I am not a cook. I mean, I can cook if I have to, but I'd much rather be reading. Some of you have to relate to that.

Luckily for me, I married a man who loves to cook. So I'll sit around and read or talk to him (i.e., distract him) while he's whipping up something delicious for dinner.

Then I took a job on days while he was still working nights. I knew I was in trouble.

I was going to have to fend for myself in the kitchen. I was appalled. What had I been thinking?

Once the shock wore off, I went looking for a cookbook. Christy Jordan was coming to my local indie soon and it sounded like I might like her cookbook. It sounded like I might like her. I didn't make it to the event for some reason (I think I was tired from work), but I did pick up the cookbook.

And I regret not going to that signing.

I had never heard of SouthernPlate.com, but I have now signed up on the email list.

My mom isn't really a cook either (she'd rather be reading in the winter or working outside in the summer), but she did learn how to make a few of these dishes when she was growing up. My grandmother is the one most likely to turn out the Southern food, but neither of them can give me a recipe. "Well, just put a little dab in the bowl and then stir it up and pour just a little bit of milk in until it looks right." "Um, when does it look right?" "You'll know." Hmmm. Actually, I don't.

Christy has a lot of my family's old favorites down in a form that I can actually follow. Yay! I'm a picky eater (I'm working on it), so I can't honestly say that I eat a lot of this food, but I have loved what I do eat. Pinto beans (or soup beans as my family calls them), gravy (for biscuits although I haven't gotten brave enough to attempt my own yet). There are lots of pictures, which my husband appreciates (because he likes to look over my shoulder and tell me what I'm doing wrong when I'm cooking), and I love that the book lays flat when I open it. I don't understand a cookbook that I have to hold open. Not very practical when you're as messy as I am.

What I love the most about the book are the family stories that accompany each recipe. She tells us who she got the recipe from, or who loved it, or a memorable occasion when it was served. I loved this glimpse into this Southern family. I am not someone who likes to pore over cookbooks, but I read every family story with every recipe. I felt like I got a good idea about Christy and her family, and I felt like they were people I would like to know.

I do wish that there weren't quite so many desserts included, simply because I do like to bake and already have plenty of dessert recipes. I do like that the cookbook is divided by seasons, although it would have been nice to have that subdivided by course rather than having everything mixed up in any old order within the seasons.

Anyway, I loved this cookbook and recommend it for anyone wanting to try their hand at "down home cooking." Thanks to Christy, I can finally make sweet iced tea! ( )

What I Liked

The meals are simple; there are no fancy schmancy ingredients to search out, etc.

Family - like myself, family seems important to Christy...she writes snippets all through the book about her family, where these recipes came from, etc.

Even though I don't think of Christmas as a "season," as Jordan says "it is often said," I did think that this section of recipes was the best. Sugared pecans, chocolate pie, coconut cake, peanut brittle, fudge, Chex mix, divinity, and hot chocolate are all recipes I grew up on as well.

What I Didn't Like

Photographs - There are nowhere near enough pictures in this cookbook for me. I am a very visual person and I need photos, lots of them...and not just photos of the finished product. Show me what the recipe looks like at least a few times in the midst of progress so that I'll know whether or not I'm on the right track. There's not even a photo of every recipe in here. I was very disappointed...but I blamed this on myself...I very seldom blindly order a cookbook without holding it in my hot little hands and flipping through it first. If I had taken the time to do that, I would have never bought A Southern Plate.

Southernness - I am a Southerner...all the way to my bone marrow. Since the day I bought this cookbook, I have tried and tried to find something in this cookbook that appealed to me. I even looked up Christy's Chicken & Dumplings recipe the other day when I was experimenting (she uses cream of chicken soup in her recipe). I have purposely put off writing this review so that I could find something in here I actually wanted to make...that sounded a little different than all the other cookbooks, pages out of magazines, etc. that I own. I couldn't find a thing. And, I'm truly sorry.

