Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
News Radio seven to ten WNTM. Uncle Henry here on
Ask the Expert, and I'm very excited and proud to
welcome Lucy Greer. Lucy Greer is in studio. You are
so busy. I don't know how you made time to
be here.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I will always make time for you, Uncle Henry.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Thank you, Lucy Greer. Of course I watch you on
Fox ten where you do cooking every Wednesday. What day
of the week are you on Channel five?
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I am on Channel five on Thursdays at least once
a month, so I always have fun with John Nodar
as well. And if you can't see it, if you're
not there at home, then we have a section on
our website for Cooking with John and a section for Studio.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Ten, so you can find all those videos.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yes, a greers dot Com now invited Lucy to come
in to talk about her brand new cookbook, Lucy Cooks.
I have to say, Lucy Greer that the first thing
that surprised me about your cookbook is I started going
through and looking at rest that interested me, and I
noticed that your cookbook reads like a memoir. This is
(01:06):
like this is almost it's kind of like your life
story in.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Food it is, and so many people have said that
they opened it and read it cover to cover, And
when I was creating it, I didn't think of it
that way.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Huh, But that is kind of what it is.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
I walked down memory lane a thousand times writing this book,
and it was it was fun.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Well it is fun. It's so and it relieves me.
I'm relieved because I realized that I'm not that different
from your family. I mean, the things that you talk about,
it's so relatable. It's what I'm trying to say. But you,
the listener, you learn a lot about Lucy Greer in
the book. I've learned that you've got an uncle Trotter
that that put his chili on on macaroni, and and
(01:56):
and so I've learned all these things. And so I
want to talk about all this. But first, this looks
like it was a lot of work. How long did
it take to make this book?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Lucy Cook's my younger sister, Betsy and I made this
book together from the beginning to the end, and for
a couple of years we worked on it just here
and there no real timeline. We'd photographed some recipes, work
on the little what we call Lucy talk those the
parts at the top, and then this summer we decided
(02:28):
we've really got a pedal to the metal, get this
thing done.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
So really it was a couple of years in the making.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Well, it does show all the word. By the way,
you mentioned the photographyr your sister did the pictures of
the food. Great food photography. Now you also read something
in your book about you said that you had a
brother in law that was a better cook than you
or something.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yes, are you?
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Are you not the best cook in your family?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
No, I'm really not the best cooking. I probably cooked
the most of my family. But my brother in law, Gray,
who you're talking about, he's married to my older sister,
and he runs all of the meat departments at Grier's.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Oh okay, he is.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
An excellent cook.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
He grew up in the restaurant business, and then when
he met my sister, my dad said, well, you want
to take a shot at the grocery business. And so
he did work in our delis some and when I
was catering, he helped me in the catering world, and
he then transferred to the meat departments, learned how to
cut meat, and now he runs our whole meat operation.
(03:34):
So really when we get together for family events, he
always mans the grill and does all the meat.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
But he's great in the kitchen.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
So you worked on this cookbook for a couple of years.
You say, was it difficult figuring out what to put
in it? Was it difficult figuring out figuring out how
comprehensive to make it?
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Yes, And when the cookbook finally came and most people
original reaction is, WHOA, this is a big cookbook.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yes it is.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
It is.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
So it's one hundred and fifty recipes and every recipe
has a picture, and so the cookbook really grew, and
it was it was hard to narrow things down. There
were some things that I wanted to go in that,
you know, maybe if I ever make another one, they'll
go in the next book. But it was difficult, and
we kind of broke it down really like a traditional cookbook,
(04:25):
and so trying to, you know, make things that will
appeal to everybody. There's a lot of things in there
that I've cooked over the years that have been on TV,
And the really fun part was coming up with new stuff.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
I cook every week on TV. But along with all.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
My other responsibilities, I don't ever really have time to
sit down and think or test recipes because everything's always
moving so quickly. So it was a good opportunity to
do some things that I've wanted to do that I
just really haven't had a chance.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Now, do you hope I don't get too personal here?
Do you do? You you've got a bunch of kids.
Do you cook a lot of these recipes at a
home for the family?
