Friends Virtual Author Series Event: The Sweet Magnolias Cookbook

The Friends of The Ferguson Library are hosting a virtual Friends Author Series event featuring Chef Teddi Wohlford, the co-author of The Sweet Magnolias Cookbook: 150 Favorite Southern Recipes on Friday, July 17 at 5:30 p.m. This fun, down-home evening will include a live cooking demo of a recipe or two from the book. The program is free and takes place via Zoom webinar. Registration is required. Register online at fergusonlibrary.org. (Zoom webinar information will be provided to all registrants in advance of the program.)

From the first hey, y’all in the opening chapter of The Sweet Magnolias Cookbook, readers are instantly introduced to the fictional world of Serenity, South Carolina, where good food and friends await. In this stylish and charming cookbook, New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Sherryl Woods teams up with Chef Teddi Wohlford to bring the kitchens of Serenity to life and share with readers the delicious meals enjoyed by their much-loved characters from Woods’s popular Sweet Magnolias series of books, now a #1 series on Netflix.

Teddi Wohlford is the chef and owner of Culinary Creations in Macon, Georgia. Her catering company offers a unique assortment of Southern cuisine. She specializes in fare that she calls “uptown down South,” updated and upscale versions of timeless Southern classics. Teddi is the Fine Foods Writer for the Telegraph (Macon, Georgia) and a frequent guest chef on 13WMAZ television. With family in the upstate of South Carolina and in-laws in the Lowcountry, Teddi spends as much time as possible in her “heart’s home” of South Carolina and travels the South teaching gourmet cooking classes.

The Sweet Magnolias Cookbook is written by Sherryl Woods with Teddi Wohlford. Sherryl Woods has written many of her nearly 150 romance and mystery novels in the distinctive setting of the South, whether in her home state of Virginia, her adopted state, Florida, or her much-adored South Carolina. The author is best known for her ability to create endearing small-town communities and families, certainly evident in her Sweet Magnolias series. Sweet Magnolias are childhood friends who have been through it all, and Southern food plays a comforting and celebratory role, from their unforgettable margarita nights to their family backyard barbecues to dining at their favorite local hangout, Sullivan’s restaurant. In The Sweet Magnolias Cookbook, Dana Sue Sullivan, one of the most-adored characters in the series, invites fans of Serenity—and anyone who enjoys classic Southern food—to join her in touring the fictional town’s kitchens while sharing her down-home recipes as well as secrets, stories and snippets of life in Serenity, SC.

Featuring flavorful, hearty, Southern-inspired dishes that infuse down-home comfort food with a gourmet flare, each chapter of The Sweet Magnolias Cookbook evokes popular places and characters from the series, such as Sullivan’s Sunday Brunch, Chef Erik’s Decadent Desserts or healthy options from the CornerSpa. The 150 recipes found in these pages will bring your family and friends together to celebrate the comforts of home.

From legendary margarita nights to indulgent Sunday brunches to heartening holiday meals, every recipe in this book is sure to infuse your life and your kitchen with the warmth of the South and the comfort of good food.

(Author photo credit: Woody Marshall)