It’s been a little over a year since Linda Skeens took the internet — and county fair circuit — by storm, becoming an overnight viral sensation as soon as we discovered her talents in creating award-winning county-fair cooking.
Now, we catch up with the 75-year-old grandmother (and great-grandmother of two) as she prepares to meet her legions of fans in person on a local book tour for her first published cookbook, “Blue Ribbon Kitchen: Recipes & Tips from America’s Favorite County Fair Champion,” out now.
“We’re getting ready to do some book signings, I’ve got about six of them in a row down here and I’m excited about that,” Skeens tells TODAY.com over the phone. “A lot of people are calling me wanting to get one of my cookbooks. I had a friend call this morning and said she wanted one. It’s an odd feeling, but I enjoy it.”
“Blue Ribbon Kitchen” contains more than 30 prize-winning recipes in addition to more than 70 other family-favorite dishes handpicked by Skeens herself. The book is organized into 11 separate recipe chapters that bring to mind many of the categories she wins at the fair such as canning and fudges to breads and other baked goods.
“I sat down and picked out like 100 of my favorite recipes,” Skeens says, adding that in working with her publisher, 83 Press, an imprint of Hoffman Media, collaboration was the name of the game. “We had to make sure to get it all exactly the way we wanted. It took two or three months altogether but it was worth it, though. I think I think it turned out good.”
I asked Skeens how compiling a decades worth of her go-to meals and fair entries was, considering, as many of the best home cooks do, much of the magic is in staying off book, so to speak.
“I had some recipes handwritten, some given to me from friends or family, and some of them actually — like my coleslaw — I’m one of these cooks that don’t measure everything, you know?” she says. “I had to actually sit down and formulate a recipe because you can’t say in a cookbook ‘put a dab of this or a dash of that.’ So I had to work on that a little bit.”
In addition to recipes, Skeens has added many personal touches to the book, adding the names of her family, treasured photographs and noted scripture throughout its more than 250 pages. Flipping through her recipe book is akin to looking at the photo album of a dear friend — and that was the goal. Skeens also has original poetry she’s written included in her book.
“I write poems all the time … I wrote about when my son passed away, a poem that was just for him and it’s in there with his picture,” Skeens says about her son, Frank Skeens Jr., who died nearly a decade ago. A poem titled “In Loving Memory of Our Son” sits on page 85 of the book. “It’s not just recipes — it’s like my life story in there and I love that. It’s something that I can leave to my kids and grandkids, you know?”
She also addresses her 2021 leukemia diagnosis in the introduction of the book.
“It’s been a hard journey, but the doctors say I’m doing great. There's no cure, but they've said with treatment, I could live another 10 to 20 years. I'm 74 now, and I've had a good, long life. Over the last few years, I have learned to take every day as a gift that wasn't promised, and I try to celebrate every happiness that has been sent my way.”
I had a chance to whip up two of her recipes for family dinner ahead of our call: Parmesan Baked Squash, which consists of sliced veggies bathed in buttermilk and tossed in a cheese that crisps up nicely in the oven, and her Super Chicken Casserole, a combo of chopped chicken, creamed soup and cornbread that speaks to the hearty nature of her cooking.
“Most of our recipes are simple, but they’re, and I’m bragging, but they’re really good and they’re easy to make,” Skeens says as she gets ready for this year’s VaKy Fair (a county fair comprised of Wise County in Virginia and Letcher County in Kentucky, and the very fair that led to her newfound fame). Skeens says that, in addition to competing, she’ll be signing her book.
“It’ll be my official kickoff for my book,” she notes.
Now in August, the fair and signing have come and gone, and if you’re wondering how she fared at the fair, of course, she garnered several awards.
Skeens placed first in Biscuits, Savory Rolls, Cornbread, Best Overall Bread and Sour Dill Pickles, and also won other awards in Candy, Brownies and more. Of course, for someone who placed first, second and third in three baking categories in 2022 — Best Cookies, Best Bread and Best Candy — it’s not such a huge surprise that she held onto many of her titles. And of course, with the accolades come the fans.
“A lady the other day stopped me at Golden Corral on my birthday,” Skeens says, adding that she gets recognized out in public these days. “This young boy, a waiter, came up to me and he said, ‘I know who you are, you cook on TikTok.’ He said he loves what I cook.”
Skeens says that while it’s a bit of a new experience becoming a published author, and internet personality at this stage of her life, it’s been wonderful for her and her daughter Cathy, who helps her mom run her growing culinary empire. This includes Skeens’ social media channels: Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, where she has more than 103,000 followers to date.
“It’s been hectic, me and (my daughter) Cathy been on a plane to California and to see you guys,” Skeens says, mentioning when she made her first television appearance on TODAY last July. Skeens also adds she’s given a litany of other interviews that are set to publish this holiday season.
“I’ve met a lot of different people. I got to meet a United States Senator and we exchanged recipes,” Skeens says of her meeting with Virginia Senator Mark Warner, whose gifted recipe for a tuna melt — one the senator actually went viral for himself — ended up in the cookbook, published on page 52.
“I’ve seen a lot, done a lot of things I’ve never gotten to do, I’ll just tell ya,” she adds. “It’s been exciting, and I’m sure we’re gonna be traveling some more. I tell everybody that you guys were really great to me when I was on your show. I enjoyed it so much.”
After my family’s “Blue Ribbon Kitchen” meal, I told Skeens my mother was looking through the book and has already picked out a couple of recipes she’d like to make the next time we have family dinner night. The county fair champion had encouraging words to share.
“Go for it. We’ve got nothing in there that’s too hard to make,” Skeens says. “But, if you ever had a problem, I’m serious — call me.”
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“Blue Ribbon Kitchen" by Linda Skeens