Speaker 2 (05:06):
I do.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I have, yes, four kids, and all of them really
do like to be in the kitchen to an extent, helping.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Jack is one, he's nine. He likes cooking the most.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
And so what I tell people about recipes, they my
kids certainly don't eat everything that I put on the table,
but I don't like to make, you know, two meals
of course for the children. So if I'm making something
like shrimp creole that there I know that three of
(05:39):
the kids aren't gonna eat that, then I will take
out some of the shrimp, you know, just cook those
maybe in a little bit of butter and salt and pepper,
give them plain white rice, you know, in a vegetable
versus having it all mixed together. So we're having shrimp creole,
they're having a bit of a deconstructed but I'm not
making two completely different meals, and they're still exposed to stuff.
(06:00):
So I try when I'm cooking these recipes to take
pieces that the kids will actually eat.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
My kids aren't perfect, for sure.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
So when you were putting I want to ask you
another thing about putting together this book, because I recently
asked one of my older relatives for a souper recipe.
My grandmother used to make the best vegetable soup and
I wanted to be able to recreate it. And I
asked for the recipe and they said, oh yeah, we've
got it right here, and they pulled down an old
fashioned recipe card out of a little box. And when
(06:32):
I went to take a picture of the recipe, as
we do in modern times, I noticed that none of
the quantity, none of the measurements were there. It just
had the ingredient, but it didn't say how much to
put of anything in there. Now, did a lot of
your recipes did you have to figure out what the
measurements were going to be? Did you make a lot
of recipes like that? Well, you just knew I throw
(06:54):
some of this in unmeasured.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
That is how I used to cook.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
And I have been back at Greers for almost fifteen years,
so I've really been cooking on TV for almost fifteen years.
And so when I first started, I thought, uh oh,
so I have been used to having.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
To measure out every single thing.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
And the funny thing is when I look at recipes
from my family, my grandfather who was an excellent cook.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
That's Papa in the book.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
So Posy and Papa are my parents, my mother's parents,
and he was a military man, and so lucky for me,
all his recipes were down to the quarter teaspoons, so
I did not come across any recipes from them.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
That I had to interpret.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
But that is so funny because that is how most
people cook, just throwing it in.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
But luckily my.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
TV experience and sharing recipes for all these years have
trained me.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Now I was reading one of your recipes. You mentioned
your papa. There was a recipe you told the story
that you made this years ago for him. Uh, and
he said, good lord, this is good. You know what
I'm talking about. I think it was a chicken casserole
or chicken spaghetti.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yes, so.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
He would you say he was a magnificent cook. How
often did you impress him with your cooking.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
My well, unfortunately, he passed away when I was in college,
and so I know that he would uh, he would
love he would love to see this cookbook and and
all the old pictures.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
And my.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
One thing, there's two recipes that really remind me of
him and experiences that we had together. Okay, One is
the chicken pot pie in there. Posey would make the crust.
He would make the chicken pot pie, and I think
that he would be impressed because I've made it with
him once and it tastes just like his. I yes, wow,
(08:53):
And so I was able to perfect it since he's
been gone, and it tastes just like his. The other recipe, coincidentally,
I've already mentioned, is the shrimp creole recipe we were
at It was it was one of those tastes of
Mobile or one of those events that we went to together,
(09:14):
and we both loved the shrimp creole that we tasted,
and so they were handing out recipes and we kind
of tweaked it around both of us. And so that's
a recipe that he used to make, and I now
I'm making this in the book.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
It was he the most influential cook which are I
know you right about how your you would cook with
your mother? Were they the most inspirational in terms of
cooking and teaching you to cook?
Speaker 2 (09:39):
They were?
Speaker 3 (09:40):
And I think it was just because we spent so
much time with them. We and they hosted all of
the birthdays. We were just over there all the time.
And my mom is a great cook and she and
those are her parents, Posy and Papa, and I was
just always in the kitchen. So yeah, they were definitely
the most influential influential in my life for cooking for sure.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Now, the first chapter I looked at in Lucy Cook's
Lucy Cook's available at all the Greers correct. The first
chapter I looked at, of course, was the chapter Lucy's
Favorites to learn more about Lucy and you. And if
you want to learn more about Lucy Grey, you're not
going to be disappointed because I found out that if
if you had to choose your last meal, it would
be tortellini Alfredo. And you said, now, you grew up
(10:27):
as a in the in the Greers family, but you
wrote that you had never tried tortellini until you were
in high school. I don't know why did you miss that.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
I don't know how I missed it. And you know
what else I missed? So we grew up on fried
chicken of course from Delhi, thank you, and barbecue sandwiches
from the deli. But my mom did not like to
fry at our house. And I don't blame her.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Amen.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Yeah, yeah, I don't want to. I don't like to.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Ride our I gave up on that years ago, and
why would I.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Because I can just go to Greers Deli.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
So what I also missed out on was fried poor chops. Okay,
I had never had a fried pork chop until I
started working Agreer's Deli when I was out of college.
