Mimsy Were the Borogoves

Food: Recipes, cookbook reviews, food notes, and restaurant reviews. Unless otherwise noted, I have personally tried each recipe that gets its own page, but not necessarily recipes listed as part of a cookbook review.

Southern Living Library index!

2022 March 31/4:32 PM

I’ve indexed the complete Southern Living Cookbook Library—all twenty-two books. You can download a searchable PDF or order a printed copy. There’s an index by title, an index by the contributor’s state, and a contributor name index.

The Southern Living Cookbook Library

Jerry Stratton, October 3, 2018

The Southern Living Cookbook Library: All known volumes of the Southern Living Cookbook Library… in my kitchen.; cookbooks; Southern Living

The Southern Living Cookbook Library is probably the series of books I rely on most when looking for new recipes. I found the first of these cookbooks, the Cookies and Candy Cookbook, at one of the local flea markets about four years ago. It was filled with great recipes; it seemed impossible to make a bad recipe from the book. So when I happened to see the Meats Cookbook in Franklin, Tennessee, I picked it up. And then the Holiday Cookbook a few months later in Birmingham. I then quickly picked up several more on a pre-Hallowe’en run through Franklin and Nashville.

As I came to rely more and more on the books in the series, I picked up new ones whenever I ran across one; of all old cookbook series, they seem especially scarce. I have a feeling that people don’t get rid of these books when they start culling their collections.

I have not been able to find any official list of the books in the series. There are a couple of lists online, but these lists each miss at least one of the books. By my count, which could easily be wrong, there are twenty-two books. I made this count by searching for various permutations of Southern Living cookbooks; there are a couple of collections for sale with the spines out.

Molasses ginger sandwich cookies: Molasses ginger sandwich cookies from the Southern Living Cookies and Candy Cookbook.; cookies; Southern Living

Molasses ginger sandwich cookies from the Cookies and Candies book. Easy sandwich cookies, very good. Buttery.

Glazed donuts: Glazed donuts from the Southern Living Holiday Cookbook.; donuts; Southern Living

Glazed donuts from the Holiday book, made in a bread machine and deep-fried.

Popovers with butter: Popovers from the Southern Living Holiday Cookbook.; bread; bread machines; breadmakers

Popovers from the Holiday book, made in the bread machine and then slathered in butter.

If my count is correct, I managed to pick up the last missing book in the series, the Soups and Stews Cookbook, in August. And just like the first book rapidly became the first place I looked for cookies and candies, this has become the pre-eminent soup book in my collection. The uncooked tomato/yogurt soup alone is worth the book; it’s very simple, and very much something I would never have thought to try without seeing the recipe here.

Tomato-Yogurt Soup: Tomato-yogurt soup from the Southern Living Soups and Stews Cookbook.; soups and stews; Southern Living; tomatoes

A pretty-in-pink tomato-yogurt soup from the Soups and Stews book. This requires no cooking, just blending.

Tuna-salad melt: Tuna salad (from the Southern Living Party Snacks Cookbook) melt on Easter raisin bread (from the Southern Living Breads Cookbook).; sandwiches; Southern Living; tuna

Tuna-yogurt salad from the Party Snacks book on Easter-raisin bread from the Breads book. Easter bread makes a great grilled cheese!

Sweet-sour short ribs: Sweet-sour short ribs from the Southern Living Meats Cookbook.; barbeque; barbecue, BBQ, grill; Southern Living

Very colorful sweet-sour short ribs from the Meats book. The color comes from pineapple and bell peppers.

From what I’ve seen in used bookstores, there were three Southern Living series running semi-concurrently. The Southern Living Cookbook Library is distinguished by:

  1. Publish dates between 1971 and 1979.
  2. No cover text. The title is on the spine. (There was apparently a supermarket printing of these volumes that did have the title and volume number in the upper right of the cover. The cover photos are the same; and it appears that the volume number may be fluid.)
  3. The publisher is either Oxmoor House or Favorite Recipes Press. From 1975 on up all of the books I have are from Oxmoor House. Before that they vary. The spine for Favorite Recipes Press books says PF/SL, for Progressive Farmer/Southern Living1. The earlier, PF/SL books are on non-glossy paper where the Oxmoor House books are on glossy paper. The latter makes the photos pop more but also makes the recipes harder to read.
  4. There is no author/editor named.

Very rarely, some of them may have come with a dust jacket. I have never seen one in person, but have seen a copy of the Deep South volume online that looks exactly like the standard version, but with a dust jacket. The dust jacket did include the title, and the subtext, “Homemakers Cookbook Library”.

There was also a double-sized series, of which I’ve only seen two; they have authors and cover text. They look a little similar, but are a completely different series, and not as special as this one has been. And there was a Southern Heritage series with a twee font and recipes that, glancing through the books when I see them, do not appeal to me enough to start collecting.

Molasses raisin bars: Molasses raisin bars from the Southern Living Outdoor Cookbook.; cookies; Southern Living

Gooey molasses-raisin bars from the Outdoors book.

