In July 2011, I made my final stage cooking appearance as a food and media personality at Taste of Chicago, whipping up a spotlight recipe before an audience of thousands gathered at the covered makeshift kitchen pavilion framed between Buckingham Fountain and beautiful Lake Michigan.
My first invite to this event came in 2005 for the 25th Anniversary Taste of Chicago in Grant Park, and the 31st year marked my last with my mom with me attending.
When Mayor Richard Daley’s office of Special Events invited me back to appear with a roster of other chefs and food personalities throughout the week at the Dominick’s Cooking Corner Pavilion, I knew that country music was part of the year’s concert theme, and the Queen of Country Music Loretta Lynn was performing as the year’s headliner. Glen Campbell was the 2006 headliner.
Campbell died at age 81 in August 2017, and Lynn died at age 90 in October 2022.
Last week, iconic Dolly Parton joined these and other greats of country music in the clouds above with her death at age 80 on Aug. 25.
I chose a Dolly Parton theme and favorite recipe for my final Taste of Chicago year, which showcased a dessert bar from Parton called “Hello, Dolly Bars,” as featured in my 2010 “Further From the Farm” cookbook. The Dominick’s Cooking Corner Stage was discontinued after July 2013, and the cooking demos paused for nearly a dozen years until last month, when Taste of Chicago debuted a similar concept called “Chef’s Stage.”
Whether through her singing, or her larger-than-life persona and brand, or her entertaining and acting and Dollywood theme park and philanthropy, this is a legendary lady who will continue to be loved by all with a lasting legacy.
I interviewed her a few times, the first being in April 1993 at the eighth season opening for Dollywood, the 150-acre amusement park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, which was formerly branded as Silver Dollar City before Parton acquired it. This was the same year she started her incredible reading program, which has helped millions of children.
The last time was in March 2009 with my mom Peggy when we returned to Dollywood to interview the property namesake and swap cookbooks.
Kind, gracious and genuine, Parton was a savvy businesswoman who was a branding genius and always a great interview because she said exactly whatever was on her mind. Standing only 5 feet tall, she always seemed to be a towering figure with a special aura.
“I always enjoyed reading and writing while growing up,” Parton told me, reminding me she was one of 12 siblings.
“The one book I always remember being in our home was our family Bible. Mama didn’t want all of us kids bringing a lot of other books home or borrowing them because there really wasn’t any space in our tiny home.”
More Top Picks Black Plusdecker Chv1410l
My mom was also at my side in January 2011 to share Dolly’s birthday with her in the Windy City when Illinois Governor Pat Quinn was on stage at Bank of America Theatre in Chicago with Parton. Quinn declared “Dolly Parton Day in the City of Chicago” as she celebrated her 65th birthday. We were all together at the theater for the opening night of “9 to 5: The Musical,” which features an original score of Parton songs. Parton sat in the audience that night to watch the performance.
Following the final bows by the cast, Parton received another surprise when a large tiered chocolate birthday cake was brought to the stage, wheeled out on one of the office desks used as part of the show. Decorated with sugar versions of Parton’s trademark butterflies, as well as tiny typewriter keys, the three female cast leads led the audience in singing “Happy Birthday” to this country music legend.
Mom and older brother David reminded me that my first time seeing Dolly Parton perform was when I was 4 years old, and it was part of our family vacation at Opryland amusement park in Nashville in 1975. The Grand Ole Opry had just moved their location to Opryland USA theme park while celebrating the iconic stage’s 50th anniversary.
A year prior, Dolly joined her country music mentor Porter Wagoner for one concert on May 12, 1973, at the Hammond Civic Center with tickets priced at $4.
Dolly was always all smiles when chatting about her favorite foods, her mom’s recipes and her own cooking specialties to serve up to her “quiet other half” husband of 59 years, Carl Dean, who died at age 82 in March 2025.
While the couple shared homes both in Los Angeles and near Nashville, the latter being a sprawling 200-acre gated estate called Willow Lake Plantation in Brentwood, Tennessee, Dolly also talked about a smaller home “hidden retreat” she and Carl used as a “getaway” tucked away in wooded Pigeon Forge.
“A lot of my family members will stay at our big house, but it’s not always homey enough for Carl and me,” Dolly said.
“And when I’m cooking, I like a smaller kitchen like my mama’s. My favorite ingredient secret is to add one heaping tablespoon of mayonnaise to my cornbread recipe right at the part of it when it calls to also add in the egg. It makes the cornbread extra moist and delicious.”
Recently, Dolly gave her blessing to an expansive national supermarket line of boxed cake and cookie mixes, as well as frozen dinners too, with my friend Ann Scamerhorn telling me she recently sampled Dolly’s “shrimp and grits” frozen meal.
But what you won’t find on supermarket shelves is Dolly’s original favorite bread recipe, which I’m sharing today and also contains her secret added ingredients of mashed banana and honey with scrumptious results.
Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is a weekly radio host at WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at [email protected] or mail your questions: From the Farm, PO Box 68, San Pierre, Ind. 46374.
Dolly Parton’s Loaf Bread
Makes 2 loaves
Ingredients
2 packages dry active yeast
6 cups whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups hot water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
More Top Picks Best Chicken Nesting Boxes
2 or 3 bananas, peeled and mashed
Directions
1. Mix yeast, 2 cups flour and salt in large mixing bowl and pour in hot water (not boiling), mixing well.
2. Add oil, honey and mashed bananas and beat until thick with wooden spoon.
3. Add more flour while stirring until dough is thick enough to knead.
4. Knead dough thoroughly for 10 to 15 minutes on lightly floured board, adding only enough flour to keep dough from sticking.
5. Place dough in lightly greased bowl and cover loosely with a cloth and let rise in a warm place, free of draughts, until doubled in bulk (about 1 1/2 hours).
6. When dough has risen, punch down, divide in two and place halves in two well-greased, 9-inch-by-5-inch-by3-inch baking pans.
7. Cover loosely with cloths and let rise again; when dough has risen, place pans in preheated 350-degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until tops of loaves are light brown.
8. Place a piece of aluminum foil over each loaf and bake 20 to 25 minutes longer or until loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.
9. Remove loaves from pans and let cool on wire racks.