Southern Heirloom Cooking: 200 Treasured Feel-Good Recipes

Everyone who knew Norma Jean McQueen Haydel knew that she’s a supreme cook and that she was the steward of the McQueen family recipes. But she didn’t measure when she cooked. Or write things down.

Norma Jean’s brother Horace got to worrying about this. He cooked, too, but his repertoire wasn’t as vast as Norma Jean’s. So he began bothering her about writing down how she made her many dishes.

“I didn’t want Norma Jean’s recipes, or our Mama’s recipes, to be lost. We have kids coming. And other...