How to
Have Your
Cookbook
Reviewed
Here
Purchase Kansas Cookies, my first cookbook. Thanks. Patsy Terrell
Cozy Cookbooks
These are cookbooks you want to curl up with. They're great reading, with tons of anecdotes, many of them have terrific artwork, and I never get enough of them.
These are the "cozy" books currently reviewed:
Sweet & SimpleWhop Biscuits and Fried Apple Pie
Butter Beans and Blackberries
Glen-Ella Springs
The Summer Book
Heart of the Home
Vineyard Seasons
Tea-Time at the Inn
The Charms of Tea
The recipes are gathered from Gooseberry Patch customers from all over the country and they're things that you can make with what's in your kitchen, and yet there are some things in here you may not have heard of before. For those of us who cook a lot, it's hard to find anything new that's not too bizarre. You'll find some here.
Any Gooseberry Patch cookbook is likely to be a wonderful addition to your shelves, but this is one of my favorites.
Review posted 4 August 2004
Guttman fell in love with the area while on a vacation from her Toronto home. Yes, in Canada. The original plan was to visit Lexington and Louisville, Kentucky but she and her husband decided to first see a little of Tennesse and once they got to the Smoky Mountains stayed until their vacation was over. Having graduated from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, and having spent a lot of time in Louisville, I have to say they're both wonderful places, too, but I do understand how you could get sidetracked in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Recipes in this book include information about the artists, craftspeople, galleries, restaurants, and stores in the area who supplied them. It's part guidebook as well as recipe book!
Review posted 8 June 1999
Lundy is a born and raised southerner, drawing on her Kentucky mountain roots and on the food traditions of the region. As we'd say down home in Kentucky, "She's done us all proud."
Don't wait to pick up a copy of "Butter Beans and Blackberries." It's hot off the presses right now and it's a gem.
Review posted 2 June 1999
"Glen-Ella Springs" by Barrie Aycock is a book showcasing recipes from a restored inn located in north east Georgia and it's also an indication that southern hospitality is alive and well. The place is run largely by Aycock's family. They are members of the Independent Innkeepers' Association. Their restoration efforts won awards from the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation and the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. They have 18 aces of meadow with herb, perennial and vegetable gardens. The inn is practically surrounded by the Chattahoochee National Forest.
Just reading Aycock's introduction in the book, you know that she is perfectly suited to her chosen profession of inn-keeper. The joy she shows on each page makes you not only want to cook some of these dishes on your own, but also to visit Glen-Ella Springs. Recipes involving black-eyed peas, beaten biscuits and grits let you know this is definitely southern cuisine at its best.
To see a photo of the book or order a copy visit the Favorite Recipes Press web page at http://www.favoriterecipespress.com.
Review posted 29 August 1998
Little, Brown and Company -- ISBN 0-316-10666-6 -- published in 1995
$21.95 retail
Susan Branch depicts all the joys of summer in this book full of
whimsy. If you've never seen one of her books, make it a priority -
they're wonderful. Ms. Branch's original art decorates each page and
each recipe is hand writen. The recipes are
good, but they're almost secondary to the pleasure derived from
just reading the book. The 128 pages are filled with 100 recipes as
well as gardening advice, home remedies and quotes.
Little Brown and Company --- ISBN 0-316-10631-3 --- $22.95
This book is in its 16th printing and trust me, all the people who
have already bought copies are onto something. This is Susan Branch's first cookbook.
She drew, handwrote and watercolored all the pages while sitting
at her dining table in her house on Martha's Vineyard. Each page is
a work of art. The approximately 130 recipes are works of art
themselves.
You know "Vineyard Seasons" is going to be wonderful when you read the
dedication Susan Branch wrote to her mom, framed by watercolor
portraits of Susan and her siblings. It's personal, it's delightful
and it's engaging. Although you're eager to turn the page you hesitate
because you don't want to finish the book. What will you do then?
You'll start over - I can tell you from experience. I never, ever,
grow tired of Susan Branch's work.
Each of her books include handwritten recipes and anecdotes, illustrated
with her own watercolors. Each unexpected turn makes you long for more.
Each recipe comes to life through it's delicate illustration. A cracker,
a bunny, a flower or a house might frame any recipe. It has a charm
that's difficult to explain.
These recipes are designed to follow the seasons, relying on ingredients
that capture the feeling of each time of year. About 130 recipes,
each one part of what makes this book so wonderful.Sweet & Simple
from Gooseberry Patch
I'm not sure how Gooseberry Patch keeps coming out with terrific cookbooks, but their record is spotless. If you don't have a whole set, this is a great one to start with. I think it's one of their best in awhile.
www.gooseberrypatch.com
published in 2002
ISBN 1-888052-96-1
Whop Biscuits and Fried Apple Pie
by Kathy Shields Guttman
Nothing has brought the feel of the south back to me quite like "Whop Biscuits and Fried Apple Pie" by Kathy Shield Guttman. This book is subtitled "Cooking with Gatlinburg's Great Smoky Arts and Crafts Community." This is an area of the country that is breathtaking in its scenery and its food. Recipes range from the ones in the title to dozens of other soul-satisfying southern favorites.
published in 1997
ISBN 0-9681144-0-7
Wordsmith Ventures, 6021 Yonge Street, Suite 300, Toronto Canada
416-224-5076
Butter Beans and Blackberries
by Ronni Lundy
"Butter Beans and Blackberries" by Ronnie Lundy is a fabulous book to have in your collection. You will turn to it again and again for inspiration. Lundy captures the best of a southern summer, visiting farmer's markets and festivals, and talking with home and professional cooks. You get to go along for the ride. Her writing is so vibrant that you can smell the pecan pie and taste the sweetened iced tea. The 150 recipes are mixed in with culinary wisdom, tips and techniques.
published in 1999
ISBN 0-86547-547-5
North Point Press
Glen-Ella Springs
by Barrie Aycock
published in 1997
ISBN 0-9659404-0-3
Favorite Recipes Press
2451 Atrium Way, Nashville TN 37214
1-800-358-0560 for ordering
http://www.favoriterecipespress.com
The Summer Book
by Susan Branch
Heart of the Home
by Susan Branch
Vineyard Seasons
by Susan Branch
Little Brown and Company -- ISBN 0-316-10632-1 --- published in 1988 --- $22.95