And so I missed that, and I missed the tortellini.
I don't know how I missed it.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Well, it is you, you missed it. And now you
also say in the Lucy's Favorites chapter that your favorite
foods are pastas or pizza. Uh huh? How often does
that get served at your house? A lot?
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Pizza once a week for sure.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
And we grew up Friday nights was a big night
at the at the Grierhouse growing up, because we always
got pizza and we always got coke Coca cola, which
is my favorite soft drink.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
And so, yes, we have a lot of pizza at
our house.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
And then all the kids like pasta. Their favorite way
is just with pasta butter and salt and pepper, which
really you can't beat it, if anybody does want to
slow down, I mean, it really is one of the
better things you can have pasta, butter and salt and pepper.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
And so we do eat a lot of pasta and pizza.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
And you know, when I'm being good, me and Spiro,
I'll put our uh, I'll try to serve butternuts, I mean, uh,
spaghetti squash or whole wheat pasta, or stuff the sauce
into bell peppers.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
But sometimes you just you just want to have pasta.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Yes, indeed, well, I noticed in your Lucy's Favorites chapter
lots of comfort foods there. You've got meat loaf, You've
got that, You've got the tordellini. And I don't this
may sound boring to the listener, but I don't know why,
but I focused in on this rice castrole because it's
so it looks so simple, yet I can imagine this
(12:40):
being quite a tremendous side dish, Yes.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
It is so good. And meat loaf and rice castrole.
My mom always served those together. We were not a
meat loaf and mashed potato house.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
It was always meat loaf and rice castrole.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
And that was my favorite meal growing up and something
that she made all the time, and I I don't
even know how many times we made it. But the
Lucy's Favorite chapter is I almost titled it guilty Pleasures.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Okay, but maybe that's why I like that chapter so much, as.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
Titled it that, And but truly, you know, there's things
throughout the cookbook that that are guilty pleasures also, So yeah,
the Lucy's Favorites is it's really just.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
A lot of a lot of the childhood stuff that
I like.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
And that's and this it just reads like a memoir
with food in it. And I am going to be
making the first thing I think I'm going to make
out of the cookbook are going to be the adult
spaghetti os. Yeah, well it's called grown up spaghettio. But
when I read through the recipe, I thought, this really
just sounds terrific, But I have to try it.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
I'm glad. You gotta let me know what you think.
That one was a fun a fun one to create.
That was one, like we're talking about earlier, something new
that know, I had this idea. And the great thing
about Betsy, my sister who we did this together. She
is a great cook also, and so we had a
lot of fun brainstorming. You know, she would test some,
(14:12):
I would test some, we'd come together. But that adult
spaghettio is one that we really came up with the
idea together and it came out.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
It came out great, It's really yummy.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Now the cookbook has been out for a little while,
what kind of feedback are you hearing that people like
some chapters more than others, or some recipes more than others,
that they want to tell you about it.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
People have been so kind and so positive about the cookbook.
And there are a few recipes. Let's see some things
that have surprised me. So there's a recipe in there
for panco parmesan pork chops, Okay, and I really didn't
think that that would be something.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
I mean, they're great, they're delicious.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
But when you're opening up a cookbook, I was just
surprised how many people have tried that one first and
they love it.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
The chicken spaghetti.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
People have said that their families love and people really
I think they love the pictures because I think a
lot of cookbooks, you know, you may not get a
photo of every recipe, or they're kind of spread out,
you know, not necessarily next to the recipes.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
So people have responded well to that, and.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
People have said that they are enjoying giving it as
gifts people. You know, it's an affordable gift to give somebody,
and people have just been so nice about the cookbook.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Have you when you go out, do you get recognized
everywhere because you're on TV so much? Do you get
recognized everywhere you go? Are you Are you allowed to
go out dressed in a frumpy way or do you
have to get all dressed up when you leave?
