5 comments about Neo Soul: Taking Soul Food to a Whole 'Nutha Level.

1. I saw Lindsey Williams featured in Newsweek and I went immediately and bought this book for a friend of mine. She's been trying to find ways to lighten up her down-home cooking and I thought this was right up her alley.
   
   We paged through the book together and checked out the recipes - which are fantastic. Mr. Williams' personal story was also a highlight, as were tidbits like celebrity favorites. My friend recognized familiar recipes immediately and was pleased her new cookbook.
   
   Naturally, being health conscious, we looked at the nutritional information. That's when we started to get confused.
   
   For one, the calorie and fat counts for some of the desserts were very high. I know - it's DESSERT! If the re-done version was still bad, I figured it must mean the "original" version must have been far worse. And I know you don't eat it all the time, anyway. But I've never seen a "light" cookbook feature a recipe with 4 sticks of butter in the ingredient list. As tempting as the pound cake sounds, I'm afraid it would be something I couldn't eat on my plan.
   
   Secondly, I'm convinced that the nutritional counts are inaccurate. Some recipes had 40 or 50+ grams of fat in them - which is just astronomical for one serving. The calorie count would seem appropriate for a serving, but fat (and sometimes sodium) seemed like it might actually apply to the whole dish. There were so many great LIGHT recipes that we looked at, scanning the ingredient list only to find healthy ingredients but non-attractive nutritional counts. It didn't make sense.
   
   It's such a good cookbook with really great re-mixes of traditional recipes. Even after the confusion, my friend still liked the book. I just wish I could pick Mr. Williams' brain over some of the recipes & techniques.........Why not reduce the amount of high-fat coconut in the coconut cake recipe? Why actually FRY the fried apples when there are other ways to cook them without 3 cups of oil? Do we really have to use 4 sticks of butter in the pound cake or is there a way we can sub out some calories? Why would chicken & peaches have 24g of fat?
   
   Bottom line: the book has some fantastic recipes. I would just recommend for those who are nutritionally aware to do your own calculations (and maybe make a few more of your own substitutions) and I'm sure the numbers won't look so bad.



2. Book gives good ideas but nothing new - recylced old ideas - the author gives too much personal information - good for him that he lost weight but enough already ~!



3. Lyndey Williams is a remarkable person who has come a long way. His journey from unhealthy and obese to fit and eating well is fantastic. His word is just as good as anybodies because he has been "there." I purchased two cookbooks, 1 for me and 1 for my mother. We tried numerous recipes and they turned out great. With these recipes you can substitute the high fat without substituting the great flavor. If you aren't looking for low fat try regular Syvlia's Soul Food in Harlem, hands down some of the greatest soul food available.



4. Other books have been written on soul food but here's something with a difference: it comes from the godson of Harlem's soul food cook Sylvia Woods and adds a healthy twist to a cuisine often associated with unhealthy fats. Author Lindsay Williams struggled with weight all his life and had to make some drastic changes when at 400 pounds he found food affecting his health. NEO SOUL reflects these changes, which caused him to lose more than half his weight, and provides readers with a new brand of healthy soul cooking which retains the ethnicity without the dangers.
   
   Diane C. Donovan, Editor
   California Bookwatch



5. This book was very encouraging. I've eaten in Sylvia's Restaurants in Atlanta and New York and the food was GRRRRREAT!!!!!!! Being a Southerner I know the challenges of resisting good old down home stick to your ribs cooking! I love books like this one and Pattie LaBelle's Lite Cuisine because many of the recipes offer good options for making food that taste good and at the same time is good for you. I think that this book can stimulate the thought processes regarding changing how you prepare the standard recipes you typically eat at home. Most people cook a standard rotation of menus in their homes. Books like this make you think about healthy options and how to substitute ingredients for your meals at home.

2 comments about BlackBerry Soul Celebrations: A Handbook for African-American Bridal and Baby Showers.

