Although I learned the basics from mom, Frank Stitt, The Lee Bros., Edna Lewis, and John Besh have influenced my knowledge of regional specialties. My trick is to start with the best food; I stock up on Conecuh sausage, local stone ground grits and southern pecans whenever I head north.

I am a frustrated Northerner, relying on Southern Living and this blog between visits South. It’s cold when the annual cookbook arrives, so I curl up with a cup of hot chocolate for my "Southern fix." (Latest learning: pre-shredded cheese compromises pimento cheese quality - something Northerners don’t know!)

My secrets to southern cooking are in my genes. Dad's fried fish secret is hot oil, cracker meal, cornmeal, black pepper and salt. Mom's secret to the best cornbread is a cast iron skillet and mayonnaise. My grandmas taught me how to make biscuits and those wonderful southern desserts.

Southern cooking is the comfort food I was raised on. I am now living in New York, where fried okra and biscuits and gravy are no where on menus, so Southern food can only be found at home. I cook with buttermilk, cast iron passed down from family, and make grits every Saturday!

I love to use fresh, local ingredients! I also think an important part of southern tradition is to let my 6 and 3 year olds help. Finally, no Southern meal is complete without a Mason jar of sweet tea with a lemon slice.

Southern cooking is an attitude! It requires a respect for tradition, confidence in your ingredients and love for those you will feed.

Southern cooking is an attitude! It requires a respect for tradition, confidence in your ingredients and love for those you will feed.

As a northerner I learned to cook like southerner the best possible way: by reading Southern Living magazine. My favorite southern recipe is for barbecued chicken with a homemade sauce that uses lemon juice and garlic. Over the years I have adapted it by substituting the oil with applesauce. My 23 year old son insists on having it every year for his birthday dinner.

Secrets for Southern cooking are mainly used fresh food and tradition, no microwave, all home made and above all lots and lots of patience and remembrance of perfumes at home of grandmother.

In the 1940's, grandmother fried fresh chicken using preheated oil in cast iron skillet just enough to cover chicken halfway. Placed heavily floured and seasoned chicken in pan. The secret was to cover with lid. When the chicken needs to be turned, you leave off the lid until done. YUM!

i grew up watching mom and grandma cook and i started on my own following there recipes and learning to use cookbooks mom had around the house back then goodhousekeeping had the bible of cookbooks and this was the begining of a beautiful adventure lasting me a lifetime and thru great cookbooks like the ones i have purchased from you my life is all the better for it because the cookbooks i have are from all over the world so i have learned to enjoys foods and desserts from all over the world what a fantastic journey.when i cook for family and friends i am considered a chef and they all ask me why i dont have my own restaurant i smile and humble myself but i say the recipe is a family secret but actually the secret is the cookbooks i search out and make those recipes my own .i hope everyone will do as i do and go on an adventure buy a cookbook and taste the wonderful world we live in god bless you all

I try to duplicate my Grandmother's cooking when I cook. Cooking in cast iron pots I have found is the secret. Although, my pots are not as seasoned as hers I'm still trying!

I try to duplicate my Grandmother's cooking when I cook. Cooking in cast iron pots I have found is the secret. Although, my pots are not as seasoned as hers I'm still trying!

I try to duplicate my Grandmother's cooking when I cook. Cooking in cast iron pots I have found is the secret. Although, my pots are not as seasoned as hers I'm still trying!

I try to duplicate my Grandmother's cooking when I cook. Cooking in cast iron pots I have found is the secret. Although, my pots are not as seasoned as hers I'm still trying!

The secret to Southern cooking is simple: Mama! Do as she does, just as she does as her mother did. Those are the recipes I cherish most and the older I get, I more I realize how precious they are and how we should preserve many of the "old" ways of doing things.

I have a big collection of cast iron that I use in my everyday cooking. Of course I learned from my grandmother and mother. It is a tradition to grow vegetables in the summer and can or freeze them for the winter season. We always have fresh "southern" peas,corn,tomatoes,and okra with good homemade cornbread made in a nice iron skillet.

Southern Cooking is a state of mind.Add your own touches and hope it turns out as fine as those pictures in Southern Living. It took years to get just the "right" gritty skillet cornbread for my husband. It's made with Memories and Love.

