life
12 • Thursday, January 29, 2015
OVER THE MOUNTAIN Journal
Comfort Food
Cookbook Author Finds Inspiration, Solace in Her Kitchen
Nita Colson’s Chicken Salad
Kay Yeager calls this recipe from her cookbook the “very best” chicken salad. Ingredients: 2 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk 1/3 cup milk ½ teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon dry mustard Dash of celery seed Miracle Whip (to taste) ¾ cup celery, chopped fine 3 hard-boiled eggs, grated 3 tablespoons white vinegar 1 teaspoon liquid butter ½ teaspoon sugar 4 large chicken breasts, cooked Directions: Cook chicken and process in food processor. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and vinegar together and then add milk, butter, salt, mustard and celery seed. Cook over hot water in a double boiler until thick and creamy. Mix mixture and Miracle Whip, celery and hard-boiled eggs with chicken. Chill.
Western Supermarket on Rocky Ridge Road is hosting book signings for Yeager Feb. 6 from 4-6 p.m. and Feb. 7 from 10 a.m.-noon.
Clockwise from above: Kay Yeager displays her new cookbook, “KayKay’s 100 Favorite Recipes,” in her favorite place – her kitchen. Kay Yeager’s meatballs spice up a simple spaghetti dish. Prosciutto-wrapped turkey breast has just a few ingredients but lots of flavor. The recipe is in Yeager’s cookbook. Journal photos by Lee Walls Jr.
By Donna Cornelius Kay Yeager’s new cookbook is more than just a collection of recipes. To her, it’s a legacy. Yeager, who lives in Vestavia Hills, put her cookbook together as a way to preserve her favorite recipes for her family and friends. But “KayKay’s 100 Favorite Recipes” is reaching a wider audience and soon may have even more fans. Western Supermarket on Rocky Ridge Road is hosting book signings for Yeager Feb. 6 from 4-6 p.m. and Feb. 7 from 10 a.m.-noon. “We’re already on our third printing of the cookbook,” she said. “It took me a year to write it. When I got through, I cried.” Yeager said she grew up in Eutaw “loving to cook” with her grandmother, who had a wood stove. She also grew up with more responsibilities than most children. “My dad died when my younger brother, Jim, was just 9 months old,” she said. “When Jim was 5 and I was 18, my mother died of breast cancer.” She and her husband, architect Fred Yeager, raised Jim and two sons of their own, Josh and Joe. Twenty-four years ago, Yeager had to face another challenge—one that threatened her life. “I went in for a routine hysterectomy and was diagnosed with Stage III ovarian cancer,” she said. “I was 36 years old. I was given less than a 40
percent survival rate.” During all the tough times in her life, Yeager found comfort and inspiration in the kitchen, she said. And she loves sharing her love of cooking with others. In fact, that’s how the cookbook got started. She and Fred serve as “in-town grandparents” to the 2-year-old twin sons of Lindsay Roebuck, who’s married to Yeager’s cousin, she said. Teaching Lindsey to cook and sharing the fun of cooking with her made Yeager decide to compile
‘I went in for a routine hysterectomy and was diagnosed with Stage III ovarian cancer. I was 36 years old. I was given less than a 40 percent survival rate.’ Kay Yeager her recipes into a book. “I had tried doing it on the computer, but that felt so cold and impersonal,” Yeager said. Instead, she bought a ready-made recipe notebook at Vestavia Hills Apothecary and hand-wrote her recipes on its pages. A bout with skin cancer confined her indoors for a while, so she used the time to work on her project. “Lindsey’s parents have a print shop in Florence, and they were able to copy the pages for me,” she said. “I started out with 25 copies.”
Those didn’t last long. As soon as you turn to the first page, you know this is a one-of-a-kind book. Yeager’s recipes come from her own collection, from relatives and friends, and from culinary luminaries like Frank Stitt, Chris Hastings and even Julia Child. Photos show Yeager and her husband during their 40th anniversary trip to Paris in 2013. “We took a cooking class from Catherine Reed,” Yeager said. “Freddie and I really love to cook together.” Just as her grandmother passed on her love of cooking, Yeager is nurturing another budding chef in the family – her 11-year-old granddaughter, Lily. “Lily loves to cook, and she’ll be with me at the book signings,” Yeager said. “For Christmas, I gave her cooking tools.” Although Yeager didn’t anticipate becoming a cookbook author, she’s already thinking about her next project. For now, she’s having fun hearing from folks who have tried her recipes in the book and loved them. “I’m passionate about this cookbook,” Yeager said. “I think it tells a story.” If you can’t make it to the book signings, where Yeager will sell her books for $44.95, including taxes, you can order “KayKay’s 100 Favorite Recipes” by sending an email to kayyeager@att.net. You also can get a copy by sending a $50 check, which will cover shipping costs, to Kay Yeager, 2313 Overlook Crest, Vestavia Hills, AL 35226. ❖