Culinary Confessions of the PTA Divas: Stylish Recipes and Saucy Secrets for the Everyday Gourmet

Anne-Marie Hodges with Pam Brandon
162 pages (November 2004); 15.4MB download
Pam Brandon; ISBN: 0-89732-624-5

DESCRIPTION

Culinary Confessions of the PTA Divas: Stylish Recipes and Saucy Secrets for the Everyday Gourmet is a tale of food and friendship that began with a grass-roots crusade to uplift dedicated teachers at an inner-city school in Orlando, Fla. After creating over-the-top thank-you feasts for teachers, Anne-Marie Hodges and Pam Brandon began compiling recipes and tips, and a cookbook was born. Packed with "saucy secrets" and delicious recipes, Culinary Confessions has anything from a comforting chicken noodle soup to a decadent side of lobster mashed potatoes. Though many of the creations are healthful, taste is paramount, with unusual combinations: Wild Child Watermelon, Feta, and Mint Salad; Creamy, Dreamy Corn and Poblano Chowder; Japanese Noodle Nosh, and Pucker Up Lemony Crab Relish. The "confessions"? with many of the recipes offer shortcuts for "from-scratch" results. Ultimately, the book is all about making life easier and food fresher and healthier.

Anne-Marie Hodges is a professional artist with a penchant for creative cooking, entertaining and celebrating life. Pam Brandon is a longtime Disney publicist, and a food and travel writer. A spinoff from the book is their weekly column, Divas of Dish, that appears in The Orlando Sentinel, Tampa Tribune and Palm Beach Post. Both women are moms and self-taught foodies.

Orlando Sentinel
"Don't confuse this cookbook with one of those ubiquitous fund-raising cookbooks ... this collection of sophisticated dishes comes after loving tasting, twisting and massaging recipes until they were worthy to be proclaimed diva cuisine."

New York Daily News
"... sassy, entertaining and very approachable book for those who don't have a lot of time to cook."

Southern Living
"... chatty, fun and good-naturedly flippant."