The Cookbook
““...God has given me many gifts in my life. One of those gifts is my love for cooking. Little gives me more joy than preparing a meal and sharing it with others. I am a feeder, plain and simple. A hostess to my core. As my Sitey would say, I “come by it honestly.” She, too, was a feeder. My best friends are feeders. The reason is not simply because we love to cook. It’s not only about cooking, it’s about serving, about loving. There is something sacred about preparing a meal and offering it to others as a form of nourishment for both body and soul. Dramatic? Maybe. But I knew God’s love for me in the love of my grandmother. As she whispered sweet nothings in my ear. As she clasped her hands around mine and taught me to shape my first pastries. As she took a loaf of bread warm from the oven, broke it in her loving hands and offered me the first bite. I felt the breadth of her love. I felt God’s presence in her love. And that was food for my soul!””
There is little that gives me more joy than preparing a meal and sharing it with others. I am a feeder, plain and simple. A hostess to my core! As my grandmother would say, I “come by it honestly.” She, too, was a feeder. The lessons learned growing up in her kitchen shaped my life and set me on a path of cooking, sharing, serving, and loving.
On the morning she died in 2008 I sat down and began writing stories, never dreaming that years later I would bring that collection together with my own favorite recipes. But here we are.
My good friend and food photographer, Alexis El Massih, and I have brought to life some amazing recipes for your family in a cookbook titled, Hospitality and Joy. It is a beautifully designed 8.5" x 10" smythe-sewn hardbound book printed on heavy weight satin finish paper. 160 colorful pages feature my go-to, tried and true hostess recipes each illustrated in photos that are as beautiful to look at as the food is delicious!
This book, nearly a decade in the making, honors my Sitey—my grandmother—“Aunt Vi” as she was lovely known to most, and celebrates an ethos of hospitality and joy that extends well beyond the kitchen.
