The holiday season is in full effect and planning your family Christmas dinner can be a daunting task. The phone calls, emails and voicemail messages about who is going to bring what, where to find the best prices on food items, and whose home the dinner will be held, is enough to drive anyone crazy.
This year doesn’t have to be like those of the past. Instead, consider spicing things up a bit by introducing new cuisines at your holiday feast. I know it may be a challenge to break away from tradition, but incorporating those neat little dishes you tried throughout the year can be a great way to serve them to the family.
Mama Down the Bayou Recipes may be just what you need to guide you through these uncharted waters. This awesome cookbook shows you how to plan any event whether it be a holiday party, family celebration or special occasion with Southern and Creole Cajun recipes like Okra Gumbo, Crawfish Etoufee’ and Dirty Rice to name a few. Timelines and shopping lists with instructions for preparation are also included.
Vera Richardson, co-author and publisher, along with her sisters, Barbara Whittington and Yvette Scott are natives of Louisiana. They get together every year with their mother, Lillian Batiste, to plan their holiday menu. This has become a tradition over the years which help them save time. The BIG meal is prepared using Mama Down the Bayou southern, Creole-styled recipes.
To their credit, they have spent countless hours to ensure that all bases are covered for you. Therefore, when you follow these well thought out meal plans, you can appear to be a Cajun cuisine connoisseur at your family gathering. As you take your willing participants’ taste buds on a journey to the wonderful delights of southern, Creole-styled cooking, it will surely prove to be an experience they will want to savor year after year.
I invited Vera Richardson to share the process of taking an idea and turning it into a reality. Here is what she had to say:
Sharla: Tell me about your book. How did you come up with the idea?
Vera: Every year my brother drives down to Louisiana to get my mother. We have been doing this for over eight years. Barbara, Yvette, my mother and I schedule several meetings to plan our Christmas get together and lately we have met at Yvette’s house. Two years ago as we were sitting down at Yvette’s, I told everyone this was a book. They all laughed at my idea because they thought it was so far-fetched but I kept pressing the vision. When we had our Christmas dinner that year I started taking plenty of pictures and keeping more detailed notes of what we were doing and how we were getting this accomplished every year. Once my mother, Yvette and Barbara realized I was serious, they came on board and started helping me with the information.
Sharla: How did Mama Down the Bayou get her name?
Vera: MAMA-DOWN-DA-BAYOU is the one word term of endearment we called our maternal grandmother. The name of the book glided off my lips the first time I tried to convince everyone this was a book and that the name of the book should be “Mama Down the Bayou Recipes.” I’ve enclosed a picture of my maternal grandmother as a reminder to me of her great legacy.
Sharla: How did you get your sisters and mother interested in this project?
Vera: I had to convince everyone that this was a great idea and we already had most of the information needed to create the book. Once I did all the research to start my publishing company THOU Management, Inc. and set up all the other processes needed to publish a book they knew I was serious and was on board.
Sharla: What question have you always wanted to be asked about this book?
Vera: Can you publish a book for me and where would I be able to buy it? The answers were yes and online! I also have a website THOUManagement.ning.com where you can get more information. The books I’ve published can be ordered from any book store and can be found on Amazon.com and BN.com. I have also published another book this year called Barbara Jean Barbara Jean Poetry – A Silhouette of Me.
Sharla: How would you like your efforts for writing this book to be remembered?
Vera: I would like readers to know that you can do anything if you are willing to work hard for it, do the research and know the business behind your art.
Book Details:
Title: Mama Down the Bayou™ Recipes with Shopping Lists
ISBN-13 978-0-9820080-0-3
Retail Price $14.95
Description: A cookbook on how to plan a holiday party, family celebration, or special occasion with Southern and Creole Cajun recipes, timelines and shopping lists: Recipes include Okra Gumbo, Crawfish Etouffee and Dirty Rice
About the Authors:
Vera Richardson, Barbara Whittington and Yvette Scott are sisters and have been cooking with their mom, Lillian Batiste all their lives. Lillian learned how to cook at the age of eight with her mom Lillian Allen who they so passionately call “Mama-down-the-bayou”. They are originally from Louisiana but Vera, Barbara and Yvette currently reside in Atlanta and gather together every year to plan, prep food and cook on holidays. They finally decide to put all their planning to pen and paper and created their new cookbook “Mama Down The Bayou Recipes With Shopping Lists”. This is the authors’ first cookbook.
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