Dolly Parton and Rachel Parton George Dish Up Family Recipes in Their New Cookbook

Just two sisters who like to cook together—and who wrote a cookbook together. That would be Dolly Parton and Rachel Parton George, whose book Good Lookin’ Cookin’ just came out. While Dolly is world renowned for her singing, songwriting, and philanthropy, she also loves to cook—but she credits her sister Rachel as the main cook of the family. In a recent conversation with the two, we chatted about what they learned from their Mama, their favorite recipes, and their tips for putting together a holiday menu.

Mama’s Kitchen

“Just by being in mamas kitchen, we learned to love cooking, we learned by watching Mama,” says Dolly about what first inspired her to cook. She and her older sister Willadeene would be in charge of the kitchen when their mother, Avie Lee Parton, was having a baby.

Rachel is the youngest of the 12 Parton siblings; she recalls her mom “pulling up a chair against the cupboard so I could make the cornbread.” She realizes now that Avie Lee did most of the work, but at the time, she was happy to be praised by both her mother and father for that cornbread. Pretty much since then, she has been the family’s best cornbread baker and grew into the most serious cook and host in a family that cooks for each other and entertains frequently.

Cooking for Each Other

Dolly says that she cooks "more like Mama than anyone else.” She can picture Avie Lee’s “little hands just pinching something up and throwing it in” as she cooked—and that memory helps her keep her Mama close. Her favorite things to cook? “Some of the old things like meatloaves and dumplings, stuff you just kind of throw a lot of love and whatever you’ve got in the pot.”

Her potato soup is Rachel’s favorite (and the recipe is in Good Lookin’ Cookin’). It’s a dish that Dolly will bring to Rachel’s house (along with cornbread, of course!) because she knows it makes her sister feel special. And Rachel returns the favor, making dishes that Dolly loves and dropping them by her house. They say cooking for each other is one of the ways they keep family recipes and traditions alive. “Soup on the stoop, it’s just something we do,” says Dolly. “We just love making each other happy, and we know what makes each other happy.”

Cooking Together

They also love cooking together. Often Rachel hosts, so she will make the main dish while Dolly and the other sisters help chop and put other dishes together. It’s not all work—there are many breaks for laughter and singing—maybe even some songwriting. And, “you know the food is going to be good,” laughs Dolly.

When it comes to holidays, the sisters go all in—they love the holidays and holiday food. The family doesn’t have a strict menu or designated host, but Rachel often has the family over to her home, and cornbread dressing is always part of the meal—a cherished part. They also love Sweet Potato Casserole. The menu for Thanksgiving and Christmas might be similar because everyone likes traditional foods so much. Some years, they enjoy roast turkey for both feasts, sometimes prime rib is the star of the Christmas dinner.

Rachel is a natural host—“she never panics,” says Dolly. “I never let anyone see I’m panicked,” laughs Rachel. “If I have more company than expected, I’ll add an extra side dish or two to stretch the meal.” Realizing that many home cooks can get overwhelmed by holiday entertaining—“they don’t know how to put a festive meal together,” says Dolly—they decided to include menus in Good Lookin’ Cookin’ for holiday celebrations throughout the year.

Creating a Cookbook

As you might expect, the sisters had a ball collaborating on the cookbook—which takes its title from the Hank Williams song, Hey, Good Lookin'. A book of their recipes is a natural extension of their cooking together, and Good Lookin’ Cookin’ is packed with down-home dishes for celebrations.

It’s arranged around 12 holidays, one for each month of the year, from New Year (think Champagne cocktails, ham and biscuits, and lucky black-eyed peas) to Valentine’s Day (with standout stuffed mushrooms and a steak dinner) to Mother’s Day and July 4th cookouts, tailgating, and the winter holidays.

Among the many recipes that caught our attention is the Fresh Orange Cake they serve for their Mother’s Day meal. Rachel explains it’s their take on the Appalachian stack cake, a tradition they knew they were growing up where cakes made by different cooks were layered with applesauce or dried fruits and stacked together to make a tall dessert. Dolly and Rachel give their recipe a fresh citrus twist, using orange juice and zest to flavor the cake layers and the glaze and adding an easy-to-make yet spectacular filling of toasted marshmallows. It’s a fun cake to make Rachel says. And it’s a recipe you shouldn’t save for Mother’s Day—it’s a great celebration cake any time of the year. Share it with those you love—the Parton sisters would approve.