Nominated by Jeanne Shipp:

"My friend Carol Barber says she loves everything about food. She is a 'from-scratch' cook who is as comfortable preparing chicken Marsala as she is cooking muscadine jelly.

"Carol's volunteering spirit has led her to share her time, talent and gifts in the kitchen with scores of folks. When one of her sons was in a drum and bugle corps, she traveled with the group an entire summer, overseeing their meals in the schools and churches where they quartered each evening.

"For several years, she has supervised all aspects of feeding the hundred or so folks attending the River of Life youth mission project at our church. We teasingly call her our kitchen commander, because she quickly organizes volunteers into competent kitchen crews. She is a gifted encourager, always knowing who among us can handle which tasks best as she gets the most out of her willing helpers."

It was at her mother's table on the farm where she grew up that Carol Barber saw how cooking and good food encouraged fellowship and good feelings. Now she is known for organizing countless meals and mobilizing her "kitchen troops" to spread the good word wherever there is a need.

Family/background: "I grew up in a large family on a farm in South Georgia. I've been married to George for 40 years. We have two sons, Scott and Chris, one daughter-in-law, Ann, and two wonderful granddaughters, 8-year-old Kelsey and 5-year-old Madison."

Career: "I graduated from ABAC Junior College [Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton]. Then three friends and I moved to Atlanta in 1962. After I married and my children got older, I worked for 20 years as an office manager-bookkeeper for Mason-Hall & Co. in Smyrna."

Hobbies, interests: "Cooking, reading and volunteering. We travel quite a bit and have been to Europe four times. I love it, but I sort of have to talk my husband into it. I volunteer at WellStar Paulding Hospital in the auxiliary. We used to be called the Pink Ladies. That's my fun: volunteering. Then I help with Helping Hands of Paulding County, where we aid families in crisis with not only food but also medicine, rent, utility bills and such. About a year ago, we might have served seven to 10 families a day; now we service about 20."

Who taught you to cook? "I learned from my mama. We had a large family, and living on a farm we had to cook for quite a few people. I had three brothers and one sister. I was older, so I was right in there with her in the kitchen. You would finish one meal and start doing the next. She was a wonderful country cook. People loved to sit at her table."

How did your love of cooking develop? "I cannot remember not liking being in the kitchen. It was the center of the family, and cooking and eating were very much a part of our social life. It has always been fun to me."

Culinary roots: "Very Southern farm food, and there was always plenty of it. I never had a hot dog or pizza until I was grown and went to Atlanta."

Early food memory: "Sunday dinners. After church we would come back home to a meal of fried chicken, potato salad, butter beans, peas, corn and biscuits, and always banana pudding or chocolate cake for dessert. We were always bringing somebody home with us. Our friends loved to come to our house because they knew there would always be a wonderful meal and great fellowship."

Culinary achievements: "My mama made probably the best 10-layer chocolate cake ever. I finally can make that cake. Even though it's only eight layers, it tastes almost as good as hers."

For whom do you cook? "Family, friends, church activities and anyone who needs a meal."

Culinary ambitions: "I would really, really like to take cooking classes. Maybe go to Italy and stay for some cooking lessons, or, if I can't go to Italy, the Cook's Warehouse would do."

Specialties: "Anything I bake. If we have bake sales at church, everybody wants to know what I baked. There was a bake sale not long ago just for men, and my husband, with the help of my granddaughter, baked a cake that brought in $45. He said everybody thought I made it."

What is your favorite thing to eat? "Anything with chocolate."

Memorable flop: "Baking a chocolate torte three times before I got it right to take to a Sunday school get-together."

Memorable meal: "I don't have any one meal. I think when I am in charge of getting a meal prepared for 125 people and having it all come together at the right time is pretty memorable."

Do you favor a particular ingredient? "Real butter."

Do you have a tip for today's cooks? "I wish more young couples would spend more time cooking for their families. They don't know what they are missing. The time you spend sitting around the table is family time. And if they think they can't cook, my advice is to take a simple recipe, follow it and you will be surprised."

When I eat out, I like to order: "Seafood."

Favorite cookbook: "I love our church cookbook. It has so many recipes from people I know and love and such good memories."

Favorite chef: "Keith Robinson, the owner of Glorious, a catering business in Midtown. He is a friend of my younger son, and he baked me the most wonderful birthday cake last year."

If you could prepare a fantasy meal for anybody, who would it be and what would you cook? "For 20 years, I worked with two guys, Alfred and Richard. For 20 years, they talked about me cooking them a fried chicken dinner, and I never did it."

-- Betty Parham

DESSERT

Mama's Poundcake

Makes 12 servings Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 1 1/2 hours

"In the South, when somebody has troubles, you bake them a poundcake," Carol Barber says. "This is the cake my mama baked for anybody who needed a poundcake."

For a perfectly textured poundcake, have ingredients at room temperature.

1 cup (2 sticks) butter,

room temperature

3 cups granulated sugar

6 eggs

1 teaspoon almond extract (imitation flavoring not recommended)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (imitation flavoring not recommended)

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whipping cream

Grease and lightly flour a tube pan.

With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add almond and vanilla extracts and beat well to combine. Alternate adding flour with cream, beating until just combined. Transfer batter to pan.

Place in a cold oven and heat to 325 degrees. Cook for 90 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake comes out clean.

Transfer to a rack to cool for 15 minutes. Invert and cool completely.

Per serving: 545 calories (percent of calories from fat, 41), 7 grams protein, 75 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 25 grams fat, 162 milligrams cholesterol, 142 milligrams sodium.

Who are the best cooks? We're looking for Georgia home cooks who deserve recognition for their talents and who have interesting recipes to share. Fax at 404-526-5509, e-mail kitchen@ajc.com or write to Betty Parham, Food Department, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 72 Marietta St. N.W., Atlanta, GA 30303. Give us your name and phone number, as well as the name and number of the cook you'd like us to consider. And tell us a little about what makes this cook special.