Sweet Carolina - by Foy Allen Edelman (Paperback)

About the Book

This collection features recipes for more than 220 desserts from the kitchens of ordinary North Carolinians, along with the cooks' equally flavorful reminiscences, tips, and instructions for successfully creating these sweets.

Book Synopsis

Crisscrossing her home state of North Carolina over the course of six tasty years, Foy Allen Edelman visited families in their own kitchens and communities and discovered a treasure trove of delicacies. Sweet Carolina offers the recipes for more than 220 of these confections, along with their cooks' equally flavorful reminiscences, tips, and instructions for successfully creating desserts and candies that are bound to become favorites all over again in the Old North State and beyond.

From easy apple dumplings, black walnut pound cake, Cherokee persimmon cake, and Miss Peach's sweet potato pie to lemon squares, coconut melt-away cookies, buttermilk pie, vanilla ice cream (or try the peach), old-fashioned butter mints, and five-minute fudge, this cookbook features many desserts as familiar as old friends -- and some new and surprising delights, like the lazy day sonker (a deep dish pastry served with flavors such as peach, cherry, or sweet potato). As many of the contributing cooks point out, the use of seasonal and local ingredients is prized in these wide-ranging and mouth-watering recipes.

An invitation for home cooks of all levels of experience to get into the kitchen, this cookbook will satisfy more than the sweet tooth. From the mountains to the Piedmont to the coast, Sweet Carolina preserves a significant record of North Carolina and southern culinary traditions.

Review Quotes

"Sweet Carolina would make a fine addition to any Tar Heel kitchen and would especially make a nice gift to newlyweds to begin some culinary traditions of their own." -- O. C. Stonestreet, Statesville Record & Landmark

"An intriguing collection that shouldn't be overlooked [by] anyone longing for a bit of Carolina for their cravings." -- Midwest Book Review

"An invitation for home cooks of all levels of experience to get into the kitchen, this cookbook will satisfy more than the sweet tooth. From the mountains to the Piedmont to the coast, Sweet Carolina preserves a significant record of North Carolina and southern culinary traditions." -- The Raleigh Digest

"Conjures up sweet memories for . . . almost-forgotten treats we grew up on." -- Moreton Neal, Metro Magazine

"It is always a pleasant surprise to find a new cookbook as well written as this one. . . . Recipes will appeal to both the novice and the seasoned home cook. . . . Readers will enjoy the glimpse into the life, flavor, and culture of many southern cooks." -- The Bloomsbury Review

"Reading the book makes you want to try every single recipe it holds. . . . Congratulations to Foy Edelman for helping to bring North Carolina to the table. We have had our dessert first, and are looking forward to the rest of the meal." -- Salisbury Post

"Recipes are arranged by type, (cakes, cookies, pies, candies) not by county, which is a mercy. . . . Every recipe is credited and many of them are storied. . . . As much a book of oral history as it is a cookbook." -- Bibliobuffet

"Will go directly to any baker's heart. . . . That these recipes are gently drawn from personal stories and private kitchens makes them that much sweeter." -- Appetite for Books