The Cheese Biscuit Queen

sharing the secrets of southern cooking

Some Southern cooks keep their prized family recipes under lock and key, but not Mary Martha Greene. Why? She says few things can truly be kept secret in the South and recipes, like cheese biscuits, are meant to be shared. That's why she's the "Cheese Biscuit Queen."

So many stories could be written about Greene's Aunt Mimi's cheese biscuits—the countries they visited, and the lies, half-truths, cheating, and conniving of small children (not to mention grown adults) to get them. For Greene, making the biscuits and continuing to share Aunt Mimi's recipe keeps her love and the legacy alive.

In The Cheese Biscuit Queen Tells All, Greene, a South Carolinian and former lobbyist, pairs more than one hundred tried-and-true recipes for dishes like country ham scones, Frogmore stew dip, shrimp and corn pie, and lemon pound cake with stories from her corner of the South. The book opens with the famous cheese biscuit recipe, complete with family secrets, and the pages that follow brim with fabulous characters, antic-filled anecdotes, and recipes.

With new ideas for the consummate entertainer, helpful tips for less experienced cooks, and stories to make even the grumpiest legislator laugh, The Cheese Biscuit Queen Tells All has a place in every kitchen.

Great food leads to great memories, and with Mary Martha Greene by your side, even everyday meals can become memorable occasions.

The Cheese Biscuit Queen Tells All, Cookbook, recipes, southern recipes, southern cooking

Advanced Praise

Virginia Willis - Chef and James Beard award-winning Cookbook author

Virginia Willis, Cookbooks with Virginia, Bon Appetit Y'all, Lighten Up Y'all, Basic to Brilliant

"The Cheese Biscuit Queen Tells All is far more than a cookbook. It is a lovely collection of food memories that embody the best in how we connect and communicate as humans, by sharing and telling stories. You’ll come for classic Southern recipes and stay for the tales."

Mary Alice Monroe - NY Times Bestselling Author of On Ocean Boulevard

Virginia Willis - Chef and James Beard award-winning Cookbook author

Mary Alice Monroe, Sea Turtles, Beach House, Summer Girls, The Summer of Lost and Found, Dolphins

"Mary Greene’s cheese biscuits are the best I’ve ever had! I highly recommend the book for delightful reading and recipes!"

Cassandra King - author of Tell Me a Story

Virginia Willis - Chef and James Beard award-winning Cookbook author

Nathalie Dupree - Author of Nathalie Dupree’s Favorite Stories and Recipes

Cassandra King, Cassandra King Conroy, Same Sweet Girls, Tell Me a Story, Making Ways, Moonrise

"It’s hard to decide what’s more delicious in this food memoir/cookbook, the drool-worthy recipes or the delightful stories that accompany them. Mary Greene hails from a great big Southern family and a life spent in politics, which makes her uniquely qualified to share both her cooking secrets and hilarious tales and misadventures of Southern life."

Nathalie Dupree - Author of Nathalie Dupree’s Favorite Stories and Recipes

Nathalie DuPree, Mastering the Art of Southern Cooking, Southern Cooking, Queen of Southern Cooking

"I’ve been trying to decide whether to cook and then read or read and then cook, because either way is tempting. Having eaten my way through an entire recipe of her cheese biscuits I can attest to the recipes. Just be careful you don’t get so engrossed in the stories you let something burn."

Lynn and Cele Seldon - Travel Journalists

Nathalie Dupree - Author of Nathalie Dupree’s Favorite Stories and Recipes

Bren MCClain - author of One Good Mama Bone

Lynn Seldon, Cele Seldon, Virginia's Ring, Charleston, Savannah

“Mary Greene shared her beloved cheese biscuits with us when we first moved to Beaufort by way of Pat Conroy (who also knew a thing or three about good eating). This book is so much more than a collection of her recipes…it’s a series of stories that Southerners—and those not blessed to be from the South—will relish. Bless their hearts.”

Bren MCClain - author of One Good Mama Bone

Nathalie Dupree - Author of Nathalie Dupree’s Favorite Stories and Recipes

Bren MCClain - author of One Good Mama Bone

Bren McClain, One Good Momma Bone, Story River Books, Anderson SC, Our Prince of Scribes, Momma Red

"It's rare when a writer so fully reveals herself on the page. This is what Mary Martha Greene has done. You will know who she is through her recipes and stories. You will know that this writer has a servant's heart and hands."