Customer Reviews

Sylvia's Family Soul Food Cookbook: From Hemingway, South Carolina, To Harlem

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My family is entirely from Kentucky (except for myself, I was born in New York) and I grew up on good southern cooking.Though I love to cook, I never learned to cook real southern food. I regret not taking the opportunity when my great-grandmother was alive and my grandmother is too ill to teach me now.

Sylvia's book covers many of the staple recipes my family whipped up and they are truly *easy* to prepare. She even has several more health conscious recipes for those who must have them (Southern and healthy are not synonymous).

I've prepared many of her recipes with great success. The tuna croquettes are easy and yummy! You probably already have all the ingredients in your cupboards. The smothered pork chops are to die for, and I finally can make a gravy my grand mother would be proud of! There are a few recipes I simple will not try. I wouldn't as a kid and I'm not starting now! (Eeewww chitterlings! ), but if you're adventurous or your taste bud run that way, enjoy! If you love real southern cooking, you can easily make it yourself with this book.

It's also filled with lots of interesting stories and anecdotes about her, her family and her restaurant. She's a wonderful woman whom I hope writes another cookbook soon!

Sylvia Woods has provided a true delight to your senses! She relates rich experiences of growing up in the Hemminway S.C. community where people basically raised collected, slaughtered, canned and froze almost everything they ate.

My memories of summers in the south as a child, eating packed sandwiches in the car on the way back north and going to the community freezer locker, came flooding back. And the recipes themselves, provide an accurate taste of many of the old southern favorites. For those not privileged to have connections in the south, it may have been hard to come by some of the recipes and Ms Woods has taken the time to chronicle the old classic southern dishes that were typically learned from grandmothers and mothers. But it's not just the food, it's the "soul" that's connected to the preparation. How many of us pass down great experiences connected to the fast food and pizza that we so often eat?

Try some of my favorites: Frances's Lily White Biscuits, Nan's Extra-Special Marinated Spareribs and Peach Cobbler, put some soul into it and create lasting memories of your own.

When I first received Sylvia's book I thought it was just going to be another cookbook where the pictures look good but the flavor never turns out...,Well not this book. If you follow the recipes to a tee you will end up with absolutely delicious dishes. My family really thinks I learned how to cook..I tell them "honey it's not me but my best friend Sylvia". The cake recipes are excellent and are all flavorful and moist. How many times have you baked a cake from the book and it is dry and never looks like the picture? Sylvia has recipes for pound cakes that...., well I can't believe she gave out these secrets. Invite your family and your mother-in-law over for pot roast, string beans, sweet potatoes, etc., etc., etc. all seasoned great and turn out delicious. Don't forget the last recipe in the book -- Fresh Squeezed Lemonade -- do it exactly as she says -- You don't know what you're missing. If you know just the basics in the kitchen and want your soulfood meals to taste like "Mama's" get this book and you're in for a big surprise. Before Sylvia came along I just cooked but now I BURN in the kitchen!!

I was afraid to buy this after her first book, but she really redeemed herself here. One day I just had to have smothered pork chops, macaroni & cheese & collard greens and this book DELIVERED on the pork chops & macaroni & cheese!! (use the first book for the greens though) .. These are now in the repertoire as my roommate prefers this to going out to a restaurant! Can't wait to try the red velvet cake!

This cookbook is not only a great one to have for the delicious recipes of good, southern home-cooked food, but it is also one that reminds people of their own roots and heritage. Any time a family unites for a meal, there is a great deal more going on than fulfilling that need to kill the hunger. Good food is the only recipe for the soul. Sylvia has included many recipes in this book that my family has enjoyed for many, many years. I may be a bit biased in rating this book because there are some included by my aunt, Neomia Brown, and grandmother, Annie Frazier (who passed a year ago this December). Bless your heart Sylvia and to all of you who enjoy the recipes throughout the book! Thank you Sylvia for reminding us through your own story that good food may not be able to heal a broken heart, but it can at least nourish the soul when families can gather to enjoy it!

If your idea of soul food cooking is the extra crispy family meal deal at "Popeyes(TM)", Mrs. Woods' cookbook wants to show you the light.

I received this cookbook by accident. I belong to a cookbook club and forgot to tell them I didn't want that month's selection. I've been able to prepare many of Mrs. Woods' recipes with great success. The tuna croquettes are very easy and delicious! They reheated well for lunch the next day too. The smothered pork chops are to die for, and I finally can make gravy my grand mother would have been proud of!

The only trouble I ran into in the entire cookbook were several of her cooking times. In a few recipes, like the "Wednesday Night Special Meat Loaf", cooking took noticeably longer than specified. I know all ovens are different but when the recipe says bake for 1 hour and it took almost 2, that's a big difference. Still, the meat loaf was delicious and worth the wait.

Along with some great recipes, if you enjoy reading your cookbooks, you'll spend lots of engrossed in this one. This cookbook is a human-interest biography with lots of humor and soul.

Of the two Sylvia's books, this is definitely the prize. Sylvia collects recipes from friends, family and neighbors, and writes nostalgically about picnics, church events and fun serving soul food.

Sylvia founded a wonderful restaurant business in Harlem, NY and in Atlanta, Georgia. She reveals some of her secrets to soul food here. But the recipes are deceptively simple and unless you grew up on great soul food (I did not) you might have trouble to reproduce the complexity of flavor. Like Cajun cooking, soul food seems to be based on experience and a honed sense of taste for seasonings that defies documentation.

But you can try, and this is a fine book for recipes, especially for chicken and for vegetables like limas and greens. Mmmmmmm.

I happen to be in the food industry. And from time to time I like to experiment with various recipes (after all you can never be too good). So I purchased this book to add to the others I have in my collection. Well...after trying some of the recipes in this book I came to the conclusion that if a person is not able to cook or is not familiar with a particular recipe before hand, then this book will not teach you to be the wonderful cook you had hoped for. These recipes must be tweeked in order to be successful. I grew up with soul food, all of my relatives cook soul food and I know of some very good soul food restaurants here in Chicago. But after cooking with these recipes, my 14 year old son asked me to not use this book again and to continue cooking the way I had been...without Sylvia's help (this sentiment was echoed by my boyfriend and my brother). I don't believe these are the same exact recipes that are used in her restaurant, after all why give up your secrets if it's been profitable this long. But I also don't think that people should be fooled into thinking these recipes alone will turn them into soul food experts.

What a joy to read and to own! This woman's love for her family, for others, and for God shines through every page. That this love is combined with an iron determination and discipline makes a very remarkable person. After reading her book, I'd love to drive to Harlem and meet her! As a white Southerner I am grateful to her for her documentation of our recipes. These were common to both black and white Southern people who farmed and wasted NOTHING. Thank you, Sylvia, and the best of continued success to you and your family!

Hi everyone, I'm a sophomore living away from home for college and the first thing I missed was my mother's home cooking. I decided to buy Sylvia's Family cookbook it's the best thing that happened to me so far this school year. Just follow the instructions and you can without a doubt create delicious meals. I couldn't cook to save my life now, I can invite my friends over to my dorm for dinner and they never know that I got all my recipes from a cookbook. Hopefully, I can impress my mom with my new skills when I go back home.....