Southern cooking is full of love of food and family. I learned my secrets from my ancestors. The essentials are a shortening, cast iron skillet, and a pinch of this. Recipes are not always written Fancy equipment is not needed Kneed and mix the old fashion way (by hand)

I use a cast iron skillet to cook sliced apples in butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Then spead them on top of buttered homemade biscuits. My mom would make this in the fall with apples we picked. I can almost taste them now!

The secret to Southern cooking is that there is no secret! Us Southerners LOVE to share receipes, hints and how to's. My staples in the kitchen are butter, an iron skillet and family. The best recipes aren't necessarily the most elaborate, it's all in the display. My favorites are the ones shared around the table with family and friends!

The secret to southern cooking... don't try to make it too light!
and put lots of flavor- do not be afaid!

The secret to southern cornbread is to cook it hot in an iron skillet. The skillet must be "seasoned," and the best way to keep an iron skillet "seasoned" is to wash-not scrub-it with soapy water, rinse well, then let it dry in a warm oven.

My secret to good southern cooking is throw away the measuring cups and don't be afraid to get your hands in the food. You have to know what a recipe should look like and feel like when making it. For example, the first thing I learned to "fix" was cornbread when I was 5 years old. My mom just showed me how to make it by sight. To this day, I couldn't tell you any ingredient measurements, but I could show you how to "fix" it.

I use two secret ingredients for savory southern dishes—Tapatio and cinnamon. A dash of each in greens and gravies adds a delicious zing to any family gathering.

In addition to using well-seasoned cast iron cookwear, the best secret to cooking Southern is to use the freshest ingredients. Straight from the garden to the stove is best. Or straight from the farmers' market! And real Southern is made the good old-fashioned, time-tested ways. You have to use some bacon grease!

Using only non-processed fresh ingredients, specially grown herbs, coupled with the knowledge of a native Floridian, creates the arena for the best Southern cooking possible. Preparation is steeped in tradition and it is important to keep the black skillet handy, greased, and always ready to create that uniquely special dish.

Start with homegrown organic vegetables, add windowsill herbs, and then use only seasoned cookware for the ultimate southern recipes. Combining natural ingredients with third generation cooking techniques will insure the crispiest, juiciest meats, the most flavorful vegetables, and the most soul satisfying desserts.

I don't have a secret for southern cooking since I have lived in Maine my whole life. I do however really want to learn all I can about all the regions in this country as far as flavors and different cooking methods goes.

The "secret" ingredient in Southern cooking is LOVE. We use what we have available and can get locally. Recipes are handed down. Using cast iron to cook in, esp if they were handed down, is essential. All occasions and the memories that go along always involve eating.

My idea of Southern cooking is family oriented. I always try to do a little something extra to make every meal special for someone - whether it is making little cutouts sprinkled with sugar from extra pie crust (I started out doing this for my "little ones" - but my now "big ones" still love it!)to adding a breadcrumb, butter and cheese topping to mac & cheese!

Buttermilk!

I think Southern cooking is watching your mom, grandmom, aunt, and you cooking side by side in the kitchen turning out food dishes that have been passed down from generation to generation with no recipe whatsoever just done by lots of years of cooking good ole' Southern food.

Of course, you must have a cast iron skillet to prepare your Grandmother's famous cornbread.And caramel icing to go on the mouthwatering caramel cake thats been passed down from her mother.
Then, you also have to have a nice large saucepan so that you can cook your green beans all day long with a little bit of ham or bacon in it. What Southern dinner would there be without these included?
My favorite memory of my childhood was coming to visit my Great-grandmother of over 90 years old. Arriving at her house with all the wonderful smells. And being greeted by a huge table of foods that are apart of the South.

My Mother (a wonderful cook) always quoted a saying (I grew up in NW Germany on a farm): "Cooking keeps ones heart and soul together" Coming to S. TX in '82 I had trouble re-creating recipes (climate/ovens/metric system). Telling a friend at church about my dilemma, she recommended that I subscribe to Southern Living "because those recipes never disappoint." Now my friends want to know how they can get on my invite list.
My Secret? Cook with fresh ingredients (have my own Herb Garden), play with recipes, add Love for life, friends and family...Southern Living conveys the essence of this!