Speaker 3 (15:47):
I do get recognized all the time everywhere, especially in
a greer store, especially in a greer store, But I do.
And I used to be able to grow go out a.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Lot of frumpier than than I do now.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
And but I love meeting people, I really do, especially
our customers, because they're so nice. I just, uh, I
just left a cooking segment before I came here, and
I went out to the lobby and there was a
lady waiting.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
To go on. Her name is Antoinette. She's a realtor,
and she.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Hopped up and said, oh my gosh, I love you.
Can we take a picture together? And there's nothing And
I know you feel the same way when when you
meet people that enjoy your show and enjoy what you do,
and there's nothing more fun than meeting meeting.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
People really well again, the book Lucy Cooks, you can
find it at your local Greers. Get a copy there.
They're just great, great recipes and the history of Lucy
Greer and all of her what when she fell in
love with certain foods and when she It's just it's
fun to read it. It really is. Now, while we
(16:57):
still have some time, I want to ask you some
grills things here. When we first did one of these
shows together, it was right after you opened Greer's Saint
Louis Market. How are things going there? Because every time
I go, and I go frequently, it just seems that
more of the community is they're spending time at Greer
Saint Louis Market.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
It is going fantastic. The community downtown is interesting. You know,
there's the group that lives downtown. There's the group that
works downtown, and there's a group that goes downtown to
enjoy downtown. Yeah, and we did not realize really how
much those three groups would work together to make the
(17:39):
store successful. It's interesting, you know, the lunch crowd comes
from the business community. There's a lot of catering that
comes out of that store. The locals downtown, they are
in multiple times a day. And then the group that
comes downtown comes for the music, comes for the experience,
and then they, you know, go off and enjoy the
rest of downtown. But I really think that the team
(18:03):
in that store that runs that store. We have had
the same management team since we opened, and they take
such good care of our customers. That is the number
one thing that I hear. You would think that the
number one thing I would hear from customers is this
store is so beautiful, this store is cool, the food
(18:26):
is good, and yes, I hear that, But the first
thing I hear ninety five percent of the time is wow,
the people that work in that store are amazing.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
And that's the difference.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Well, and I want to ask you about that because
I go to Greer Saint Louis Market and I hit
the griers on Dauphin Street and the Greers on Cottage Hill.
Those are my three that I hit frequently. And I've
just noticed that the people you have. I interact with
the Deli people because I love getting food from the Griers.
Deli just the nicest people at all of these locations
(19:03):
working in the Delhi.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
They are they truly are feeding our people, you know,
they feed our communities. And we are blessed to have
so many people that have been on our team for
so long and they are what makes the difference in
these stores, and they are interacting with our customers and
really just trying their hardest to make people happy and
(19:28):
live out our vision. I know that you've heard us
say before. Our vision at Greers is to bring added joy,
well being and value to people's lives, which is nothing
about groceries. It's just how we want to interact with
our team. It's how we want them to interact together,
and it's how we want them to interact with the
people that we're serving.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
So I'm happy.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
That's what makes me the most proud when I hear
feedback about the stores is when somebody has a great
experience with our team members.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
So for good people listening. Now, they may want to
know if you're hiring. Are you hiring?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
We are hiring.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
We have one thing that people I think are surprised
to hear about Greers is we have twenty nine locations.
We're in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, and we say we
are always hiring because we are. We just had a
team member moved from Poplarville, Mississippi, and she transferred to
the Pensacola, Florida location in the Delhi and so we
(20:23):
have transfers. We always are hiring really every position because
we have so many different stores and we can transfer people,
we can move people, and if anybody is interested in
a job. We have, of course everything that makes a
grocery store go around, so stalkers and cashiers, we have produce,
(20:44):
Delhi bakery, meat department, and of course store management. And
it really takes everyone doing their part. So if you
are interested in a career at Griers, it's Careers Greers
careers dot.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Com, okay dot com, and you the listener. If you
want to find out more about what's going on at Greers,
there's always something going on. You can find out at
greers dot com. And remember the cookbook Lucycooks, is available
at every local Griers. Lucy Greer, thank you for coming in.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Thank you. It's fun.
