PUTNAM COUNTY
With the approach of two major “eating” holidays – Thanksgiving and Christmas – opportunities abound to create and taste unique culinary delights. And who better to bring fresh ideas and tasty recipes than Johnathon Scott Barrett?
Barrett will be Georgia Writers Museum’s “Meet the Author” presenter on Nov. 4, on his book Cook & Celebrate: A Collection of Southern Holiday & Party Culinary Traditions. Doors open at 10:30 a.m. that Saturday for an 11 a.m. start. Tickets are $45 each ($40 each for two or more tickets) or $200 to reserve a table for six, representing a $40 saving).
Cook & Celebrate takes readers from the Commonwealth of Virginia down to the Low Country of Georgia and South Carolina and over to Mobile Bay as Barrett memorializes the rich holiday culinary traditions of the region.
Remembrances abound with Hoppin’ John and collards at New Year’s, fried chicken and potato salad on Independence Day, sweet, cloudlike coconut cakes at Easter, and the veritable Tom Turkey and cornbread dressing that crown dining tables at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Barrett shares these recipes, along with 100-plus more, while introducing friends and loved ones along the way in each chapter.
“Johnathon Scott Barrett’s delightful voice is that of a favorite country cousin who you adored as a child, who grew up and moved to the city and lived largely, but never forgot their country roots – the cousin who not only returns for the family funerals but brings the best cakes and hugs you for two solid minutes, then offers to pay for the casket flowers,” said Janis Owens, award-winning author of The Cracker Kitchen. “He’s a reminder of all that is worth celebrating in our beloved home.”
Barrett is a seventh-generation Georgian with a deep appreciation for the history, foodways and culture of the South.
His first book, Rise and Shine!, is a food memoir spanning several decades of Southern farm-totable traditions. In his second book, Cook & Tell, he narrates another delicious culinary sojourn where he includes not only his own entertaining stories and meaningful recipes but also those of friends who met along the way.
Professionally, Barrett completed a degree in business at Georgia Southern University and is now a CPA and nonprofit executive currently serving as director of development for the State Botanical Garden at the University of Georgia. In addition to his time in the kitchen and garden, he enjoys travel and good bourbon, or when he gets the chance – fishing.
Visit Georgia Writers Museum online at georgiawritersmuseum.org to register and pre-order Barrett’s books.