Here is a list of publications I’m currently (or aspire to be) reading, cooking from, or flipping through for self-study, ideas, and inspiration. Some sit by my bedside, some the stove, some on my desk as I write these words, and some, sometimes, in my lap while waiting for an oil change at the mechanic.

Richmond, Virginia (“RVA”)

Richmond: The Story of a City by Virginius Dabney

Richmond Beer: A History of Brewing in the River City by Lee Graves

Community cookbooks:

The Stuffed Cougar (community cookbook published by The Collegiate School of Richmond, VA)

Virginia

Dishing Up Virginia: 145 Recipes that Celebrate Colonial Traditions and Contemporary Flavors by Patrick Evans-Hylton

Pigsfoot Jelly & Persimmon Beer: Foodways from the Virginia Writers’ Project by Charles L. Perdue (Editor)

The Virginia Housewife by Mrs Mary Randolph

Colonial Virginia Cookery: Procedures, Equipment, and Ingredients in Colonial Cooking by Jane Carson

Virginia Cookery by Velma Moeschler

Virginia Cookery – Past and Present Including A Manuscript Cook Book of the Lee and Washington Families Published for the First Time by Mrs. Walter Husted

The Martha Washington Cook Book by Marie Kimball

Community cookbooks:

Tidewater on the Halfshell: Fine Virginia Recipes by Junior League of Norfolk-Virginia Beach

Recipes from Old Virginia by The Virginia Federation of Home Demonstration Clubs

General Southern

Southern Food: At Home, on the Road, in History by John Egerton

The Glory of Southern Cooking by James Villas

Classical Southern Cooking by Damon Lee Fowler

The Complete Southern Cookbook: More than 800 of the Most Delicious, Down-Home Recipes by Tammy Algood

Rufus Estes’ Good Things to Eat: The First Cookbook by an African-American Chef by Rufus Estes

What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Southern Cooking by Abby Fisher

Soul Food

High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America by Jessica B. Harris

Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine by Adrian Miller

Baking, Southern

Biscuit Bliss by John Egerton

American

The Food of a Younger Land by Mark Kurlansky

How America Eats by Clementine Paddleford

The Story of Corn by Betty Fussell