Chicken and Dumplings,
Corn Pudding,
and Coca-Cola Cake
Cooking for Company

The most important thing to remember about the Southern kitchen is that it’s always open. Sharing a meal, a snack, a dessert, or coffee with a friend or family is the best part of living. I’ve often heard it said in the South, “If you leave my house hungry, it’s your own fault.” Cooking for people is such a joy for most Southern folks, and no one considers it a chore. We celebrate the bounty of life by sharing it with those we know and those we don’t. Door-knockin’ Jehovah’s Witnesses and young Mormon missionaries got invited in for a meal if they happened by PawPaw’s at the right time. Of course, they were well versed in Baptist doctrine from Grandpa’s sermon notes by the time they left, along with big smiles and bellies full of some of the best Southern food in the world. I will forever hear his big old voice echoing from the front porch to anyone who drove up, “Ya’ll get in here and eat somethin’!”

Half the fun of cooking is
watching everyone enjoy it.