News Radio seven to ten WNTM. Uncle Henry here on
Ask the Expert, and I'm very excited and proud to
welcome Lucy Greer. Lucy Greer is in studio. You are
so busy. I don't know how you made time to
be here.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
I will always make time for you, Uncle Henry.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Thank you, Lucy Greer. Of course I watch you on
Fox ten where you do cooking every Wednesday. What day
of the week are you on Channel five?
Speaker 3 (00:30):
I am on Channel five on Thursdays at least once
a month, so I always have fun with John Nodar
as well. And if you can't see it, if you're
not there at home, then we have a section on
our website for Cooking with John and a section for Studio.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Ten, so you can find all those videos.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yes, a greers dot Com now invited Lucy to come
in to talk about her brand new cookbook, Lucy Cooks.
I have to say, Lucy Greer that the first thing
that surprised me about your cookbook is I started going
through and looking at rest that interested me, and I
noticed that your cookbook reads like a memoir. This is
(01:06):
like this is almost it's kind of like your life
story in.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Food it is, and so many people have said that
they opened it and read it cover to cover, And
when I was creating it, I didn't think of it
that way.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Huh, But that is kind of what it is.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
I walked down memory lane a thousand times writing this book,
and it was it was fun.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Well it is fun. It's so and it relieves me.
I'm relieved because I realized that I'm not that different
from your family. I mean, the things that you talk about,
it's so relatable. It's what I'm trying to say. But you,
the listener, you learn a lot about Lucy Greer in
the book. I've learned that you've got an uncle Trotter
that that put his chili on on macaroni, and and
(01:56):
and so I've learned all these things. And so I
want to talk about all this. But first, this looks
like it was a lot of work. How long did
it take to make this book?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
Lucy Cook's my younger sister, Betsy and I made this
book together from the beginning to the end, and for
a couple of years we worked on it just here
and there no real timeline. We'd photographed some recipes, work
on the little what we call Lucy talk those the
parts at the top, and then this summer we decided
(02:28):
we've really got a pedal to the metal, get this
thing done.
Speaker 2 (02:31):
So really it was a couple of years in the making.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Well, it does show all the word. By the way,
you mentioned the photographyr your sister did the pictures of
the food. Great food photography. Now you also read something
in your book about you said that you had a
brother in law that was a better cook than you
or something.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Yes, are you?
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Are you not the best cook in your family?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
No, I'm really not the best cooking. I probably cooked
the most of my family. But my brother in law, Gray,
who you're talking about, he's married to my older sister,
and he runs all of the meat departments at Grier's.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Oh okay, he is.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
An excellent cook.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
He grew up in the restaurant business, and then when
he met my sister, my dad said, well, you want
to take a shot at the grocery business. And so
he did work in our delis some and when I
was catering, he helped me in the catering world, and
he then transferred to the meat departments, learned how to
cut meat, and now he runs our whole meat operation.
(03:34):
So really when we get together for family events, he
always mans the grill and does all the meat.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
But he's great in the kitchen.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
So you worked on this cookbook for a couple of years.
You say, was it difficult figuring out what to put
in it? Was it difficult figuring out figuring out how
comprehensive to make it?
Speaker 3 (03:55):
Yes, And when the cookbook finally came and most people
original reaction is, WHOA, this is a big cookbook.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Yes it is.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
It is.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
So it's one hundred and fifty recipes and every recipe
has a picture, and so the cookbook really grew, and
it was it was hard to narrow things down. There
were some things that I wanted to go in that,
you know, maybe if I ever make another one, they'll
go in the next book. But it was difficult, and
we kind of broke it down really like a traditional cookbook,
(04:25):
and so trying to, you know, make things that will
appeal to everybody. There's a lot of things in there
that I've cooked over the years that have been on TV,
And the really fun part was coming up with new stuff.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
I cook every week on TV. But along with all.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
My other responsibilities, I don't ever really have time to
sit down and think or test recipes because everything's always
moving so quickly. So it was a good opportunity to
do some things that I've wanted to do that I
just really haven't had a chance.
Speaker 1 (04:55):
Now, do you hope I don't get too personal here?
Do you do? You you've got a bunch of kids.
Do you cook a lot of these recipes at a
home for the family?
