From Publishers Weekly
In his enthusiastic introduction, John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, writes: "Authentic Southern food is not about pretension." Sure enough, this book by the proprietor of The Lady & Sons restaurant in Savannah, Ga., doesn't put on any airs. A great many recipes unabashedly list prepared foods among the ingredients. As an appetizer, Garlic Cheese Spread includes an eight-ounce package of cream cheese and an eight-ounce jar of Cheez-Whiz. Shrimp or Lobster Bisque contains, in addition to seafood, a can each of condensed tomato soup and condensed mushroom soup. The restaurant's most popular dessert is Gooey Butter Cakes, which starts with a box of Duncan Hines yellow cake mix. Still, some of the recipes attain a high level of regional authenticity: Georgia Cracker Salad is made with crushed saltines, tomato, scallions, hard-boiled egg and mayonnaise; Southern Fried Chicken acquires its crispy coating with a batter of eggs and self-rising flour. Readers concerned about high fat content should skip this book. But those looking for some distinctively American comfort food?and in a mood for some decidedly anti-nouvelle regression?might want to take a peek. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Savannah's popularity as a tourist destination has increased dramatically in the months that John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil has been on the New York Times best sellers list, and in his introduction to this cookbook, Berendt says Deen's restaurant is one he recommends to visitors as exemplifying "the very heart of Southern cooking." Deen (the Lady) says Southern cooking is "comfort food," and she and her two sons serve homey, completely unpretentious food at their popular downtown restaurant. Many of the recipes she includes here rely on convenience foods (canned soup, Cheese Whiz) and some have been perennial favorites in "community" cookbooks since the Fifties or Sixties. Area libraries will want copies; most others can skip.Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, has written an introduction to this volume, which celebrates the cooking of a noted downtown Savannah restaurant. The dishes offered will remind a lot of people of the state to which popular southern cooking has come. Love it or hate it, this sort of cooking teems with prepared mixes and packaged foods. Some recipes, such as the ones for cheese biscuits and applesauce bread, reflect the best and soundest southern traditions. Other recipes depend on canned soups or packaged cake mixes and frozen dairy topping. Home cooks will find the recipes easy to follow, and most dishes translate to other regions except for those requiring quantities of crabmeat and other local Georgia seafoods. Mark Knoblauch

FROM THE PUBLISHER

From one of the most frequently visited restaurants in Savannah, The Lady & Sons, comes this collection of down-home Southern family favorites.

SYNOPSIS

From one of Savannah's most popular restaurants comes this cookbook of classic southern family favorites, with an introduction by Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil author John Berendt.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In his enthusiastic introduction, John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, writes: "Authentic Southern food is not about pretension." Sure enough, this book by the proprietor of The Lady & Sons restaurant in Savannah, Ga., doesn't put on any airs. A great many recipes unabashedly list prepared foods among the ingredients. As an appetizer, Garlic Cheese Spread includes an eight-ounce package of cream cheese and an eight-ounce jar of Cheez-Whiz. Shrimp or Lobster Bisque contains, in addition to seafood, a can each of condensed tomato soup and condensed mushroom soup. The restaurant's most popular dessert is Gooey Butter Cakes, which starts with a box of Duncan Hines yellow cake mix. Still, some of the recipes attain a high level of regional authenticity: Georgia Cracker Salad is made with crushed saltines, tomato, scallions, hard-boiled egg and mayonnaise; Southern Fried Chicken acquires its crispy coating with a batter of eggs and self-rising flour. Readers concerned about high fat content should skip this book. But those looking for some distinctively American comfort foodand in a mood for some decidedly anti-nouvelle regressionmight want to take a peek. (May)

Library Journal