Flavors of St. Augustine: An Historic Cookbook [Paperback]

Maggi Smith Hall (Author), Maggi Smith Hall (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Tailored Tours Pubn (April 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892629011
• ISBN-13: 978-1892629012
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #960,861 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Maggi Hall is a native Floridian from Jacksonville. In 1967 she received a B.A. from Stetson University and in 1976 she graduated suma cum laude with a M.Ed. from Francis Marion University in Florence SC.

During her 30 years as an educator she established two educational institutions in SC, the Marion County Museum and Wildlife Action's Resource Education Center. While a museum director she directed the SC Rural Arts Program for Marion County. For those endeavors she received local, state, and national recognition including the SC State Archives Award for "Adaptive Restoration of an Historic Facility" (an 1886 schoolhouse listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the longest operating public school in SC), the 1993 National Environmental Women of Action Award for SC presented by the National Wilderness Society, and the 1995 SC Wildlife Federation Education Conservationist Award.

Due to her environmental work in SC she was in two national film documentaries, "Conserving America: The Rivers" for efforts to preserve the Little Pee Dee River, and "When a Tree Falls" for halting a highway through sensitive wetlands. For her conservation achievements her environmental organization received the 1992 National Chevron Corporation Environmental Award and in July 1995 Hall was interviewed for Southern Living.

Hall is a preservationist, having restored over two dozen historic properties in North and South Carolina and Florida. While living in St. Augustine and selling real estate she worked extensively with historic properties. After moving back to DeLand in 1999 she initiated a downtown residential revitalization project in a depressed area of over 100 architecturally significant buildings now known as the Garden District. A three-building complex, a six year restoration project, Hall completed in 2006. The building, located in the Garden District, was given to her veterinarian daughter for FloridaWild Veterinary Hospital. Hall formed the Garden District Association and its Neighborhood Watch program. Southern Living featured the Garden District in March 2004.

Due to her restoration work in DeLand she received the local 2005 "Teresa & Bob Apgar Faith, Hope, & Charity Community Service Award" and two state awards in 2006: the "Florida Trust for Historic Preservation Individual Achievement Award," and the "Florida MainStreet Outstanding Economic Restructuring Program." She was named that year as Florida's "City Citizen of the Year." The following year she received the Florida Trust for Historic Preservation Individual Achievement Award.

In 2000 Hall established West Volusia Properties, her real estate company. The two-building complex that houses her office on Woodland Boulevard in DeLand took two years to restore. WVP initiated the first restoration award in Volusia County which quarterly honored those who preserved a depressed property. As a Realtor Hall was the overall top producer for the board in 2005, selling the most vacant land and commercial real estate. Hall initiated MainStreet DeLand's Annual Downtown Beautification Award and donated $10,000 toward th project.

Hall has written for St. Augustine and DeLand newspapers, state magazines, and placed second in two national writing contests. In 1999 Tailored Tours Publications published her first book, Flavors of St. Augustine: An Historic Cookbook. Her second, Images of America: St. Augustine, was published in 2002 by Arcadia Publishing. In 2004 her third book, also published by Arcadia, was Images of America: DeLand. Arcadia published her fourth book in 2005, The Campus History Series: Stetson University. Hall's fifth book, AFFIRMED: Teachers as Citizens, was published by iUniverse, a subsidiary of Barnes & Nobles. Flavors of St. Augustine was featured in the fall 2006 issue of the Florida Humanities Council magazine, FORUM.

Hall served on numerous city and community boards and is past president of Pen Women of West Volusia, a chapter of the National Pen Women of America, an arts and writing organization.

Her latest contribution to Central Florida is the establishment of a non-profit animal rescue foundation, ARK, which led the City of DeLand to establish itself as a No Kill Community for abandoned cats and dogs.

Hall is married to Ronald, also a Stetson graduate who chairs Stetson's Philosophy Department. Their family includes two daughters and their husbands, six grandchildren, five dogs, and numerous grand animals.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ernie @ amazon, February 6, 2010

By 

E. Marchand - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Flavors of St. Augustine: An Historic Cookbook (Paperback)

This is a terrific book of old florida recipes, some of which come from the archives of the old Ponce de Leon hotel in St Augustine, built by Henry Flagler in the late 1800's. It is a treasure! I was born in St Augustine and have fond memories of dining at the "Ponce". The recipe for coconut fried shrimp in cognac batter is worth the cost of the book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tasty Blend of History & Recipes, April 25, 2005

By 

Virginia Allain "(retired librarian)" (Poinciana, FL) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Flavors of St. Augustine: An Historic Cookbook (Paperback)

Does St. Francis Inn Bread Pudding or Minorcan Shrimp Pilau sound tempting? This cookbook presents recipes appropriate for the different periods in St. Augustine's 500 year time span. The history for each period is painlessly woven into each section. It even includes likely recipes (roasted bear, raccoon and venison) from the Timucua Indians.
The book quickly moves into the Spanish period with recipes like oyster stew and avocado salad. Other periods include the British, the Minorcans, return of the Spanish, early American territory, the Gilded Age and finally the present era of restoration.
From those different influences the book includes recipes like coconut shrimp, mincemeat cookies, smoked salmon tarts, and key lime pie. A few recipes are too novel for the average cook of today (alligator tail, wild and spicy hog feet, bull frog legs or bootstrap jerky). Most recipes are appealing and manageable.
This book makes a wonderful souvenir for anyone who visits historic St. Augustine, or a useful book for anyone who likes heritage recipes or any cook looking for diverse recipes.
The book is further enhanced by drawings of historic buildings, vintage kitchen utensils and foods.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting gastronomical-historical approach, April 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Flavors of St. Augustine: An Historic Cookbook (Paperback)

This is a very interesting approach that combines recipes with the stories behind them, and, since it is set in the Ancient City of St. Augustine,Florida, there is inevitably some history in the stories (and, since St. Augustine is a bit of a tourist trap, there are a few tall tales as well.) The illustrations are particularly nice. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings pioneered this genre in her 'Cross Creek Cookery" more than half a century ago, and I predict this volume will end up side-by-side with it on many bookshelves.