Elizabeth Heiskell - Come On Over!

LET ME SAY, Ive tested this hypothesis over the last few years with the nonstop travel and frenetic schedule required to film monthly segments as a contributor on the TODAY show and to promote two best-selling cookbooksWhat Can I Bring? and The Southern Living Party Cookbook. In between countless book signings, radio interviews, and television appearances, Ive racked up thousands of airline miles jetting back and forth between Mississippi and New York. Needless to say, I may be MIA in Mississippi more and more these days, but the Delta is with me wherever I go and is an element I bring to every appearance. The Delta accents my speech, flavors my recipes, serves as the setting for my stories, and informs much of what I do because its in my DNA. The more I travel, the more I appreciate where I come from, and I am always happy to return home.

Come On Over! is all about home and the way I cook when Im not catering an event for 2,500, demonstrating five camera-ready dishes on live television, or trying to keep up with orders for my popular Debutante Farmer Bloody Mary Mix. Its really about how I celebrate the everyday.

Growing up in the Delta, you had to make your own fun. We really only had three restaurants in town when I was coming along. We called them the three Os: Lellos, Does, and Luscos. So we just cooked up our own fun. The way I see it, if you are waiting for Christmas or New Years Eve to celebrate, you will be one bored and lonely soul the rest of the time. Hell, there are 365 days in a yearthats 365 opportunities to let loose and enjoy. So what if its just a Monday night? Go outside and clip a few flowers from your yard (or your neighbors if they happen to be away on vacation) and bring them inside to arrange in a pretty vase on your dinner table. Use the nice cloth napkins. What are you saving them for anyway? Or why not make Wednesday nights a little more special? Let your kids invite their friends over for the . Youll definitely get brownie points for being a cool mom. My point is: It doesnt take much effort to make a meal or any average day a little more special. I will never forget dropping by to visit my great-grandmother one day as she was just about to sit down for lunch. Her table was set with cut crystal, fine china, and an abundance of fresh flowers. I asked if someone was coming over to have lunch with her.

She quickly responded, No one is coming to my table who is more important than me.

Those words shaped me and shape how I choose to live in this world.

So, people, take the plastic off of the furniture in the living room and cook a beef tenderloin with a fancy sauce. Who cares if its just a regular old Thursday? There are a helluva lot more Thursdays in a year than Thanksgivings. Live a lot and celebrate it all. If my first book, What Can I Bring?, is all about portable nibbles, crowd-pleasing casseroles, and from-scratch gifts for the host, and my second, The Southern Living Party Cookbook, shares inspired menus for entertaining, then it seems a natural progression that this is the book that serves up everything else. In these pages you will find the recipes my oldest daughter begs me to make when shes on break from college, the dishes my husband, Luke, requests when our girls have scattered and our nest is empty, and the ones my momma made for me that bring me comfort and joy when I need a boost. Now, dont get me wrong, I will remain a party girl until my dying day, but in this book, I challenge cooks to celebrate every day: ho-hum weekdays, game days, diet days, cheat days, summer days, party days... any ole dadgum day! After all, life is short. I truly believe that every day should be savored.