I am no cook. I know this. My family knows this. But I am a southerner, a food lover, a storyteller, and—after reading Mary Martha Greene’s The Cheese Biscuit Queen Tells All: Southern Recipes, Sweet Remembrances, and a Little Rambunctious Behavior—a believer in the idea that every southern recipe comes with several fantastic stories behind it.

Pairing each recipe with a story is what makes Greene’s text so much more than a cookbook. These snapshots of various moments help to give the dishes deeper sentimental meanings while inviting the reader into Greene’s past and personality. Throughout its pages, the reader is introduced to family members and friends while being exposed to recipes that leave lasting impressions in the mouth and on the heart. As pages turn, we learn about her Aunt Mimi’s shocking similarity to Queen Elizabeth II, a crawfish mission gone awry, and their family’s 2008 voting “scandal,” among many other memorable tales. The different stories in the cookbook are vivid and Page 242 →endearing and are just right in length when thinking about reading a quick vignette before cooking.

The people in the stories add warmth to the food behind the tale, and readers are able to develop an association between the dish and its past while adding their own stories and memories after the recipe is created. Furthermore, dishes are not just general dishes; rather, they hold a certain allure because of the stories and those affiliated with them. Several of them even include their namesakes in their titles such as “Dessie’s Blueberry Cobbler” and “Aunt Lou’s Famous Chocolate Roll.” Greene’s tribute to each person, each recipe is evident from start to finish, and her compilation ranges in topic and emotion and is created with the perfect mixture of family and culture, including a pinch of humor, a dash of drama, and a cup of love.

The organization of the cookbook categorizes the food in familiar ways, making items easy to locate. Its eight sections cover a wide variety of food, including, but not limited to, “Breakfast Baking,” “Hors d’Oeuvres,” “Meats and Poultry,” “Seafood,” and “Libations.” Perhaps my side-dish-loving, sweet-tooth self was most engulfed by the side dishes and baked treats listed.

Greene includes images of people and of pictures of handwritten recipes to add to the aesthetics and includes tips and tricks to offer enticing and useful alternatives. Although most relate to substitutions or variations in the actual recipe (something that I am sure helps when cooking), my favorite tip is mentioned in the story connected to her “Smoked Salmon Cheesecake” recipe, when she suggests to “pick a favorite charity and give your next party a purpose.” Such a statement stresses the author’s generous nature while highlighting how food can bring communities together.

The Cheese Biscuit Queen Tells All is filled with oldies and goodies and gives some classic dishes new twists. I can imagine this text being a go-to favorite in kitchens, especially in a South Carolinian’s kitchen with all its cultural and regional extensions. Moreover, I suspect that this text could help even the worst cook pass for a decent cook, and I personally cannot wait to try some recipes such as “Chicken and White Bean Chili,” “Key Lime Chicken Strips,” and “Jane’s Slow Cooker Pulled Pork” to name just a few. Regardless of its ability to convert me into a cook, this book is filled with recipes one will return to and stories one will remember.

Rachel N. Spear, Francis Marion University