The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook

Rating:
Summary: Commendable collection.
Review: "The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook" is a commendable collection of down-home Southern recipes. Paula H. Deen, the owner and proprietor of the popular The Lady & Sons restaurant, has included hundreds of her favorite dishes here. And nearly all of them are simple to prepare--especially her signature Cheese Biscuits, which she serves (piping hot, of course) to customers waiting in line. Other delectable-sounding dishes include: Broccoli Souffle, Potato-Egg Salad, Ester's Dill Coleslaw, Herb Corn Bread, Hoppin' John (which, thankfully, contains no meat stock), and Grandmother Paul's Sour Cream Pound Cake. The book's spiral binding, non-glare paper, and simply layout are all laudable features. Author John Berendt (MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL) pens a fine Introduction, in which he discusses what makes Deen's downtown restaurant so quintessentially Southern.

Rating:
Summary: Commendable collection.
Review: "The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook" is a commendable collection of down-home Southern recipes. Paula H. Deen, the owner and proprietor of the popular The Lady & Sons restaurant, has included hundreds of her favorite dishes here. And nearly all of them are simple to prepare--especially her signature Cheese Biscuits, which she serves (piping hot, of course) to customers waiting in line. Other delectable-sounding dishes include: Broccoli Souffle, Potato-Egg Salad, Ester's Dill Coleslaw, Herb Corn Bread, Hoppin' John (which, thankfully, contains no meat stock), and Grandmother Paul's Sour Cream Pound Cake. The book's spiral binding, non-glare paper, and simply layout are all laudable features. Author John Berendt (MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL) pens a fine Introduction, in which he discusses what makes Deen's downtown restaurant so quintessentially Southern.

Rating:
Summary: A five star cookbook!
Review: Being from the South, the good food that abounds in this part of the world has been exemplified in this book. The Vidalia sweet onion pie was so good!! (Even though it was made with Texas 1015 sweet onions!) Ms. Deen's story is inspiring. It is always gratifying to see a single mom make such a success with the aid of her sons. What a tribute to this mom!

Rating:
Summary: Down home goodness from The Lady
Review: How does one write about Paula Deen without gushing? She is an american success story, having built a successful business on her own, from the ground up. She is the very picture of a southern lady who oozes a dixie charm that's smoother than green label Jack Daniels. Oh, and did I mention that she is one heck of a good cook? There's a down-home goodness and simplicity to her cooking that invites you in and never intimidates. I found that the simplicity of many of the recipes lent themselves to Monday-Friday cooking, quick, simple and lip-smackin good. Just wait until you try the Lady's Cheesy Mac. Heavenly. The desserts in the book look easy and tempting, but I have yet to try them. I have every reason to believe that they will follow the other dishes in the book in ease and quality. I am confident that I will cook my way through this book and back again.

Rating:
Summary: Paula never lets you down
Review: I bought this cookbook following a visit to Savannah and Lady and Son's Restaurant two summers ago. I was so impressed with the outcome of the recipes that I bought copies for my three sisters, too. They came autographed which was a special touch since we had all been to Paula's restaurant together. All four of us have used her recipes to the delight of our families and have received rave reviews when we take appetizers from her collection to Bunko, Super Bowl Sunday and other gatherings. I can't wait for her next book to come out - you can reserve four copies for me!

Rating:
Summary: This Ladie knows How To COOK! Mmmmm GOOD!
Review: I can't say enough good things about Paual and her sons...and the rest of her staff!
This is the best cookbook along with her ladie & son #2 cookbook. This past thanksgiving everything I cooked was from Paulas book and WOW! Everything turned out perfect...not only looked good but tasted good! She is very down to earth with her easy to understand receipes, ingredients easy to find. I am 29 and have became a really good cook thanks to Paula...all my relatives were stunned at what a good Lil'Cook I am...well unfortunatley I can't take the credit...this cook book is Godsend to the newbee or the advanced. Before Paula's cookbook I always had to have a reciepe with a picture or I would not even look at the receipe...This is the first cookbook with no pictures that I own, cherish & Love! This is my Kitchen Bible! I hope she comes out with more...If I make it to Georgia I want to go to her resteraunt! Easy to follow instructions....no fail recipes...The merigues are tricky...takes some practice! but all in all this is a 5+ cookbook. Her #2 cookbook is just as good...I have not gotten the desert one YET but there is enough desert receipes in the 2 books that I have to last me a few years. You can catch her show on the foodnetwork channel. Worth every penny!


