I'm sure we can all agree some of our favorite memories often revolve around soaking up community with our loved ones over inviting, delicious, and nourishing meals. And guess what, darlin'? We've found just the girl who can make those nights even sweeter! Allow us to introduce... bestselling author Kelly Minter! How so, you ask? Through her latest book — A Place At The Table. And today, sweet girl, we're pullin' up a chair at hers!

Kelly's lifelong love for cooking and gardening (paired with chef Regina Pinto) has resulted in rich spiritual and culinary experiences that will inspire our cooking and gatherings in a fun-loving and Christ-honoring way! For many of us gals, meals are more than just ingredients and décor. Food has historically gathered people together, and in this cookbook, Kelly points readers to just that—opening our tables so others can have a place to experience the love of God and fellowship of His people. After all, some of the most meaningful moments in the Bible were experienced around food.

This cookbook offers a delicious, unfussy selection of both well-known and novel dishes. Featuring fresh, whole or homegrown components, Kelly prioritizes the value of flavors that can only come with seasonal ingredients. As a bonus, there is supplemental material about broths, seasonal drinks, canning, décor, growing herbs, and more. Pull up a chair, because this new book offers not just healthy, tasy meals, but a place where YOU, sister, belong.

Let's get to know Kelly!

What inspired your love for food, cooking and hospitality? 

Dinners, potlucks and gatherings around food were foundational to the family and church setting I grew up in. For me, eating was often a social activity—a place to connect with others. My mom cooked all the time, and naturally I wanted to be able to provide the same kind of experience for others that she provided for our family. The dinner table in our home was a mooring in which I always found safe harbor.
 
Naturally, I’ve always wanted my kitchen and dinner table to provide the same kind of warm invitation where everyone knows they’re welcome. By growing some of my own vegetables and herbs, tucking flowers from my cut garden into vases, cooking and serving meals, community happens in a nourishing and inviting setting. For me, this is the prize.

Do you believe the Bible points to gatherings (involving food) as a source of bringing life?

I absolutely do. Of course Jesus is the source of life, but a meal around the table can be a remarkable setting for his life to be experienced. One of my favorites can be found in chapter 21 of John’s Gospel where Jesus restores Peter over breakfast. Jesus had cooked a meal for his disciples and that gathering became the significant place where Jesus forgave Peter for denying him, and called him to take care of God’s sheep (the church). I also love when Jesus dined with Matthew and his tax collector friends in chapter 9 of Matthew’s Gospel, and how Jesus reminded the religious leaders of the day that he had come to call the “sick” to repentance, not the people who thought they were well and didn’t need him.

We can also find this in the Old Testament where Joseph set a table for his brothers who betrayed him, ultimately leading them to restoration. Or when Esther held a banquet that eventually would lead to the saving of the Jews in Persia. Or how about Boaz inviting Ruth to his table, serving her lavishly in a cultural setting where a widowed, slave girl would have no standing whatsoever? So many more examples exist of God showing up in the middle of gatherings around meals, which is why I’m excited to encourage us to keep doing this through “A Place at the Table.”

What are your favorite recipes in the cookbook?

Sun-Dried Tomato Bow Tie Pasta has been a go-to for me for years. In addition to the two ingredients in its name, the dish also includes chicken, feta, pine nuts, black olives, and garlic. It’s simple and simply wonderful. I also love the Berry Trifle. My co-author, friend, and chef, Regina Pinto, has had this one in her family for years. It’s a dessert that displays beautifully and also makes great use of seasonal berries, light and airy homemade whipped cream and light cake. It’s one of my favorites!

How can we become Christ-like hosts?

The simple answer is that if we’re like Jesus in our everyday lives we’ll naturally be like him when we host others in our homes. The more specific answer can be found in Matthew 22:37-40 where Jesus puts the emphasis on loving him with our whole heart, soul and mind, and also our neighbors as ourselves. Loving Jesus, and therefore following him, means that we’ll want to host people with kindness and care, love and encouragement and words of truth and grace. We’ll sacrifice for those we’re serving, and we’ll show them generosity and accessible hospitality. I also try to remind myself to ask good questions and to be a good listener and encourager. Meals in our homes are as much about spiritual nourishment as they are about the physical. I believe from Scripture we can see that Jesus viewed the meals he had with others in much the same way.

Best cooking tip?

Cook and eat seasonally as often as you can. We won’t always do this because we can get fruits and vegetables year-round in our grocery stores. But tender lettuce in April, strawberries in May, peaches in July, tomatoes in August and squashes and cruciferous vegetables in cooler weather will all taste better and be fresher when they’re in season.

What is your hope for this book? 

I hope “A Place At The Table” will inspire people to take up the art of cooking again. In our fast-paced society, meals have turned into quick transactions of consuming something for fuel, rather than sharing a meal for nourishment and community. Most of us will say we don’t have the time to cook, but can we really afford to lose our connection with God’s creation of food, the gift of preparing it and the people who gather round our table? Hopefully this book will get us—or keep us—cooking, no matter how much or little experience we have.
 
If cooking leads to nourishment of body and soul, my prayer is that “A Place At The Table” will also make Christ known as the ultimate source of that nourishment. He’s the center of our fellowship, and the Host behind every invitation to our tables. 

Click here to read a sample chapter!