1. I bought this book and really loved it! I needed some help planning a bridal shower for my best friend and this was definitely a life saver. I looked at some of the other shower books and they had the same things over and over. This book was different from everything I'd seen. There were so many games that I could relate to. The pictures are great as well. They reflect African-Americans which is something I hadn't seen in all the other books I looked at. My girlfriends and I had a ball playing the games from the Hip-hop and old school section. The games in the Television and Movie section were also fun. It's about time that someone did something like this. I would highly recommend it to everyone. Thanks to this book, my guests said it was the best shower they had been to.



2. You have volunteered or have been snagged to host a bridal or baby shower and you do not know where to begin. Or, you have done this before and want to add a little spice to the same ole, same ole. BLACKBERRY SOUL CELEBRATIONS: A Handbook for African-American Bridal and Baby Showers by Kimberly K. Smith is a good place to start. Both the bridal and baby shower sections are filled with creative African-American themes that you can customize to your own liking. The author provides suggestions for budgeting, locations, invitations, games, and the list goes on. With more than 100 games, children and men can be included in the celebrations and feel a part of it. Smith brings it all together by providing plenty of online resources.
   
   BLACKBERRY SOUL CELEBRATIONS: A Handbook for African-American Bridal and Baby Showers is a small book filled with a wealth of ideas to plan the best bridal or baby shower on any budget. It is set up in a user-friendly format with easy to photocopy pages. If you utilize the ideas within, you are sure to be a winner if you are lucky enough to be tagged the hostess of any event. It is also a nice gift for the person on your list who enjoys planning and hosting. I enjoy planning and hosting events and this self-help guide will come in handy in the future.
   
   Reviewed by Dawn R. Reeves
   of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

4 comments about Rufus Estes' Good Things to Eat: The First Cookbook by an African-American Chef (Dover Cookbooks).

1. Dover Publications has reprinted Rufus Estes' Good Things to Eat: The First Cookbook by an African-American Chef, the first cookbook by an Afro-American chef, returning this time-lost 1911 culinary classic to print. It's refreshing to read a title from the past which doesn't skimp on the lard or the fats, and intriguing to read about Estes' Southern childhood and early years as a railway attendant, while the easy recipes for Baked Milk (an early form of custard), or Parsnip Fritters.



2. This is a good book to add to your collection if you are into collecting cookbooks or African American collectibles. There is a very brief introduction by the author of his life. It doesn't go into a lot of detail of his experiences as a chef but names a few places where he worked. Some of the recipes may be familiar to the seniors out there. I remember my grandmother preparing dishes that were similar in nature to some of the recipes listed.
   
   Obviously, this isn't a cookbook like the ones of our generation. The recipes are very brief, don't always list proportions, and are skimpy in preparation detail. If you purchase this and decide you want to try something, make sure you read the recipe over a few times to ensure that it flows and will work. For example, the fried chicken recipe instructs you to steep the chicken but there isn't enough liquid mentioned in the recipe for that, and the instructions on cooking the marinade are vague as they only specify that the liquid is heated. Since the marinade or steeping liquid includes carrots and turnips (yes, really) you have to assume that either water or broth was used and the mixture cooked until at least those vegetable were softened.
   
   I suppose the recipes are in the tradition of the cooking like Grandma used to do, a pinch of this or a spoonful of that with most of the detail being committed to memory!
   
   The title says that this is the first cookbook by an African American Chef. However, there is another book (available at Amazon), "What Mrs. Fisher Knows About Old Southern Cooking" that was published in 1881.



3. This is more than a cookbook (because most recipes you can't recreate), it is a historical account of life as a slave cook.



4. It is an honor for me to purchase a cookbook written by the first published African American chef. I am looking forward to duplicating the dishes... He made it so easy to follow so anyone can do this.

5 comments about Sweet Potato Pie.

1. Kathleen Lindsey has written a wonderful book that captures the spirit of family love and unity. I have purchased four books and I've given three to family members as gifts. The artwork is excellent and beautifully captures the story. You will love how Sadie, the narrator, tells a heartwarming story of a family uniting together to save their farm. "Sweet Potato Pie" is a sweet story written by a talented author.