Caraway biscuits and hamburger gravy: Caraway biscuits (Southern Living Party Snacks Cookbook) and hamburger gravy (Southern Living Ground Beef Cookbook).; hamburger; ground beef; Southern Living; crackers; gravy

Caraway crackers from the Party Snacks book and ground beef gravy from the Ground Beef book. These crackers are amazing.

Fresh mushroom soup and Lone Star: Fresh mushroom soup from the Southern Living Soups and Stews Cookbook.; mushrooms; soups and stews; Southern Living

Fresh mushroom soup from the Soups and Stews book. Goes very well with Lone Star.

This is very clearly a seventies library. There are recipes that rely on canned soups, and recipes that rely on gelatin—especially in the salads book—but fortunately not too many of either. The cover photos are solidly in the seventies or earlier, with the Lovecraftian olive-loaf cover of the Meats Cookbook leading the pack, although the devil-worshipping ritual on the cover of the Fondue and Buffet Cookbook comes in at a close second.

In one or two cases, I’ve picked up the book because once you get caught in a serious cookbook collection, the tendency is to take it as far as you can. So even though I don’t can foods, I do have the Canning & Preserving Cookbook. I’m not sure I’m going to do any Fondue, but the Fondue and Buffet Cookbook is still fascinating. And the buffet section remains useful past the 1976 print date. It’s the kind of stuff I would more call pot-luck: potatoes au gratin, stuffed round steak, Creole bean salad. It’s a great companion to the Party Snacks Cookbook.

Black beans and rice: Black beans and rice with ham from the Southern Living Vegetables Cookbook.; rice; Southern Living

Black beans and rice with ham from the Vegetables book. Simple, colorful, tasty.

Dilly avocado ham sandwich: Dilly avocado spread (Southern Living Party Snacks Cookbook) and ham on Easter raisin bread (Southern Living Breads Cookbook).; sandwiches; avocado; Southern Living

A ham sandwich with dilly avocado spread from the Party Snacks book on Easter-raisin bread from the Breads book.

Blueberry cornbread: Blueberry cornmeal bread from the Southern Living Deep South Cookbook.; blueberries; Southern Living; cornbread

Blueberry cornbread from the Deep South book. Wonderful for breakfast with bacon and eggs.

The photos I’ve included here are a small representation of the various dishes I’ve made from recipes in this collection. Most of the recipes I’ve chosen are simple ones, as that’s what I prefer. You can certainly find more complex recipes. Looking at them is making me hungry, especially that blueberry cornbread and those wonderful sandwich spreads.

Finally, I have also included a list of the books in the series. As far as I know this is the entire series. I know these exist, as I have them, and I have never seen any others either in bookstores or doing searches and image searches online. This may not be a complete list, but it is the most complete list I’m aware of.

Title Year Volume Oxmoor Year Favorite Recipes Year
The Southern Living Desserts Cookbook• 1971 1 1976 1971
The Southern Living Fondue and Buffet Cookbook• 1971 9 1976 1971
The Southern Living Holiday Cookbook• 1971 ? 1971 1971
The Southern Living Poultry Cookbook• 1971 7 1971
The Southern Living Meats Cookbook• 1971 2 1975 1971
The Southern Living Breads Cookbook• 1972 15 1976 1972
The Southern Living Cookies and Candy Cookbook• 1972 4 1976 1972
The Southern Living Creole Cookbook• 1972 ? 1972
The Southern Living Deep South Cookbook• 1972 16 1972 1972
The Southern Living Ground Beef Cookbook• 1972 5 1972
The Southern Living Outdoor Cookbook• 1972 8 1972 1972
The Southern Living Quick and Easy Cookbook• 1972 3 1976 1972
The Southern Living Pies and Pastries Cookbook• 1972 13 1972 1972
The Southern Living Salads Cookbook• 1972 6 1972 1972
The Southern Living Seafood Cookbook• 1972 10 1972
The Southern Living Southwest Cookbook•2 1972 ? 1976 1972
The Southern Living Vegetables Cookbook• 1972 11 1975 1972
The Southern Living Canning & Preserving Cookbook• 1973 14 1973
The Southern Living Low-Cost Cookbook• 1973 ? 1973
The Southern Living Casseroles Cookbook• 1977 12 1977
The Southern Living Party Snacks Cookbook• 1979 ? 1979
The Southern Living Soups and Stews Cookbook• 1979 ? 1979

I’ve put the table in order by year, by default, but you should be able to sort by name if you click on the Title column header.

Hush puppies: Hush puppies from the Southern Living Low-Cost Cookbook.; Southern Living

Hush puppies from the Low-Cost book.

Lazy-day broiled scallops: Lazy-day broiled scallops from the Southern Living Seafood Cookbook.; seafood; Southern Living; scallops

Lazy-day broiled scallops, from the Seafood book. A great choice for the broiler.

Meatball delight: Meatball delight from the Southern Living Party Snacks cookbook.; hamburger; ground beef; snacks; Southern Living

Meatball delight from the Party Snacks book.

