Gathers Southern-style recipes for appetizers, soups, stews, salads, meats, poultry, game, seafood, casseroles, vegetables, breads, and desserts

From Catfish Stew and Rice to Hoppin' John-Peas and Plenty to Mary McLeod Bethune's Sweet Potato Pie, this unique volume honors the influence of African-American mothers in 200 favorite family recipes.

My Mother's Kitchen is a funny, moving memoir about a son’s discovery that his mother has a genius for understanding the intimate connections between cooking, people and love Peter Gethers wants to give his aging mother a very personal and perhaps final gift: a spectacular feast featuring all her favorite dishes. The problem is, although he was raised to love food and wine he doesn’t really know how to cook. So he embarks upon an often hilarious and always touching culinary journey that will ultimately allow him to bring his mother’s friends and loved ones to the table one last time. The daughter of a restaurateur—the restaurant was New York’s legendary Ratner’s—Judy Gethers discovered a passion for cooking in her 50s. In time, she became a mentor and friend to several of the most famous chefs in America, including Wolfgang Puck, Nancy Silverton and Jonathan Waxman; she also wrote many cookbooks and taught cooking alongside Julia Child. In her 80s, she was robbed of her ability to cook by a debilitating stroke. But illness has brought her closer than ever to her son: Peter regularly visits her so they can share meals, and he can ask questions about her colorful past, while learning her kitchen secrets. Gradually his ambition becomes manifest: he decides to learn how to cook his mother the meal of her dreams and thereby tell the story of her life to all those who have loved her. With his trademark wit and knowing eye, Peter Gethers has written an unforgettable memoir about how food and family can do much more than feed us—they can nourish our souls.

In the American South, entertaining is a very special art form, and in My Mother's Southern Entertaining, Jim Villas and his mother, Martha Pearl Villas, offer distinctive menus and more than 175 irresistible recipes to celebrate all sorts of seasonal occasions. In My Mother's Southern Kitchen and My Mother's Southern Desserts, Jim revealed his mother's overall favorite recipes and cooking secrets. In this all-new collection, Martha Pearl now shares her ideas, procedures, and tips for the perfect party with twenty-nine complete menus. Meals for such traditional holidays as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter are lovingly prepared with the Villases' typical flair and attention to detail. Shrimp and Grits, Sweet Potato and Apple Gratin, Country Ham Braised in Cider and Molasses, Holiday Bourbon Cake, and Southern Comfort Ambrosia can become festive must-haves in your family, too. And when it's not a holiday, there are plenty of other year-round occasions that call for good food and simple entertaining ideas, such as a Super Bowl blast, a graduation tassel celebration, a luncheon for the ladies of Martha Pearl's church guild, an elaborate bereavement buffet, and even a jingle bell party for tots. Each tempting menu starts with a special libation (making a very strong case for the return of the punch bowl), then moves on to appetite teasers such as Curried Shrimp Paste and Tangy Pimento Cheese Dip. Martha Pearl's "receipt book" bulges with special casseroles (She-Jump-Up Pot, and Baked Country Sausage and Leeks Supreme), unusual salads and sandwiches (Football Broccoli Mold and Ribbon Loaf Sandwiches), baked goods (Prayer Bread and Cracklin' Biscuits), and luscious Southern desserts (Coconut Buttermilk Pie and Mixed Berry Cobbler). Laced with lively family anecdotes, unique decorating and serving techniques, helpful down-to-earth cooking tips, and plenty of regional lore and history, this is a book about entertaining that also entertains in the gracious Southern manner.

This definitive guide to Southern cooking methods and techniques by the creators of the PBS show New Southern Cooking features more than 600 recipes. In Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking, Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart present the most comprehensive book on Southern cuisine in nearly a century. Based on years of research, Dupree and Graubart embrace the great Southern cookbooks and recipes of the past, enhancing them with the foods and conveniences of today. With more than 600 recipes and hundreds of step-by-step photographs, Dupree and Graubart make it easy to learn the techniques for creating the South’s fabulous cuisine. From basics such as cleaning vegetables and scrubbing a country ham, to show-off skills like making a soufflé and turning out the perfect biscuit—all are explained and pictured with clarity and plenty of stories that entertain.

Bring the authentic flavors of Mexico into your kitchen with The Mexican Home Kitchen, featuring 85+ recipes for every meal and occasion.

For Pat and Gina Neely the secret to a truly happy home is a lively mix of food and family. In their new book, the best-selling authors draw on their down-home roots and revisit the classic Southern recipes that have been passed down through generations. We’re drawn into the kitchens of their mothers and grandmothers and back to a time when produce was picked in the backyard garden and catfish was caught on afternoon fishing trips with Grandpa. In their signature style, Pat and Gina have taken the dishes they were raised on and updated them for today’s kitchens. Inside you’ll find 100 recipes, including Small Batch Strawberry Jam (best when eaten with Easy Buttermilk and Cream Biscuits), Bourbon French Toast, Crunchy Fried Okra, Skillet Corn Bread, Grilled Succotash, Skillet Roasted Chicken, and Brunswick Stew (which combines a little of everything in your fridge). Pat and Gina believe good food leads to good times and Back Home with the Neelys is sure to bring back fond memories of the tradition, history, and flavors that are present in every family.