By Page H. Gifford
Correspondent
Betty Mallory will discuss her cookbook “To Be Blessed,” at the Friends of the Library on May 3 at 7 p.m. She will be talking about her childhood, growing up on a farm, the history behind some of the stories and recipes, and the many aspects that she used to compile her recipes into a book.
“Growing up on a farm with my parents and grandmother allowed me to be a part of planting, harvesting, preserving, and preparing our daily meals. It was a way of life for us,” said Mallory. “As time went on, the joy of preparing food and entertaining family and friends started to be of interest.” She added that whenever there was an opportunity to organize an event in the community and at her church, her hand was always raised.
Eventually, she saw a need for a catering business.
“This allowed me to share my love for food and hospitality for 25 years.” As time went on, she thought of putting her stories and recipes together in a cookbook. “It was important to me that I share my stories and recipes with the past, present and future generations.”
She says that it took many years of collecting cookbooks, traveling, entertaining, and creating new recipes, as well as gathering family recipes and those from friends to write the book. She said all the recipes are her favorites — all 588. It took three years to write it after retirement.
“Each has a special memory. The prime rib roast with horseradish cream, coconut pound cake and crab imperial is right at the top. But the one that brings back most of the memories is the fried frog legs.”
