Southern Plate Tailgate: Popular Cook Christy Jordan To Debut New Book With Cooking Demo At Una

Jul. 23, 2010

Michelle Eubanks, UNA, at media@una.edu, 256.765.4392 or 256.606.2033

FLORENCE, Ala. - Southern Living, Guideposts and national television won't be the only places to find renowned cook Christy Jordan this fall. The University of North Alabama alumna is returning to her alma mater Sept. 30 to debut her new book, "Southern Plate: Classic Comfort Food That Makes Everyone Feel Like Family." The book, which Paula Deen said "was like reading something of my own," will be officially released by HarperCollins Publishers the following week.

The UNA book debut, Southern Plate Tailgate, will feature a cooking demonstration with Jordan as well as a tailgating product expo. In addition to her cooking demonstration, Jordan will be available to sign 1,000 advance copies of her new book, which will be available for purchase. Tickets to Southern Plate Tailgate are $25 each and include access to the book signing, tailgate expo and cooking demo. The cooking demo will include taste tests for every audience member. Tickets are available at www.una.edu/southernplate or by calling 256-765-5080. All proceeds will benefit the UNA Department of Human Environmental Sciences. The evening of events will begin with Jordan's book signing and tailgate expo at 5 p.m. in the UNA Guillot University Center banquet hall, followed by the cooking demo at 7 p.m. in Norton Auditorium.

About Christy Jordan

With 13 living grandparents at the time of her birth, Jordan grew up in a family that knew how to make a lot from a little and always put a home-cooked meal on the table, even when times were tough. She also inherited one heck of a recipe collection from her large Southern family (who have lived in Alabama for the last nine generations), which gave birth to SouthernPlate.com in 2008. The site has a dedicated fan base, pulling in an average of 10 million page views a month. In the short time since its inception, the site has grown from 18 million page views its first year to more than 43 million during the second year alone.

About "Southern Plate"

"Southern Plate: Classic Comfort Food That Makes Everyone Feel Like Family" contains more than 150 family recipes, all time-honored and passed down through several generations of the Jordan family. Recipes are accompanied by brief stories about where they came from, who made them and why they are special, along with gorgeous photos of Jordan's recipes and heartwarming stores of what really matters most in life. Ultimately, "Southern Plate" is a book about love, nostalgia for simpler times and the unpretentious comfort food that came from Jordan's grandmother's kitchen and went straight into her heart. You won't find fancy food or new-fangled recipes in this cookbook; just easy, no-fuss Southern favorites because, at the end of the day, most folks want to come home to a meal just like Mama used to make, prepared by someone who loves them.

For More Information

For more information on the Southern Plate Tailgate, visit www.una.edu/southernplate, or contact Melody Stewart at 256-765-5080 or mastewart@una.edu.

RECIPES AND IMAGES AVAILABLE: For select recipes from "Southern Plate," a photo of Jordan or an image of her book cover, contact the UNA Office of University Communications at 256-765-4225 or jlwoods1@una.edu.

About The University of North Alabama

The University of North Alabama is an accredited, comprehensive regional state university offering undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs through the colleges of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering; the Sanders College of Business and Technology; Education and Human Sciences; and the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions. Occupying a 130-acre campus in a residential section of Florence, Alabama, UNA is located within a four-city area that also includes Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia. UNA Athletics, a renowned collegiate athletics program with seven (7) Division II National Championships, is now a proud member of NCAA Division I as part of the Atlantic Sun and United Athletic conferences. The University of North Alabama is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate in the admission policy on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, disability, age, or national origin. For more: una.edu and una.edu/unaworks/.