’ potato soup, country style beef, and on and on. This book is packed with recipes for fruit, veggies, meats, breads and desserts.
You will never read a cookbook in which the author admits to not liking a dish, and then sets about concocting delicious new ways to make it so interesting that she ends up liking it. And you will too! I’ve already tried and enjoyed her recipe for squash patties.
You will never read a cookbook in which the author enourages you to change the recipe! That’s what used to happen in Mama’s kitchen. That’s what really learning to cook is all about.
Carol Brooks, Ph.D., Belmont Abbey College