2. Sweet Potato Pie is a wonderful book. I have bought one for every child in my family. This book will make you laugh, cry and feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The story is very heartwarming and fun. I recommned this book to everyone. The illustrations will make you want to read the book over and over again. Thank you Kathleen Lindsey for writing this wonderful book!



3. As a former grammar school librarian, I highly recommend Sweet Potato Pie by Kathleen D.Lindsey. This book can be used as a
   springboard to discussions about families and problem solving.
   I would also recommend it as a gift for a favorite child. The illustrations are a wonderful compliment to the story. I tried the recipe for the pie crust and got rave reviews at Thanksgiving. Get it - you'll be glad you did!!



4. What a treat! A delightfully written, beautifully illustrated treasure that will hold a special place on my bookshelf for many years to come. I've already read it to two of my grandchildren, and very successfully used it in a tutoring session with an older child. This lovingly crafted story of love, determination, and family provided a springboard to discussion with my student that proved enlightening for both of us. He has even asked to read it again next session. Bravo, Kathleen Linsey! When can we expect the next?



5. Seventy-five dollars seem like a fortune to one family, until Mama get a revelation to sell sweet potato
   pies at the Harvest Convention. The family unite using their individual skills. Mama's sweet potato pies leave the town people begging for more of the now famous sweet potato pies. The family discover the secret to success is family unity and Mama's sweet potato pies.

3 comments about The Kitchen Diva! The New African-American Kitchen.

1. The New African-American Kitchen is much more than just a cookbook. This is a beautifully presented book that provides historical information and an insight into the cultures that brought us this wonderful food. The Kitchen Diva's personality comes through loud and clear and this cookbook is a wonderful addition to any kitchen.



2. I have seen the Kitchen Diva on TV and wanted the show recipe collection. Unfortunately, this book did not include them.



3. Loved it, loved it, and love it! I have been cooking a long time.The macaroni and cheese recipe is the best I have tried. I appreciate this book because I learn so much about the experience and history while tweaking my own cooking. My husband and sons have been very happy with the recipes I have tried. I will buy more of her works.

2 comments about Hog and Hominy: Soul Food from Africa to America (Arts and Traditions of the Table: Perspectives on Culinary History).

1. I enjoyed this book immensely! I found that it gave excellent detail on the origins of soul food and tied it nicely from colonial America to modern day America. This book filled in the historical holes that I have found in the Food Network, Discovery Channel etc... programs about soul food and Southern cooking.
   
   The book is both a scholarly work as well as an entertaining read. I have no doubt that Dr. Opie will add "Best Selling Author" to his resume of accomplishments.



2. I had a lot of interest in the topic but found the book hard going. In the first half, Opie establishes that Africans were already familiar with American foods like corn and black-eyed peas before the slave trade really got under way. He goes on to cite (I can't say "incorporate") various sources which produce factoids about the slaves' cuisine. The first half of the book reads like a dissertation that has been adapted into a book, common enough in academia.
   
   The book does get interesting in Chapter 7, "The Chitlin Circuit." Here Opie clarifies the origin of the term "soul food" as something that grew out of the civil rights struggle, particularly in the 1960s. Opie acknowledges that the hog jowls, grits, chitlins, greens and so on represent the same food eaten by white southerners, especially poor white southerners. He quotes Amari Baraka, Pearl Bowser and many others to show their effort to claim this cuisine as a central part of African-American culture.
   
   There's a lot of info in this book (although it is too focused on New York City), but the great, sweeping STORY of black people's eating is still waiting for a writer.

3 comments about Cooking the Gullah Way, Morning, Noon, and Night.

1. 
   Celebrity Chef Sallie Ann Robinson, a native of the famous Sea Island known as Daufuskie Island located just down the Savannah River between the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia, has made guest appearances on numerous cooking shows and been profiled in such publications as the 2005 Old Farmer's Almanac, Southern Living, and National Geographic. In COOKING THE GULLAH WAY, MORNING, NOON, AND NIGHT, her book of highly appealing regional recipes and personal memoir, Robinson goes beyond writing about her native Gullah culture to honoring, sharing, and preserving its customs and dialect with the kind of affectionate familiarity, and certainty of knowledge, that only a fifth-generation daughter of the island could possess.
   
