Miranda Lambert's Y'All Eat Yet? welcomes readers into her "Pretty B*tchin' Kitchen" by taking us on a journey of celebrating the women who've shaped her life and the food that speaks to those bonds. Her book differs from those of fellow country superstars who've released similar cooking entries — such as Dolly Parton, Trisha Yearwood and Loretta Lynn — in that it uses the various featured recipes as anchors to the story of her life and the women who helped her along the way. Lambert takes us behind the curtains of the glitz and glitter of her artist persona and inducts us into the "...Sisterhood of the Traveling Casserole Dish."
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Entering Lambert's "B*tchin Kitchen" is daunting when you look at recipes with serving sizes starting at an upwards of six people. Images of standing in a hot kitchen stacked with multiple dirty pots and overflowing dishes started roiling in my head like a pot left to boil. But onward I went, 'cause Mama didn't raise no quitter. Now it came time for me to choose five recipes to try my hand at. And, well, that was no easy feat, as this book literally has a recipe for every occasion — from breakfast to dinner, drinks to desserts, and even options that are best when camping. Lambert leaves no stone unturned in the variety of recipes at a reader's disposal. Other cookbooks immediately give you an idea of the level of expertise of culinary skill needed to complete the dish, ranging from easy to expert at Le Cordon Bleu. But every one of Lambert's culinary offerings was accessible to me. I'm between easy and medium level at best.
Favorites From the Pretty B*tchin' Kitchen
Veronique Medrano
I decided, in the spirit that Lambert oozes in her prose, to boldly take on these five recipes with my mother. We dove into the following: Sausage Cornbread Muffins, Creamy Bacon Brussel Sprouts, Vicki's Deviled Eggs, Honey Glazed Carrots, and finally THE LOAF — also known as Bev's Famous Meatloaf. As Lambert states, "Things take time. Cooking, fixing up old houses, and growing up — all things that happen in pieces. You never think about all the steps because you're taking them." The instructions — steps — taken to make these five courses took time and communicating with one another in the kitchen. Cooking, while daunting, doesn't have to be with Lambert and her family guiding the way. The confidence comes from simple and easy-to-follow recipes Lambert's book provides, bringing us comfort food that wraps you in a hug of nostalgia and joy when you need it most.
Veronique Medrano
Sometimes, recipes can have our hairs on end, especially when cooking with more than one person in the kitchen. But every recipe we tried and completed left me and my mother's stomachs happy and laughing. Don't be fooled, though — my mother had trepidation about Bev's Famous Meatloaf; she has been betrayed by a meatloaf recipe or two ... or three. But our first bite of Bev's delicious loaf was juicy and full of flavor — and we just gotta say, we now understand the reason THE LOAF is famous.
Every choice was happily eaten, and our plates were left clean. There was no dud in the choices, but the addictive faves were definitively Vicki's Deviled Eggs and the Sausage Cornbread Muffins. I can't wait to dive into the other recipes, such as the Oven Brisket and the Slow Cooker Bread Pudding. Personally, I knew as soon as I saw the table of contents that I would have little interest in the Mexican food recipes featured within. Lambert's audience would definitely appreciate the more palatable Mexican fare that is more akin to Tex-Mex than the Mexican food that I'm used to. If you're from Texas, however, it goes without saying your cookbook has to have a Mexican cuisine-inspired dish or two, and this book fits those in.
Reading through this book and cooking its recipes will leave readers with a deeper understanding of the person behind the artist. Many times, we the public ask artists to let us into their world, and Lambert does this beautifully. It goes from the adventures of her youth and leads us to the observations of a woman at peace and fully owning who she is. Through a mix of prose, photos and recipes, Lambert weaves a tapestry that honors the past, present and future generations of women in her life. By showing us the home that built Lambert's drive and hunger to strive for her dreams, we get to see her in a whole new light.
Lambert has definitely hit a home run with her first cookbook memoir, one that invites its readers to bring family and friends to gather and enjoy time with one another, whether it is at home or in the outdoors.
Miranda Lambert's new book, Y'all Eat Yet? Welcome to the Pretty B*tchin' Kitchen, is available through publisher Dey Street Books in both e-book and hardcover.
Harper Collins