It always amazed me when my Grandmother could whip up the best Floating Island Custard or Lemon Meringue Pie and she never followed a recipe, she measured by handfuls and pinches followed by a teacup full of milk, beat it with a mixer that she cranked by hand in old chipped stoneware bowl. It was always delicious, unfortunatly I'm not so talented, I need a good cookbook like a Southern Living Cookbook, measuring cups, spoons, timers, bowls with rubber bottoms and a electric mixer. Grandmother's food always tasted better but I'm still trying & learning, maybe I need this new cookbook and I'll be a master country cook.

The secret to Southern cooking is not in the recipe, the ingredients, or the equipment used (although they help!), but instead in the preparation. Southern food is made with love in kitchens in which friends and families gather, and enjoyed together around tables... Hospitality at it's best!

My secret weapon in my Southern cooking arsenal is my mother's cast iron frying pan.It lives on my cooktop and reminds me every day of the strength of the women who used it before me and also of the love with which they cooked. And the cornbread, roasted okra,and stewed-down squash still taste of that love.

My secret to GREAT southern cooking is the handed down recipes from my grandmother. She was a true southern lady and loved to prepare fresh vegetables and homemade fried cornbread. I always make her wonderful pecan pie for the holidays...I know she would be proud!

There is no food like southern food and no hospitality like southern hospitality. When you cook with your heart and soul it is going to be the best, whether you have the most expensive ingredients or the leftovers in the fridge. It's all gonna be great!

Grandma's tip is still the best. Leave nothing to waste. Use leftovers from the previous meal to incororate into the next. Uneaten breakfast meats season dried beans, bacon drippings flavor greens, and crumbled biscuits become a topping or stir into a pan of dressing. Wisdom even for today's Southern cook.

I learned Southern Cooking from my grandmother. She cooked without recipes, the "recipe" was in her head. Luckily, shortly before she died at age 94, I asked her to tell me how she prepared her favorite recipes, and I wrote them down on index cards. Now I cook like my grandmother, but I also add my own touches and I have my personal recipes in my head. Hopefully i will have a grandchild that is interested in knowing them someday.

I learned about southern cooking from my grandmother. She always used bacon grease on everything! She used her cast iron skillet to cook just about everything. She always fried the food she cooked, no wonder it was so good!

Southern Cooking for me is being sure to put the same love and ingredients in my cooking as my mom did. Although, these days I'm trying to put a few less calories in my recipes.

Try making southern potato salad using chopped cucumber,onion, hard cooked eggs, celery salt and mayo. Nothing cooler tasting on a hot summer day!

My secret to southern cooking? I do not have one so that is why I really NEED this cookbook !

After preparing SL's Best Ever Sunday Chicken, I found the gravy I made was bland compared to the deliciously seasoned chicken. When I prepared this recipe again, I reserved two tablespoons of the seasoned flour before coating the chicken, which resulted in a gravy as delicious as the chicken itself.

Well, the secret to Southern cooking is having a Southern heart....or at least knowing someone born and raised with a southern heart for cooking. I was raised watching my Grannie cook with loving hands for a very hungry family. I keep her memory alive when I create a meal by wear her favorite apron and gaining knowledge from her favorite cook book. She was a true Southern woman that was creative enough to fix a meal with whatever she had in the cupboard and/or just picked from the garden. She always used cast iron, saying it builds flavor the way hard work builds character.

I affectionately refer to my copy of "The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook" as the 'bible'! I am a born, raised and educated southern girl who is now a working, volunteering, southern wife & mom - striving to raise a fine southern gentleman while still keeping up with friends, fashion & fitness. Every recipe I have ever cooked from your cookbook has turned out well - I am committed to cooking dinner & sitting down at the table to share our day and connect. The fresh ingredients of my beautiful homestate of NC and your cookbook - allow me to provide delectable, healthy meals for my family.

You know, I'm just a plain ol' country boy not professin' to know a blamed thing about secret cookin' or anything like that, but I do know that I'm Southern born and Southern bred an' I'll be Southern 'til I'm dead, but I can point out a good slab o' cracklin' bread when I taste it . . . Like they say: 'You can take the boy out of The South, but you can't take The South out of the boy . . .Y'all come back now ya heah!!!!