Rating:
Summary: Was not what I expected.
Review: I chose to buy this book because it had such good reviews from other (...) customers. When I finally received it, I tried my first recipe-The Lady's Cheesy Mac-and was very disappointed. I put the eggs in just like it said and everything just curdled. So instead of having a smooth cheesy consitancy, I had macaroni in a chunky-eggy sauce. It was a failure and I wasted a lot of good cheese on it. But I decided to try another recipe in the book, The Cheese Buscuits. And they turned out better. Because of that I have given it 2 stars.

Rating:
Summary: This is an excellent cookbook if you love southern cooking.
Review: I collect cookbooks and this one has gone to the "top of the class" in one week's time. The pepper steak recipe is outstanding. The shrimp and artichoke bake would be fantastic for company, as would be the Scallops Charleston. While they took a little time, I fixed them both after getting home from work and had time to spare. This book is a good investment for southern cooking enthusiasts!

Rating:
Summary: A great Southern cookbook!
Review: I couldn't be happier I bought this little book. A wonderful collection of good genuine, REAL recipes. This book has character, is well presented, and is a pleasure to read and use. But most importantly: The recipes measure up! Good home cooking.

Rating:
Summary: Can't quite give 5 stars
Review: I first encountered Paula on her Food Network show and was quickly hooked. Her charm, humor, and down-to-earth attitude reminded me of my extended family in the South where I spent a lot of my childhood. I can still remember my first experience with biscuits and sausage gravy as a little boy visiting an aunt in West Virginia (still one of my favorite breakfasts). Although as an adult my tastes have expanded and grown up (Thai and Korean are two of my favorite cuisines), and I tend to be a stickler for quality products, I have never gotten over my love of good basic cooking. Done well, meat loaf, chili, fried chicken, etc. can stand up to any food in the world. Plus, this food evokes memories and feelings that we simply cannot get from international cuisine no matter how good it tastes. Paula is the epitome (even if it's a little bit of a fantasy) of that kindly aunt or grandmom we all wish we grew up with, complete with a farm house, screened in porch, and hot biscuits waiting for us after school.

With that as an introduction, Paula's recipes succeed very well for the most part. Some are truly outstanding. Her tomato pie, for example, is worth the price of the book. I will be making that dish for as long as I live. Can you put a price on that? Her recipes are also deceptively simple. The tomato pie is basically mayo and cheese with a little basil and green onion spread over a few tomatoes. Sounds blah. But it is outstanding either hot, cold or somewhere in between. Her Chicken Bog is another dish I have made repeatedly and never get tired of.

My one problem with Paula -- and it may be my own snobbishness coming through -- is her reliance on a lot of convenience products: canned cream soups, packaged rice blends, cheese whiz, taco seasoning, etc. This seems to take her recipes out of the realm of true southern food and into 1950's or 1960's housewife food. No offense, but southern food existed long before convenience products hit the market. But then again, Paula was around in the 50's and 60's and that is what influenced her cooking. And let me emphasize these products do not appear in all her recipes. Many of her recipes are from scratch. And to be honest, I have not tried a lot of the recipes that call for canned soups -- maybe they are delicious. I do know that her beer biscuits (bisquick, beer, and butter) are fantastic so who am I to complain.

I give Paula and her book 4 stars. Even with my minor complaints, she is still the t.v. cook whose house I would most like to go to for dinner.