   There are many levels on which to appreciate Cooking the Gullah Way. Lovers of exceptionally good food might justifiably desire to simply roam through its pages, pick out favorite recipes, and feast on their findings. Yet the recipes themselves often provide more than satisfying pleasures for the palate simply by virtue of names that reflect Robinson's coastal heritage sensibilities. Imagine, for example, a filling breakfast of the author's "Gullah Bacon Corn Muffin" with a side dish of "Sassy Strawberry Preserves"; a lunch featuring "Sallie's Seafood Spaghetti" with "Yondah Black-Eyed Pea Soup"; or a dinner of "Grilled Fresh Vegetables," "Local Sea Island Country Boil," and "Country Candied Yams with Raisins" all washed gently down by your choice of "Soothing Sassafras Tea," "Ol' Country Lemonade with Orange," or a homemade wine such as "`Fuskie Backyard Pear Wine." Such mouth-watering teasers defeat all attempts at resistance.
   
   However: a major special feature in Cooking the Gullah Way is Robinson's chapter on "Gullah Folk Beliefs and Home Remedies." As the author writes, "Those times living on Daufuskie without a television or radio to inform us about the weather made us wiser as we learned nature's ways."
   
   Chapter sections on "Living with Nature" and "Sea Island Folk Beliefs" offer notes of real interest for students of southern culture and history. Moreover, in these days of economically challenged households, the section on "'Fuskie Old-Fashioned Home Remedies" offers possible alternatives and/or supplements to medicines for the treatments of a variety of ills. Everything from asthma and earaches to high blood pressure and toothaches is covered with a note of caution to first, "learn about any remedy and be aware of the good and bad sides of it."
   
   If the winning recipes and folk remedies make Cooking the Gullah Way a homemaker's dream companion book, the down-to-earth wisdom and observations shared through the interwoven stories make it a delectable choice for the general reader as well. We smile with appreciation as Robinson's "Pop" explains that in the morning when he calls out, "Off and on it!" to his still sleeping family, the phrase means for every able body to "Get off ya backside and on ya feet." And we nod with humored enlightenment when he points out that, "A heap may see, but only a few knows"--meaning that seeing is not necessarily synonymous with understanding. With that in mind, what we need most to understand about Cooking the Gullah Way, Morning, Noon, and Night, is that this book delivers as much delicious nurturing for the soul as it does nourishment for the body.
   
   
   by Author-Poet Aberjhani
   author of The American Poet Who Went Home Again
   and Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance (Facts on File Library of American History)



2. Loved this book. It holds alot of history and good cooking. This is of course strickly Gullah cooking and not just good ole southern cooking. Great addition to collection.



3. I can't decide what I like better, the mouth watering recipes or the delightful stories. Sallie Ann brings to life a rich culture and community so rare and fast fading. Fortunately, even today on Daufuskie slave descendents own vast tracts of land, the First Union African Baptist Church conducts worship each Sunday, roaming chickens cluck alongside goats, and dozens of original Gullah cottages remain (some with haint blue trim to scare away spirits). If you can't experience this island first hand, at least find yourself a favorite recipe and sit out on the front porch to enjoy it and one of Sallie Ann's stories!

4 comments about Real Men Cook: Rites, Rituals, and Recipes for Living.

1. This book is a culmination of recipes and stories from a unique annual family event "Real Men Cook", which focuses on the joys of fatherhood and cooking. This book is a wonderful addition to the library of anyone who finds joy in preparing meals for the ones they love.



2. Kofi and his wife, Yvette, are co-founders of Real Men Cook for Charity. They sponsor the Real Men Cookout, which is a Father's Day Charity event designed to celebrate black men as positive role models--everyday men, as well as celebrities. The charity started in Chicago and today, it is celebrated in over twelve cities. The cookbook is more than just recipes. There are stories/essays and poems to help celebrate the African American culture by and about many different people. The stories are just as good as the food. Enjoy!



