In a recent chat with my good friend, #WidowVonne, I was reminded how cool and ride-or-die she is! I asked her to give me her top 5 cookbooks and favorite recipes to list on my online bookshop, Chattabooks. As usual she never disappoints, and my listeners and readers really should check out her selections.
Betty Crocker’s Cookbook (New and Revised Edition)
This was actually the first instructional cookbook I studied as a young girl. My mother had my twin sis and me in the kitchen, training early. I love this edition, simply for the cherished memories and fantastic photos!
My go-to recipe: “Russian Teacakes” (A shortbread type of cookie, with chopped nuts, rolled in powder sugar. The first cookie I ever learned to bake!)
The Down Home Taste of The Carolinas
By Chef Jerome Brown
Wonderful southern cookbook that shares a bit of southern history, leading into the “Chef’s Story” of each recipe, adding a special personal touch. Can’t wait to try then ALL!
My go-to recipe: “Garlic & Cheddar Shrimp and Grits”
Collection of 2,000 recipes from 20 years of America’s Most Trusted Food Magazine
Good instructional cookbook; great illustrated drawings that display visual technique
My go-to recipe: “Chicken Marsala” (Too many fantastic recipes to narrow down here….)
By Jocelyn Delk Adams
I love this cookbook because I especially have a passion for baking! I’m delighted when authors share the history behind their family recipes or memorable gatherings at the table. I’m also subscribed to her amazing eNewsletter.
My go-to recipe: “Classic Yellow Cake with Whipped Chocolate Frosting”. (I bake this combination cake annually for my grammar school BFF upon request. Loving this version.)
Over 1,300 of Our Best Recipes for Entrees, Side Dishes, Desserts, and More
From the Foods Staff of Southern Living Magazine
By far, one of my all-time favorite cookbooks. It’s detailed-oriented, reigning on the level of a “professional cooking” cookbook, providing instructional photos and more. It also holds a personal, sentimental value, as this is the main book I used when first married. This one will always remind me of my darling late husband and many, many joyous holiday dinners shared together!
My go-to recipe: “Million Dollar Pound Cake”. (I also use this as the base for my amazing caramel cake)
While researching and adding the #WidowVonne’s suggestions, I had the pleasure of discovering yummy additional recipe books!
Meat Illustrated: A Foolproof Guide to Understanding and Cooking with Cuts of All Kinds
Part cookbook, part handbook organized by animal and its primal cuts, Meat Illustrated provides essential information and techniques to empower you to explore options (affordable cuts like beef shanks instead of short ribs, lesser-known cuts like country-style ribs, leg of lamb instead of beef tenderloin for your holiday centerpiece), and recipes that make those cuts shine.
Sweetie Pie’s Cookbook: Soulful Southern Recipes, from My Family to Yours Paperback – October 4, 2016
The beloved owner of the wildly popular Sweetie Pie’s restaurant, and star of the OWN reality television show Welcome to Sweetie Pie’s shares recipes for her renowned soul food and the lessons she’s learned on the path to success.
Sylvia’s Soul Food Hardcover – November 20, 1992
Sylvia Woods has been barbecuing, baking, frying, and smothering New York City’s best soul food for nearly thirty years. According to the Zagat New York City Restaurant Survey, “For down-home delicious Soul Food, this funky Harlemite is the real thing; go for great ribs, incredible fried chicken, fiery greens, and other artery-clogging Southern staples. Don’t tell your doctor what you ate.”
Now, for the first time, the “Queen of Soul Food” reveals her recipe secrets for more than one hundred of the authentic, stick-to-your-ribs soul food and classic Southern dishes she serves at her world-famous Harlem restaurant.
Furthermore, my under-cover Chef friend, #WidowVonne, also offered a kitchen starter kit as it were. And I was able to curate all of these selected items, through Life and Home, a small start up in Brooklyn NY, which believes in an effortless living. Family owned and operated since the start, ours is a history of simple beginnings driven by a sense of utility.
By the By strong supporter of Black Lives Matter Movement, gives me a soft spot in my heart!
Please feel free to navigate to my Dale’s Angels Inc Site to check out these offerings and every thing else. Please feel free to make suggestions on products to add to site, share pictures of favorite recipes, and other additional recipe books. Send non-trolley messages to tnfroisreading@gmail.com or reply in the suggestion box at the end of this post. I look forward to hearing from you soon!
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