"Look inside old family recipe collections and be prepared to find more than recipes for meals," my grandmother used to say.
"It could be a ledger or a notebook or a more formal collection. I know from experience collecting cookbooks and turning through my share of pages, you're also going to find recipes for hopes, dreams and plans by way of notes, invitations, love letters, pressed flowers and photographs...That's why I call my favorite cookbook notebooks my skillet diaries. One day they will be yours."
Her name was Juanita Davis Williams, a Mobile Alabama native and I consider her recipes and cookbooks my second greatest inheritance from her.
The first? The recipes I learned standing next to her in her kitchen and my mother's kitchen, and by recipes I mean more than Creole and southern-inspired cooking instructions
Granny intoduced me to the true meaning of soul food which includes my responsibility to share the stories, the recipes and the Black American traditions that have become my Skillet Diaries.
Who introduced you to this type of soul food?
We would love to have you share a Skillet Diary story describing a special recipe and what it means to you. Include
a photo and the recipe for us to share in upcoming weeks.
skilletdiaries.com
