Customer Reviews

Consuming Passions: A Food-Obsessed Life

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I READ a lot of cookbooks, but BUY very few. This is one of the few that I can't live without. The recipes are wonderful (I can smell a Lemon Cake from this book cooling downstairs as I write this) and the stories are just as juicy and delicious.

It's rare to read a cookbook and wish you knew the author and her family, but that's how I felt after savoring this book. As a Yankee transplanted to South Carolina, I am just now learning the pleasures of sweet tea, church bake sales and fried chicken. This book has definitely earned a place of honor in my kitchen next to James Villas' "My Mother's Southern Kitchen". It's a keeper.

I will admit: I thought this was going to be another outrageously funny southern novel by Michael Lee West. I had read two of her books previously and totally devoured them. So naturally I had to read everything she had in print. Well, imagine my surprise when I discovered a cookbook in my hands. I LOVED this book...and I HATE to cook! As a matter of fact, my menus consist of nothing more than boxed macaroni and cheese and different varieties of Hamburger Helper. And you know what else? I didn't know you were supposed to "season" a cast-iron skillet. I learned a lot of things reading this book, and it has even inspired me to cook something REAL. Not only that, but Michael Lee West has real-life eccentric characters--her relatives--that keep this book moving along. I would just love to have an Aunt Dell in my family! I highly recommend this book to everyone who enjoys a good southern novel. Even to those who don't cook....like me!

As an avid reader (especially of cookbooks!, a "Consuming Passion" for cooking (especially all things southern) and a fan of Michael Lee West, I picked up this book with great anticipation. And I was not disappointed. Having lived in the South for several years, I have come to love to read about Southern culture: it's idiosynchrosies, dialect, etc. And gosh darn it, ya just gotta love that food! This book combines the best of what I love: food and reading! Ms. West has a great way of making one's mouth water, while at the same time filling the reader full of southern charm and wit. And best of all, she includes recipes! From barbeque to gumbo, Lemon Chess Pie to Coconut cake, this book is full of true 'southern' recipes, and Ms. West's family stories behind them. This is the kind of book I like to read over and over again, and I've made several of the recipes to boot (and have not been disappointed with the results). If you love the South, food, humor and Michael Lee West's other books, you'll love this one as well.

This memoir made me laugh out loud, and the recipes are terrific too. I totally enjoyed reading about Aunt Tempe, Uncle Bun, and Aunt Dell's exploits. I totally enjoyed eating the shrimp etoufee that I made after reading this book. Miss Johnnie's macaroni and cheese was really good too. This book is both a unique culinary and reading experience at the same time. I have read all of Michael Lee West's books, and really loved them, but this one made me wish that I had grown up in the south, just as the author had. But, I can still enjoy southern cooking, and this book has been added as a permanent fixture on my cookbook shelf. Thank you Ms. West for sharing your recipes with this particular Northerner. My husband thanks you too.

Food? A staple for survival? No, a prescription for love. This book shows the world the truth--the South revolves around food--how we eat it, how we fix it, and just who does the "fixin."

I just couldn't put it down! I just know she had to know some of my relatives as most of them were in the book.

Kudos to Michael Lee West!

This book now sits next to cookbooks and I've made sure to paste a label with my name on it, as I will always want it returned to me. For anyone with a sense of humor, this is the book for you. I've prepared a few of the recipes the author has included and not only are they easy, but they are quite good. I can't wait to read more by Michael Lee West and have warned my family that not only will I be "all-consumed", they had better be ready for more hilarious outbursts of laughter and tears as I read.

This book is super, it's full of great stories about wonderful food. I've got a ton of cookbooks and this is the one I use the most. My favorite recipes are the Sweet Potato Souffle, Mashed Potato salad and Egg Salad recipes. I get compliments every time I serve these dishes to people.

I love the stories that accompany these recipes, it's like a lovely piece of history I savor as I eat the yummy food I cooked!

PS I'm a vegetarian and still find this to be a great resource for yummy food. I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys good food and sentimental, funny stories.

In the style of Laurie Colwin, this book is a foodies delight and if you're new to the genre this is a great place to start.

Almost immediately you get the feeling that you're part of Michael Lee West's food crazed family and certainly if your weren't hungry after reading about Mama's Shrimp Alfredo, in the chapter on Shrimp 101 or about Ary Jean's Red Beans and Rice, in Sunday Dinners; A Memoire, you'll be absolutely unable to stop your stomach from rumbling on page 96 where you can almost taste the wonderful Coconut Layer Cake of Lee's childhood.

Packed with recipes, but absolutely not a cookbook, Lee intertwines family lore with food traditions and recipes. Add in her wry sense of humour and you'll be laughing out loud as you head to the kitchen to make a pineapple upsaide downcake that's to die for.

I just love Michael Lee West's writing. I would have loved to see more into her personal life, but I was content to read about all the different recipes and the stories that went with them. Like usual when reading her, I laughed out loud on several occasions. This book has changed my outlook on cooking. I've been experimenting in the kitchen more and I think I'll make more time in the future for cooking.

I too am a foodie with an assortment of odd relatives, and I found this tome of family and food to be truly delightful. Until I read this book, I thought for sure that my family had the market cornered on odd characters and food fixations. Charming, hilarious, and occasionally over-the-top, West's characters leap off the pages and even swing from chandeliers. I have yet to try any of the recipes, but I enjoyed reading axioms such as "Live and learn. Die and get food. That's the southern way."

The women in chronicled in these pages are old-fashioned southern cooks. They believed in cooking feasts for their families and keeping their recipes close to their vests. During one funeral a prominent character, Aunt Dell, was seen wailing and weeping over the loss, not of the relative, but of the gingerbread recipe that the deceased had apparently taken to her grave.

This book is both funny and instructive with recipes that seem easy to follow. For Christmas, I gave a copy to my sister who made "Miss Johnny's Macaroni and Cheese." I didn't have any, but she seemed pleased with the outcome. West includes all the staples -- sweet tea, pineaple cake and gumbo. She dedicates an entire chapter to fried chicken "Fear of Frying," where she lays out her concerns about the attendant burns and grease fires. In this chapter, her mother recounts burns like battle scars citing the meal and the year during which they were acquired.

I enjoyed this author's style and plan to purchase more of her work.