Customer Reviews

Cookin' Up a Storm: The Life and Recipes of Annie Johnson

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Jane Lee Rankin has written a touching tribute of her life-long friend, Annie, and given us a trea- sury of Southern cooking and life in Kentucky in the good old days. Each recipe is lovingly recreated right from Annie's kitchen. The food is so good, it'll make you "want to slap your mama." Page after page, you'll find mouth watering, delicious, old-fashioned Southern cooking -- comfort food at its absolute best. No fat-free, diet-conscious recipes, these. And best of all, the recipes are easy as pie to follow and practically "idiot proof." The icing on the cake is the narrative of Annie's life in the old South, her memories of a time gone by. This is a fabulous holiday gift for every mother, sister, aunt, male chef on your list. Grab up your copies now before everyone else discovers this book!

Cookin' Up a Storm is a wonderful story of the relationship of a young girl with her family's cook/nanny. Intertwined in the story are Annie's "southern style" recipes that she developed over the years. Not only a great cookbook of wonderful mouth-watering recipes, but a real story of the emotional bond developed between these two people. I have purchased 12 copies for gifts, and everyone I have given it to has loved it!

Women like Annie have been largely forgotten in our culture now. For most, if their work in life was to have any dignity, they had to provide it as a living example. I also grew up with one of these women. It was a symbiotic relationship between them and our families. The authors have done a great job documenting this work; I enjoyed Annie's parts and wished she had said more! Of course, the traditional recipes of our South are always a pleasure to read, and to cook. A beautiful book, beautifully bound, perfect for a gift.

I love this book. It is very warmly and lovingly written about an extraordinary southern black cook/nanny who changed the lives of the family she served. I wanted to cry when I read of Annie's impoverished childhood, having to work instead of going to school (even as a little girl), getting up at 4 AM from the time she was 10 years old in order to fix breakfast so everyone could get to the fields, etc. But she retained a positive attitude and deep faith (which is very humbling). Although I have not yet had a chance to try the recipes, they look wonderful, and many are prefaced by descriptions of why they are so special / taste so good ... down home southern cooking at its very finest. However, IMHO, the book would have been priceless if only for the warm, glowing descriptions of Annie, and recollections in her own words.

What a wonderful example of a good, old-fashioned southern country cookbook. You won't find recipes here that start with a cake mix or a loaf of frozen bread dough. Everything is made from scratch the old-fashioned way. The book starts with an introduction to the life of Annie Johnson, the southern black woman to whom this book is dedicated. Throughout the book are scattered various comments from her that help the reader to feel they know her as a cook and a person. If you want to know how to cook traditional southern fare from scratch the way grandma used to make, this is the book to have. No fancy recipe names, no quiche or anything like that, just buttermilk biscuits, yellow cornbread, fried apples, grits, navy beans, black-eyed peas, fried green tomatoes, sweet potato casserole, potato salad, barbecue ribs, chicken and dumplin's, fried catfish, stuffed green peppers, gingerbread, banana pudding, apple pie and many other traditional recipes. Cookin' Up a Storm, 2nd Edition is a very highly recommended cookbook.

While she is was not my natural grandmother, she became very offended if I did not call her grandmother. She (unoffically) adopted my father, Nelson Irvin. Both love to cook and love to see people enjoy their food. Grandmother's cooking was the best. I am glad that her love for cooking lives on. ps. Try her recipe for homemade yeast rolls. OMG. She made them for my wedding rehearsal dinner, we where all stuffed.

I lived in Louisville Kentucky from 1980 -1987. Over the course of that time I came to know Lee Rankin. We even combined forces to cater an event at the Watertower. She told me many stories about Annie Johnson and we even used some of her party recipes. I moved away and soon lost track of Lee. (This is long before Facebook made staying connected easy.)
So when I discovered that she had written this book, I was delighted and ordered it immediately

When I received it, I read the story of their relationship and remembered what a remarkable person Lee is. And Annie; well I wish I had know her. As for the recipes, they are terrific. I made Kentucky pie for Christmas Eve dinner and it was a huge hit with my family. So much so that the first thing they wanted after brunch on Christmas morning was the leftover Kentucky pie. If you are looking for authentic Kentucky southern food, this is a great addition to your cookbook collection.

I have a very extensive collection of cookbooks, they are a passion for me...But I must say that this cookbook impelled me to write a review, this cookbook stole my heart, it has the most endearing story behind it which I feel touches the very heart and soul of why and how this cookbook even came into existence in the first place. It is very warmly written, and has lots of fabulous recipes to be treasured for years to come...such as yellow cornbread, spoonbread, buttermilk pancakes, and biscuits, and corncakes, coffee cake, apple cake, chocolate pound cake, pineapple upsidedown cake, pie crust, apple pie, coconut cream pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, potato salad, barbeque pork, barbeque ribs, fried green tomatoes, coleslaw, split pea soup, stuffed green peppers, chili, meatloaf, baked beans, chicken and dumplin's, fried chicken and gravy, grits, oooh, to name just a few of the wonderful recipes in this book. It makes a perfect gift and truly a book to be treasured in your own collection. I highly recommend this cookbook to everyone!!!

for those of us that grew up guardian angels that worked in our home, Lee does justice to these women. Thank you

These recipes are very basic. I do not recommend this book to anyone who knows how to boil water. For example, the recipe for Barbecue Pork is as follows... 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, 1 cup plus 2 cups barbecue sauce (recipe for sauce on page 99).I think we all will agree that you don't have to purchase this book to be able to create this dish. The Blackberry Jam Cake is the only original or interesting recipe in the entire book. If your serious about cooking, let me suggest, "The Black Family Dinner Quilt Cookbook", which can be purchased on this site, and "Big Mama's Back In The Kitchen" by Charlene Johnson (not available on amazon.com). These books have some DELICIOUS and unusal recipes. I'll give a few of my favorites from each book. The following are from "The Black Family Dinner Quilt Cookbook"... Honey-Banana Dressing, Pork Roast Guadeloupe & Rice, Tangy Black Beans & Rice, Liberian Collard Greens, and Banana Oatmeal Cookies. Here a some recipes from "Big Mama's Back In The Kitchen"....Me-OH-MY-OH Crawfish Pie, Southern Jalapeno Hushpuppies, Saucy Pork and Beans, Cream Cheese Pancakes, and the Oven Fried Chicken sounds tame but is wild with flavor.