In this adaptation of The Princess and the Pea, Ma Sally cooks the best black-eyed peas in Charleston County, South Carolina. Her son, John, is a highly eligible bachelor, and three local women vie for his hand in marriage by attempting to cook as well as Ma. At the last minute, a surprise contestant named Princess arrives at the door. Princess and John are well-matched, but Princess has her own ideas. When told she has won John's hand, she asks him to scrub the pots and pans before she'll give him an answer. Her answer, it turns out, is that she wants to spend some time getting to know John first.

Backmatter includes an author's note and a recipe for Princess's Black-eyed Peas.