Food and Wine : American

The story of the powerful McIlhennys of Louisiana, who turned hot peppers into a Tabasco fortune. After the Civil War ended, Edmund McIlhenny, an ambitious and tenacious Louisiana businessman, found himself with few prospects. The South's economy in ruins and his millions of dollars in Confederacy currency worthless, he had no choice but to return with his wife, Mary, to her family home in Avery Island, a former sugar plantation destroyed by Union soldiers. To McIlhenny's surprise, the hot peppers he had planted before being forced off the island had flourished. Desperate to start a new business, he chopped up the peppers, combined them with salt and vinegar, and produced the first batch of hot pepper sauce. Or so the story goes. He called the sauce Tabasco. In this fascinating history, Jeffrey Rothfeder tells how, from a simple idea—the outgrowth of a handful of peppers planted on an isolated island on the Gulf of Mexico—a secretive family business emerged that would produce one of the best-known products in the world. In short order, McIlhenny's descendants would turn Tabasco into a gold mine and an icon of pop culture, making it as recognizable as far bigger brands such as Coca-Cola and Kleenex. To this day, the McIlhenny Co., still run by a family of matchless characters who believe in a rigid code of family loyalty, clings to tradition and the old ways of doing business. Yet by fiercely protecting its beloved brand and refusing to sell out to big food conglomerates, this family business has run circles around its competitors, churning out annual revenues that have surpassed everyone's expectations. A delectable and satisfying read for both Tabasco fans and business buffs, McIlhenny's Gold is the untold story of the continuing success of an eccentric, private company; a lively history of one of the most popular consumer products of all times; and an exploration of our desire to test the limits of human tolerance for fiery foods. more...

Price: $19.95

Do you know the real Paula Deen? You may think you know the butter-loving, finger-licking, joke-cracking queen of melt-in-your-mouth Southern cuisine. You may have even visited The Lady & Sons to taste for yourself the down-home delicacies that made her famous and even heard some version of her Cinderella story (a single mom with two teenage sons started a brown-bag lunch business with $200 and wound up with a thriving restaurant, a fairy-tale second marriage, and wildly popular television shows), but you have never heard the intimate details of her often bumpy road to fame and fortune. more...

Price: $17.99

Beatrice Ojakangas dishes up forty varied recipes for pot pies, sure to please everyone’s palate, from Finnish Country Vegetable Pie to Chicken Pot Pie with Roasted Peppers, Herbed Leek and Chèvre Tart, Seafood Gumbo Pie, Venison Pot Pie, and Pizza Pot Pie. The ultimate comfort food, pot pies are a great way to create scrumptious new dishes from foods already in the cupboard. more...

Price: $45.00

Embracing the traditional cooking of the diverse peoples of the Upper Midwest—from the Ojibwe and Dakota to the immigrant communities of Norwegians, Swedes, Germans, Italians, and Hmong—Beth Dooley and Lucia Watson present more than two hundred recipes for the modern kitchen, many with seasonal variations to take advantage of the freshest fruits and vegetables available. more...

Price: $60.00

Wherever you are, summer is a time to savor longer days and lazy weekends. Fresh produce abounds, and life moves at a more relaxed pace. Anna Pump, proprietor of the iconic Loaves & Fishes store on Long Island, has catered to a devoted clientele of Hamptons weekenders for more than twenty-five years and understands summer's rhythms. She knows that while you may want to enjoy a picnic on the beach or a late supper on the porch, you don't want to spend the entire day in the kitchen, painstakingly preparing elaborate dishes. In Summer on a Plate she shares more than 120 recipes for delicious, no-fuss, memorable meals that celebrate the bounty of summer. more...

Price: $17.99