3. A cook book, a history book a great gift! I love a man who cooks, and Real Men, do cook. My husband James cooks brunch each Sunday and my friend Terry Allen (p. 40) of Dallas, has found his place in cooking history with his heritages dishes preserved in the book. Real Men Cook highlights exceptional, amazing men cooking mouth watering dishes. Give your favorite guy a copy of this `real men' cookbook and you can support a great non-profit that celebrates ordinary American men being extraordinary in major cities; Dallas, Chicago, Los Angles, New Orleans, and all across the America.



4. This will help you try some meals that you love but can't find someone to make for you. Now you can stop calling your mama, sister, and bugging your wife to find out how to make great dishes. I know it is hard for us to read instructions but this is an easy read and fillingly rewarding.

4 comments about What Mrs. Fisher Knows About So. Cooking (Cooking in America).

1. As soon as I learned of this book's existence, I ordered a copy for myself. I love cooking (and cookbooks), and I am also fascinated by the kind of first-person, anecdotal history that can be derived from the writings or records of ordinary people living long ago. This work--the first cookbook by an African-American, actually a former slave, originally published in 1881-- appeals to both of those interests, and, in addition, is a curious little conversation piece to display on a bookshelf. The recipes are not ones you will turn to each night when making dinner, but they are fun to experiment with, as long as you rewrite the directions first in their proper order (they are written in a stream-of-consciousness style), and as long as you read the historical notes that define the units of measure used in the recipes. This book could be a great guide for a "historical reinactment" of a Civil War era dinner, or, if not, then it is at least a selective culinary history of the Old South. Most interesting to me are the medicinal recipes, like blackberry syrup as a remedy for dysentery, and the recipe for "infant diet." This edition contains not only the original cookbook, but an informative afterword that explains some historical facts about Mrs. Fisher and the society around her. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in American history, African-American history, or the art of cooking.



2. "What Mrs. Fisher Knows" is a charming antique and should be read by anyone with an interest in African-American or Southern cookery, or anyone who would like to re-create authentic 19th century American cuisine.

   This reprint of "What Mrs. Fisher Knows" was brought into being by Karen Hess. Hess has provided an informative introduction to the recipes (which are reproduced in their entirety), explaining many 19th century cooking concepts which may be unfamiliar to the modern cook and providing as much of Abby Fisher's story as can be found. In Fisher's original text it is interesting to see some of the earliest known written recipes for several dishes and to discover others which are almost unknown today. Fisher's original recipes are typical of 19th century (and earlier) cookbooks. Each recipe is several sentences in a single paragraph, with no separate ingredient list. In many cases it is assumed that the cook will know how to prepare something that is taken as a given in the recipe. This is a cookbook from a time when all cooking was "from scratch", when there were few labor-saving kitchen gadgets, and printed books were luxury items. It is not a step-by-step cookbook. [For that, see Chef Paul Prudhomme or Southern Living.]

   "Good Things to Eat" by Rufus Estes is sometimes called the first cookbook written by an African-American. "What Mrs. Fisher Knows" was published thirty years earlier. (It could be said that Mrs. Fisher, a former slave, did not actually "write" the book as she evidently did not know how to write; she dictated the recipes to a member of the Women's Cooperative Printing Office in San Francisco which published the work in 1881.)

   (The editor, Karen Hess has done similar work on Mary Randolph's "The Virginia Housewife" and "Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery and Booke of Sweetmeats".)




3. The recipes are cleverly presented but they consist of brief summaries or notes about cooking.



4. This is more than a cookbook (because most recipes you can't recreate), it is a historical account of life as a slave cook.

1 comments about Southern Soul Food: Mom's Favorite Family Recipes.

1. I marked so many pages in this cookbook for recipes I want to try(I am a mom of a large family and I cook from scratch several times a week)!This cookbook has good, filling, nutritious recipes that the family will love (and the kids will eat).At the same time, it also has recipes that "use up" odds and ends that I had around here that I was wondering what to do with.There are some diverse recipes, but they do not use hard-to-find ingredients. Most of these recipes use what I personally have on hand in my pantry, and they would use up some of the things that I need to use up.This is a good cookbook.The budget conscious family would especially like this, because these recipes will make your food dollar stretch further. (and they also taste good!) :)