Sam Warf is a man of many talents whose impressive resume includes everything from designing flowers for the White House to hosting his own cooking show that will soon be broadcast across the country.
Now Warf has added the title of author to his long list of accomplishments now that his cookbook “Recipes from Sam’s Kitchen: My Favorite Collection of Recipes” is officially for sale.
To celebrate the new cookbook, Warf will be having a book signing tomorrow, May 16, from 2-6 p.m. at the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce in downtown Russellville.
“After I started my cooking show, I was constantly being asked when I would be doing a cookbook of recipes for the things I was cooking,” Warf said.
“I got to work compiling the recipes pretty soon after that and what I came up with was a collection of 400 recipes that range from appetizers and entrées to desserts, and everything in between.
“These represent some of my favorite things that my mother and grandmother would cook and many of the things I fix on my show. It’s just good, Southern cooking, which everyone can appreciate.”
Cookbooks are $25 each with proceeds benefitting the Warf-Cooper-Richardson Foundation, which is a soon-to-be non-profit the Warf founded in order to help those in need in the community.
“I have tried my best to give back to the community throughout my life whether it was helping a child buy school supplies or helping the elderly with their expenses,” Warf said.
“After years of doing that, I decided I would create the Warf-Cooper-Richardson Foundation as a way to help even more people.”
Warf said the main focus of the foundation is to help provide shoes, clothing and medication for children and elderly residents in need.
“To make all assistance fair, I must be contacted by a pastor, school teacher or pharmacist in order for a person to qualify for assistance through the foundation,” Warf said.
“Once a person qualifies, there is a board of directors who reviews requests and grants them accordingly.”
Warf said he hopes the sales from his new cookbook will give a boost to the foundation, which has already helped numerous people in the community.
“I love to cook and I love to share my recipes with others, and this is just a way I can share something I have a passion for doing while also trying to help other people,” he said.
Warf said the cookbook signing on Thursday is also a way to help others since it is doubling as a fundraiser for the Russellville First United Methodist Church.
Warf said $10 of the sales from the $25 cookbook will go toward the FUMC Ministry Center’s building fund.
“The Ministry Center at the Methodist church is used in many different capacities in the community and they allow several groups and organizations to use the facilities to hold their meetings and events, so it’s an asset to the area,” Warf said.
“They also host a free meal twice a month for members of the community, which really goes along with my vision to help others, so I am glad to donate a portion of the proceeds from the cookbook sales at the book signing to this worthy cause.”
Warf said ladies from Russellville FUMC will also be cooking some of the recipes in the cookbook and they will be available for tasting at the book signing on Thursday.
“This will just be a fun event and we hope everyone can come out to sample some of the recipes and pick up their signed copy of the cookbook,” Warf said.