Carolyn Rudgley’s mother, the late Virginia Davis, was known for her good cooking in Clarksdale, Mississippi. But she wouldn’t let Rudgley help her in the kitchen.
In fact, Rudgley had to stay out of the kitchen when her mother was cooking. “My mom had no patience for us being in the kitchen helping her,” Rudgley says. “None. So, I would stand at the kitchen door and pry and look at her and see what she was doing.
“I have two sisters and a brother and we can cook really well. And it’s a wonder.”
Rudgley is now owner of Your Personal Chef. She caters events and sells her prepared meals at local farmers markets and online.
Her family lived off the land when she was growing up, Rudgley says. “We lived on the outskirts of Clarksdale, which is really country.”
There were “always fruit trees. My dad, Joe Henry Davis, would slaughter the animals. My mother would grow a garden.”
Her mother cooked “Southern comfort food” — fried chicken, green beans, pot roast, and other items — from scratch. “Whenever they would have a party, she would make these cute little tea sandwiches using pimento cheese, chicken salad, tuna. I remember her trays being very creative. Festive colors. Really beautiful. She liked to throw parties where she entertained. I think I got that from her.”
Rudgley recently created a colorful feast for an open house for the new offices of the West Cancer Center. “We had pimento cheese. Some were little sandwiches on pita toast. I had chicken salad. I had a cheese tray. I had maybe six or seven different cheeses. I did a charcuterie board that night with summer sausage and beef sausage. I had rosemary breadsticks. I had a lot of things going on that board. A lot of different berries. Pomegranate. I had baked Brie with a balsamic reduction on it.”
Becoming a professional cook wasn’t Rudgley’s first ambition. When she was 17, she moved to Memphis, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Memphis State University, now U of M. She then worked for First Tennessee Bank for a few years until she got married. Later, she says, “I was trying to find out how I could stay at home with my children and still earn money.”
Cooking popped up. “A friend needed someone to cook for her. I had cooked for her before and she really liked my food.”
Rudgley had cooked for people in the past but did it for free. This time, the woman paid her. “I was shocked she paid me. I thought, ‘If she paid me other people would enjoy this and would pay me too.’”
Her catering business began.
To augment catering, Rudgley began a weekly meal prep plan, which is tailored to meet a client’s specifications. “If they have dietary requirements, for example. If they are vegan. If they want lower carbs.”
The “grab-and-go” meals are “basically one entree and two sides. They may be something like blackened salmon with fresh, Asian-style green beans and roasted asparagus.”
Rudgley began selling some of her cuisine, including enchilada pie, meatloaf, and creamed spinach, eight years ago at local farmers markets. “I love having that grassroots following. I love meeting customers. I talk and share and learn from them.”
She is about to move into a space which she’ll use for her catering and other cooking jobs. And, one day, she’d like to open a restaurant.
Rudgley recently completed the Goldman Sachs Black in Business program, an intensive 12-week course.
A year ago, Rudgley acquired a food truck, which she plans to use more often after the holidays, to sell her “elevated comfort food.”
“Elevated comfort food, to me, is the healthier version of the food we grew up eating. For example instead of using beef, I use turkey, which is a leaner protein. I use beef, too. But my mom would have made things with lard. And now I use things like olive oil and just cut it with butter.”
People “feel lighter” after eating her food, Rudgley says. “Not as heavy and weighed down. When I was little and we were done eating, you’d be over. Done for.”
To contact Rudgley, call 901-268-9951, or go to her website, your-personal-chef.com.
