Rating: 
Summary: She redeemed herself with this one ..
Review: I was afraid to buy this after her first book, but she really redeemed herself here. One day I just had to have smothered pork chops, macaroni & cheese & collard greens and this book DELIVERED on the pork chops & macaroni & cheese!! (use the first book for the greens though) .. These are now in the repertoire as my roommate prefers this to going out to a restaurant! Can't wait to try the red velvet cake!
Rating:
Summary: This one stays in the kitchen...
Review: I've been collecting cookbooks for over 25 years, since my high school days. I currently have over 300, but room in the kitchen for only about 5 - the current "workhorses" of the collection.Sylvia's book has stayed in the kitchen for several years now, where I can get to it quickly. I've tried many of the recipes in her book, and have been immensely pleased. Other reviewers have all said it as well or better than I could, but I have to add the fact that, when we're trying to come up with an idea for something for dinner, my husband has developed a habit of grabbing the book from its home on the counter between the refrigerator and microwave and saying, "well, let's see what Sylvia recommends today." I don't know about her other cookbook, but this one is definitely a keeper. Edited 10-12-2003: we tried the chicken perlow from this book tonight, essentially a one-pot dish featuring highly seasoned chicken and rice with a bit of bacon and onion. Absolutely delicious! I can see why it's been a family favorite across the south for generations.
Rating:
Summary: This one stays in the kitchen...
Review: I've been collecting cookbooks for over 25 years, since my high school days. I currently have over 300, but room in the kitchen for only about 5 - the current "workhorses" of the collection. Sylvia's book has stayed in the kitchen for several years now, where I can get to it quickly. I've tried many of the recipes in her book, and have been immensely pleased. Other reviewers have all said it as well or better than I could, but I have to add the fact that, when we're trying to come up with an idea for something for dinner, my husband has developed a habit of grabbing the book from its home on the counter between the refrigerator and microwave and saying, "well, let's see what Sylvia recommends today." I don't know about her other cookbook, but this one is definitely a keeper. Edited 10-12-2003: we tried the chicken perlow from this book tonight, essentially a one-pot dish featuring highly seasoned chicken and rice with a bit of bacon and onion. Absolutely delicious! I can see why it's been a family favorite across the south for generations.
Rating:
Summary: Real Soul Food At It's Best
Review: If your idea of soul food cooking is the extra crispy family meal deal at "Popeyes(TM)", Mrs. Woods' cookbook wants to show you the light. I received this cookbook by accident. I belong to a cookbook club and forgot to tell them I didn't want that month's selection. I've been able to prepare many of Mrs. Woods' recipes with great success. The tuna croquettes are very easy and delicious! They reheated well for lunch the next day too. The smothered pork chops are to die for, and I finally can make gravy my grand mother would have been proud of! The only trouble I ran into in the entire cookbook were several of her cooking times. In a few recipes, like the "Wednesday Night Special Meat Loaf", cooking took noticeably longer than specified. I know all ovens are different but when the recipe says bake for 1 hour and it took almost 2, that's a big difference. Still, the meat loaf was delicious and worth the wait. Along with some great recipes, if you enjoy reading your cookbooks, you'll spend lots of engrossed in this one. This cookbook is a human-interest biography with lots of humor and soul.
Rating:
Summary: Real Soul Food At It's Best
Review: If your idea of soul food cooking is the extra crispy family meal deal at "Popeyes(TM)", Mrs. Woods' cookbook wants to show you the light. I received this cookbook by accident. I belong to a cookbook club and forgot to tell them I didn't want that month's selection. I've been able to prepare many of Mrs. Woods' recipes with great success. The tuna croquettes are very easy and delicious! They reheated well for lunch the next day too. The smothered pork chops are to die for, and I finally can make gravy my grand mother would have been proud of! The only trouble I ran into in the entire cookbook were several of her cooking times. In a few recipes, like the "Wednesday Night Special Meat Loaf", cooking took noticeably longer than specified. I know all ovens are different but when the recipe says bake for 1 hour and it took almost 2, that's a big difference. Still, the meat loaf was delicious and worth the wait. Along with some great recipes, if you enjoy reading your cookbooks, you'll spend lots of engrossed in this one. This cookbook is a human-interest biography with lots of humor and soul.
