Mary Ellen Thompson interviews Mary Martha Greene, author of “The Cheese Biscuit Queen Kiss My Aspic!”

Introduction:

I have known Mary Martha Greene for years and have consumed more of her famous cheese biscuits than I care to admit. If there is a cocktail party in the lowcountry of South Carolina that doesn’t have a plate of her cheese biscuits—well, I won’t cast aspersions.

Mary Martha’s newest book, The Cheese Biscuit Queen Kiss My Aspic! will be released in February this year and it’s another delightful compilation of recipes and stories, as was her first book, The Cheese Biscuit Queen Tells All.

 I greatly admire Mary Martha’s creativity, generosity, and humor and I also love that we both have double names.

Interview:

 Mary Ellen Thompson: Your original title for this book was The Cheese Biscuit Queen, I Don’t Believe I Would Have Told That. What made you change the title to Kiss My Aspic!?

 Mary Martha Greene: My editor didn’t think the inflection in “That” would come across in print. My friend, author and Saturday Night Live actor, Terry Sweeney, said he wanted to write a book entitled Kiss My Aspic, but then he decided he wasn’t going to write a cookbook and told me I could use the name. I love the connection between the humor in some of the stories and Saturday Night Live.

 MET: How was writing this book compared to the first one?

Mary Martha Greene

MMG: This one was easier to write because I knew more about what I was doing and what my editor expected from me. In the first book I had recipes from so many people and it turned out that was a mess of inconsistency. There is a specific formula for how cookbook recipes are written. For instance, if you have three ingredients that are being added together, like flour, baking powder and salt, then they must be listed in descending order of amount, such as 1 cup of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Many handwritten recipes just list the ingredients in order of mixing and that was what I had.

MET: Are all these recipes you had made before, or did you try some of these for the first time?

 MMG: Some of them are tried and true and some of them I made up as I went along.

 MET: I love all the cooking tips and notes. You say to only use freshly grated cheese when baking – what about for other cooking?

 MMG: Pre-grated cheese contains a waxy coating and doesn’t melt so it’s not good for baking, it’s much better to use fresh cheese and grate it yourself. But I guess if you’re not baking with it, you could probably use it.

MET: How much time do you spend per month cooking and entertaining?

MMG: It all depends upon the time of year; around Thanksgiving and Christmas I’m in the kitchen much more often. Otherwise, maybe one day a week. I generally make at least one batch of cheese biscuits, which is about 170 biscuits, every week.

Mary Ellen Thompson

MET: When you give someone an “alias” in your books, do they ever figure out it’s about them, i.e. Mayweather Middleton Manigault?

MMG: Sometimes I do that on purpose because they have asked to not have their names used, or it’s too close to home. But the funny thing is that recently I was in a restaurant where I saw her, and I almost called her Mayweather!

MET: You and I chatted about a third book with stories about hosting interesting cocktail parties and maybe a recipe for a bacon bourbon drink. Is the third book already under way?

MMG: The outline is pretty well under way. The title might be Cheers and Cheese Biscuits because my family always referred to cocktails as “having a cheers,” and would rattle the ice in their empty glass when it was time for another one.  And you always had to pour from a jigger.  You could fill it up as many times as you wanted, but you had to use a jigger!                                                                            I would also love to write a trashy novel about being a lobbyist!

MET: What, that we haven’t discussed, would you like people to know about your recipes or your stories?

 MMG: My grandmother was such a wonderful woman and influence. When my parents would go away and we would stay with her, she would sit me down and have me write a story or a poem. I’ve been doing it ever since.

MET: Mary Martha, thank you for taking this time to talk with me. Did you, by any chance, bring some cheese biscuits?