Learned every detail from my grandmother. Always ready Sunday by 11 AM. Two meats (one always fried chicken), at least 3-4 vegatables (well seasoned!), some type potatoes (fried, mashed, stewed), cornbread (cooked in iron skillet), and usually biscuits, too. Cobbler, rice pudding and some kind of cake or pie for desert. Lots of sweet tea. Then...just wait to see who shows up. Children, grandkids, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. They always come!! An invitation is never necessary.

Southern cooking is an attitude with keen senses for smell, color, taste and a desire to share the "secret" ingredient of love.

My secret is no secret. Keep it simple. Use fresh ingredients when possible. It is all about the seasoning. My staples are butter, fatback and buttermilk. I LOVE to cook! Cooking takes me back to the 'day to day' with my mom. She has Alzheimer's now, and I treasure the memories we made. It has become the way I share my love with my family and my friends.

I ask the questions: what have the members of my family faced, accomplished, or celebrated today? What’s the weather like? What time will we all be able to sit down together? What does tomorrow hold for us? I nourish my family intentionally with food and encouragement based on the answers.

My aunt taught me everything I know about Southern cooking: be creative and use what you have on hand because the grocery store is miles away; fix more than you need to be sure everyone's satisfied and you'll have plenty for any neighbors that drop in; cook things slowly so they get done and everyone has time to visit; always use cast iron to cook in; and, lastly, save your bacon grease - you can never have enough!

Southern cooking is just like the cast iron skillet I use for my famous cornbread .... It's passed down through family and friends. It's shared in conversations across generational lines held in the kitchen while battering chicken, mashing potatoes and pefecting Momma's gravy.

My favorite part of Southern cooking is the cast iron skillet! I couldn't make a Pineapple Upside Down cake without one. And, of course, Southern fried chicken is the BEST in a cast iron skillet.

Bacon fat,butter, and a cast iron skillet is the basics for souhthern cooking, especially cornbread.

I learned to cook traditional southern cooked meals by watching my grandmother...always on hand were flour, butter, and milk to prepare either the best fried chicken or melt in you've mouth biscuits ever tasted. NO measuring cups just wisdom pasted from her mother then to me. Key rule to cooking to always prepare your food with love and happiness never while your upset..your food will taste just the same.

I got a Kitchenaid stand mixer one Christmas in high school because that was one of the magic ingredients in my Aunt Lynda's cream cheese pound cake. While still on Christmas vacation, I went to her house and we had "pound cake school" so that she could teach me all the tricks, like making sure the eggs and butter and cream cheese were at room temperature, that you measure then sift the flour, exactly how to butter and flour the pan and to only add the eggs one at a time. The small details make all the difference and it is so much easier to learn from actually watching someone make the recipe than just reading out of a book

Secrets are passed down and the fun and fustration is trying to figure out "just a pinch", "a dab" or "just enough to taste". Our secret is cast iron pans, wooden spoons, a full apron and a "bit" of butter. That's just the "Southern Way". May God bless you and your family as he has mine.

I am an Ohio girl who started cooking around age eleven. I learned from my Mother and one of my grandmothers.My grandma Grant taught me how to make chicken and dumplings. I can still picture her showing me just how to roll the dough. From then on I branched out to cakes , cookies and my very best mashed potatoes. I just can't stop acquiring cookbooks and would love to add this one to my collection!

Using home grown, home canned vegetables all year long. Their flavor cannot be duplicated in a can off the grocery shelf!

I have always loved southern cooking. My grandmother taught my mom how to make fried green tomatoes at a very early age and it was passed on to me. Throughout the years I have learned more and more about cooking and experimenting with all things "southern".

Attitude is the secret!! If
you set the table in advance,prepare as much food ahead as possible, and then
relax and enjoy your guests
and make them feel welcome in your home- everything tastes
better!!

