Dolly Was a “Big Eater from the Country”

In January of 2024, a public relations professional reached out to me on behalf of Dolly Parton to ask if I wanted to spend some time talking to the country music tycoon about her new line of Duncan Hines baking mixes. I happily accepted, entering the Zoom from my dingy living room to a sight of Dolly in her kitchen, dressed in bubblegum pink and surrounded by muffins and tulips. 

After some perfunctory questions about cake mixes, we talked about some of her childhood food memories from growing up in a family of 12 kids, and about how she toured on a bus with two refrigerators. She told me about the cookbook she had coming out soon with her sister Rachel (“a beautiful girl”), and how it would teach some holiday basics to “young brides.” 

She was warm, candid, and generous with her stories, and now for the first time, I’m sharing the conversation (trimmed ever so slightly for length) with readers of Best Food Blog. Dolly forever. —Anna