In 1986, Pruett made a career shift into professional cooking. That year she released her first cookbook, which she entitled "Feedin' Friends". To promote the book, Pruett made regular appearances on The Nashville Network's "Nashville Now" program with host Ralph Emery. In 1988, she published a second book as part of the "Feedin' Friends" cooking series. According to Pruett, the cookbooks sold hundreds of thousands of copies since their original release. Four books were eventually released as part of the series. The success of the cookbook series led to the opening of a restaurant named "JP's Feedin' Friends". The restaurant was located inside of the Opryland USA theme park in Nashville, Tennessee until its closing in 1997.