Tennessee’s “First Lady of Southern Cooking,” Daisy King was the founder and chef of the renowned Miss Daisy’s Tearoom and is now the proprietor and executive chef of Miss Daisy’s Kitchen in Franklin, Tennessee.

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The author of fourteen cookbooks, including the million selling Recipes from Miss Daisy’s, she’s appeared on the “Today Show,” “CBS This Morning,” QVC,  NPT’s “Word on Words” and for 30 years, as the perennial guest chef on Nashville’s WTVF-TV’s “Talk of the Town.”

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Daisy has been a cook since the age of six, when she “baked a Five Flavor Pound Cake from my grandmother Linnie Angleine Fraser Deaton’s recipe … and we still serve that cake today at Miss Daisy’s Kitchen.” From pound cake, Daisy progressed to learning the cooking skills that can only come from growing up on a farm. “My grandmother taught me how to dry fruit from our orchard, can and pickle vegetables from the garden, roll out biscuits by hand, and fry chicken. I even learned how to churn butter.” A move into the city pushed cooking into the background until college at Belmont University, where she earned a degree in home economics and journalism.

In 1974, after years as a successful caterer, she opened Miss Daisy’s Tearoom, first in Franklin and then in Nashville, Tennessee. After its closure in 1991, Daisy served as a consultant to major grocery stores chains and gourmet markets and as a media spokesperson for Pillsbury, Swift’s Sausage, and Bisquick.

Long one of America’s most celebrated regional cooks, she’s prepared her unique brand of “Southern cooking from the heart” for country music legends, television stars, US Senators and most importantly, for friends and family.

Daisy lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

Hot and Spicy Black eyed Peas 4. slices bacon. chopped  1 medium onion, chopped  1/2 green or red bell pepper, chopped 1 Jalapeno pepper  , finely chopped 1 14.5 ounce stewed tomatoes 2. 15.8 ounce cans blackeyed peas 1. tbsp. soy sauce 1. tsp. dry mustard 1/2. tsp. chili powder  1/2 tsp. salt and pepper.  1/2. tsp. liquid smoke optional 1 tbsp. fresh parsley. chopped garnish. Assemble ingredients and utensils. In a large skillet cook bacon until crisp. Remove and set aside. Leave bacon grease in skillet ,add onion,peppers and cook 3 minutes to soften. Add remaining i gradients except bacon and parsley .Bring to a boil and simmer 15 minutes. Pour into serving dish and garnish with bacon and parsley.  Yield:5-6 servings.  Enjoy!