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Easy, Breezy Recipes with a Southern Accent

I love Mary Kay’s novels and I know she’s one of the great Southern cooks, so I was thrilled to learn she was working on a cookbook. It turned out to be a cookbook to treasure!

Make sure you read this entire post – find out how to win your own copy, there’s a recipe for you to try,  a list of places you can meet Mary Kay, and of course, my review.

From the publisher:

You don’t have to own a beach house to enjoy Mary Kay Andrews’ recipes. All you need is an appetite for delicious, casual dishes, cooked with the best fresh, local ingredients and presented with the breezy flair that make Mary Kay Andrews’ novels a summertime favorite at the beach.

From an early spring dinner of cherry balsamic-glazed pork medallions and bacon-kissed Brussels sprouts to Fourth of July buttermilk-brined fried chicken, potato salad, and pudding parfaits to her New Year’s Day Open House menu of roast oysters, home-cured gravlax, grits ‘n’ greens casserole, and lemon-cream cheese pound cake, this cookbook will supply ideas for menus and recipes designed to put you in a permanently carefree, coastal state of mind all year long.

I’ve been following Mary Kay on Facebook for years, and she shares a lot of recipes and pictures of her beautiful food. To have it all gathered together (with lots more) is a real gift. The paper is quite nice and the pictures are inspirational.

The book is divided into meals/holidays:

 The chapters:

Summer Solstice Dinner
Low Country Boil
Fourth of July Dinner
Lazy Weekend Brunch
Beach Picnic
Book Bash Cocktail Party
After a Day at the Beach
Catch of the Day
Full Moon Party
Game Day Dinner
Souper Supper
Thanksgiving at the Beach
Christmas Brunch
New Year’s Day Open House
Valentine’s Day Sweetheart Dinner
Easter Lunch
Epilogue: And Then There Were Biscuits

The “Summer Solstice” is the first chapter and a fantastic beginning. I’ve been making “Beyond the Grave Chicken Salad” since I read about it in Little Bitty Lies. I’m pretty sure that a good southern gal like Mary Kay most likely uses Duke mayo, but I’m a Hellman’s girl and it works beautifully. I tried the “Tomato Pie” a few weeks ago when I got an overwhelming pile of heirloom tomatoes from my CSA, and it was to die for! If you live anywhere besides Florida, you are coming into tomato season so try and remember to make this. Pimento cheese has become a trend, and I’ve made a few different recipes so I had to try Mary Kay’s “Ritualistic Pimento Cheese.” It made a killer grilled cheese sandwich.

The “Low Country Boil” has some great recipes, and again my CSA to the rescue for Fried Okra Cakes. Like Mary Kay, I’m not a big okra fan but this dish made a convert out of me. I have to try the “Peach and Berry Cobbler” soon, Florida peaches are starting to come in and berries are already here. The “Fourth of July” recipes include “Edna’s Potato Salad” which is a simple recipe and a real crowd pleaser. The “Lazy Weekend Brunch” has a terrific recipe for “Pig Candy” – really! It’s candied bacon with a healthy dash of cayenne and some dry mustard that makes it really stand out.

The “Book Bash Cocktail Party” includes a great recipe for “Smoked Trout Dip.” We love any kind of smoked fish dip and this is a real standout with fresh dill, chives, and some prepared horseradish. The “Marinated Beef Tenderloin with Fig Onion Jam” is another winner – that jam is to die for! I haven’t attempted the “Dark Chocolate-Dipped Cheesecake Bites,” (they sound too dangerous to have at home) so the next office pot luck will be the recipient of these goodies. The “Full Moon Party” includes a super easy recipe for “Cheesy Beer Bread,” and in my house any recipe with cheese is a sure thing. I am waiting for our next backyard cookout to try “Boy Howdy Baked Beans” with maple bacon and bourbon – Yum! I could go on for days but I will end here with the classic, Southern “Shrimp and Grits” from the “Christmas Brunch” chapter and let me tell you, this is simply divine and a true Christmas gift. Follow that up with a “Coconut-Rum Fruit Salad,” (although I will not buy jarred citrus – I live in Florida, it’s probably illegal here!) for a light, slightly boozy dessert.