Born and raised in Arkansas, I learned to cook from my Mother. Moved to Louisiana when I was 21, worked in an office with older women and learned something from each of them. When asked what we grew up eating, I said "fried chicken, fried potaoes and gravy". When describing how it was cooked, I was told it was smothered chicken and smothered potatoes. They asked what kind of gravy, I said I didn't know there was more than one kind. lol.

We live in the south on a farm and grow a lot of our food. I like to use fresh ingredients in a lot of receipes. Just taste a lot better.

In the South, we are blessed with a long growing season. Still, many herbs are difficult to keep year round. My secret is keeping herbs in my freezer. I use the juice racks in my freezer door to keep all my herbs, alphabetically, fresh, flavorful and with NO Bugs!

My grandmother passed down a lot of great recipes to my mom and then on to us, her 4 daughters. Getting in their with your hands (best kitchen tool) messy was often key. Her biscuit recipe is one of her best hands-in-there recipes. Melt in you mouth!

My secret to Southern cooking is simple: do it exactly like my mama did!! And it helps to realize that the South is as much a state of mind as a location.

My southern cooking secret is using fat back. Fat back is the fat part on the back of a pig. When cooked in turnip greens or collards, it definitely gives you a better flavor. Also, nothing taste better than something cooked in lard. Lard used to grease a cast iron skillet before making cornbread gives it a wonderful flavor as well. Southern Living is a way of life.

We enjoy the rich flavor of Southern Cooking and recipes that are even better for our health. Have learned how to use buttermilk to help make food taste better for us. Enjoy the recipes in the magazine and try as many as we can. THANKS!

I'm an iron skillet cook who learned to use and season them from two excellent Texas cooks who happened to be my grandmothers. I use all sizes for everything from cornbread to upside down cake to baked beans to cinnamon rolls. There is nothing as Southern as a iron skillet.

LOVE is the most important ingredient in Southern cooking.
Cast Iron skillet for frying the freshest of foods.
All day for simmering a pot of beans and turnip greens on a cold winters day, just like Mama and Grandmother they were the best of cooks.

Some of my secrets are using broth to cut things in a
marinating especially chicken
and steak for an hour or two or
better yet overnight before it
is cooked. Also cooking things from "Scratch" - I learned things from my mother, grandmother and a restaurant owner who a friend of mine

My favorite cookbook I have now is "Cooking Across the South" from Southern Living that was printed several years ago. I
expect this one is even better.
I am so excited about it!!There is NOTHING like southern recipes!!! They are the BEST!

Secrets of southern cooking are the memories I have of my southern cooking journey. My f memories of how mouth watering a Georgia peach cobbler tastes, or how beautiful the Carolina's fried chicken with it hues of golden caramel decorates a platter, or the heavenly aroma that filters the room where a batch of Texas tender biscuits bake nestled together in a cast iron pan. I can see the precious hands that create, or the old yellow ware bowl that mixes, or even the smooth black cast iron skillet that sizzles. Those are my secrets of southern

Secrets of southern cooking are the memories I have of my southern cooking journey. My memories of how mouth watering a Georgia peach cobbler tastes, or how beautiful the Carolina's fried chicken with it hues of golden caramel decorates a platter, or the heavenly aroma that filters the room where a batch of Texas tender biscuits bake nestled together in a cast iron pan. I can see the precious hands that create, or the old yellow ware bowl that mixes, or even the smooth black cast iron skillet that sizzles. Those are my secrets of southern cooking.

Southern cooking... my secret, do not make it complicated, Boiling chicken to make stock for chicken soup, Fresh vegetables shared by neighbors, keeping Love in it and Difficulty out of it. My Mother passing down her favorite Southern Living recipes to me along with the prepared dish and a future phone call asking" have you tried to make that casserole yet? It's really easy." My secret is SIMPLE and Delicious food.

Although I now live in the Mid-Atlantic area, my families history is rooted in the deep south and southwest regions. I grew up eating nothing but the best and most authentic classic southern recipes. Now that much of the older generation has passed on, it seems that the traditions that go along with southern cooking have started to wane as well. Some of my best memories are sitting at the picnic table shucking corn, smelling my grandmothers pecan pie, or better yet the cold of freshly made peach ice cream. I would love to have some of those great recipes back again, on hand to pass on to my family. So my kids can enjoy the same dishes and traditions that I fondly look back on.

buy fresh local farmers.buttermilk makes a great southern marinade.