March 8, 2023: Mango macadamia pie for π day
Cream-kist Mango Pie: Mrs. Jack Bether’s cream-kist peach pie from the 1972 Southern Living Pies and Pastries Cookbook.; Southern Living; pie; mangos

Next week is π day. Since Pi Day is always a week before the end of winter, why not celebrate the coming spring with a very Hawaiian pie? This year’s featured pie comes via the 1972 Pies and Pastries Cookbook of the Southern Living Cookbook Library. The original, a peach pie with an almond topping, was contributed to Southern Living by “Mrs. Jack Bether, Lancaster, South Carolina”.

I often find that replacing peaches with mango makes a dessert even better, and with no other changes. I’ve had this pie on my “try soon” list ever since I saw it while compiling the Southern Living Missing Index. So when I found myself with a couple of mangos about to go bad and an open bag of macadamia nuts I wanted to use up, I decided to try this recipe replacing both the peaches and the almonds, with mangos and macadamias.

Because mangos are bigger than peaches, you’ll probably have some mango left over. This is not a problem: just eat it (as Weird Al might say). All you need is enough fruit to solidly cover the bottom of the pie shell.

This is really an amazing pie. The cream surrounding the fruit forms a creamy filling beneath the fruit, and a crusty golden top above the fruit and around the chopped nuts. I’m sure it’s great with peaches and almonds as well. As I write this, however, mangos are on sale, so check your local grocery.

For that matter, I expect it’s great with any pie-friendly fruit.

A pie like this also deserves a great crust. I chose to make a beer crust, from Eddie Doucette’s Oktoberfest recipes, as presented in Tempt Them with Tastier Foods. Tempt Them is an upcoming collection of Eddie Doucette’s recipes, mostly from the IGA advertisements he appeared in. It also contains several recipes from his various “cooking can be fun” presentations.

You heard it here first!

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March 10, 2021: Mark the date for π Day!
Southern Living Date Pie: A date-pecan pie from the Southern Living Pies and Pastries cookbook.; Southern Living; pie; pecans; dates

What’s better than pecan pie? Pecan pie with dates!

You’re going to lose an hour on Sunday. Make up for it with pie! And take advantage of the ability to celebrate Pi Day on a natural celebratory day! The last time Pi Day was on a Sunday was 2010; the next time is 2027. Invite friends and family to drop in for a slice.

And if you’re in a state or community that will arrest you because you had people over for pie, make it a good pie.

For the last two Pi Days, I’ve recommended lemon pies, one completely unbaked and one lemon meringue. I thought I’d break it up by recommending a heavier pie, and another one of my favorites. I’ve always been a fan of pecan pies. This ups the pecan pie by adding just about as many dates.

Like the lemon meringue pie that I used for my inaugural Pi Day post, this date pie is from the Southern Living series from the seventies. But where that was from the Buffet book, this is from the actual Pies and Pastries book. It’s from Mrs. Rubye Shepherd of Wills Point, Texas, east of Dallas. The recipe that follows it in the book is another date pie from Floresville. We like our dates in Texas; I bet a whole bunch of date palms died last month in the extended freeze, and I’m also betting there’ll be a whole bunch of new plantings this spring.

My copy of the book is dated 1972. One of the weird things about this particular recipe is the detail. A lot of old cookbooks assume prior knowledge of baking, and leave things out. Not this one:

Beat the egg yolks with salt, then add the remaining ingredients except egg whites and pie shells.

Just in case you were tempted to mix the unbaked pie shell into the filling.1

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March 13, 2019: Perfect lemon pie for Pi Day
Whole perfect lemon pie: A whole perfect lemon pie from the Southern Living Fondue and Buffet cookbook.; lemons; Southern Living; pie

Meringue is perfect for pi day because it’s all about the volume.

Tomorrow is Pi Day, and to celebrate, you should have erudite circular discussions of mathematical philosophy, over a sector of pie. I’m generally partial to fruit pies or nut pies, but every once in a while I have a craving for a good lemon meringue.

Until recently, custards have always bedeviled me. I never seem to cook them long enough, no matter how long I wait. Because of my impatience, the custard ends up too runny or burnt. I’ve been doing a lot better lately, and mainly because of the incredible Southern Living Cookbook Library series. The Holiday• volume has an amazing almond-silk pie, for example. The Food & Wine series has also been helpful—you can see the edge of their annual collection in the previous post but I’ll have more about that later.

So when I saw that this lemon meringue pie from the Fondue and Buffet• volume of the series was labeled Perfect Lemon Meringue, it was impossible to pass up even if the name does seem guaranteed to disappoint. What in this world is perfect? This pie comes close. It is in fact very easy. And it is easily the best lemon meringue pie I’ve ever made. It manages to make the dangerous part of lemon pie, the filling, easier, at least for me.

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  1. During the period that these cookbooks came out, Southern Living was published by The Progressive Farmer Company.

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  2. The Oxmoor version is titled “Southwestern”. This is the only installment I have seen where the title differs between the two publishers.

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