Divas Can Cook

Meet Monique

Who says you have to wait until you’re an old lady to be considered an amazing Southern cook?

Whether you are 9 or 90, you can learn how to create from-scratch dishes infused with so much love and soul that they will leave people wanting more!

Are you ready?

No worries, I’m gonna be right there beside you, guiding you along the way! Every recipe on Divas Can Cook features a self-hosted video by yours truly! FYI: You’ll get used to my silliness and random singing. Just roll with it; this is one of my many happy places!

My goal is to help you feel confident, at ease, and comfortable in the kitchen by whipping up Southern classics that have been tested and perfect to ensure great results! Jump in!

dcc

How it all started…

I started Divas Can Cook back in 2009 when I noticed a shortage of authentic Southern recipes like the kind I grew up on.

 I’m talking about that Elberton, GA, cooking infused with North Carolina Appalachia flare. (Hey, I’m a Southern mountain girl; what can I say!) Authentic golden fried green tomatoes, hamburger steak, and gravy ,forgotten tea cakes, and fresh blueberry cobblers are the recipes that feel like home.

chicken fried steak recipe
Southern Chicken Fried Steak w/ Creamy White Gravy

Sadly those recipes seemed to be fading or were hard to come by when I searched for them.

The fine folks who were actually sharing these types of recipes were much older than me and looked nothing like me. When I couldn’t find my young, relatable, brown diva cooking soulful, from-scratch recipes, I decided to become her!

That is when Divas Can Cook was born!

grandma barb

Some stats and stuff…

Divas Can Cook was one of the first video food blogs and has been featured on many websites, tv shows, and radio channels! It has over 600 self-produced video recipes and serves over 2 million monthly website visitors. With over 180K newsletter members and over 1 million youtube subscribers, Divas Can Cook proudly serves as a voice in the underrepresented African-American Southern cuisine world.

What to expect…

You won’t find a lot of fussiness on this site. I’m a simple girl (despite having diva in my name, ha!) and believe that simplicity is what makes Southern cuisine so unique.  In other words, “leave it be,” as my grandma says.

Southern food is traditional and made with layers of love and soul. That means no adding carrots to potato salad or trying to make fat-free baked macaroni and cheese!  Although I’ll still love you if you do!

This site is chocked full of authentic Southern family recipes, recipes that I’ve developed and tweaked to perfection, and a few non-traditional ones sprinkled throughout for good luck. I hope that this site will not only build your kitchen confidence but become a trusted source for go-to Southern recipes for you and your family!

Background

Oh, me, you ask? I’m a homeschooling mama to two boys, married 20 years to my best friend, serial entrepreneur, cookbook author, creator at heart, lifelong herbalist, lover of laughter, DIY chick, forest lover, 100% Taurus, homebody, crystal collector, and recipe addict.

I learned how to cook by attending the prestigious “Grandma Barb’s Culinary School of the South,” aka my grandma’s kitchen!

Just about everything I know about cooking comes from Grandma Barb.

Growing up, I spent many hours at her table, learning mainly through osmosis as I completed my homework.

Now that I’m older, I absorb everything my grandmother shows me. Taking notes and carefully preserving all of her recipes down to how many shakes of herbs and spices she uses.

You’ll find a lot of Grandma Barb’s recipes on this site because she LOVES (and has given me permission) to share them! (Not a common trait in older Southern grandmas who normally like to take their recipes to the grave) Her recipes are always a hit, like her amazing carrot cake and easy spaghetti sauce.

Stick around, and you’ll be mastering my southern baked macaroni and cheese that Nate Berkus and Curtis Stone loved and whipping up my candied yams that Jessica Alba made on Snapchat in no time!!!

We have A LOT of fun on this site, but the yumminess doesn’t stop here!

Be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter for recipe updates and more!

Also, follow me on my social media accounts for the latest sneak peeks!