Do it like Grandma says

Since I was born and raised in San Diego, southern cooking doesn't run through my veins. I visit my cousin in Birmingham every Fall to enlighten my tastebuds through her in-laws. Copies of their handwritten recipes, with a little help from Paula Deen and butter, get me through.

Cooking with fresh ingredients, cast iron and all the memories of both my Grandmother's kitchens and my Mom's enthusiasm is my secret.
Southern cooking is mostly tradition mixed with love and friends or family.

The secret to the best-tasting Southern cooking is bacon drippings!For seasoning in green beans or turnip greens; or, as the skillet coating for cornbread, bacon drippings are the taste "secret." With bacon being suspect for cholesterol and nitrates, remember, a little goes a long way for flavor!

I sprinkle a little bit of sugar on collard greens. It makes them tasty.

My secret? A husband who lets me try any new recipe I want, as long as he has unequivocal veto power. My motivation? Three daughters, two and under, who are already my little sous chefs. My favorite touch? Sneaking something healthy like flaxseed into a timeless dish!

Leave the garlic for the Northeners...Don't skimp on the salt...use real whipped cream...always fresh lemon...coat your pork chops with hushpuppy mix...use a leftover baked potato for potato candy...always make extras!

Do you ever get tired of cutting brownies only to have them all crumbly and less than perfectly cut? Forget the water heated sharp knife. My secret to perfectly cut brownies (shared by my sister in law).. are you ready for this?? Plastic knife = perfect cut everytime!!

I have lived all over the world, and nothing tastes more like the South to me than toasted pecans. I learned to cook watching the women in my family - and asking them a lot of questions! I've learned that you can put toasted pecans in just about anything to "Southern-ize" it!

I'm coming out of my teens and entering my twenties, so I don't think I can claim the title, "southern cook" just yet. As far as I can see, the secret to becoming a southern cook is a generous slice of hospitality and people you love sharing it with you.

I have received a treasure chest of secrets from generations of wonderful cooks (Mommy, Grandma and Great-Aunt Annie). There is nothing like Mommy’s Sunday dinner--cast iron pan-fried chicken in shortening, country buttermilk gravy, made from the drippings and poured over hand-mashed potatoes, with corn bread dripping with honey.

There is no great family secret. Each recipe in our family is passed down with love. I'm sure they are written down somewhere but most are learned as they are prepared together. They grow with each passing as new members add their own touch. Southern cooking is not always just about taste but includes the family history as part of the prep. Take time to listen and share with each other...oh yeah, don't forget the bacon grease.

“Shhh!” The secret? Melding old and new. Nana White says, “…a pastry cutter for biscuits (moister); pressure cooker for black-eyes (more flavorful); and cast iron for broiling steaks in the oven (juicier).” My friend Margaret taught, “Refrigerated dough for dumplings (easier); butter-flavored shortening (tastier); and rotisserie chicken (faster).” Dig in!

Southern Cooking always starts with Love and Family~ I learned to cook at the apron tie of my mother that learned from Grandma in a little town of Culpepper VA. I can still remember the aromas in her kitchen when we would visit her home...those same smells fill my mothers kitchen today. Love at it's best!

Southern cooking is all about comfort food,using past down recipes and cast irons pans.It's about bringing your kids and granchildren in the kitchen and sharing cooking fun!My grandsons love my southern pound cake and they are willing to come to the kitchen to cook it,what a way to share the love of cooking!

I grew up on Southern food.
The food has such great taste and when families get together - the first thing you do is start cooking. Also, Southern desserts are out of this world which have been passed down from Mothers and Grandmothers.

Didn't grow up on Southern food but have been converted! I'm learning as I go, from restaurants and friends who grew up in the South. I buy from local farmer's markets and focus on what is in season. Nothing is fresher then seafood off the docks in Charleston!

I use Butter in everything & my old Oster counter mixer which was my moms her spirit comes through & adds love to all I cook thats the southern way Butter & Love !! ♥

I use Butter in everything & my old Oster counter mixer which was my moms her spirit comes through & adds love to all I cook thats the southern way Butter & Love !! ♥