One night after making a large pot of Jambalaya, I wondered at what point this true New England Yankee had become so southern. I realized it was a slow evolution. I met my husband, a true Southern gentleman, almost 20 years ago. For the first couple of years of our marriage, we lived in Texas. While there, I never really bothered to make many of the comfort foods of my husband's youth. All he had to do was go around the corner and he could get whatever he wanted. Later, we ended up returning to New England and after a period of time; my husband began to miss his old Southern favorites. He slowly began to ask me if I would try to make his favorite foods. His first request- Southern Fried Chicken. He figured it would be relatively easy for me since I had attended Culinary School before deciding to get a degree in nutrition. I have to say, my first attempt at Fried Chicken was dismal. The crust fell off, it had very little flavor and I am not sure it was even cooked all the way. So began the search and the many trials, to make the best Fried Chicken. I called his family, no one would share any of their recipes with me, I was the enemy. I began to scour cookbooks and the internet- all in the effort to find the perfect combination. Only to find that some ingredients weren't available up North, or that they didn't work. Or worse, it wasn't what my husband remembered!! Some things, I didn't like; they were too spicy or I just didn't care for the combination of flavors. As the years passed and I finally conquered the Fried Chicken, he began to request more of his favorites. The process would begin all over again to find that perfect combination of flavors with locally available ingredients. The result is a compilation of recipes that I have created. In the past year or so, people had begun to request my recipes, so I began to record them so it would be easy for me to pass them along. One night, I was joking with my husband that I should open my own restaurant and just sell my food. He laughed and said, it would just be easier to write a cookbook. Tongue-in-cheek I said I would call it "Southern Fried Yankee!" He laughed even harder and told me to do it. So the idea was born to write this cookbook. Why not call it a true Southern Cookbook, well that is because it is not!! If you want true authentic flavors, these recipes may or may not be what you are looking for. These are my versions and interpretations of Southern Comfort Foods with a liberal amount of classic New England Yankee thrown in. They are an amalgamation of both my husband and me and represent a true melting pot of flavors. All my recipes have been tried many times, are generally easy to prepare, and most don't require any special appliances or ingredients to make them. They are the common favorites of my family and friends. I have included many great tips and short cuts including crock-pot recipes for those meals that generally take a long time to prepare on the stove or in the oven. I hope that you enjoy preparing them and eating them!