Speaker 2 (05:06):
I do.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I have, yes, four kids, and all of them really
do like to be in the kitchen to an extent, helping.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Jack is one, he's nine. He likes cooking the most.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
And so what I tell people about recipes, they my
kids certainly don't eat everything that I put on the table,
but I don't like to make, you know, two meals
of course for the children. So if I'm making something
like shrimp creole that there I know that three of
(05:39):
the kids aren't gonna eat that, then I will take
out some of the shrimp, you know, just cook those
maybe in a little bit of butter and salt and pepper,
give them plain white rice, you know, in a vegetable
versus having it all mixed together. So we're having shrimp creole,
they're having a bit of a deconstructed but I'm not
making two completely different meals, and they're still exposed to stuff.
(06:00):
So I try when I'm cooking these recipes to take
pieces that the kids will actually eat.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
My kids aren't perfect, for sure.
Speaker 1 (06:08):
So when you were putting I want to ask you
another thing about putting together this book, because I recently
asked one of my older relatives for a souper recipe.
My grandmother used to make the best vegetable soup and
I wanted to be able to recreate it. And I
asked for the recipe and they said, oh yeah, we've
got it right here, and they pulled down an old
fashioned recipe card out of a little box. And when
(06:32):
I went to take a picture of the recipe, as
we do in modern times, I noticed that none of
the quantity, none of the measurements were there. It just
had the ingredient, but it didn't say how much to
put of anything in there. Now, did a lot of
your recipes did you have to figure out what the
measurements were going to be? Did you make a lot
of recipes like that? Well, you just knew I throw
(06:54):
some of this in unmeasured.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
That is how I used to cook.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
And I have been back at Greers for almost fifteen years,
so I've really been cooking on TV for almost fifteen years.
And so when I first started, I thought, uh oh,
so I have been used to having.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
To measure out every single thing.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
And the funny thing is when I look at recipes
from my family, my grandfather who was an excellent cook.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
That's Papa in the book.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
So Posy and Papa are my parents, my mother's parents,
and he was a military man, and so lucky for me,
all his recipes were down to the quarter teaspoons, so
I did not come across any recipes from them.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
That I had to interpret.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
But that is so funny because that is how most
people cook, just throwing it in.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
But luckily my.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
TV experience and sharing recipes for all these years have
trained me.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Now I was reading one of your recipes. You mentioned
your papa. There was a recipe you told the story
that you made this years ago for him. Uh, and
he said, good lord, this is good. You know what
I'm talking about. I think it was a chicken casserole
or chicken spaghetti.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Yes, so.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
He would you say he was a magnificent cook. How
often did you impress him with your cooking.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
My well, unfortunately, he passed away when I was in college,
and so I know that he would uh, he would
love he would love to see this cookbook and and
all the old pictures.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
And my.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
One thing, there's two recipes that really remind me of
him and experiences that we had together. Okay, One is
the chicken pot pie in there. Posey would make the crust.
He would make the chicken pot pie, and I think
that he would be impressed because I've made it with
him once and it tastes just like his. I yes, wow,
(08:53):
And so I was able to perfect it since he's
been gone, and it tastes just like his. The other recipe, coincidentally,
I've already mentioned, is the shrimp creole recipe we were
at It was it was one of those tastes of
Mobile or one of those events that we went to together,
(09:14):
and we both loved the shrimp creole that we tasted,
and so they were handing out recipes and we kind
of tweaked it around both of us. And so that's
a recipe that he used to make, and I now
I'm making this in the book.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
It was he the most influential cook which are I
know you right about how your you would cook with
your mother? Were they the most inspirational in terms of
cooking and teaching you to cook?
Speaker 2 (09:39):
They were?
Speaker 3 (09:40):
And I think it was just because we spent so
much time with them. We and they hosted all of
the birthdays. We were just over there all the time.
And my mom is a great cook and she and
those are her parents, Posy and Papa, and I was
just always in the kitchen. So yeah, they were definitely
the most influential influential in my life for cooking for sure.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Now, the first chapter I looked at in Lucy Cook's
Lucy Cook's available at all the Greers correct. The first
chapter I looked at, of course, was the chapter Lucy's
Favorites to learn more about Lucy and you. And if
you want to learn more about Lucy Grey, you're not
going to be disappointed because I found out that if
if you had to choose your last meal, it would
be tortellini Alfredo. And you said, now, you grew up
(10:27):
as a in the in the Greers family, but you
wrote that you had never tried tortellini until you were
in high school. I don't know why did you miss that.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
I don't know how I missed it. And you know
what else I missed? So we grew up on fried
chicken of course from Delhi, thank you, and barbecue sandwiches
from the deli. But my mom did not like to
fry at our house. And I don't blame her.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Amen.
