Why did you write Tennessee Hometown Cookbook?
KW - While working with my co-author, Sheila Simmons, on my other cookbooks we realized that we both love talking to people and collecting recipes from small-town America as well as chefs in larger cities. I think Tennessee Hometown Cookbook is a natural extension of our enjoying what we do while also trying to preserve some of the recipes, dishes and hometown feelings of our childhood.
SS - I love to cook, but even more than that, I love to collect recipes. No matter where I go, the subject always seems to turn to recipes and I always get a really great recipe from whomever I'm talking to. This love of collecting recipes, my 20 years experience in the publishing profession, along with a conversation with long-time friend and well-known cookbook author, Kent Whitaker, resulted in the FIRST book in the Hometown Cookbook Series (Kent is from Chattanooga so Tennessee was a natural first choice).
Do you have a favorite recipe in the book?
SS - That would be like asking if I have a favorite child! They are all my favorites. If I had to give you a list that I felt defines the book, I would choose... Jack Black Barbecued Ribs because you have to love that Tennessee barbecue, Country-Fried Okra because it doesn't get more hometown than that, MoonPie Vanilla Pudding because it is super-easy and the MoonPie was born in Tennessee, Hunka Burning Love Peanut Butter Pies because they’re so yummy, Old-Fashioned Pineapple Pies is one of my favorite recipes of all time, 4 Ingredient Butterscotch Cake because it represents our desire to include recipes that are easy to make and use ingredients you already have in your pantry.
KW - Just about all cake and pie recipes are my favorites! I love talking to people about their favorite desserts. Can't you remember the smell of a fresh-baked cake in your grandmother or mom's kitchen?
What do you think represents Tennessee cooking?
KW - What is great about Tennessee cooking, in my opinion, is the distinct differences between the mountains of the East, the Cumberland Plateau areas in middle Tennessee and the plains heading into West Tennessee. Three distinct areas with different styles of cooking... all delicious.
SS - I'm a Mississippi girl, but I have traveled to Tennessee many times over the years and to me, Tennessee cooking is barbecue, pork (lots of pork), beans and cornbread (preferably together), and good old country pies. Basically just good, down-home cooking.
Why write a hometown cookbook? Is that different from a general Tennessee cookbook?
SS - Our book (and, indeed, the whole series of State Hometown Cookbooks) carries that name because it is our goal to preserve the recipes that have been made over and over again throughout the years and present them to a new generation of cooks. Sure, you will find short-cut recipes that take advantage of new ingredients and new cooking equipment, but you will also discover that our recipes never skimp on taste.
KW - With the hometown cookbooks we try to capture a variety of recipes, celebrations and festivals that offer a fresh taste of hometowns across the Volunteer state. We wanted to do a cookbook that offered more than just recipes. We want readers to feel as if they were coming home for a visit.
Is this your first cookbook?
KW - No, thankfully, I have been blessed to author several other books. My Smoke in the Mountains Cookbook and Checkered Flag Cooking were published by Quail Ridge Press (Brandon, Mississippi). I also have two children’s books—Why are the Mountains Smoky? (Overmountain Press) and Big Mo’s Tennis Ball Hunt (Great American Publishers) which is about my dog, Moses, who travels the country with me promoting ALPO® Chop House Originals Ribeye-Flavored dog food.
SS - Yes. I have been a cookbook publisher and editor for 20 years, but this is the first time I have authored a cookbook. When Kent and I worked out the details for the State Hometown Cookbook Series, I knew this was just the product I had been waiting for. It’s fun to be on the other side of a book for a change.
Do you plan to do more cookbooks?
SS - Oh, Yes. Georgia Hometown Cookbook is already in production with Alaska Hometown Cookbook following closely behind.
KW - I can't imaging stopping! I love food, people and talking to people about food. My cookbooks are the way I can combine all the ingredients of the things I love to do. Sheila and I will be writing Hometown cookbooks for more and more states.
Does your cookbook have more than just recipes?
KW - Much more! Tennessee Hometown Cookbook contains a fun slice of life across Tennessee.
SS - It does. Over the years, so many people tell us, “I take my cookbooks to bed and read them like novels.” For this reason, we wanted to include, in addition to really great recipes, extra information that would be fun and enjoyable to read. Tennessee has many, many fun festivals throughout the state and throughout the year so we decided to include the ones that were food-related in sidebars throughout the book. Readers will be treated with the date, location and information about each festival as well as contact information to find out more about the event.
How did you decide which festivals to include in the book? Are all the Tennessee festivals included?
SS- We chose to concentrate on food-related festivals which seemed a natural fit for a cookbook. Many of the festivals are ones we have attended, but we also extensively researched all areas of the state for more obscure festivals that should be included. While we knew we wanted to include the festivals, we didn’t bargain on how much fun it would be to talk to the people about their inclusion in the book. It was a fun process to speak to good, “ole” Tennessee people and hear their enthusiasm for their particular event. We found everyone to be extremely helpful in providing the information we needed and their excitement about our book was contagious.
