California Cooking and Southern Style - by Frances Schultz (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"This ode to combining Southern and Californian menus and hospitality calls to mind a Martha Stewart entertaining tome . . . a very personal ethos on the art of entertaining."
--Booklist

Entertaining Secrets from an Accomplished Hostess and Down-to-Earth Southern Belle!

Set on a ranch in the stunningly beautiful Southern California wine country, well-known writer and television personality Frances Schultz's hospitality is no secret in Santa Barbara County and beyond. The cooking of chef and recipe creator Stephanie Valentine is acclaimed by all who've sampled it, including Martha Stewart and Julia Child. Frances invites us into her home, her heart, and a place at her beautiful table, and she shows us how she does it.

Whether you're planning a simple picnic for two or a celebration dinner for twenty, California Cooking and Southern Style is the perfect cookbook and table-scape guide to have at your fingertips always. Using fresh, seasonal ingredients and tested by everyday home cooks, the recipes are tried, true, do-able, and delicious. The same goes for the beautiful and deceptively simple table settings.

A unique, at-a-glance listing of eighteen menus is followed by chapters featuring each menu with recipes, table settings, and entertaining tales and tips. With a hundred-plus recipes and photographs, California Cooking and Southern Style will make your mouth water, your eyes dance, your guests grateful, and your heart happy.

Review Quotes

"This ode to combining Southern and Californian menus and hospitality calls to mind a Martha Stewart entertaining tome . . . a very personal ethos on the art of entertaining."
--Booklist

"Rancho la Zaca, where good food and a harmonious setting feed both the body and the soul . . . The Southern Style of the title is epitomized by Frances herself and what she brings to her brand of hospitality, which she sees as a calling."
--Santa Barbara Magazine

"Our ebullient hostess is quick-witted, barrels of fun, and glamorous. Her tables are beautiful, personal, and conceived to make a special occasion for her guests. The food is delicious and abundant--I call this a hospitality trifecta! And, because we are talking about Frances here, you know she would take it a step further, providing not only recipes but also menus, it couldn't be easier. Give me a call when you make the duck lasagna!"
--Charlotte Moss

"This book is lyrical, delicious, and gorgeous . . . just like Frances!"
--Alex Hitz, author of My Beverly Hills Kitchen and The Art of the Host

"This book is fabulous! Fun and funny as ever to read, Frances is as warm and welcoming to her readers as she is to her friends and guests. Spot-on menus, terrific recipes, pretty tables, and beautiful photographs, make this book a trusted source and a perennial treasure for any host, aspiring and accomplished alike."
--Carolyne Roehm, Style Icon & Lifestyle Maven

"Living in California but hailing from the woods of eastern North Carolina, Schultz paints a portrait of how good old Southern hospitality translates to other areas of the country, such as the hills and vineyards of the American Southwest. That cultural mash-up has influenced her elaborate, beautiful tablescapes."
--American Farmhouse Style

Praise for Frances Schultz's The Bee Cottage Story

"Lighthearted, self-indulgent, frivolous, and likable--a good beach read, especially in the Hamptons." --Publishers Weekly

"Frances Schultz . . . has built a career on her sense of beauty, her storytelling genius, and her warm Southern charm." --Signature magazine

"The Bee Cottage Story by Frances Schultz is a true delight. Every woman in America will love this witty, wise, and wonderful book. Absolutely charming from start to finish." --Fannie Flagg, author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

About the Author

Frances Schultz is a contributing editor for House Beautiful magazine and regularly writes for Veranda and travel website Indagare. She has also written for the Wall Street Journal and Town & Country, and has been a guest on the Today Show. She is author and co-author of several books on decoration, design, and entertaining, including Atlanta at Home, Atlanta at Table, Ryan Gainey's Well Set Table, Christopher Lowell's The Hassle Free Host, Michelle Rago's Signature Weddings, A House in the South, and the popularThe Bee Cottage Story.

Chef Stephanie Valentine is a graduate fellow of the Culinary Institute of America and talented protégée of acclaimed late chef and restaurateur Charlie Trotter, serving as his sous chef and then as chef de cuisine. Following a four-year turn as chef at the groundbreaking raw food restaurant Roxanne's near San Francisco, she joined Rancho la Zaca as private chef in 2004. She contributed recipes for Charlie Trotter's and Roxanne Klein's bestselling Raw cookbook, and has written and tested all the recipes in this book.