READING NOOK

It’s human nature to want to comfort those we care about when they are hurting. And for many, that means cooking — especially when we get the news someone’s loved one has died.

I remember when my grandfather died, the casseroles, Crock-Pots of stew, cold-cut and crudite platters, sandwiches and sheet cakes started arriving almost immediately and before we knew it every table and counter in the house was covered in covered dishes.

Recipes for those comfort-

ing dishes are the focus of The Southern Sympathy Cookbook: Funeral Food With a Twist by Perre Coleman Magness (The Countryman Press, $22.95).

The slim paperback includes such familiar favorites as Fried Chicken, Banana Pudding, Homemade Chicken Spaghetti, Gooey Butter Cake, Saltine Toffee (known as Christmas Crack in my family) and That Pineapple Thing (also known as Cheesy Pineapple Casserole); new-tous dishes like Sweet Potato and Peanut Butter Hummus and Fire and Ice Tomatoes; and new twists on classics like Hummingbird Muffins With Pineapple Glaze.

The recipes are solidly written and appetizingly photographed.

Scattered throughout the book’s 174 pages are quotes about death and funerals as well as snippets of colorful obituaries. Despite its somber topic, The Southern Sympathy Cookbook is inviting and strikes just the right balance of lightheartedness and respect.