Cherie Kimmons, author of Potluck Survival Guide: Care and Feeding of the Athletic Supporter, loves food. She enjoys preparing it, consuming it, and sharing it with others. Cherie comes from a rich culinary tradition that blends Italian and Cajun French cooking. Her grandmother, a young Cajun girl, married into a large Italian family and had to learn both a new language and a new way of cooking. She produced amazing food that imprinted her six children with a love of cooking and eating that has flourished with each new generation.

During the years she spent working as an award-winning reporter and columnist for Knoxville's Press Enterprise, a web writer for HGTV, and a freelance writer, Cherie spent long hours in the cooking trenches using the skills she inherited from her family. She chaired school committees, created menus, and cooked countless meals for her kids' sports teams, always keeping an eye out to see which foods were eaten first and which went home untouched. She combined this first-hand cooking experience with her writing skills and stirred in a healthy dose of humor. The result was Potluck Survival Guide, the perfect tool for parents, volunteers, and hosts faced with the daunting task of feeding the masses - while trying to maintain their sanity.

Cherie tweaked the recipes she collected over time, adding flavors here and removing calories there. Years as a corporate wellness and fitness instructor guided chapters on menu planning and nutrition for athletes, while her training as a clinical psychologist helped her understand the anguish some people feel when required to produce meals for people they don't know. One of Cherie's ambitions is to instill in her readers the same joyful approach to preparing and sharing food she learned from her family. She feels she has found the perfect job: cooking food and then writing about it. Eating it is just a bonus.

Her cookbook features step-by-step instructions for preparing many all-time favorite potluck dishes that are perfect for school, athletic, scouting, social, and church events. They enable a novice cook to produce great results the first time and perhaps even find the courage to experiment. Best of all, these recipes are kid-tested and approved (and many include modifications for adult palates). Potluck Survival Guide also explores the special requirements of feeding young children and athletes before and after the game. It provides guidelines for staging winning buffets and tips for creative (i.e. inexpensive) decorations. Fun to read and easy to use, Potluck Survival Guide is a book that can serve as a reference for both beginning and experienced cooks.