Cookin' 9 to 5 With the Parton Sisters

Dolly Parton and her youngest sister, Rachel Parton George, talk about their new cookbook, potatoes, and the taste of home.

Dolly Parton is the fun house of celebrities. Turn one corner: She’s a once-in-a-generation singer and songwriter with more than 50 albums. Keep going: She’s a charismatic actress; she’s a theme park owner; she’s a philanthropist; she’s a fashion icon. And now? Dolly’s a cookbook author with her sister, Rachel Parton George.

There’s a common thread to Dolly’s extraordinarily diverse range of mind-boggling accomplishments: She’s a storyteller. Perhaps that’s part of her magnetism. When she narrates—especially about home, family, and tradition—people stop and listen. In a sea of ever-growing celebrity and influencer cookbooks, Dolly and Rachel’s Good Lookin’ Cookin’ stands out for its thoughtful storytelling. The cookbook, which comes out on September 17th, offers a more personal glimpse into a revered family and a collection of recipes that highlights home and the Parton siblings’ sisterly bond.

This isn’t Dolly’s first dip into the food world. While Good Lookin’ Cookin’ is her first mass-market cookbook, Dolly has authored recipe books in partnership with Dollywood (her theme park). She’s also teamed up with Duncan Hines, Lodge Cast Iron, and Krispy Kreme and even launched her own wine. The sister twist is something special, though.

The Partons grew up in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. Dolly is the fourth child in the lineup of 12 kids, and Rachel is the youngest. Despite the 13-year age gap, the two have always been close. Rachel even quit school after eighth grade to follow her sister on tour, where she occasionally did Dolly’s makeup and sang backup. (In addition to their cookbook collab, Rachel currently works as the executive director of Dolly’s company, Dolly Parton Enterprises.) “We’ve always gotten along really good,” Dolly says. “It was a joy all the way around to work on something creative together.”

Compared to Dolly, Rachel is more soft-spoken. But get her talking about recipes and cooking techniques, and she gets very animated. Potatoes are a particularly hot topic. Rachel reveals her secret for better baked potatoes—bake them, washed and well-dried, directly on the oven rack—then talks about her favorite way to make potatoes: sliced and skillet-fried in oil and butter.

Dolly and Rachel have loved cooking since childhood. “God, music, and food were the three big things in our family,” Dolly says. Growing up, the Parton kids would visit their grandparents and great-grandparents, who often cooked for the laborers in the tobacco, hay, and corn fields.

“It was not uncommon to have all these dishes—think pies and cakes—on the table, with a tablecloth thrown over it to keep the flies away,” Dolly says. “We couldn’t wait to peek under the tablecloth to see what was under there.”

Stories like this are baked into Good Lookin’ Cookin’. Take, for example, the skillet cornbread Rachel learned how to make when she was 5 years old. “Mama wanted me underfoot in the kitchen,” Rachel says. “She got everything ready, then taught me how to mix. Somewhere along the way, Mama told our dad I made the cornbread, and he made such a fuss over how good it was.”

For the Parton sisters, home doesn’t taste like a single dish. “I think home tastes like Mama,” Dolly says. It’s true that their mother’s fingerprints are all over this cookbook. (And in the course of the interview, Dolly and Rachel mention their mother, Avie Lee, 23 times.) “I think you link childhood memories to certain foods that you love and the people who prepared them for you,” Dolly says.

Their mother wasn’t known for writing down recipes, so when Rachel found a recipe card for salmon stew that Avie Lee had written for their brother, Randy, on his wedding day, Rachel made copies, framed them, and gave them to all of her siblings. “That framed recipe stays in my kitchen, and it’s just really comforting,” Rachel says.

Avie Lee died in 2003, but her food lives on. Dolly and Rachel agree their favorite dish of Mama’s was macaroni and tomato juice, mixed with a little bacon grease and butter—a dish she made whenever the kids were sick. “That was like Mama’s medicine,” Dolly says. To this day, when a Parton sibling is under the weather, there’s a good chance one of the sisters will drop off a macaroni-with-tomato-juice care package.

Sick-day comforts aside, Rachel and Dolly are holiday people. The must-have dish for the family potluck? Mashed potatoes. Dolly loves the starch just as much as Rachel. (Potatoes are featured in 10 recipes in Good Lookin’ Cookin’: Whipped Potatoes, Broiled Potato Wedges, Country Potato Salad, Au Gratin Potatoes, and more.) “When we were putting the book together, they kept saying, ‘Are you sure you need another potato recipe?’ and we said ‘Yeah—we love potatoes,’” Dolly says. “Potatoes are our holiday.”

And while there’s no one designated host for the holidays, Dolly says Rachel is known for making everything a big occasion. “I love going to Rachel’s house because I notice every little thing,” Dolly says. “She puts so much time and effort into it. The tree has to be just right, the table has to be just right—all the little things have to be right.”

Rachel compares holiday entertaining with music entertaining. “If you’re onstage, you’re connecting with your audience. When I’m in the kitchen, I want to connect with the people that are at my table,” she says.

For Dolly, cooking is just another way to express herself. She tends to improvise rather than follow recipes. “I cook like Mama: a handful of this, a handful of that,” Dolly says. “Rachel is very creative in the kitchen, but she wants to make sure it’s going to taste good, too. She’s not as sloppy as I am.

"Cooking is like writing a song,” Dolly says, noting the two often go hand in hand. “Some of my best songs I came up with while cooking my best food, and vice versa. The better I write, the better I cook.” 

Musical Taste

We asked Dolly and Rachel to pair classic Dolly songs with recipes from their cookbook Good Lookin' Cookin'.

Jolene: Hot Wing Dip with Celery Sticks

“Oh, something spicy—our Hot Wing Dip,” Rachel says. “That woman was just hungry for my man [husband Carl Thomas Dean]. A recipe for Carl's not in the cookbook, but he is in the song," Dolly says.

9 to 5: Family Favorite Meatloaf

“Meatloaf because you can make it on a Sunday and put it in the oven when you get home the next day," Rachel says. "Or take it to work in a sandwich!"

Coat of Many Colors: Slaw of Many Colors

“It has to be the Slaw of Many Colors: the purple slaw and the carrots and all those different colors," Dolly says. "It reminds us of Mama and that little coat."

I Will Always Love You: Light My Fire Banana Foster

“Our Banana Fosters, because I will always love that recipe,” Rachel says. “I think I should redo that song:‘I Will Always Love to Eat,’” Dolly says.

My Tennessee Mountain Home: Fried Chicken and Gravy

“Mama used to make a lot of fried chicken in the summer," Dolly says. "That was one of our favorite things we had. Chicken dinner with mashed potatoes and green beans—it’s hard to beat that."

Pre-Order Good Lookin' Cookin', Out September 17th

Credits

Talent Dolly Parton and Rachel Parton George

Text By Ariel Knutson

Photos By Jim Wright

Video By Noz Entertainment, Rebecca Guthrie, Mike Cunliffe

Produced By Laura Ellefson, Victoria Heydt, Lindsey Hayes, Ashley Kappel, Melissa Knific, Jason Sheeler

Wardrobe Designer Steve Summers

Food Stylist Sara Mellas

Prop Stylist Vance Nichols

Location Noz Entertainment

Read the original article on All Recipes.