Ganeshram Ramin - Sweetie Pies cookbook: soulful recipes, from my family to yours

FOR MY MOM AND POP, WHO WERE EXCELLENT COOKS

WITH AMAZING PALATES. FOR MY SISTERS AND BROTHERS,

WHO ATE UP EVERY DAMN THING OUR PARENTS PREPARED.

WISH WE WERE ALL STILL TOGETHER.

When I was sixteen years old and helping my mother cook dinner for my eight brothers and sisters, the last thing I was thinking about was a cookbook. Where Im from folks didnt cook out of cookbooks, much less write themyou just cooked! Someone taught you and you taught someone else. Thats how it was in my family.

Now my family has gotten too big to teach each and every one of you my secrets in personthats right, I said you. All you folks who come into Sweetie Pies and watch Welcome to Sweetie Pies on the Oprah Winfrey Network and all you folks who have listened to my music all these years are part of my family. Sweetie Pies Cookbook is my opportunity to share my special recipes with you, just like you were standing next to me in my own kitchen.

As far as Im concerned, the most important thing to know about how I cook is that this is food with soul. That means you put your heart into it, you put your love into it, and you put your history into it. Soul food is more than just a style of cooking that has come out of the African American experience; its the true melody of American food. As long as I can remember, we have taken whatever weve had and made it singno matter how poor or few those ingredients were. Our foodsoul foodtells a story about survival.

In addition to sharing some amazing recipes, I will share my own story of survival. Every dish has come out of my real life experienceswhether it was learned from my mama, my friends, or while I was on the road. Sometimes those experiences were sweet and sometimes they sure could be bitter, but all of them have made me who I am. And through it all, no matter what, I was always cooking.

Miss Robbie and her sisters Linda and Janice, in the lobby of the original Sweetie Pies Restaurant, in Dellwood, Missouri.

Over these many years, Ive learned to listen to my own gut and my own taste buds when I cook. I love to experiment, and I love flavor with a capital Fthats why youre going to notice that when a teaspoon of vanilla or a dash of a spice will do, I up the ante and add as much as I think will make the flavor pop! Now I understand my heavy hand wont appeal to everyone, so I encourage you to be your own kind of experimenter. Thats the best way to make these dishes your ownfrom my kitchen to yours.

Nowadays when people go out to eat or when they open a cookbook theyre looking for appetizers or starters or whatever you want to call them. As long as Ive known soul food Ive never known anyone to talk about courses or the idea that the meal should be divided up in some way. In fact, dessert is just about the only serving that was thought of as separate from the rest of the meal.

Since I do know that its much more handy to have a book divided up into courses, thats what youll see here. Youll also see tips on making some of these recipes lighter. We all know that soul food is heavy on ingredients like butter and other fats and sugar and salt, and while these enhancers are tasty (who can deny that?!), we know that we have to be a little more careful about how liberal we are with these ingredients.

My personal philosophy is moderation: I may eat a tiny sliver of pie, but I want the real thing, no substitutes. Thats why youll see that the suggestions I make for cutting down on sugar, fat, and salt are still high in flavorotherwise, whats the point?

Ive even come up with my own recipes for ingredients that many people have come to depend on to add flavor to their food, including powdered onion soup mix and canned celery soup, or even, believe it or not, Velveeta-style cheese!

You may wonder why I went ahead and reinvented the wheel. Why not leave well enough alone, Miss Robbie? The reason is simple: health and quality. Do you know what all goes into making packaged food? I sure dont. But I do know what goes on in my own kitchen, and I know that I can do a lot better creating these recipes myself.

With that housekeeping aside, I want to say that most of all I hope you enjoy this book, and that you make all of the recipes and share them generously with your family and friends so we can keep soul food alive and thriving.

And while I know this book is going to turn you into a mighty fine soul food cook, I hope you wont forget to stop in and see me at Sweetie Pies.

Robbie Montgomery

SERVES 2

2 slices Texas Toast

2 tablespoons butter, softened

2 large eggs

Salt and pepper

1 teaspoon minced fresh chives (optional)

1 teaspoon minced onion (optional)

2 teaspoons shredded cheddar or other cheese (optional)

Heat a large skillet over medium heat.