Speaker 2 (10:51):
Yeah, yeah, I don't want to. I don't like to.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Ride our I gave up on that years ago, and
why would I.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Because I can just go to Greers Deli.
Speaker 3 (10:57):
So what I also missed out on was fried poor chops. Okay,
I had never had a fried pork chop until I
started working Agreer's Deli when I was out of college.
And so I missed that, and I missed the tortellini.
I don't know how I missed it.
Speaker 1 (11:13):
Well, it is you, you missed it. And now you
also say in the Lucy's Favorites chapter that your favorite
foods are pastas or pizza. Uh huh? How often does
that get served at your house? A lot?
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Pizza once a week for sure.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
And we grew up Friday nights was a big night
at the at the Grierhouse growing up, because we always
got pizza and we always got coke Coca cola, which
is my favorite soft drink.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
And so, yes, we have a lot of pizza at
our house.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
And then all the kids like pasta. Their favorite way
is just with pasta butter and salt and pepper, which
really you can't beat it, if anybody does want to
slow down, I mean, it really is one of the
better things you can have pasta, butter and salt and pepper.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
And so we do eat a lot of pasta and pizza.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
And you know, when I'm being good, me and Spiro,
I'll put our uh, I'll try to serve butternuts, I mean, uh,
spaghetti squash or whole wheat pasta, or stuff the sauce
into bell peppers.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
But sometimes you just you just want to have pasta.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
Yes, indeed, well, I noticed in your Lucy's Favorites chapter
lots of comfort foods there. You've got meat loaf, You've
got that, You've got the tordellini. And I don't this
may sound boring to the listener, but I don't know why,
but I focused in on this rice castrole because it's
so it looks so simple, yet I can imagine this
(12:40):
being quite a tremendous side dish, Yes.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
It is so good. And meat loaf and rice castrole.
My mom always served those together. We were not a
meat loaf and mashed potato house.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
It was always meat loaf and rice castrole.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
And that was my favorite meal growing up and something
that she made all the time, and I I don't
even know how many times we made it. But the
Lucy's Favorite chapter is I almost titled it guilty Pleasures.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Okay, but maybe that's why I like that chapter so much, as.
Speaker 3 (13:12):
Titled it that, And but truly, you know, there's things
throughout the cookbook that that are guilty pleasures also, So yeah,
the Lucy's Favorites is it's really just.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
A lot of a lot of the childhood stuff that
I like.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
And that's and this it just reads like a memoir
with food in it. And I am going to be
making the first thing I think I'm going to make
out of the cookbook are going to be the adult
spaghetti os. Yeah, well it's called grown up spaghettio. But
when I read through the recipe, I thought, this really
just sounds terrific, But I have to try it.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
I'm glad. You gotta let me know what you think.
That one was a fun a fun one to create.
That was one, like we're talking about earlier, something new
that know, I had this idea. And the great thing
about Betsy, my sister who we did this together. She
is a great cook also, and so we had a
lot of fun brainstorming. You know, she would test some,
(14:12):
I would test some, we'd come together. But that adult
spaghettio is one that we really came up with the
idea together and it came out.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
It came out great, It's really yummy.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Now the cookbook has been out for a little while,
what kind of feedback are you hearing that people like
some chapters more than others, or some recipes more than others,
that they want to tell you about it.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
People have been so kind and so positive about the cookbook.
And there are a few recipes. Let's see some things
that have surprised me. So there's a recipe in there
for panco parmesan pork chops, Okay, and I really didn't
think that that would be something.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
I mean, they're great, they're delicious.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
But when you're opening up a cookbook, I was just
surprised how many people have tried that one first and
they love it.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
The chicken spaghetti.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
People have said that their families love and people really
I think they love the pictures because I think a
lot of cookbooks, you know, you may not get a
photo of every recipe, or they're kind of spread out,
you know, not necessarily next to the recipes.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
So people have responded well to that, and.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
People have said that they are enjoying giving it as
gifts people. You know, it's an affordable gift to give somebody,
and people have just been so nice about the cookbook.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
Have you when you go out, do you get recognized
everywhere because you're on TV so much? Do you get
recognized everywhere you go? Are you Are you allowed to
go out dressed in a frumpy way or do you
have to get all dressed up when you leave?
