Last week we looked through Together: Our Community Cookbook with a foreword by "HRH The Duchess of Sussex," also known as Meghan Markle.
So today let's flip through another new quasi-cookbook project backed by royalty -- Hollywood royalty: Whiskey in a Teacup: What Growing Up in the South Taught Me About Life, Love and Baking Biscuits by Reese Witherspoon ($35, Touchstone).
The Tennessee-born actress, producer, entrepreneur, mom and wife is now an author too. See her there on the feminine cover, holding a teacup while dressed in a pink -- I beg your pardon, Lollipop Red -- lace bell-sleeve frock that perfectly matches the book binding. And why yes, you too can buy the outfit on Witherspoon's clothing site DraperJames.com for just $195!
Like the actress herself, the book is sweet, sassy and charming -- with an exaggerated sense of Southernness not unlike her accent in Sweet Home Alabama as "Felony" Melanie Smooter.
The title and much of the colorful 303-page cookbook/lifestyle book/entertaining guide/memoir -- which includes everything from a simple guide for hot-rolling one's own hair to a whole chapter titled "If It's Not Moving, Monogram It" -- is inspired by Witherspoon's grandmother.
"My grandmother Dorothea always said that it was a combination of beauty and strength that made Southern women 'whiskey in a teacup,'" Witherspoon writes. Dorothea also gets a shout-out on the dedication page: "Thanks to you, I'm a good friend and a good cook, and I never wear sweatpants on airplanes."
Although one might not be able to fit in anything but sweatpants after eating grandmother Dorothea's recipes, like Dorothea's Brined-and-Battered Fried Chicken and a Cream Gravy made with chicken grease, butter, flour and heavy cream. Those appear in the Summer Porch Picnic menu of Chapter 11: Catching Frogs & Selling Lemonade, where there's a lemonade recipe, as well as an actual guide to catching frogs.
"How to Catch a Frog with Your Bare Hands: Step 1: Be quiet. ... Step 2: Cheaters use nets. You want to use your hands. Grab the frog -- fast! -- by the legs with one hand. ... Step 3: Carry it around for a minute or two and show it off. Startle your parents -- or, if you are me, your husband. Step 4: Release back into pond."
With her catch-and-release instructions, you can bet there are no frog legs recipes in the book.
A few of the four dozen recipes have Reese's name on them. In Chapter 7: The Family Table, there's Reese's Corn Bread Chili Pie, which she says is a simple one-dish weekday favorite. It's full of enough convenience staples -- packets of chili seasoning, boxes of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix and frozen corn that we almost can imagine a famous busy mother of three making it.
And in Chapter 17: Do-Gooding, she shares a recipe that she prepares for friends in times of grief: "I usually take a casserole, lasagna or macaroni and cheese, all of which you can freeze to use later. Best of all is (Reese's Chicken Pot Pie Casserole), which is just a big hug." A hug that's full of humble ingredients like frozen hash browns, frozen peas and canned cream of mushroom soup.
Whiskey in a Teacup features plenty of Southern-inspired menus for occasions like throwing a Southern Dinner Party (Cheddar Biscuits, Shrimp and Grits, Mud Pie Trifle), hosting a Kentucky Derby Party (Mint Juleps, Kentucky Hot Brown Bites, Paprika-Dusted Deviled Eggs) and cooking an Easter Lunch (Baked Ham, Sweet Potato Casserole with Candied Pecan Crust, Mama's Biscuits).
We had to laugh at her note on the ham recipe: "Or pssst ... just buy a HoneyBaked Ham online. ... I swear I don't work for them. I'm just being realistic. No one will know the difference, and if they do, they will be too happy and full to judge you."
The same leniency does not accompany the recipe for Mama's Biscuits, however. Sure, they only have six ingredients. But they're accompanied by an obsessive 15 bullet-point "Biscuit-Making Tips" guide that would make anyone want to go low-carb.
Pass the whiskey for real.
Spoon out an email:
jchristman@arkansasonline.com
Spin Cycle is a weekly smirk at pop culture.
Style on 10/07/2018