
Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories & Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks, by Crystal Wilkinson
Years ago, when O. Henry Prize-winning writer Crystal Wilkinson was baking a jam cake, she felt her late grandmother's presence. She soon realized that she was not the only cook in her kitchen; there were her ancestors, too, stirring, measuring, and braising alongside her. These are her kitchen ghosts, five generations of Black women who settled in Appalachia and made a life, a legacy, and a cuisine.
As the keeper of her family's stories and treasured dishes, Wilkinson shares her inheritance in Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts. She found their stories in her apron pockets, floating inside the steam of hot mustard greens, and tucked into the sweet scent of clove and cinnamon in her kitchen.
An expert cook, Wilkinson shares the history and stories of these ancestors along with nearly forty family recipes rooted deep in the past, full of flavor––delicious favorites including Corn Pudding, Chicken and Dumplings, Granny Christine's Jam Cake, and Praisesong Biscuits––brought to vivid life through stunning photography. Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts honors the mothers who came before, the land that provided for generations of her family, and the untold heritage of Black Appalachia.
Crystal Wilkinson, Kentucky's poet laureate from 2021 to 2023, is the award-winning author of Perfect Black; The Birds of Opulence; Water Street; and Blackberries, Blackberries. This is our favorite kind of cookbook: Full of stories, essays, and recipes.
Hardcover, 244 pages. 2024.
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