Customer Reviews

Ruby Ann's Down Home Trailer Park Cookbook

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

My wife and I moved into a new home and one of the gifts was a box with all three of Ruby Ann's books inside. At the moving party we all started to read aloud little selections from the books. I started out with Ruby Ann's Down Home Trailer Park Cookbook. Within seconds the entire room was filled with laughter. Before we knew it, it was 11 PM. Every thing else like the planned party games and such had taken a backseat because of the laughter that all of us, including my 57 year old boss and his wife, my grand parents, and even the teenagers in the room, shared will reading Ms. Boxcars books. Even if you don't like to cook, the stories alone are well worth the price. Since that evening, we have tried the food and to be honest, it is as tasty as the rest of the books are funny. TWO THUMBS WAY UP FOR RUBY ANN AND HER BOOKS!

Just because I live in Manhattan, doesn't mean I can't appreciate the down-home cooking of Ruby Ann Boxcar. Between recipes for Kathy Lee Giffrod Tribute Cheese Dip and Dr. Pepper Salad, Ruby Ann entertains with tales of living at the High Chaparral Trailer Park in Pangburn, Arkansas (Lot 18 in a two-story pink double-wide). Check out her web site: for a sample of her "Dame Edna does Down-Home" routine. The book is a delight!!!

I LOVED IT! It's not surprising that the Ruby Ann Boxcar that I've seen on TV could put together a highly scrumptious collection of recipes representing the down home lifestyle with such wit and flair. Some cookbooks only focus on food, but this cookbook highlights easy to make recipes from drinks (I hadn't seen Trailer Park Tea, which calls for tea and cherry Jell-O, in a cookbook ever!) to entrees and of course, desserts. Sure, there are only so many things you can do with Miracle Whip, Velveeta or government cheese if you get it, imitation vanilla, and hot dogs, but these are not tired, redone recipes. This book is also the funniest cookbook I've ever read. She introduces you to all her neighbors and family that live in the trailer park with sidesplitting stores. Her husband provides hilarious photographs at the start of each chapter, and she and her neighbors take care of the great recipes and even real helpful hints. The names of the dishes are a riot, but trust me when I say that the food is some of the best that will ever hit your mouth. Anyone who loves cooking and likes to laugh will definitely love this cookbook! Now if she was just on my TV everyday, I'd be happy.

I found this book at a yard sale...it's a fantastic cookbook--funny, and yet useful! GREAT recipes and you can bet someone will ask you, "WHERE did you find that recipe?"

I will admit that maybe I am not the ordinary cookbook purchaser. My cookbooks are bought for comfort and general knowledge as much a for hands-on recipes; I read them to lull myself to sleep. But this book is not solely for those as obsessed as I. It also provides recipes for the cook who is willing to work moderately hard to produce extraordinately good, hardy, and interesting food.

Page after page is loaded with information, a tip and guideline for everyday cooking on each page. The recipes require little else than a bit of enterprise and a willingness to work for your meal.

And let me tell you, it's worth it. The book is a wealth of imformation. Ruby Ann Boxcar holds nothing back. She does not simply give you the way she prepares her oysters, but rather a story on her first oyster, an explanation on how, where, and when to pick them, a thorough run-through of oyster classification, the way to shuck them, and a simple method of serving. Five pages. Seven pages on her theory and stories behind duck confit. Fifty-seven pages on introductory cooking technique and theory.

Boxcar focuses on simple (some may disagree with me about that) French, Italian, and Mediteranean food with a light-handed California touch. "This book gives the cook and the reader two accessible temptations: to read from cover to cover, and to cook from cover to cover." Too true.

The recipes are wonderfully hearty and simple. "Mock Porcetta" (a simple herby pork roast) is great for any small dinner party. "Zuni Salt-Cured Anchovies" are a fun but not extreme break from what most would consider ordinary and a great jump-off point to begin experimentation. "Beef Carpaccio and Four Ways to Serve It" is an elegantly fresh way to start off a small dinner party, and likewise, so is "Rosemary-Grilled Chicken Livers and Bacon With Balsamic-Onion Marmalade Toasts." "Asparagus and Rice Soup with Pancetta and Black Pepper," her ricotta gnocchi, her CHAPTER on eggs. They are all wonderful. This is a lovely book.

But I do have a few small complaints. Though this may seem frivolous, I was vexed by the deficit of photos, an element I find to be nearly imperitive in a fun cookbook. As well, some of her views on food, such as her not being crazy about rich desserts sadly carries out in the number of like recipes.

Though some might say that this book is not for the faint-hearted chef, I would say that it is such a chef's fault and not the author's. This book welcomes anyone who is willing to cross away from just "conviency cooking" for boring sustenance. Ruby Ann's Down Home Trailer Park Cookbook transcends that idea. It is a great cookbook. So well worth the ONLY 25 DOLLARS.

If you have ANY sense of humor whatsoever, you'll love this book! Give it as a cookbook or give it to brighten someone's day, either way, it's a HOOT of a book. I'm doing my own "Favorite Things" gift baskets for the holidays this year & Ruby's Downhome Trailer Park cookbook is going to be one of the items in my baskets!

I had the opportunity to meet Ruby at a book signing. If you ever get the chance, GO. "She's" a RIOT!

A somewhat humorous book, but the recipes don't always contain measurements which leaves you guessing in some instances. Also, Ruby Ann is funny, but not as funny as she seems to feel she is. Having grown up in a poor and rural community, I am aware that my people find their happiness in life's humorous side. Ruby Ann lacks the realness that I intimately experienced growing up in similar circumstances. All signs indicate this book is a gimmick designed purely to sell to anyone who has a smidge of curiosity regarding how the poor half lives or anyone that wants to laugh at our poor populace.

Purchased five [5] of these as gag Christmas Gifts !! The only problem was that I should have ordered more !! Books arrived quickly and in excellent condition !!

I collect cookbooks, and especially love a good rural or provencial cookbook. This was given to me as a gag gift years ago, and I just love it. It's screamingly funny, and though some of the dishes are deliberately awful (I think?) and may contain a bit too much Cheez Whiz and marshmallow fluff for some tastes, who couldn't love a cookbook with a recipe for 'Slut Puppies'? Give it a as a gift for your favorite foodie, and buy a copy for yourself; you won't be sorry.

THIS IS ANOTHER AMAZING SUPER FUNNY RUBY ANN TRAILER PARK COOKBOOK. THE STORIES SHE TELLS AND THE SITUATIONS THAT HAPPEN AT HOME IN THE TRAILER PARK WILL HAVE YOU LAUGHING OUTLOUD. THE RECIPES ARE AN ADDED BONUS AND I MUST ADMIT, I HAVE TRIED A FEW AND THEY ARE GOOD!!! ALL THE BOOKS BY RUBY ANN ARE A GREAT READ AND A FUNNY ONE TO SHARE WITH THE FAMILY AND FRIENDS.