I don't mean this mean at all...I promise...but there were times when I felt Christy attributed certain aspects of homelife and cooking to Southern homes or specific regions in the South...for example, in her explanation of White Barbeque sauce Jordan indicates that most folks outside of North Alabama have never heard of it...even other Southerners. I know a whole lot of Southerners, from MS, LA, AL, FL, and even the Carolinas who would argue this point...I promise I'm not trying to be picky...I just felt Jordan tried to force some of the Southernness sometimes. Does that make any sense at all??
Another place where I felt this push was in the story where Jordan told how she'd gotten in trouble for not waving at a passerby farmer when she was first learning to drive and had received a harsh scolding from her grandfather. Huh? While the story is true for Jordan, she attributes this same attitude or set of rules to all Southerners...and that's simply not true. Nor does it mean when I (or anyone else) travel to Oakland or San Francisco, CA (or anywhere else for that matter) on business that I am not met with the same kind of friendliness. I've found that most folks within the states I've visited will carry on a polite conversation when one is started...those who don't are not comfortable bc of their personality rather than where they were brought up.
I could cite you many more examples where I felt Jordan overgeneralizes about Southerners and/or nonSoutherners. There was even one quote from pg. 89 that really actually upset me:

Despite the trend of celebrity chefs in the food world presenting us with fancy dishes with names most Southerners can't even pronounce, at the end of the day what we really want to come home to is the simple food we grew up on.

If this quote had been written by a non-Southerner, I would've actually been angry and taken it as an insult...I don't know what to think about this kind of statement being made by a Southerner...and a really nice one at that...does she just not realize what she just said? Who was her editor? and Why did he/she not point out these kinds of possible problematic issues to her?
I honestly think the generalizations were my greatest vice with this cookbook. Enough that they turned me off from everything and anything else I might have found positive in this cookbook.
And, I can thank my PhD for my tendency to over analyze even a friendly little cookbook...it's a disease I tell you.

Organization - just a personal preference of mine, but I don't like cookbooks organized by seasons...unless within those seasons the recipes are also organized by which type of recipe...appetizer, breads, meat, etc. I just get lost otherwise.

Fruit salad made with a can of fruit cocktail? My mama made traditional ambrosia...and we were NOT upper or even middle class citizens when I was growing up. There are other recipes as well which surprised me with packaged/processed ingredients and shortcuts....that's just not the way I remember it. Again, had Jordan told this story from her own home's perspective and her individual family's rather than generalizing her experiences to all Southerners, I might have been able to look at the recipes differently. As it is, however, I can't.

My Overall Response

I wanted to like this cookbook so much. I almost feel mean saying that I didn't. But, I didn't. A friend of mine returned from Savannah, Georgia after visiting there and eating at Paula Deen's restaurant. When I asked her about the restaurant experience, my friend said that it wasn't that big of a deal. The food served there was no different than what my friend's grandmother prepares for Sunday lunch. It was good, my friend said, but nothing special. I think that may be another reason why I wasn't over the moon about this cookbook.

Maybe also, instead of marketing this cookbook as a Southern cookbook and instead marketing it as a North Alabama cookbook, I might not have had so many problems with the over-generalizations...I don't know...you'd have to ask other North Alabamians about that. ( )

When I saw this cookbook as a pick for the Okra Picks Challenge, I knew I would be purchasing it. Truth be told, I had been looking for an excuse to purchase this book. I found Christy's website, Southern Plate and I love it! What could be better than to have her cookbook on hand? This cookbook is fabulous! The recipes are ones every cook can tackle easily. I have made several recipes from the book, my favorite being Aunt Looney's Macaroni Salad. It's the perfect salad for a warm summer day. There are two killer has brown casserole recipes that are now staples in our families menu rotation. There are great pictures in the cookbook which I find is a must in a cookbook. Chrisy has intertwined stories about her life and family in the book. I loved the story of her wedding ring. It brought tears to my eyes. After you finish reading the book you will feel like you are part of the family! You can feel the love in Christy's family when you read the stories that accompany the recipes. Thank you Christy for writing a fun cookbook full of recipes for real people and families. I thoroughly enjoyed this cookbook and highly recommend it! Be sure to check out Christy's website and her cookbook. ( )