March 3, 2015

THE READING CORNER....COTTON COUNTRY COLLECTION and BROWNIES Y'ALL!


The Cotton Country Collection is a classic among southern cookbooks. It has been listed by USA Today as one of the top five regional cookbooks in the United States. One of the most comprehensive cookbooks found anywhere, containing triple-tested recipes from Louisiana's  legendary kitchens. Inducted into the McIlhenny Hall of Fame, an award given for book sales that exceed 100,000 copies.


I LOVE my cookbook collection!
 I guess you can say collections have come and gone through the years,
 but I have never stopped collecting cookbooks!
 I try to use all of them at one time or another.
 It's funny, Miss Judy and I own several of the same ones, 
which is probably a natural thing for sisters to do. 
However, this particular cookbook, 
is one that I recently found on Amazon and
 am over the moon happy to add this classic to my collection!



The very first recipe I tried was the
Chewy Brownies!
The darling LOVES brownies,
 so this is most always the first recipe I try in any cookbook!
A-plus!
I added a tiny swirl of buttercream on top!


These are a few of the reviews on Amazon, just so you know it's a classic! 

"When it was time to cook a holiday dinner, my mother always pulled out this cook book. So many of the recipes in this book shape my childhood and the traditions I hold so dearly. When I was 23 years old, I was passed down my great grandmother's copy of this cook book (who was born in Monroe, Louisiana. Her favorite recipes are stained with little spots of oil or butter. I love flipping through the pages and seeing all the wonderful recipes. My personal favorite is the Corn Bread dressing and the Cowboy cookies."

"This is the best cookbook I own and I have hundreds. I have bought many copies to give as gifts to former students and can easily attest to the favorite recipes. I have never found a bad one and I have tried most of them."


"My Mother was given this book when it was first published in 1976. We have used it for our holiday meals since. The original is a little stained and looking worn after all these years so I ordered 2 copies for my nieces this Christmas. They will be able to carry on our traditional holiday meals for years to come. I was happy to see its still available. If you love southern food this is one of the best cook books you could ever own."


Now the cool thing about my copy is that it once belonged to a great cook!
I can tell.
It's worn and it's stained.
The original owner, wrote her own notes on several pages and 
noted her favorites throughout the book.


I love being southern...just love it. Southern food is made with such love and such history. It's all about entertaining and making your family feel like nothing but the best will do. From Soiree's to Cotillions, these recipes have been prepared and served with rave reviews! We have passed through Monroe for years, traveling from Dallas back to Jackson. Once you hit Shreveport, next stop is Monroe, then Vicksburg...and finally home to Jackson. 


I wish I had known the original owner. I wish I knew her name. But nonetheless. I think her copy landed in good hands. I treasure this....really I do! Hope y'all try these recipes! 



8 comments:

  1. That sounds like such a good cookbook and to have those notes and extras from the original owner is so amazing! I know you'll enjoy it for years to come!

    Deanna

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  2. I see new pictures in your Banner...... be gone winter, they seem to say. :-)

    those privately published cook books are wonderful. we still have some, and they are almost like a "time capsule." yours is a much bigger circulation but.... all of them are unique.

    hugs,
    Tessa~

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    1. Wonderful description Tessa...yes..a time capsule of the home chef's and their recipes...I treasure them all.

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  3. Sharing your favorite recipes is a generous thing to do. One of my Texas buddies recently sent me a local Texas cookbook with special notations...she thinks I would enjoy the chicken fried steak...such a fun gift. I think that I will make more notations in my cookbooks. i note that you smeared a bit of buttercream frosting on the brownies. That sounds yummy. My family is weird and enjoys buttering hot brownies fresh from the oven.

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    1. We should all follow her lead and note our thoughts on certain recipes we try. I have done that in the past and always noted if the recipe was a favorite of someone in the family. Oh Vee...now I am going to have to try buttering hot brownies! Oy vey....big hugs dear Vee.

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  4. Wow! You've pulled on my heartstrings with this one! First, I graduated from NLU in Monroe with a degree in Home Economics Education, so of course, I was introduced to Cotton Country while I was still in school! Also, one of my first wedding gifts (37yrs ago) was the cookbook. I can easily say that I've used it over a thousand times since then and the pages are yellow with many many handwritten notes throughout. I can even tell the page numbers of certain recipes! It comes in as 2nd fave in my cookbook collection....1st is my Mom's original print 1950's Betty Crocker that has masking tape holding the binding together!!
    Whoa.........talk about a walk down Memory Lane!!

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    1. Oh jmac....this just made my day! Thank you, thank you for sharing this part of your life and how much you treasure this cookbook. I too, have most of my mother's cookbooks and they are simply the best ever! So happy this brought you to sweet memories! Big hugs!

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  5. My family uses the cornbread dressing from the Cotton Country Collection cookbook every Thanksgiving. There are so many fabulous recipes in that cookbook! It's been in our family since the 70's, when we lived in Monroe.

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