By Staff
November 3, 2004
Bettye Rabb VanderVeen said her most vivid memory of cooking while growing up in Lexington was the "noonday dinner that mama would prepare, full of traditional Southern dishes."
VanderVeen shares the recipes for some of those traditional dishes in her new cookbook "Through the Years A Lifetime of Good Food."
The nearly 360-page cookbook is organized into 15 different food categories including breads, brunch, fish and shellfish, meats, Mexican, salads and salad dressings, sauces, pickles and potpourri and, of course, desserts and cakes. She also has a chapter dedicated to cooking tips.
VanderVeen attended Mississippi State University for Women in Columbus, where she met her future husband, Arthur. They married in 1957 after she graduated with a degree in history.
VanderVeen taught history at Stephen D. Lee High School in Columbus. She began compiling recipes in 1998. At that time, her husband retired and together they published the book.
Book: "Through the Years A Lifetime of Good Food"
Publisher: VanderVeen Publishing
How to order: Write to VanderVeen Publishing, 11916 Hickory Drive, Bentonville, AR 72712-8789 or call (800) 982-2568.
Cost: $22.95 plus $3 shipping and handling
Book signing: Sunday from 1 p.m.-3 p.m. at Plant the Earth Garden Center, 7802 Poplar Springs Drive.