Book Review: Farm Fresh Southern Cooking

I love cookbooks! So I was super-excited when I saw that Thomas Nelson Publishing Group was offering Farm Fresh Southern Cooking: Straight from the Garden to Your Dinner Table for review.


Farm Fresh Southern Cooking: Straight From Your Garden to Your Table. Doesn't the title just make you smile?!

This is an awesome cookbook! It is organized into the following categories: Appetizers, Soups, Salads, Sides, Breads, Entrees, Desserts, Breakfast and Brunch, and Canning Instructions. The author, Tammy Algood, currently lives in Nashville but grew up in Mississippi so that makes her a real "southern-cooking" expert.


While I was reading through this cookbook, some of the recipes really stuck out as sounding very "southern" such as Hot Water Ham Cornbread, Bayou Crawfish Casserole, and Black-Eyed Pea Stew with Rice Waffles. But I guess I really can't say that with all certainty since I've been a northerner my entire life!


Even though some of the recipes call for more southern ingredients such as crawfish, catfish and okra, most of the recipes include ingredients that are easily found in any northern grocery store. And all the recipes sound really yummy and easy to make. Nothing too complicated here which I love since I don't have time to make complicated food. This is just down-to-earth, yummy cooking.


Most of the recipes are made with farm fresh veggies and fruits that you can pick from your garden, bring in to your kitchen, and prepare fresh for your family.

One of my favorite things about this cookbook, something that makes it really stand apart from others, is that the author includes spotlights featuring local small-farm, small-food business owners. I always love to read about others' entrepreneurial adventures, and so I found this very interesting. And I loved that it supports small-business owners.


This cookbook has many full-color photographs. And the photographs are high quality and fun to look at. I should note,however, that there is not a photo included for each recipe.


I really love this cookbook! I actually enjoyed reading it! It was a fun read and it's a cookbook that I will actually use. With many varied and interesting recipes, this is sure to be a cookbook I pull off my shelf over and over. And the really nice thing is that none of the recipes are overly complicated or weird.

Great cookbook!

*I received a complimentary copy of this cookbook from Thomas Nelson in exchange for my honest opinion.*