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Cookbook keeps selling

© Lee Ward

A couple of years ago, I received a book as a gift. Called What's Cooking in Kentucky, I found the best barbecue recipe ever, plus a wonderful collection of hard-core Appalachian recipes. It's a great handbook for anyone wanting basic recipes.

Just last year, as Lifestyle Editor for The Independent, the daily newspaper in Ashland, Kentucky, I got a phone call from a woman who wanted to promote her book. When she told me her name is Irene Hayes, I felt as though I had received a call from a celebrity.

Hayes is the author, not only of What's Cooking in Kentucky, but another new holiday book called What's Cooking for the Holidays.

Hayes said she wrote the first book about 40 years ago. "My husband and I took out a loan to put a new roof on our church," she said. "In order to pay for the roof, I decided to make this book and sell it.

"I was post master in Floyd County, Kentucky, so at the postmaster's meetings I told the other postmasters to have their people send me their best recipes. I got hundreds of them, and I selected some for the cookbook."

However, she had to omit so many recipes from the first book that she decided to make a second one. That's how the holiday book came to be.

But the holiday book isn't just for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Eve. Hayes said the book addresses all the holidays, including Valentine's Day, Easter and the Fourth of July.

Hayes' books aren't just for Appalachian food lovers. They drew praise from the late James Beard, who included her first book in the bibliography of his Cook's Catalogue, listing it is as a must-have collection.

William Rice, former food editor for the Washington Post, listed the book as one of the five regional cookbooks he recommends.

From What's Cooking in Kentucky, here's that delicious barbecue beef recipe.

Barbecued Beef By Mrs. George Scott, Ashland, KY

3 or 4-pound roast
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup ketchup
1/3 cup vinegar
3 tablespoons mustard
1 onion, chopped

Boil beef roast until it falls apart (I cook in slow cooker all day).

Remove from cooker and chop into fine pieces. Retain beef broth.

Combine remaining ingredients. Add salt to taste. Combine sauce and beef in pot. If too dry, add beef broth to desired consistency and simmer until onion is tender. Serve on buns with coleslaw.

To order one of Irene Hayes' cookbooks, contact her at T.I Hayes Publishing Co., P.O. Box 17352, Fort Mitchell, KY 41017

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