Cook'n With Nana

Christopher Allen was born and raised in a small town in Northeast Louisiana called Start—a town most people haven’t heard of unless they’re from there. Everyone knows everyone, and there’s a deep sense of community and family. In this town, there isn’t much besides a gas station and a lot of farmland.

His family was fortunate enough to farm this land. Being a farmer in a small rural town meant “all hands on deck,” which required everyone in the family to help get the crops growing and harvested. While the men and boys would work the fields, his grandmother and mother would be in the kitchen preparing all the meals for them: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Every meal was home-cooked, from the biscuits and jelly to the desserts. They would use fresh vegetables and produce from their home gardens, peach orchards, and pecan groves, and nothing went to waste.

That is where these recipes truly were born. Passed down through four generations, these recipes were the culmination of “happy accidents” in the kitchen, love, and family. Thankfully, his mother was able to write down all these recipes, tips, and tricks that were passed down to her, and that’s how this cookbook was made. These recipes have been in his family from generation to generation and are now being passed to his children and, one day, to their children. The family is so fortunate to be able to look back and reflect on the love, community, and family that come with them.