Mavis Powell began her love of cooking and hosting from the age of 8 years old when she helped serve bowls of soups and stews to hungry hobos during The Great Depression.

“Mavis’ Kitchen” philosophy has always been to never let food go to waste.  Stocking shelves and pantries with basics and creating meals out of leftovers stored in the fridge or freezer, was always the order of the day.  

Mavis perfected ‘The Art of Menu Planning’ and ‘The Art of Perfect Hostess,’ creating not only daily meals, but spectacular menus for lavish parties for the likes of Bob Hope and Liberace.

This current third version of “Mavis’ Kitchen” was compiled by her daughter Holly and granddaughter Shannon during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020.  They recognized the connection between “Mavis’ Kitchen” philosophy she learned during The Great Depression and the necessary pivot we all made during the pandemic as we adjusted to our “new normal” of cooking three meals a day at home. 

Part cookbook, part history, and part memoir, “Mavis’ Kitchen: A Southern Cooking Lifestyle” is a fun journey that connects the past to the present to the future.