BH Resident's Recipes Endure Time

Renny Darling, a resident of Beverly Hills for more than 40 years, started a cooking column in 1968.

In 1975, a friend asked her to compile her recipes and write a cookbook. She did. And then she wrote some more.

Now after having sold millions of copies of her cookbooks, 76-year-old Darling has just published her 17th recipe collection: These Are a Few of Your Favorite Things.

Darling's cookbooks are published pretty much the same way: a color cover adorned with flowers, some drawings inside, a few personal notes and hundreds upon hundreds of recipes—all tried and true.

The biggest thing that's different now? No bookstores.

“So many of the bookstores that carried my books are now gone,” Darling said. “I have to find different ways of getting my book out there.”

Obviously, there is still a big appetite for the Darling series. From Coffee Cakes and Quick Breads to Vegetarian Fast and Fancy, she has not exhausted her ideas for recipe books.

“I go over the ideas in my sleep and then jot it down,” she said.

The ideas scribbled down in the notepad by Darling's bed have resulted in some of the best ideas for her most popular books, such as Joy of Eating: A Simply Delicious Cookbook, which focuses on quick-and-easy recipes.

“People can find a lot more to do with their time,” she said. “They shouldn't spend too much of it cooking.” 

Find out more about Renny Darling's cookbooks and how to order them here. 

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