By Blake Deshazo
The Selma Times-Journal

Velma Moorer never wants to forget the recipes her mother and grandmother used to cook when she was a child, so she put them all together in a cookbook and is selling them for a good cause.

“I can remember smelling my mother’s cooking on the way home, which was most times greens or peas,” Moorer said. “I can remember just coming in the door. The first thing we would do was go to the table and eat.”

The cookbook, “Velma’s Southern Family and Friends Recipes” was done in honor of her mother who passed away from breast cancer when Moorer was just 14 years old.

“My mother and grandmother were good cooks, and my mother died with breast cancer, so I decided to put some of her recipes in this book,” Moorer said.

Moorer, who had the book published a week ago, has pledged to donate half of the proceeds to finding a cure for breast cancer.

“The idea is to help them find a cure for it. I don’t want anybody else to have to go through what I went through,” she said.

“I was young when my mother died. She didn’t get to see my kids or me getting married or any of those things.”

The books are $8, and Moorer said she plans on donating $4 from each book she sells.

“It’s something I always wanted to do,” Moorer said. “It’s exciting for me to do it and being able to do it.”

The book, which has a number of recipes from Moorer’s mother, grandmother and friends is based on southern classics.

One of her favorite recipes in the book is her grandmother’s handmade biscuits.

“They were delicious. She would sit down in the chair with a pan to put the flour and sugar in there. She put some grease in there, and then she would roll it up and put it in the hot oven,” Moorer said. ”You are talking about good. That one biscuit with some syrup would fill you up. They don’t make biscuits like that any more.”

People interested in buying the book can call Moorer at 875-3026.

Moorer also plans to present the book at the Selma-Dallas County Public Library on Nov. 5 from 10 a.m. to noon.