From Publishers Weekly
In this sweetly sentimental cookbook, Pinner shares "plain old down-home confections" and her childhood memories of the lively women who created them: Mama, "My My" (her grandmother), "Aints" Lula and Pinky, "Cud'n" Flossie and more. In addition to the standard pound cakes, fruit cobblers and cookies of most home-baking books, she relates some truly original recipes, like Cud'n Bertise's Mashed Potato Fudge and Cud'n Merle's Mississippi Bean Fudge, which "doesn't taste one bit like beans," she assures. The exhaustive section on pies includes Egg Pie, Old-Fashioned Sugar Pie, Cantaloupe Pie, Butter Bean Pie, White Potato Pie and others, proving that one can make a pie out of just about anything-or even a Little of Nothing (the name for a pie that calls for only milk, sugar, flour, vanilla, butter and cinnamon, whose recipe came from Miss Nellie, the only white woman among Pinner's pantheon of cooks). The recipes and story snippets are punctuated with snapshots of family gatherings in small-town Michigan and Pinner's concoctions, making this a nice, nostalgic collection of desserts. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
Growing up as part of a large African-American family in a small town in Michigan, Patty Pinner spent her childhood helping the women of the house—the "Queens of Soul Food"—whip up the sugar-filled treats that crowned family dinners, neighborhood gatherings, and church socials. In SWEETS, Patty mixes the down-home maxims and womanly advice shared at these chatty, gossip-filled baking marathons with recipes for her family’s magical concoctions. The book includes more than 100 desserts, most shared by and named for family members ranging from Cud’n Daisy to Patty’s beloved grandmother, My My. Soul food favorites such as Old-Fashioned Sweet Potato Pone and Cud’n Eunice’s Tea Cakes are featured alongside delights like Miss LaLou’s Bourbon Balls, Down-Home Banana Ice Cream, and even Aint Laverta’s Dr. Pepper Cake. Desserts shared in the company of a loving family are always the sweetest, and with SWEETS in hand you’ll be able to share the comforts and confections of Patty’s sugar kitchen with your loved ones.

About the Author
PATTY PINNER was raised in a large extended family in the small town of Saginaw, Michigan. In between earning her master’s degree in education and working for the USPS as a training and development specialist, Patty makes time to work at her family’s restaurant, Ern’s Seafood Restaurant. Patty lives in eastern Michigan.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

PATTY PINNER was raised in a large extended family in the small town of Saginaw, Michigan. In between earning her master's degree in education and working for the USPS as a training and development specialist, Patty makes time to work at her family's restaurant, Ern's Seafood Restaurant. Patty lives in eastern Michigan.

SYNOPSIS