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Source From http://www.blackamericaweb.com

A poetess, author, dancer, actress, activist, Oprah Winfrey confidante and more, Maya Angelou has many talents. And its no secret that one of them is cooking.

Her second cookbook, last year’s “Great Food, All Day Long: Cook Splendidly, Eat Smart,” includes recipes like veal chops and prime rib that are great for the holidays, but Angelou, 82, also has simple but delicious recipes like roast chicken. 

Angelou’s first cookbook, 2007’s “Hallelujah: The Welcome Table,” covered similar ground, but was more of a memoir of her extraordinary life that also included recipes. This time, the avid cook focuses more on the food and is also interwoven with stories of her life and family.

“There are people who come from far and near to eat my food,” Angelou told the New York Daily News. “And so when they come into my kitchen and have a glass of wine while I’m cooking and while I’m having a glass of wine, the idea I hope is that when they return to their homes, they will try the dishes themselves.”

Angelou told Redbook.com that canned beans, Meyer’s lemon juice, cumin and curry powder and onions, garlic and celery are her staples and that she can craft many meals around those essential ingredients. She also said her favorite comfort meal is cornbread, fried chicken and greens, and that she still uses her mother’s 60-year-old skillet to fry chicken.

“When a person cooks for me, I like to think of the cooking itself as a gift,” Angelou told FoxNews.com. “I’m always glad and really so grateful to anyone who cooks for me. And I love to cook for others.”