Dolly Parton on ‘Good Lookin’ Cookin’,’ Beyoncé’s CMA Shutout and the ‘Inspiring’ Taylor Swift: ‘Lord Knows We Need Some Uplifting People’

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Meredith Woerner Deputy Editor, Variety.com If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.

Dolly Parton wants to bring her family’s home cooking into your kitchen. The collaboration queen and country icon just launched her brand new meal kit where fans can make her family’s fried chicken right in the comfort of their own homes.

Parton and her sister Rachel Parton George spoke with Variety about what makes a good pie, Beyoncé getting shut out of the CMA’s and Taylor Swift‘s inspiring and “uplifting” year. (We were cut off before getting into politics, but the country artist reassured me with a laugh from behind a concerned publicist that “I don’t talk politics anyway.”) Inspired by her recent cookbook “Good Lookin’ Cookin’,” which she penned with her sister, the new collection of Home Chef meals is directly pulled from the pages of Parton and George’s work.

The Home Chef meals we tested were the “Fried Chicken & Gravy With Dolly and Rachel’s Mashed Potatoes” and the “Family Favorite Meatloaf with Southern-Style Green Beans.” Full transparency, I combined the green beans and the fried chicken and gravy recipes, and honestly both were as delightful and warm-tingle-inducing as a Parton song.