Cook, author shares recipes at Lunch at the Library

Published 10:08 pm Thursday, March 8, 2018

By Oniska Blevins | The Selma Times-Journal

After their first meeting, Judy McKinney knew Stacy Lyn Harris was a true “Wonder Woman.”

An author, speaker, gardener, photographer, lawyer and mother of seven, Harris is a Jill of all trades.

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On Thursday, Harris demonstrated how to make her chicken and buttermilk dumplings at the Selma-Dallas County Public Library’s Lunch at the Library series.

Becky Nichols, director of the Selma Dallas-County Public Library, said the event happens often to highlight talent throughout the community.

“Lunch at the Library is a monthly, sometimes twice a month, program celebrating the culture and heritage of our area through art, authors, or cooking,” Nichols said.

Nichols said the event was sold out and offered a chance for the community to come together over lunch.

“It’s a chance to have food and fellowship,” she said. “What greater thing is there?”

Judy McKinney, co-owner of the Orrville Farmers Market, said the store has been open for almost a year and is making strides in the community.

“The farmer’s market has actually served as a catalyst for a whole lot of other things,” she said. “Our immediate goal when we opened the store was to bring additional opportunities for farmers.”

McKinney said she and Harris met at the farmer’s market and she was amazed at the work Harris has accomplished. She said after meeting they eventually started selling Harris’ books at the Orrville Farmer’s Market.

“I aspire to be Wonder Woman. This woman is actually Wonder Woman,” she said. “I’m anxious for everyone to hear her story.”

As Harris spoke and cooked during, guests ate venison meatloaf, mashed potatoes and jalapeño corn bread prepared by the farmers market. The meal was a recipe from one of Harris’ cookbooks.

“We just have this kinship with food,” McKinney said. “It’s wanting to eat healthier and wanting other people to eat healthier.”

Harris said she has been cooking for as long as she can remember, but started cooking professionally about six years ago.

“It kind of blossomed into this thing that is now my career,” Harris said.

Harris said she wrote her first book in 2011 titled “Happy Healthy Family Tracking the Outdoors In.” She has since written two other books, “Stacy Lyn’s Harvest Cookbook” and “Wildgame: Food for Your Family.”

Before the start of the event, attendees had an opportunity to purchase autographed copies of Harris’ books.

She said her husband’s interest in hunting played a big role in her writing recipes for wild game. She also said a lot of her recipes are southern home-style cooking favorites.

Harris said through her cooking and cookbooks she wants to bring people back home.

“Home is where we are creative, industry takes place, it’s where life takes place,” she said. “I want to bring people home to garden at home, to make big meals around the table and for the family to be the center of the universe.” Harris said.

For more information on Stacy Lyn Harris or to purchase one of her cookbooks visit www.gameandgarden.com or email stacylynharris@gmail.com or follow her on instagram at @stacylynharris.