“A recipe is a story that ends with a good meal” is a food saying that has been printed on many images. The quotation is from American author Pat Conroy (1945-2016), who wrote in The Pat Conroy Cookbook (2004):
   
“My father had just delivered me of the last chapters of my new novel by offering me a great story, I could reward him with food, because it is my most religious belief that a recipe is just a story that ends with a good meal.”
 
   
Wikipedia: Pat Conroy
Donald Patrick “Pat” Conroy (October 26, 1945 – March 4, 2016) was an American author who wrote several acclaimed novels and memoirs. Two of his novels, The Prince of Tides and The Great Santini, were made into Oscar-nominated films. He is recognized as a leading figure of late-20th century Southern literature.
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The Pat Conroy Cookbook, published in 1999 (2004 is correct.—ed.), is a collection of favorite recipes accompanied by stories about his life, including many stories of growing up in South Carolina.
         
OCLC WorldCat record
The Pat Conroy cookbook : recipes from my life
Author: Pat Conroy; Suzanne Williamson Pollak
Publisher: NY : Random House, 2004.
Edition/Format:   Print book : Biography : English
Google Books
CHAPTER SEVEN
A Recipe Is a Story ...
 
PatConroy.com
THE PAT CONROY COOKBOOK
Description
America’s favorite storyteller, Pat Conroy, is back with a unique cookbook that only he could conceive. Delighting us with tales of his passion for cooking and good food and the people, places, and great meals he has experienced, Conroy mixes them together with mouthwatering recipes from the Deep South and the world beyond.
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A master storyteller and passionate cook, Conroy believes that “A recipe is a story that ends with a good meal.”
 
Google Books
The Pat Conroy Cookbook:
Recipes Of My Life
By Pat Conroy with Suzanne Williamson Pollak
New York, NY: Random House
2004
Pg. 102:
My father had just delivered me of the last chapters of my new novel by offering me a great story, I could reward him with food, because it is my most religious belief that a recipe is just a story that ends with a good meal.
       
21 October 2004, Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer, “Words served on shiny platters” by Gayle Ronan Sims, pg. F1, cols. 3-4:
Prince of Tides author Pat Conroy narrates his new book, The Pat Conroy Cookbook, which is full of personal stories of foods and recipes that have been an important part of his life.
 
A master storyteller, Conroy says a recipe is just a story that ends with a good meal.
   
28 November 2004, Reno (NV) Gazette-Journal, pg. 4B, col. 1:
For author, a recipe is a story that ends in a great meal
Pat Conroy hopes his cookbook will appeal to cooks and to literary readers
By Mary Ann Grossmann
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
 
20 April 2005, Toronto (ON) Star, “Bookmark,” pg. D4:
The Pat Conroy Cookbook
Recipes of My Life
THE AUTHOR Pat Conroy is bestselling author of The Great Santini, The Prince of Tides and other novels. He lives in South Carolina.
THE BOOK Hardcover, 283 pages, no photos, 90+ recipes, Random House of Canada, 2004, $37.
THE STYLE Favourites from the Low Country (the South Carolina coast) and dishes savoured in other places he has lived (Atlanta, San Francisco, Rome and Paris).
THE POINT Conroy believes “a recipe is a story that ends with a good meal.”
 
Twitter
Margaret Terry
@MargTerryauthor
“A recipe is a story that ends with a good meal.” Pat Conroy
8:34 PM - 30 Oct 2011
 
Twitter
Sandy Traub
@sandytraub
“A recipe is a story that ends with a good meal.” - The Pat Conroy Cookbook http://ow.ly/7xBJa  | #quote #southern #foodie
5:09 AM - 18 Nov 2011
     
Google Books
Our Prince of Scribes:
Writers Remember Pat Conroy
edited by Nicole Seitz and Jonathan Haupt
Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press
2018
Pg. 241:
A recipe is a story that ends with a good meal. —Pat Conroy, The Pat Conroy Cookbook
 
Twitter
Eskimo Hut - Arlington
@EskimoHutArling
A recipe is a story that ends with a good meal.
4:42 PM - 8 Feb 2019