Rating:
Summary: I'm Souled On Sylvia!
Review: In this restaurant cookbook, every reference to the famous establishment is followed by "TM" (for trademark). Clearly, Sylvia's Restaurant in Harlem, along with her Atlanta branch and her line of soul food products, is serious business. But hers is also an inspiring American success story, as hard work (and a healthy dash of hot sauce) propels Woods from rural poverty to celebrity-chef status. Woods tells the story of her extended and close-knit family and shares such fiery recipes as her Chopped Barbecued Pork and Herbert's "Hot As You Like It" Fried Corn, perfected by her husband of 55 years. Even if you are not hungry--this cookbook fills your soul.
Rating:
Summary: Finger Lickin' Good
Review: My family is entirely from Kentucky (except for myself, I was born in New York) and I grew up on good southern cooking.Though I love to cook, I never learned to cook real southern food. I regret not taking the opportunity when my great-grandmother was alive and my grandmother is too ill to teach me now. Sylvia's book covers many of the staple recipes my family whipped up and they are truly *easy* to prepare. She even has several more health conscious recipes for those who must have them (Southern and healthy are not synonymous). I've prepared many of her recipes with great success. The tuna croquettes are easy and yummy! You probably already have all the ingredients in your cupboards. The smothered pork chops are to die for, and I finally can make a gravy my grand mother would be proud of! There are a few recipes I simple will not try. I wouldn't as a kid and I'm not starting now! (Eeewww chitterlings! ), but if you're adventurous or your taste bud run that way, enjoy! If you love real southern cooking, you can easily make it yourself with this book. It's also filled with lots of interesting stories and anecdotes about her, her family and her restaurant. She's a wonderful woman whom I hope writes another cookbook soon!
Rating:
Summary: Mmmmmmm mmmmmm mmmmm mmmmm .....
Review: Of the two Sylvia's books, this is definitely the prize. Sylvia collects recipes from friends, family and neighbors, and writes nostalgically about picnics, church events and fun serving soul food. Sylvia founded a wonderful restaurant business in Harlem, NY and in Atlanta, Georgia. She reveals some of her secrets to soul food here. But the recipes are deceptively simple and unless you grew up on great soul food (I did not) you might have trouble to reproduce the complexity of flavor. Like Cajun cooking, soul food seems to be based on experience and a honed sense of taste for seasonings that defies documentation. But you can try, and this is a fine book for recipes, especially for chicken and for vegetables like limas and greens. Mmmmmmm.
Rating: 
Summary: Soul Food for sure!
Review: Sylvia Woods has provided a true delight to your senses! She relates rich experiences of growing up in the Hemminway S.C. community where people basically raised collected, slaughtered, canned and froze almost everything they ate. My memories of summers in the south as a child, eating packed sandwiches in the car on the way back north and going to the community freezer locker, came flooding back. And the recipes themselves, provide an accurate taste of many of the old southern favorites. For those not privileged to have connections in the south, it may have been hard to come by some of the recipes and Ms Woods has taken the time to chronicle the old classic southern dishes that were typically learned from grandmothers and mothers. But it's not just the food, it's the "soul" that's connected to the preparation. How many of us pass down great experiences connected to the fast food and pizza that we so often eat? Try some of my favorites: Frances's Lily White Biscuits, Nan's Extra-Special Marinated Spareribs and Peach Cobbler, put some soul into it and create lasting memories of your own.
Rating:
Summary: FIRST TRY
Review: This book is excellent if my 1st try came out GREAT. I tried the sweet potato pie, because my sister thinks she makes the best pie in the family; well not now! I end up making 4 pies in 5 days they turned out sooooooo GOOD!
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