Now for that promised recipe!

 

To win a copy of THE BEACH HOUSE COOKBOOK by Mary Kay Andrews PLUS the new paperback edition of The Weekenders, please send an email to contest@gmail.com with “BEACH HOUSE COOKBOOK” as the subject.

You must include your U.S. street address in your email.

All entries must be received by May 14, 2017. One (1) name will be drawn from all qualified entries and notified via email. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age in the United States only. Your books will be sent by the publicist.

One entry per email address. Subscribers to the monthly newsletter earn an extra entry into every contest. Follow this blog to earn another entry into every contest. Winners may win only one time per year (365 days) for contests with prizes of more than one book. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

MARY KAY ANDREWS is the New York Times bestselling author of 24 novels, including The Weekenders, Beach Town, Save the Date, Ladies’ Night, Spring Fever, Summer Rental, The Fixer Upper, Deep Dish, Blue Christmas, Savannah Breeze, Hissy Fit, Little Bitty Lies, and Savannah Blues. A former features writer for The Atlanta Journal Constitution, she finds an outlet for her passion for cooking, entertaining, and decorating with vintage finds at the homes she shares in Atlanta and Tybee Island, Georgia, with her husband, Tom, and their two grown children, Katie and Andy, as well as grandchildren Molly and Griffin. THE BEACH HOUSE COOKBOOK is her first cookbook.

Connect with MKA online here:

Meet Mary Kay!

Savannah, GA | May 4, 11:30am| Savannah Golf Club w/ E Shavers Booksellers
Savannah, GA | May 4, 5:30pm | Brice Hotel w/ E Shavers Booksellers
Charleston, SC | May 5 | High Cotton Author Series w/ Blue Bicycle Books
Atlanta, GA | May 6 | Food that Rocks w/ Bookmiser
Houston, TX | May 8 | Murder by the Book
Fairhope, AL | May 9 | Page & Palette
New Orleans, LA | May 10 | Octavia Books
Red Bank, NJ | May 11, 12pm | AAUW Luncheon, Molly Pitcher Inn
Sea Bright, NJ | May 11, 7pm | Ama w/ River Road Books
Richmond, VA | May 12 | Berkley Hotel w/ Fountain Bookstore
Atlanta, GA | May 13 | Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles Showhouse, Eagle Eye Book Shop
Chapel Hill, NC | May 14 | Southern Seasons
Raleigh, NC | May 15 | Quail Ridge
Winston-Salem, NC | May 16, 1pm | Clemmons Library w/ Bookmarks
Greensboro, NC | May 16, 7pm | Greensboro Library w/ Bookmarks
Greenville, SC | May 17 | Fiction Addiction
Newberry, SC | May 18 | Library Benefit Luncheon w/ Books on Main
Florence, SC | May 18, 6pm | Florence County Library w/ Books-a-Million
Pawleys Island, SC | May 19 | Litchfield Books
Tybee Island, GA | May 20 | Seaside Sisters
Savannah, GA | May 22 | Hadassah Fundraiser
Birmingham, AL | May 23 | Piggy Wiggly w/ Alabama Booksmith
Birmingham, AL | May 23 | Alabama Booksmith
Destin, FL | May 25 | Barnes & Noble Crystal City
Destin, FL | May 25 | Emerald Beach House
Rehoboth Beach, DE | May 27 | Browseabout Books
Bethany Beach, DE | May 27 | Bethany Beach Books
Manteo, NC | May 28 | Duck’s Cottage
Cleveland, OH | May 30 | A Cook And a Book
Cleveland, OH | May 30 Cuyahoga County Public Library
Boonsboro, MD | June 3 | Turn The Page Bookstore
Macon, GA | June 17 | Design, Wine and Dine

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 4th, 2017 at 3:11 PM and is filed under Book Reviews, Contests, Cookbook, Nonfiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.