After a delightful lunch at Maggiano's in Nashville, Bruce and I are celebrating handing in the final chapters of my upcoming book (April 2019) with University of Tennessee Press titled Trails of Tennessee: Taproots and Timeless Recipes. 

Trails of Tennessee: Taproots and Timeless Recipes honors Tennessee's founding families through our seventeen state-owned historic sites (Taproots) with recipes from what they grew-- in a modern-day vernacular (Timeless Recipes.) The book includes what is now one of my favorite desserts:

                                                            Rose Geranium Cake.

The leaves from the Scented Rose Geranium (pelargonium graveolens) plant provided flavoring for baked goods such as the Rose Geranium Cake. These scented leaves (as seen in the above photo) were one of the answers to the shortage of flavorings in the South during the Civil War.

Rose Geranium Cake offers a bite of the delicate fragrance of roses in bloom.  And the recipe is included in my forthcoming book Trails of Tennessee: Taproots and Timeless Recipes published by The University of Tennessee Press, April 2019.

I hope to see you along the trails of Tennessee by keeping you posted as to book signings!