Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks

"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 an abundance of ancestors stirring, measuring, and braising with her. These are her kitchen ghosts, five generations of Black women who arrived in her region of Appalachia and made a life, a legacy, and a cuisine. Part food memoir, part cookbook, [this volume] weaves fiction with historical records, memories, and interviews to present a unique culinary portrait of Black Appalachians. Forty recipes rooted deep in the past yet full of contemporary flavor are brought to vivid life through ... photography and beautiful illustrations. You'll find delicious favorites such as corn pudding, chicken and dumplings, jam cake, and praisesong biscuits woven into the narrative of Crystal's family, portraying the experience and history of Black Appalachians through their voice, spirit, and foodways"--