Princess Pamela's Soul Food Cookbook; Peach Cobbler

Princess Pamela's Peach Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream

One of our staple desserts in the summer is Princess Pamela's Peach Cobbler. Princess Pamela was southern born and raised. She migrated to New York and eventually started a small restaurant on E. 1st. Street. You were not allowed through the door without a harsh interview to see if you were worthy of her food and her company.  Famous people passed through her door such as Princess Radziwell, the Rothschilds, Gloria Steinman, Tom Wolfe and many many more. She cooked, sang and entertained and her words of wisdom are priceless which are quoted throughout the cookbook. When published the book sold for  .95 cents. Today the book is hard to locate but a pristine copy will sell for over $100.00.

Our mother always used this book's recipe for the best and easiest peach cobbler I have ever tasted and that is why I purchased this book, just for the peach cobbler...Chefs can add this and that to tweak recipes but for good, old fashioned perfection you should stick with pure basics and this is the basic southern cooking I was brought up on and loved. The book disappeared when our mother passed on. Had my sister and I known its value (sentimental not monetary...although I am surprised how much this little paperback cost!) we would not have let this copy slip through our fingers. Apparently she also used many recipes from the "Princess" and we have really enjoyed just reading through this book. We no longer use Crisco or fat back and never fry foods but just reading this book brought back Sunday after church dinner memories and family mealtime. I will use some of these recipes again and introduce my daughters and their families to my own memory meals and I won't skip all the butter or cream or the ham bone. We moved to California when I was five and my mom picked up cooking all the wonderfully unique and ethnic dishes from the West Coast and although these are also memorable meals and fun times I suppose roots are roots and southern style cooking still brings a smile to my dining.

Five Ideas for Foxfield Tailgates

For me, April in Charlottesville brings to mind three things: blooming dogwoods, my Kwanzan cherry trees and Foxfield Races.  Over the past 20 years, I've hosted many celebrations on race day, from a family tailgate to a 150+ person brunch for my daughter's sorority.  I thought I'd share a few of my best ideas for a Foxfield feast...

1. Rosemary & Parmesan Biscuits:  These go well with a glass of wine and good company.

2. Comfort Food Virginia Ham Biscuits: When you put honey butter, mildly salted country ham and flaky biscuits all together, how can you go wrong?

3. Tarragon Chicken Salad: Step your tailgate up a bit with a beautiful and gourmet chicken salad. Full of apples, toasted pecans and crisp chopped celery. Serve with a glass of sauvignon balnc and you are off to the races. Or our Chicken salad with dill and lemon has a very fresh flavor and can be used as a salad or on sandwiches such as a croissant or french bread with buttery lettuce.

4. Home-made Cookies: Our cookies have traveled with our customers all over the country! From New England to California. Buttery and crisp oatmeal raisin cookies vs. our Really, really (!), good chocolate chip cookies is a toss up, but our new cookie,white chocolate chunk and macadamia cookie, is in the race for favorites. We do not use imitation white chocolate chips. These have large chunks of white chocolate and macadamia nuts in a buttery cookie. Crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Yum!

5. Citrus Iced Tea: For a refreshing and different taste from plain iced tea, we suggest our citrus iced tea (not on our menu but available upon request). Sun brewed tea with orange juice and lemon.

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful feedback on our new menu!  For those on our mailing list, you should should have recieved it by now, and if you haven't please shoot us an email at comfortfoodinsteadofflowers@gmail.com