A critical meditation of the iconic 24-7 roadside chain and its place in the southern imaginary Waffle House has long been touted as an icon of the American South. The restaurant’s consistent foregrounding as a resonant symbol of regional character proves relevant for understanding much about the people, events, and foodways shaping the sociopolitical contours of today’s Bible Belt. Whether approached as a comedic punchline on the Internet, television, and other popular media or elevated as a genuine touchstone of messy American modernity, Waffle House, its employees, and everyday clientele do much to transcend such one-dimensional characterizations, earning distinction in ways that regularly go unsung. Smothered and Covered: Waffle House and the Southern Imaginary is the first book to socioculturally assess the chain within the field of contemporary food studies. In this groundbreaking work, Ty Matejowsky argues that Waffle House’s often beleaguered public persona is informed by various complexities and contradictions. Critically unpacking the iconic eatery from a less reductive perspective offers readers a more realistic and nuanced portrait of Waffle House, shedding light on how it both reflects and influences a prevailing southern imaginary—an amorphous and sometimes conflicting collection of images, ideas, attitudes, practices, linguistic accents, histories, and fantasies that frames understandings about a vibrant if also paradoxical geographic region. Matejowsky discusses Waffle House’s roots in established southern foodways and traces the chain’s development from a lunch-counter restaurant that emerged across the South. He also considers Waffle House’s place in American and southern popular culture, highlighting its myriad depictions in music, television, film, fiction, stand-up comedy, and sports. Altogether, Matejowsky deftly and persuasively demonstrates how Waffle House serves as a microcosm of today’s South with all the accolades and criticisms this distinction entails.

This second edition has been "resequenced and expanded to include over 40 new photographs made from 2020-2022 with new essays by Beth McKibben and Mike Jordan"--https://www.micahcash.com/wafflehousevistas.

The last person Nash Wiley expects to bump into over a two a.m. breakfast at Waffle House is her college crush, decked out in a curve-hugging law enforcement uniform. Nash can’t believe her luck when Ms. Crush asks to join her, explaining that she’s just getting off shift. But something seems a little off. It could be the glitter in her eye shadow, or the black lace bra peeking from her barely buttoned uniform shirt, or maybe the exotic dancers who stroll in from the local gentleman’s club and crash their private reunion. Nash isn’t sure she’s still hungry until the waitress takes her order. “How you want those hashbrowns, hon?” Ms. Crush pins Nash with a sultry gaze and answers for her. “Mmm. I’ve heard she likes hers smothered and covered.”

A humorous debut crossover young adult novel about what happens when entering the "real world" means moving back in with your mother, inspired by actress and celebrity Autumn Chiklis' real life. Eloise “Lou” Hansen is graduating from Columbia University summa cum laude, and she's ready to conquer the world. Just a few minor problems: she has no job, no prospects, and she’s moving back into her childhood bedroom. Lou is grimly determined to stick to a rigorous schedule to get a job and get out of her parents’ house. Shelly “Mama Shell” Hansen, on the other hand, is ecstatic, and just as determined to keep her at home. Who else will help her hide her latest binge-shopping purchases from her husband, go to SoulCycle with her, and hold her hand during Botox shots? Smothered is a hilarious roman à clef told via journal entries, text messages, emails, bills, receipts, tweets, doctor’s prescriptions, job applications and rejections, parking tickets, and pug pictures, chronicling the year that Lou moves back home after college. Told from Lou’s point-of-view, Smothered tells the story of two young(ish) women, just trying to get it right, and learning that just because we all grow up doesn’t mean we necessarily have to grow old. (After all, what is Juvaderm for?)

2016 James Beard Award winner and 2016 International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) nominee for Best American Cookbook A collection of classic Southern comfort food recipes--including seven-layer dip, chicken and gravy, and strawberry shortcake--made lighter, healthier, and completely guilt-free. Virginia Willis is not only an authority on Southern cooking. She's also a French-trained chef, a veteran cookbook author, and a proud Southerner who adores eating and cooking for family and friends. So when she needed to drop a few pounds and generally lighten up her diet, the most important criterion for her new lifestyle was that all the food had to taste delicious. The result is Lighten Up, Y’all, a soul-satisfying and deeply personal collection of Virginia’s new favorite recipes. All the classics are covered—from a comforting Southern Style Shepherd’s Pie with Grits to warm, melting Broccoli Mac and Cheese to Old-Fashioned Buttermilk Pie. Each dish is packed with real Southern flavor, but made with healthier, more wholesome ingredients and techniques. Wherever you are on your health and wellness journey, Lighten Up, Y’all has the recipes, tools, and inspiration you need to make the nourishing, down-home Southern food you love.

"Jones continues to be the master at creating dishes to excite your taste buds. Delicious!" --Donna Hodge, food editor, N'DIGO magapaper Crawfish Étoufée, Chicken Fried Steak, Creamed Spinach, Mixed Berry Cobbler. . .Is your mouth watering yet? These decadent, flavor-rich dishes are part of the long Southern tradition of "smothered" foods. Rooted in the author's upbringing and peppered throughout with personal anecdotes, Smothered Southern Foods explains the simple art of "smothering" as nothing more complicated than covering one food with another food or sauce, while baking or braising the dish in a covered skillet or pot. Vegetables, meats, and even desserts can be smothered, and the results are any food lover's delight. With tips on buying and storing vegetables, easy-to-follow directions and serving suggestions, and recipes for 105 mouthwatering favorites, Smothered Southern Foods is a delicious way to bring the true taste of the South into your own home, the way Southern chefs have cooked for generations. "Foods that bring us comfort and are just darn good!" --Art Smith, bestselling author of Back to the Table Includes scrumptious recipes for these smothered classics: • Creamed Onions • Buttered Kale • Fricassee of Clams • Sole in White Wine Sauce • Chicken and Rice • Pepper Steak • Bourbon Pumpkin Pie • Rum-Raisin Pears . . .And many more! "Finger-licking meals for a new generation of soul food lovers." --Retha Hill, vice president of Content, BET.com Wilbert Jones is the president of Healthy Concepts, Inc., a Chicago-based food and beverage product development company, founded in 1993. He attended the École de Gastronomie Française Ritz-Escoffier in Paris, and was a food scientist at Kraft Foods. In 2002 he was inducted into the prestigious Les Amis d'Escoffier Society of Chicago. Jones is also a contributing editor for Prepared Foods Magazine and a freelance special features writer for Black Entertainment Television's website. Wilbert's inspiration for cooking came from his grandmother Ruth Randle, who was one of the best cooks in Mississippi. Smothered Southern Foods is filled with special recipes and stories about Jones' childhood and recent meals prepared for his family and friends.