Carol Fisher, Writer and Speaker
Carol Fisher's writing often reflects her long time interest in food history, cookbook history, cooking, and gardening. Her goal as a writer is to introduce her readers to people, times, places, and events...current and historical. She enjoys opportunities to speak to audiences about her writing and about her research experiences.
Her first book provides a history of American cookbooks starting in 1796. A second book, co-authored with her writing partner and husband John C. Fisher, specifically details a history of cookbooks in Missouri. A third book, also co-authored with her husband, delivers a history of food in the American military from the Revolutionary War through the
Vietnam War.
They live in Kennett, Missouri.
After receiving education degrees in Speech Commuication and English from Southeast Missouri State University, Fisher taught in Missouri and Illinois public schools and also served as an adjunct faculty member for Southeast Missouri State University and Twin Rivers Community College.
While teaching, she continued to write and submit short writing projects including significant feature writing for her local newspaper.
A year before retiring, she received her first book contract. After retirement, she moved into her second career as a freelance writer. Fisher is now in the final stages of book four.
Organization Memberships
Heartland Writers Guild
Missouri Writers Guild
Columbia Chapter Missouri Wrtiters Guild
State Historical Society of Missouri
Missouri Folklore Society
Daughters of the American Revolution
Daughters of the Union Veterans
Books
The American Cookbook: A History, McFarland Publishers, 2006
"The American Cookbook: A History is not a cookbook itself, but rather a well-researched history of American recipes in print from English cookbooks used in the colonies and from American Cookery published in 1796 through the smorgasbord of the twentieth century's "Most influential cookbooks." The book includes books that focus on ethnic, healthy, and the always popular community-charity recipes." ...Susan Swartwout - It received the Walter Williams Major Work Award, 1st Place (Missouri Writers Guild)
Food in the American Military: A History, McFarland Publishers, 2011
REVIEWS: "What a fine book, well researched and prepared. Very easy to read and a must for anyone curious about how the military has been fed for the last 230 years."..."Lots of info with enough pictures. Easy to read and understand. Connects the history in a seamless way." It received the 1st place Walter Williams Major Work Award (Missouri Writers Guild). Fisher and her writing partner and husband John Fisher co-authored this book. The Fishers were the recipients of the Linda D.Russo Travel Grant from The Culinary Trust. The grant helped finance travel expenses for the military food book.Their research involved a ten thousand mile road trip to military museums and military historical points of interest.
Pot Roast, Politics, and Ants in the Pantry, University of Missouri Press, 2008
"The Fishers demonstrate that what people eat and how they fix it as chronicled over time in the cookbooks of Missouri, help us understand the nature and characteristics of the state, its people, its culture, and its past. The Fishers' book will not disappoint."Tom Harte... Stirring Words: Reflections and Recipes from"A Harte Appetite." Their book received 2nd place in the Walter Williams Major Work Award category. (Missouri Writers Guild) It is currently being revised and will be republished in the near future. This book was co-authored by Fisher and her husband John C. Fisher.
~~ Food History, Cookbook History, and Other Subjects~~
Magazines
Back Home: "Chill Out with Ice Box Cookies!"
Good Old Days:"Angel Wings in My Kitchen"
Flower and Garden: "Five Basics for Glorious Chrysanthemums"
School and Community : "Book Report Survival"
Anthologies
Heartland Heritage Anthology vols 3,4
(Cape Girardeau River Heritage Museum)
"Barbecue,Black Eye Peas, and Chocolate Gravy:
Southeast Missouri Food Lore"
"The Church Ladies Speak!
Voices from Southeast Missouri's
Early 20th Century Church Cookbooks"
Well Versed Anthology
(Columbia Chapter Missouri Writers Guild)
"Our Big Round Table" Judges Pick
"A Dose of Kitchen Medicine
Out of Old Missouri Charity Cookbooks" Judges Pick
Elder Mountain Journal of Ozarks Studies
(Missouri State University-West Plains)
"An Old Time Ozark Bill of Fare"
Newspaper Publications
Weekly Newspaper Features
"Time Flies When You are Gardening"
"MinkFarming:The Hobby That Grew"
"KHS Students Enter the Age of Technology"
Garden Column- Dishing Up Soil Food
"It's Garden-Breaking Time"
"Which Tree to Chose: Ginkgo, Tulip, Dogwood, or Bradford Pear"
"The Garden Tomato Race is On"
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Missouri Folklore Society Journal
Special Issue: Missouri Foodways
Guest Editors: Carol and John Fisher
vols 29-31
Missouri Folklore Society (MFS) Annual Conferences
(2004-2023)
"To Mock or Not to Mock---That is the Question!
All about Mock Pies"
Potosi, MO
"Dandelion Wine, Vinegar Pie,and How to Cook a Husband:
Vintage Recipes and Kitchen Wisdom"
Cape Girardeau, MO
"Kitchen Aprons Trough the Decades"
Neosho, MO
"Remnents of Old French and German Cooking in Missouri"
St.Genevieve, MO
"Old Time Food Socials: Gems From the Past"
Jefferson City, MO
"Herb Lore: Then and Now"
Marshall, MO
"Chill Out With Ice Box Cookies!"
Kirksville,MO
"Foraging for Wild Food"
Hannibal, MO
Writing Family Folklore
Boonville, MO
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"Cookbook Firsts in America"
Jefferson City, MO Regional Museum
"Pot Roast, Politics, and Ants in the Pantry"
Jefferson City, MO Missouri State Archives
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"Fair Mania: The Great Sanitary Fairs During the Civil War"
Kirksville, Mo (MFS)
"How About a Bed Turning?" (2013-2021)
MFS Conference Potosi, MO
Black River Community College Pocahontas, AR
River Heritage Museum Cape Girardeau, MO