Speaker 3 (15:47):
I do get recognized all the time everywhere, especially in
a greer store, especially in a greer store, But I do.
And I used to be able to grow go out a.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
Lot of frumpier than than I do now.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
And but I love meeting people, I really do, especially
our customers, because they're so nice. I just, uh, I
just left a cooking segment before I came here, and
I went out to the lobby and there was a
lady waiting.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
To go on. Her name is Antoinette. She's a realtor,
and she.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Hopped up and said, oh my gosh, I love you.
Can we take a picture together? And there's nothing And
I know you feel the same way when when you
meet people that enjoy your show and enjoy what you do,
and there's nothing more fun than meeting meeting.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
People really well again, the book Lucy Cooks, you can
find it at your local Greers. Get a copy there.
They're just great, great recipes and the history of Lucy
Greer and all of her what when she fell in
love with certain foods and when she It's just it's
fun to read it. It really is. Now, while we
(16:57):
still have some time, I want to ask you some
grills things here. When we first did one of these
shows together, it was right after you opened Greer's Saint
Louis Market. How are things going there? Because every time
I go, and I go frequently, it just seems that
more of the community is they're spending time at Greer
Saint Louis Market.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
It is going fantastic. The community downtown is interesting. You know,
there's the group that lives downtown. There's the group that
works downtown, and there's a group that goes downtown to
enjoy downtown. Yeah, and we did not realize really how
much those three groups would work together to make the
(17:39):
store successful. It's interesting, you know, the lunch crowd comes
from the business community. There's a lot of catering that
comes out of that store. The locals downtown, they are
in multiple times a day. And then the group that
comes downtown comes for the music, comes for the experience,
and then they, you know, go off and enjoy the
rest of downtown. But I really think that the team
(18:03):
in that store that runs that store. We have had
the same management team since we opened, and they take
such good care of our customers. That is the number
one thing that I hear. You would think that the
number one thing I would hear from customers is this
store is so beautiful, this store is cool, the food
(18:26):
is good, and yes, I hear that, But the first
thing I hear ninety five percent of the time is wow,
the people that work in that store are amazing.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
And that's the difference.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Well, and I want to ask you about that because
I go to Greer Saint Louis Market and I hit
the griers on Dauphin Street and the Greers on Cottage Hill.
Those are my three that I hit frequently. And I've
just noticed that the people you have. I interact with
the Deli people because I love getting food from the Griers.
Deli just the nicest people at all of these locations
(19:03):
working in the Delhi.
Speaker 3 (19:04):
They are they truly are feeding our people, you know,
they feed our communities. And we are blessed to have
so many people that have been on our team for
so long and they are what makes the difference in
these stores, and they are interacting with our customers and
really just trying their hardest to make people happy and
(19:28):
live out our vision. I know that you've heard us
say before. Our vision at Greers is to bring added joy,
well being and value to people's lives, which is nothing
about groceries. It's just how we want to interact with
our team. It's how we want them to interact together,
and it's how we want them to interact with the
people that we're serving.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
So I'm happy.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
That's what makes me the most proud when I hear
feedback about the stores is when somebody has a great
experience with our team members.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
So for good people listening. Now, they may want to
know if you're hiring. Are you hiring?
Speaker 2 (20:01):
We are hiring.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
We have one thing that people I think are surprised
to hear about Greers is we have twenty nine locations.
We're in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, and we say we
are always hiring because we are. We just had a
team member moved from Poplarville, Mississippi, and she transferred to
the Pensacola, Florida location in the Delhi and so we
(20:23):
have transfers. We always are hiring really every position because
we have so many different stores and we can transfer people,
we can move people, and if anybody is interested in
a job. We have, of course everything that makes a
grocery store go around, so stalkers and cashiers, we have produce,
(20:44):
Delhi bakery, meat department, and of course store management. And
it really takes everyone doing their part. So if you
are interested in a career at Griers, it's Careers Greers
careers dot.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Com, okay dot com, and you the listener. If you
want to find out more about what's going on at Greers,
there's always something going on. You can find out at
greers dot com. And remember the cookbook Lucycooks, is available
at every local Griers. Lucy Greer, thank you for coming in.
Speaker 2 (21:15):
Thank you. It's fun.
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