How Two Southern Housewives Discovered America’s Food Heritage — One State at a Time
When Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley describe their travels across America , it can make your mouth water — literally. That’s because for the past 22 years, these southern housewives and long-time friends have gone town-by-town, city-by-city to discover the recipes that capture the flavor of each of our 50 states. Along the way, they have not only discovered America’s rich food heritage, but have created t he Best of the Best State Cookbook Series, a series that is so popular, it has become the foundation for Quail Ridge Press, one of the most successful regional publishing houses in the country.
Their story has all the elements of a good novel: challenge, adventure, adversity, intrigue, serendipity, and a happy ending.
It started innocently enough in 1978, when Gwen’s husband, Barney McKee, then director of the distinguished University Press of Mississippi, brought home a cookbook manuscript written by a scholar in Greek history that his company could not publish. When his wife, a full-time mother of three, saw The Twelve Days of Christmas Cookbook, she knew something had to be done: “It was just too clever and precious to pass up,” Gwen recalls.
With no publishing or marketing experience, and only meager savings, she had 4,000 copies printed and then drafted her children, parents, friends, church groups, and golf buddies into a makeshift sales force.
“It really was a community affair,” says the now seasoned author. “I remember knocking on doors with a pile of books in my arms and being so scared that I would say, ‘You don’t really want to buy this book…do you?’”
People did buy it, and in record numbers. Three weeks later, the books were into their second printing, and Quail Ridge Press, first located in the McKee dining room on Quail Ridge Drive in Brandon , MS , had earned its own imprimatur.
After a few years and several more cookbooks, the newly dubbed “Cookbook Lady” was constantly being asked to choose her favorite recipes. To be thorough, she made a list of every Mississippi cookbook she could think of — some well known, others more obscure — put out by church groups, Junior Leagues, Girl Scout troops, local restaurants, and the like. Once again, she stumbled onto a wonderful idea — to publish a collection of recipes gathered from the best cookbooks in the state.
“We asked cookbook authors to submit a few of their favorite recipes in exchange for free ordering information and a photo of their cookbook,” McKee said. “The response was overwhelming.”
While McKee was out soliciting, her dear friend and golf partner, Barbara Moseley, was plotting.
“I had an ulterior motive,” Moseley confesses. “I figured if I helped Gwen get her work out of the way, I’d get her back on the golf course. We were already an unbeatable team.”
So, together the two women made endless phone calls and rifled through hundreds of cookbooks found in bookstores and gift shops. When those efforts were exhausted, they got in a car and visited local churches, restaurants, bed and breakfasts, and tourist bureaus.
When the Best of the Best from Mississippi was published in 1982, it flew off the shelves in record time. Suddenly, McKee and Moseley had new careers with a unique mission: They would travel across America in search of classic family recipes that captured the essence of each of the 50 states — the recipes that were passed down from grandmother to grandchild and are still gracing the family dinner table today.
So, they packed a beat-up old van with luggage, a stack of well-worn maps, a stash of food, and an unusual assortment of cooking paraphernalia and headed to McKee’s native state of Louisiana . Twenty-two years, 70,000 road miles, 40,000 air miles, 25,000 phone calls, 10,000 local cookbooks, and 17,000 easy-to-prepare, well-tested recipes later, the only cookbook series to truly preserve America ’s food heritage was completed.
Today, several million copies of the books grace kitchen shelves across the country. In fact, t he Best of the Best State Cookbook Series was recently featured in the prestigious “Annual List of 100 Favorites” of Saveur magazine,
When McKee and Moseley describe their experience, they’re quick to point out that collecting recipes and cookbooks has been secondary to the unexpected adventures they have had and the many, many friends they have made along the way. That’s why, in addition to showcasing some great-tasting, home-style recipes, each state volume reads like a personal travelogue with plenty of food for thought.
Lucky for all of us, McKee kept a diary filled with colorful anecdotes, many of which the authors share with their readers. Consider, for instance, the time they got lost in the Florida Everglades at night and were so terrified they retrieved their hymnal from the glove compartment. “It’s hard to be afraid when you’re singing hymns,” Moseley explains.
Or consider the time they found themselves lost in Maine and surrounded by a huge motorcycle gang.
“Coming from the South, we were intimidated at first...you know, the leather jackets, the tattoos,” Moseley says. “But, we ended up swapping recipes and being invited to come to their campsite. It was a real lesson in northern hospitality.”
The two friends also were “mooned” in Des Moines, thrown out of a grocery store on Hyannis, learned that their van didn’t float all that well in Houston, and retrieved a cooked beef brisket, which they were preparing for a television show, from the garbage in Pennsylvania. (“It looked great for the camera, but it was a little awkward explaining why no one could taste it,” Moseley recalls with a smile.)
There were even surprises on the domestic front, as their traditional husbands tried to cope with sudden role reversal. “I used to always tell Lonnie to, ‘Mind the home fires,’ while I was away,” Moseley says. “But, I didn’t mean it literally.” (The fire department had already arrived and things were under control by the time she got the call.)
With all the volumes of t he Best of the Best State Cookbook Series now published to critical acclaim and selling strong, these two women show no signs of retiring.
“Some of our books are so popular that we’re already into new editions,” Moseley says. “Our grandchildren love to test and sample the recipes, so it’s still a family affair.”
Clearly, though, new technologies have helped streamline the process.
“It’s true that with the Internet, we spend less time in bookstores and libraries,” McKee says. “But, there is no substitute for an evening with an Amish family tasting the most delicious pies and jellies from the ladies who made them, or standing beside a 97-pound, blue-ribbon-winning cabbage at the state fair in Palmer, AK.
“We feel like we have had a delicious, on-the-scene taste of America from home cooks all across the USA who, like us, are so proud to share their recipes. You just can’t get that by staying in your kitchen.”
Editor’s Note: The Best of the Best State Cookbook Series is available through Quail Ridge Press (800-343-1583; www.quailridge.com).
(This article is reprinted from the Spring 2005 edition of Enterprising Women magazine. Copyright 2005 Enterprising Women Inc. Reproduction in whole or part is prohibited, except by express permission of the publisher.)
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