The Wright farmhouse was always filled with incredible aromas of my mother’s and grandmother’s cooking. With nine of us living there, it tended to be a sort of Walton-like existence (i.e., good-night Grandma, good-night Grandpa). Even during the years of the Depression, we never lacked for “good to fabulous food”.

My love for cooking developed when I was so young and small, I stood on a stool and learned to make cornbread, under my grandmother’s watchful eye. From that time forward I was in the kitchen as much as I was allowed.

Our farm life was very busy. We raised chickens and cattle; grew cotton, grain and sold milk to a large dairy. The fertile land provided us with peaches, plums, apples, pears, cherries, watermelons, peanuts and yams. Thanks to this bounty, we always had plenty to eat, even enough for strangers who came to our door hungry. As I grew up, my admiration for my people and others like them began to grow as I learned the “stuff” people are made of.

My love for cooking only grew as my own family did; and my passion for reading cookbooks, collecting recipes, and sharing food with friends and family morphed into this book: All the Wright Stuff – From Everyday to Gourmet.

MAMA ALWAYS SAID…

• Wait to salt the vegetables until later in the cooking to retain their color.
• Place an avocado pit in a bowl of guacamole to keep it green.
• Rinse berries in champagne or white wine.