Southern Living Magazine was founded in 1965.
And for decades it has been one of my primary sources for inspiration for food, entertaining and decorating. It really does market Southern tastes, decor and a sort of genteel sensibility, and I would go so far as to say it is iconic in that respect. If I could create my own dream job, it would be developing recipes for Southern Living. Alas, Southern Living is not beating down my door for my editorial or artistic input. Oh, well, I’m still a loyal subscriber. In fact, I just bought the 2021 Annual Recipes edition which will keep me entertained for weeks. I did have a collection of Southern Living Annual Recipe books from 1975 to present date that I kept on book shelves in my garage until a very unfortunate mishap occurred. About two years ago, I renovated my garage which I use for storage and an upscale dog habitat. In the course of transferring my cookbooks to metal racks on casters, I overloaded the shelves and unwisely attempted to roll them into place. The casters snapped and a wall of books fell on me. Luckily, I was not seriously injured although my life did flash before my eyes as the sharp corners of books started pelting my skull. I was so upset I took almost all of my cookbooks to Goodwill the next day, muttering the entire time that I could get any recipe I want from the internet. While that may be true, there is something about a well worn cookbook with handwritten notes and splashes of tomato sauce on the pages that cannot be replaced by the ready omniscience of the world wide web.
THERE WAS ONE SOUTHERN LIVING COOKBOOK I KEPT.
I kept the cookbook that my high school boyfriend’s grandparents and his great Aunt T gave to me. I remember getting that cookbook at Christmas at a family gathering and being so surprised and delighted. They were such sweet and good people, and so kind to me. I have dragged that cookbook all over the place, from Anniston, Alabama, to New Orleans, to Washington D.C. and back to New Orleans. I have made chocolate pound cake (page 71) about a million times. And every time I bake that cake I think of that day in 1975 in Oxford, Alabama when this cookbook was given to me with love.
The Banana Cake I made this week was inspired
by the recipe on page 54. I added some gingerbread spices
and some bourbon soaked golden raisins.
