An Appealing, Earnest Book of Southern Recipes.

This is Paula Deen's first cookbook. It predates her regular Food Network series and may predate her first appearance on any Food Network shows. Unless you look carefully to notice the imprimatur of the giant publisher Random House, you may take this for a local, self-published cookbook done by a church or women's social group to raise money, because that is exactly how the recipes come across. They represent your basic southern meat and potatoes and grits and collard greens menu and succeed very well in filling that niche.

It may be no surprise to many of you, but there are adults who do not like green vegetables and rice and zucchini and chicken and cooking with wine and pasta with any kind of sauce except a simple bottled tomato sauce. These people are very fond of Paula Deen's recipes, which use Bisquik and Lemon Pepper and Velveeta. I know because my mother is one of them.

I'm becoming a dedicated foodie whose heroes are Thomas Keller and Mario Batali and Tom Colicchio. Being presented to eat anything created in Provence or Apulia, let alone Bangalore or Damascus annoys my mother. Her poverty food was baked beans and mashed potatoes. Her delicacies are Pennsylvania Dutch recipes such as corn pie and stuffed pig stomach or anything, which includes cabbage.

While my mother is not especially fond of grits or leafy green vegetables, almost every other southern speciality is right down her alley. As far as she is concerned, Emeril can't cook, Martha is too bossy, and Sara is just OK.

I'm covering all of this simply to illustrate that while Paula's cookbook has practically nothing in it with a French or Italian accent, it is all very good and it has a large audience on whom creations at The French Laundry or Gotham Bar and Grill are simply showing off to no good purpose.

So, if you want that basic, no nonsense, stick to your ribs, feed those love handles kind of food, this is the book for you. The rather inspiring story of how Paula Deen and her sons got into the restaurant business and how they succeeded is a bonus.

For the foodies among us, I did find a few things over which to quibble. At one point, Ms. Deen says that she uses new or red potatoes for everything, including mashed potatoes. Since I cook for someone who loves mashed potatoes, I can tell from both reading and personal experience that russet (Idaho) potatoes may be the best for mashed potatoes, and Yukon Gold do well, but that waxy potatoes like many red skinned varieties just do not do as well. And, Ms. Deen goes and uses russets in several recipes anyway. On the other side of the coin, Ms. Deen has a useful little suggestion for keeping a supply of cooked and diced potatoes on hand in the fridge for quick salads. I also would have preferred that better specifications were given when 'lemon pepper' are used as an ingredient. This looks like a generic reference to a commercial product, yet no brand is specified. A brand or a recipe for 'lemon pepper' would have been good. A worse offense was a reference to 'Jane's Krazy Mixed Up Salt' with no entry in the index whereby one can locate the recipe for it. If the recipe for this stuff is in the book, I can't find it as I write this.

This is not, however, a book worth picking nits over. These are the kind of dishes which appeal to a very large number of people, so I am happy to inform them that this is their kind of cookbook. All the recipes are relatively easy with few steps and a very manageable number of ingredients. I like the fact that Paula indicates which of the recipes are actually served at her restaurant. I am more inclined to try that first.

This is your 'average Joe' kind of cookbook which should win the day.

Best Southern Food Restaurant on the Planet

I have not yet read the book, but I can vouch for the fact that the Lady & Sons restaurant in Savannah is arguably the best southern food establishment on earth. I have travelled all over the country, asking locals their favorites, testing the recommendations in Jan and Michael Stern's excellent "Road Food" book (which, amazingly, does not list Lady & Sons), and using my intuition for finding good restaurants, and I can say I have never had better fried chicken, macaroni & cheese, or banana cream pie in a restaurant or home. I make special trips to Savannah just to eat there. I love the great and often sophisticated cuisines of Paris, NY, Bologna, Hong Kong, and New Orleans -- but the pure enjoyment of a Lady & Sons meal stands up to all of them. Thank you, Paula Deen (whom I've not yet met, but am told is a wonderful woman), for sharing your recipes with the rest of the world.

Easy and Tasty Southern Food

I love this book! After watching Paula Deen on the Food Network for several months, I finally purchased her cookbooks. I have cooked several dishes from each catagory in this book and everything has received rave reviews from my family. Easy to find ingredients, clear instructions and quick prep time make it my favorite reference for meals. This book is perfect for beginners and veteran cooks alike. The recipes for Sausage Balls, Pecan Chicken, Mushroom Canapes, Banana Bread and Lemon Pie are some of my favorites, but every recipe is a winner.