They had me at the title with this one. I fell deeply in love with O’Connor’s work in a course, and went on to read the whole collection. This book is rich and storied, too. If you love the tales behind dishes, you’re going to love it. The illustrations are charming! And that’s just the frosting. The dishes are amazing!Loretta’s Café con Mitad Y Mitad is a delicious dark coffee flavored with dark cocoa powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a little sugar and half and half. So good.The Suzy B’s Spinach and Mushroom Frito Pie took me by surprise. We love Frito Pie and had never heard of a vegetarian version before. It is absolutely amazing. To my shock, I strongly prefer it to the original one. It’s like a cheesy, mushroom and spinach dip had a baby with frito pie. Yeah. Go make it now.Lenore Anne’s Delta Hot Tamale Balls are so clever. They are such an easy shortcut to the tamale. The flavor is really close to a traditional Delta Tamale, except this doesn’t include lard. Pork sausage is half the meat used, though, so some of the pork fat taste is there. So easy, yummy, and a little healthier. Nice.Clementine’s Crawfish Puppies Dipped in H-Town Queso are fabulous. The crawfish tails add great flavor and cheerful pops of color to the hushpuppies interior. The queso is inspired by the queso from Felix restaurant in Houston. She makes reference to Lisa Fain’s Queso book, and her version of queso, which is fabulous, too.Ethel’s Overnight Breakfast in Bed is a custardy, jammy doughnutty, oaty, almondy, French toast bake with orange and vanilla fragrancing the kitchen. Oh, I super love this one. Easy peasy, make ahead, yummy, and a looker. Perfect.Gayle Lucky Chicken Posole is really flavorful and easy. It calls for cooked chicken, so I used half of a rotisserie chicken. The dried ancho chile really makes it.Edna’s Slow-Cooked Apricot Pork is perfect for a busy day. I seasoned it last night, and popped it in the crockpot this morning. The apricot jam and bbq sauce play so nicely with the spice rub. I served it with garlic green beans and watermelon, but it would play really well as a pulled pork sandwich with cole slaw and pickles piled on top.Pauline’s Lucky Pickle Relish Dogs are fabulous. The relish is much less sweet and more pickle-y than the usual bright green stuff.Vi’s Sherry Pot Pie is comfort food perfection. She used cooked chicken (the other half of that rotisserie), frozen veggies, and boxed biscuit mix. It’s in the oven and ready for dinner with no effort.Pearl’s Wish is a rummy, creamsicle-style cocktail. It’s super refreshing and rich. Nice.Ivy’s Sweet Sausage Balls are a mixture of Italian sausage, baking mix, sweet potatoes, and Monterey jack. The kids loved them! They’d be cute on a brunch table with eggs and a little fresh fruit.Ouida’s Buttered Pimiento Souffle is a cheesy, bready, eggy puff with a lovely cheese and pimiento crown. It smells terrific!Delores’s Vibrancy Water will have you happily hitting all your hydration goals. Lightly sweetened cucumber, mango, and lime water with a hint of heat.I’ll update this as I play in the book more.*I received a copy to explore and share my thoughts.