Hallelujah! The Welcome Table: A Lifetime of Memories With Recipes

200 Pages·2006·2.03 MB·English

by  Maya Angelou

Praise for
Hallelujah! The Welcome Table
“Now the truth is evident: Poet and literary legend Maya Angelou is as mighty with her
spoon and spatula as she is with her world-renowned pen.”
—Chicago Sun-Times
“Hallelujah! The Welcome Table—a cookbook in a sense that there are recipes—is the
poet’s life laid out like a colorful banquet.”
—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“Warning: Don’t read Maya Angelou’s new book while hungry. …This cookbook is a
tour-de-force collaboration of two of Angelou’s major passions—writing and cooking.”
—Ebony
“Readers of this book will find not only a wealth of dishes that will allow them to set
aside their own problems and to procrastinate by whipping up cakes, pies and fried
chicken, but a close-up, personal glimpse of a compelling writer and her family.”
—New York Daily News
“Poet Maya Angelou serves up a feast for lovers of food and great stories … an
evocative work.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“It is not surprising when a culinary life is played out in the pages of a book with
recipes. But when the life of a poet-autobiographer, already revealed through verse and
narrative, comes even more alive through plumes of aromas, a palette of flavors and a
recipe box of memories, a cookbook is something else.”
—Seattle Post-Intelligencer
“Hallelujah! The Welcome Table is more than a collection of printed recipes … it’s a
humorous and poignant memoir graced by good food.”
—El Paso Times
Also by Maya Angelou
Autobiography
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Gather Together in My Name
Singin’ and Swingin’ and Gettin’ Merry Like Christmas
The Heart of a Woman
All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes
A Song Flung Up to Heaven
Essays
Wouldn’t Take Nothing for
My Journey Now
Even the Stars Look Lonesome
Poetry
Just Give Me a Cool Drink
of Water ’fore I Diiie
Oh Pray My Wings Are
Gonna Fit Me Well
And Still I Rise
Shaker, Why Don’t You Sing?
I Shall Not Be Moved
On the Pulse of Morning
Phenomenal Woman
The Complete Collected Poems
of Maya Angelou
A Brave and Startling Truth
Amazing Peace
Mother
Celebrations
Children’s Books
My Painted House,
My Friendly Chicken, and Me
Kofi and His Magic
Picture Books
Now Sheba Sings the Song
Life Doesn’t Frighten Me

Dedication
I dedicate this book to every wannabe cook
who will dare criticism by getting into the kitchen
and stirring up some groceries.
To O, who said she wanted a big, pretty cookbook.
Well, honey, here you are.
Acknowledgments
To all the great cooks whose food I have eaten and whose recipes I have read and whose
stories I have heard. My thanks to Bettie Burditte, Patricia Casey, Frances Berry, Sterling
Baker, and Rosa Johnson Butler, who helped me at all hours for months to compile the recipes.
I am proud that frustration did not cause them to move abroad and change their names. I thank
my entire family for trusting me in the kitchen. And a salute to Brian Lanker, who helped me
see clearly the images of foods that were becoming fuzzy in my memory.
Here’s to Brian Daigle, who drove my bus so steadily across the U.S.A. that Lydia Stuckey
and I could cook everything from baked acorn squash to zucchini gratinée.
A salute to Chef Don McMillan, who, at the drop of a toque, stepped in and helped me
tremendously.
Thank you all.
Maya Angelou
Contents
Pie Fishing
Lemon Meringue Pie
Meringue
Chicken and Dumplings
Bouquet Garni
Drop Dumplings
Fried Yellow Summer Squash
Green Peas and Lettuce
The Assurance of Caramel Cake
Caramel Cake
Caramel Syrup
Caramel Frosting
Coconut Cake
Coconut Frosting
Chocolate Fudge
Momma’s Grandbabies Love Cracklin’ Cracklin’
Crackling Corn Bread
Momma’s Rich Beef Stew
Collard Greens
Potato Salad Towers Over Difficulties
Cold Potato Salad
Fried Chicken
Snow-White Turnips
Mustard and Turnip Greens with Smoked Turkey Wings
Pickled Peaches
Buttermilk Biscuits
Liver to Grow On
Liver and Onions
Recipes from Another Country
Wilted Lettuce
Independence Forever
Fried Meat Pies
Early Lessons from a Kitchen Stool
Bread Pudding
My Big Brother’s Savings Account
Bailey’s Smothered Pork Chops
Smoked Pork Chops
Braised Cabbage with Ginger
Cabbage with Celery and Water Chestnuts
Short Ribs à la the Big Easy
Braised Short Ribs of Beef
Mother’s Long View
Red Rice
Roasted Capon
Good Banana, Bad Timing
Banana Pudding