Quotes from a Cookbook

Yeah, I mean quotes, not recipes, though they are worthy of posting.
I checked a cookbook out of the library the other week, like I sometimes do, but this cookbook was different then the normal. Of course the title grabbed me: Southern Plate. Now anyone that knows me well knows I am a southern girl at heart, and I especially love southern food, but most times these types of cookbooks are not even worth my time. This book is an exception. I’ve fallen in love with it. It’s like reading about my southern heritage in Christy Jordan’s cookbook. I just thought I had to post some of these things she says. This is definitely on my “wish list” now.

“I may not be eating steak of wearing expensive clothes. I may not drive a fancy car and my bank balance may be woefully lacking in digits, but take a look at all that I do have in my life- things that money could never buy - and don’t you tell me I’m not rich.”
p. 216(this came after a chapter on having less, spending more time
at home with family and less things)

The Beauty of Grandmothers
“The real beauty behind a Southern granny is that you can spend all day at her house, from sunup till sundown, yapping and eating and laughing and carrying on, then when you finally get ready to go, even if it’s ten house later, she’ll look at you with a pained expression and say with her heart in her throat, ‘Awww, y’all…please don’t rush off.’”
p.207

Listenin’ to the Old Folks
“The most essential wisdom of life can only be gained from those older than us, our senior citizens. The folks whose faces we sometimes overlook amid the shiny, pulsing sparkle of youth. They walk at a slower pace, their eyes busy noticing details that escape our hurried glances, and their gait one of quiet wisdom, knowing that life does not move with the ebb and flow of our schedules but with the giving and taking of breaths.”
p.191

“Just a short generation or two ago, meals were a time when family gathered together. They talked over their days, how hard they had worked, or what they expected to accomplish. Kids heard stories of their parents’ youth and shared their latest dreams and schemes for life. In times past, the dinner table always served as the family’s anchor, ensuring that no one person ever felt adrift. Granny, who was known for her wonderful cooking, knew that the true power of her flour and rolling pin was not in producing biscuits and tea cakes but in holding her children closer to her for a time, getting to know the tiny people within, and creating a family. Today we seem to be growing more and more detached form one another.”
p.88

No One is Born a Good Cook
“ No one is born a good cook. Despite what some people might lead you to believe, being able to cook is not some elusive talent that some have and others do not. It is a skill, easily acquired and easily mastered to whatever level you choose to take it.
All you need is the right recipe, answers to any question you may have, and a little bit of confidence.”
p. 28

“You don’t hear about folks inviting others over to dinner as much these days. Instead, they’ll take someone out to eat or meet them at a restaurant to share a meal, but in my mind the ultimate showing of graciousness and generosity is inviting someone to join you at your family table and dine on a meal cooked with your own hands. Inviting someone into your home is inviting someone into your heart.”
p.18

“…the meals most worth eating aren’t those garnished with springs of parsley or served on fine china, but those made by someone who loves you and eaten around a table filled with family and friends.”
-Dedication-

“I feel it is so very important to get our kids in the kitchen with us when we cook. Not only are you passing on a living and tactile family history, but you’re creating memories they’ll always cherish. You’re also raising their self-esteem, giving them a sense of accomplishment, and teaching skills they’ll use for the rest of their lives.”
p.248