Free Book Friday: Savor the South

Update 9/21, 3 pm: We’ve drawn a winner: Karen Lee Logins, who was actually the very first person to comment, and did so via Facebook. Thank you to everyone who entered! If you did not win, you may use discount code 01ENEW at checkout to save 20% on the books at the UNC Press website. To get your books signed, check out our full events list on the Press website and catch up with the authors in person.

For this month’s Free Book Friday, you can win two books: Pecans and Buttermilk, the first two books from our Savor the South^® Cookbooks collection.

Each little cookbook in our Savor the South^® Cookbooks collection is a big celebration of a beloved food or tradition of the American South. From buttermilk to bourbon, pecans to peaches, bacon to catfish, one by one each Savor the South^® cookbook will stock a kitchen shelf with the flavors and culinary wisdom of this popular American regional cuisine. Written by well-known cooks and food lovers, each book brims with personality, the informative and often surprising culinary and natural history of southern foodways, and a treasure of some fifty recipes—from delicious southern classics to sparkling international renditions that open up worlds of taste for cooks everywhere. You’ll want to collect them all.

See the New York Times’ recent feature on buttermilk to learn more about buttermilk and its recent growth in popularity in America. News & Observer also has an article on the Savor the South^® series.

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“Show me a recipe with pecans, and I have to try it.” Attributing her own love of this American nut to the state of her birth—Georgia is the nation’s leader in growing pecans—and to the happy fact that her mother “hardly made a cookie, candy, or pan of Sunday dressing without them,” Kathleen Purvis teaches readers how to find, store, cook, and completely enjoy this southern delicacy. Pecans includes fifty-two recipes, ranging from traditional to inventive, from uniquely southern to distinctly international, including Bourbon-Orange Pecans, Buttermilk-Pecan Chicken, Pecan Pralines, and Leche Quemada.

In addition to the recipes, Purvis delights readers with the pecan’s culinary history and its intimate connections with southern culture and foodways. Headnotes for the recipes offer humorous personal stories as well as preparation tips such as how to choose accompanying cheeses.

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Most southern cooks will agree with Debbie Moose when she writes, “Like a full moon on a warm southern night, buttermilk makes something special happen.” Buttermilk explores the rich possibilities of this beloved ingredient and offers remarkably wide-ranging recipes for its use in cooking and baking–and drinking, including The Vanderbilt Fugitive, a buttermilk-based cocktail.

Buttermilk includes fifty recipes—most of which are uniquely southern, with some decidedly cosmopolitan additions—from Fiery Fried Chicken to Lavender Ice Cream to Mango-Spice Lassi. For each recipe, Moose includes background information, snappy anecdotes, and preparation tips. Replete with helpful hints and advice for finding the best quality buttermilk available, this cookbook is indispensable for anyone who wants to learn more about this tangy cooking staple.

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Become a fan on Facebook (facebook.com/SavortheSouth) to hear about author events, recipes, discounts, future books in the collection, and more!

To enter the giveaway for the pair of books:

Tell us your own pecan or buttermilk story–an anecdote, favorite recipe, family memory, whatever it is that makes this giveaway mean something to you. Even if you’re one of those people who buys buttermilk for one recipe then doesn’t know what to do with the rest, that’ll count, too. (Debbie Moose’s book will take care of that for you!) Or maybe you’re a nutaholic? (Kathleen Purvis’s book will scratch that itch!)

We’ll collect responses here on the blog, on the Savor the South Facebook page (see link above), and via the #UNCFreeBookFriday hashtag on Twitter. Next Friday, September 21, at 3pm EST we’ll put everyone’s name in the hat and draw a winner. We’ll announce the winner in an update here, and on Facebook and Twitter as well. Good luck!

The fine print: Must be a U.S. resident. UNC Press and Longleaf Services employees are not eligible.