Best Dressed Southern Salads: Sumptuous Southern Salads from Key West to Washington, D.C. (Capital Lifestyles) [Paperback]

Vicky Moon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 9, 2002 | Series: Capital Lifestyles

"Best Dressed Southern Salads" is much more than a cookbook - it's a gastronomic journey of sumptuous salad toppings from Key West to Washington, D.C. The South has always offered a distinctive version of cuisine, but now writer Vicky Moon slices it apart state by state. Recipes such as "South Beach" present a surprising blend of brown sugar, celery seed and dry mustard with red wine vinegar and olive oil. Served over Bibb lettuce, Florida oranges, Florida avocados and sliced tomatoes (from Florida, of course), it's best nibbled while watching the world go by in one of the liveliest neighborhoods imaginable (you'll remember it from the movie, "The Birdcage").

"Mrs. Gotrock's Palm Beach Fruit Salad Dressing" is said to be a secret mixture from one of the most famous hostesses of all time. Meander along the trail with "Buckhead Champagne Dressing" from Atlanta, "Delicious Dandelion Salad" from Charlotte and "Caper and Caviar Dressing" all from the southern most tip of the United States to our Nation's Capitol. Discover the recipes, the people and the places that make Southern cooking such a treat, written in the style of Vicky's previous book, "The Middleburg Mystique" that "The Washington Times" hailed as: "Titillating tales of divorce, murder, mayhem and madness among the owner-squires of exquisite hunt-country estates."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...Moon looks for the delightful dishes that are the hallmarks of the Southern take on the traditional staple..." -- Jacksonville Magazine

"In her chatty cookbook, Vicky Moon sketches a culinary road trip from Key West to Washington, D.C." -- Lucretia McDine, Daily Press (Newport News, VA)

"There's more to salad than lettuce and tomatoes. If you’ve lost sight of that, check out this handy...book..." -- Amie Streater, Pensacola News Journal

"Travel up the coast from Florida to Washington, D.C. bite by bite, salad by salad." -- Lois Friedman, “Read It & Eat,” New Horizons, August 2003

"Whether the occasion is a Sunday luncheon or a formal dinner party, there is something to suit any event." -- Phoenix Home & Garden

"While it’s not a traditional beach read, (it) will give you something to whip up your next day trip." -- Florida International Magazine

About the Author

Vicky Moon has chronicled the lives of the rich, the not-so-rich, the famous, and the not-so-famous for more than twenty years. She has covered her hometown of Middleburg, Virginia's local murders and prominent lives for People Magazine and the Washington Post. She has also written about Middleburg's hunt balls, steeplechase races and parties for Town and Country, Millionaire and Southern Accents magazines and has served as a contributing editor for House and Garden. Ms. Moon is the author of The Official Middleburg Life Cookbook, The Middleburg Mystique: A Peek Inside the Gates of Middleburg, Virginia (Capital, 2001); and Best-dressed Southern Salads (Capital, 2002). Vicky lives in Middleburg, Virginia, with her husband, sportswriter Leonard Shapiro, and her son. Find out more about Vicky at www.vickymoon.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Capital Books; 1 edition (December 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892123819
• ISBN-13: 978-1892123817
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,628,928 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

For my new book, 'Equestrian Style: Home Design, Couture, and Collections from the Eclectic to the Elegant' I spent three years developing the idea and one year visiting horse lovers around the United States. From Saratoga Springs, to Ocala, on to Lexington, and beyond, my premise is that Equestrian Style begins with a basic love of horses, and evolves into a lifestyle enveloped in all things equine.
It goes way beyond hanging a hunting print on the dining room wall to actually leaping over stone walls on your favorite hunter. It's not a Hermes scarf, it's a Hermes saddle. Equestrian Style is about the distinctive lifestyle of those who not only love but also practically live with horses.
Such is the case with horseman Snowden Clarke who spent many years riding and training horses in the Piedmont area of Virginia before he pulled up stakes several years ago and headed west. His California living space is part of rustic barn in a very swish area called Pacific Palisades. We actually brought a pony into his room for the photograph.
While in Los Angeles, I met up with Virginia Fout an event planner extraordinaire and her husband Mike Whetstone, a set designer. Their Spanish Tudor home not far from what is known as the Miracle Mile contains many hints of all things horse with a splash of Hollywood thrown in for good measure. (Virginia's brother, race horse trainer Doug Fout and his wife Beth's new kitchen and mud room in The Plains are also featured in the book.)
But back to one of my all time favorite cities'LA, where I met up with Mayan Lopez. This horse crazy little girl has a playroom filled with horse toys, horse books and blue ribbons fit for a Hollywood star. Mayan is the daughter comedian George Lopez and his vivacious wife Ann Lopez. Visiting their home and meeting some of their friends was a highlight. Before departing the left coast, I went to re-visit the Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax, Will Rogers State Park off Sunset Boulevard, and the Santa Monica Pier. (Close your eyes feel the soft breeze and step back an era.)
Back in Virginia, I returned to the sweeping vistas of rolling green pastures and handsome old weathered wooden barns at the Maloney family's Dogpatch Farm near Warrenton. Curious young Thoroughbred horses stick their necks out to explore the passing morning bustle as Sharon Maloney and her brother Kevin Maloney go about their chores. A painting done fifty years ago by the late artist Jean Bowman of a champion show horses Prompt Payment and Substitution owned the late Betty Maloney captures them in the very same pose and now hangs over the mantle. An elegant old silver trophy won by the family is casually propped up in the kitchen.
While I was working on the book, one woman repeatedly urged and nagged me to visit So-and-so's farm. 'They have lots of old horse painting and trophies,' she informed.
'But they bought them,' I said simply.
Equestrian Style does not have a price tag.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars --Enjoyable--, April 1, 2003

By 

Judith Miller (Bluemont, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Best Dressed Southern Salads: Sumptuous Southern Salads from Key West to Washington, D.C. (Capital Lifestyles) (Paperback)

Vicky Moon has assembled a nice assortment of Southern salad recipes that take the reader up the eastern coast, from the Florida Keys to Northern Virginia and Washington, D. C. She calls it "Margaritaville to Egoville." The book is witty with bits of humor and antidotes about her travels.

BEST DRESSED SOUTHERN SALADS has a catchy title and the small, but compact book is filled with some luscious sounding recipes. I like the small size of the book, because you can easily take it with you to the grocery store when you shop for the dressing and salad ingredients.

I tried several of her salads and enjoyed them. I'm looking forward to trying more recipes as we get into the summer months when our produce is at its peak.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely Cookbook with Juicy Stories!, December 12, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Best Dressed Southern Salads: Sumptuous Southern Salads from Key West to Washington, D.C. (Capital Lifestyles) (Paperback)

This lovely, little cookbook combines recipes and fun, inside-the-loop stories about prominant Southern figures. I thoroughly enjoyed Vicky Moon's book "Middleburg Mystique," and I'm glad this book is just as good.