29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gettin' supper on the table, March 11, 2006
This review is from: The Blue Willow Inn Bible of Southern Cooking: Over 600 Essential Recipes Southerners Have Enjoyed for Generations (Hardcover)
I am a stay-at-home mother of two girls and a former Home Econ teacher. I looked this cookbook over three times before purchasing and I just couldn't walk away without buying. The cover and photos inside are beautiful, the layout is efficient and clear, and the authors look like people you'd love to have as family.
These recipes are not fancy and probably wouldn't do for a lovely dinner party. But if you want recipes to gather family and friends, this cookbook should be on your countertop.
I like the quickness and ease of prepared foods as some of the ingredients. My youngest daughter helps in the kitchen and if the recipes were too hard or time consuming, we wouldn't have as much fun cooking together. Plus, since we live in a rural area all the ingredients used are things we can find.
Gratitude to the authors for a wonderful book.
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49 of 56 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not so traditional southern cooking, November 14, 2006
This review is from: The Blue Willow Inn Bible of Southern Cooking: Over 600 Essential Recipes Southerners Have Enjoyed for Generations (Hardcover)
When I think of southern cooking, I think of my grandmother and our family gatherings. She would go all out. Fried eggs, grits and buscuits for breakfast. Fried chicken, rolls, beans, greens and potatoes for dinner. I loved her cooking and her she has always been the baseline I use for good southern cooking.
After reading through a few of the reviews for the Blue Willow Inn Bible of Southern Cooking, I felt comfortable with my purchase. However, the moment I cracked open the book, I felt let down. Most of the dishes include canned vegitables over fresh. Processed foods over basics. Not the way I remembered things and certainly not the way I prefer to cook today.
However, it was the biscuit recipe that drove me to return the book. The recipe uses self-rising flour over baking powder or cream of tartar. I don't know of a single southern grandmother that didn't use baking powder when I was growing up.
I realized that the book is the actual recipes for the Blue Willow Inn and that when cooking in mass quantities, they appear to take shortcuts to save time and energy. Understandable if you are cooking for dozens of families a day perhaps. But again, not the way I cook.
If you are looking for quick and easy recipes, this book is for you. But I don't think that this could be considered true southern cooking from the past.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
great cookbook, January 27, 2006
This review is from: The Blue Willow Inn Bible of Southern Cooking: Over 600 Essential Recipes Southerners Have Enjoyed for Generations (Hardcover)
I think this cookbook is great. I have given this book as wedding gifts numerous times. It never fails that someone else who sees it wants to know where I got it. It is great for the new cook because the recipes are easy to follow and contain basic ingredients that most people have on hand. It also brings back memories of grandmother's special treats. The Lane cake was always a traditional Christmas cake, and the Tea cake cookies were decorated for us kids every year. This book is filled with all the basic good food that we grew up with.
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