Bio Quote From Martha A. Cheves - Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat
I've always loved to cook and used to dream of opening my own restaurant. But, as time went on and I got older that dream just didn't seem to be in the cards. Instead I wrote a cookbook. This idea came to me when my youngest daughter told me she couldn't bring deviled eggs to Thanksgiving dinner because she couldn't peel them without tearing them up. Then my oldest daughter asked if I would do one thing for her before I died. Would I please write down my recipe for banana pudding? This started me comparing my life with my daughters. My mother was a stay at home mom and I learned to cook the same way generations of women before me had, by watching her.
But, as a baby-boomer, my adult life differed dramatically from my mom's. I worked full-time and by the time I got home, got the homework started, clothes washed, baths taken, and dinner on the table, there certainly wasn't time to teach the kids to cook!! As I thought about this, I started remembering some of the foods my kids had attempted to put together over the years. One time it was decided that Thanksgiving dinner would be at my son's house. He decided to make chocolate pie for dinner. He bought a pie crust, a can of chocolate pudding and a container of cool whip. He poured the pudding into the uncooked crust, topped it with the cool whip and put it in the oven to bake!!!! You can only imagine what a mess he had. Needless to say, we didn't have chocolate pie for dinner.
So with this and other "adventures" in mind I hit on the idea of writing a cookbook filled with recipes I've always enjoyed that were simple enough for anyone to tackle complete with suggestions enabling readers to adjust them to fit individual tastes.
Cooking for me, always came easy....writing a cookbook, on the other hand was a bit more of a challenge! When it was about 3/4 of the way complete, I started looking for a publisher. I didn't know anything about publishing so I went to the internet. I found a publisher and tried to find a way to submit my book. I'm also not very savvy when it comes to computers. I told a friend about my situation and she took down the name of the publisher and said she would go on-line and see what she could find out. The next day around 3:00 in the afternoon I received a phone call. It was the publisher. My friend hadn't just looked them up on-line, she actually called them, told them about my book and they wanted my manuscript in 3 weeks!! I think everyone in my office heard me scream when I got off the phone. I was SO excited. I scrambled to finish the book. Sent it to the publisher and waited and waited and waited. After about a month a DHL delivery came for me.
Rejection? NO! It was an acceptance letter and contract. I'm still floating and am now working on book #2, which I'm calling "Think With Your Taste Buds - Desserts" that will be even better. This will be the 1st in a series and like Stir, Laugh, Repeat (my 1st cookbook) each recipe will have ingredient change suggestions to help teach the cook to "Think With Their Taste Buds."
Pina Colada Salad (recipe found in Stir, Laugh, Repeat)
1 pineapple, peeled, cored, and chopped into small pieces (or 3 20-oz. cans chunk pineapple drained)
1 coconut, drained, shelled, and cut into small pieces (or 1 cup flaked dehydrated coconut found in stores who sell fresh fruit, spices, etc. in bulk such as Healthy Home Market)
2 Kiwi fruit, peeled and chopped into small pieces
1 can frozen pina colada mix (Bacardi is the best and only brand I use. It's thicker)
Mix everything together. Refrigerate at least 2-3 hours so the flavors can blend.
You can add - strawberries, seedless grapes (red & green), and blueberries. I wouldn't add cherries. Their flavor will overpower the other flavors.
Salad can be served over cake or ice cream. It's also great over cottage cheese.
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Martha A. Cheves is from Georgia, moved to North Carolina by way of Florida. Martha has been in Charlotte for 14 years and loves it.
I’ve made some wonderful friends through the internet. About 2 years ago I met a lady in Florida named Lillian. She and I hit it off due to our love of cooking. I had a couple of book signings near her last year so I had the pleasure of meeting her in person. She is even more wonderful in person and has now become my adopted sister. Lillian collects cookbooks and has over 1,000 with the dates going back into at least the 1800s. She will be co-authoring this series of books with me and again, we will make these books different. You will not only have my ingredient change suggestions but Lillian’s as well. You will also be getting cooking stories from her plus, she has been coming up with “old” recipes that were originally used to make some of today’s dishes. This is a lot of fun for both of us and really quite interesting. Again, these books will be ones that you will use as well as read.
The recipes are all tested by "Food Testers" of which I now have 24. They try a dish and rate it from 1-10 with only those scoring at least an 8 making the book.
Please visit Martha’s website to find new recipes and tips. All recipes are easy, using common ingredients and according to my testers, great! ‘Stir, Laugh, Repeat’: http://stirlaughrepeatcookbook.blogspot.com/
Be Sure To Visit Martha’s Sites:
http://marthaskitchenkorner.blogspot.com (A Book and A Dish)
http://stirlaughrepeat.blogspot.com
http://marthaatkitchenkorner.blogspot.com
http://marthasrecipecabinet.blogspot.com
http://stirlaughrepeatcookbook.blogspot.com
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