Posted on: Wednesday, October 27, 2004
She's at home in the Mitford kitchen
By Debra Hale-Shelton
Associated Press
CONWAY, Ark. — Fans of Jan Karon's Mitford novels know all about Esther Bolick's famous orange marmalade cake, Percy's grits, young Dooley Barlowe's love of fried baloney sandwiches, Russell Jacks' livermush craving and Puny's aromatic, home-cooked meals for Father Tim Kavanagh.
Indeed, the kitchen is "the heart of the home" in Mitford. In some ways, this charming small Southern town is the main character of Karon's novels about Tim Kavanagh, an Episcopal priest who gets married in his 60s and who takes in a sassy but lovable mountain boy to raise as his own.
The Mitford books abound in food references, from Chapter 1 of the first book, "At Home in Mitford," where Kavanagh dreams of coconut pie, to Karon's most recent novel, "Shepherd's Abiding," where antiques-store owner Andrew Gregory serves hot cocoa to Father Tim.
It didn't take Mitford fans long to start clamoring for the recipes of dishes in Karon's books, especially Esther's tempting cake, the one that almost sent the diabetic rector into a coma.
Now, in her new "Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook & Kitchen Reader" (Viking, 2004, $29.95), Karon shares 150 recipes, mostly dishes made famous by Mitford residents.
Karon readily acknowledges that the book's editor, Martha McIntosh, created, borrowed, gathered and tested the recipes for the book, which also includes family photos, essays by Karon and a short story she wrote about a cooking contest in Mitford.
"Indeed, I was once a pretty good cook, but my skills have fallen on hard times and a roast chicken is absolutely the very best I currently can do," she writes.
Still, Karon, interviewed recently by telephone at her home in central Virginia, says she kept her hand in the pot to make sure recipes accurately reflect the characters they're associated with.
"I worked on every recipe to see if there might be ingredients that might be uncharacteristic of a character," Karon said. "For example, Cynthia is a pretty sophisticated character. Esther is not going to use balsamic vinegar, but Cynthia will."
So, Louella fries her chicken in lard, not Crisco. But Cynthia Coppersmith Kavanagh, Tim's pretty neighbor turned bride, uses olive oil and prepares risotto, cassoulet, oyster pie and bouillabaisse. And the ever-practical Puny, mother of twins and the priest's housekeeper, offers time-saving and other practical tips throughout the book.
Karon also includes recipes from her own kitchen and those of her mother and grandmother.
So, is Cynthia patterned after Karon?
"Cynthia has better legs," Karon replied jokingly, then acknowledged they're both blonde, both color their hair, are creative and have worked all their lives.
"But I couldn't be married to Father Tim," she said. "He's a little too conservative for me. He doesn't know how to have fun unless somebody helps him do it."
Karon recalled readers begging for Esther's cake recipe.
Despite her protests that there was no recipe ("That cake is fiction!"), the requests persisted. Eventually Karon's editor at Victoria magazine had one created in an Atlanta kitchen by cookbook author Edna Lewis and chef Scott Peacock.
"I pay people to bake that cake for me," Karon said. "It is outstanding."
