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| The Cornbread Gospels | 
 enlarge | Author: Crescent Dragonwagon
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $6.49
You Save: $8.46 (57%)
New (35) Used (13) from $5.64
Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 20111
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 392
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 7.8 x 1
ISBN: 0761119167
Dewey Decimal Number: 641
EAN: 9780761119166
ASIN: 0761119167
Publication Date: November 22, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: NEW!! WE SHIP 6 DAYS A WEEK!!
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| Customer Reviews:
Beth February 6, 2008
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
If you are not sure you could use a whole cookbook devoted to cornmeal and cornbread, you really should check this book out - it will wipe away any doubts you have that cornbread is not important in your life. First of all, this book can be READ, actually read, like a novel, I mean night-time reading. The stories and notes on nearly every page have been my evening reading and most enjoyably so. Then the recipes - every kind of cornbread, plus all kinds of cakes and other dishes using different kinds of corn meal. You can learn all kinds of things about corn meal - its history, the different forms it can take, and the various ways it is prepared. I am now making my way through the recipes, and so far its been excellent. The Vermont custardy cornbread is excellent; my daughter just told me its great with the black bean soup I made last night, but also good enough for dessert (she said with her mouth full of it). This cook book is worth it, do try it!
Who Doesn't Love Cornbread? February 2, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I laughed, I cried, I sat spellbound and on the edge of my seat to the very end! I was reading the newest Harry Potter book, right? Wrong. I just finished reading The Cornbread Gospels by Crescent Dragonwagon and I absolutely LOVE this book.
This is not just a cookbook. It's stories wound around history, looped with facts and hints and tied together with recipes that will join your repertoire and never, ever leave. It's not just cornbread recipes, either! It's muffins and pones and pancakes and go-withs like greens and soups.
I, like so many people that Crescent Dragonwagon met in her travels, grew up with cornbread and have a deep affection for it; not just because I love it, but because of the memories it brings with it each time it's pulled hot from the oven. When I told my mom about this book, the first thing out of her mouth was, "Grandma made cornbread every day of her life." I didn't know that! I knew grandma made it, of course, but I didn't know it was a daily thing for her. I asked mom if grandma had a recipe or if she (and I looked around and lowered my voice at this) made it from a box. Thankfully, mom said grandma always used a recipe, "...yellow cornmeal-always, a little flour, some sugar..." Just as I'd suspected.
At any rate, when I read about the history of cornbread and how it at one time was thought by some to be "poor people food", or that others were looked down upon for eating it, it nearly broke my heart. Cornbread is beautiful to me, and to think that anyone would think different was just not right. I kept reading, not able to stop, and found that thoughts turned around eventually. I didn't know there was so much to know about cornbread.
I couldn't wait to get started on making some of those recipes, so I chose 3 and got started. The first one was, of course, the first (and I feel-best) in the book, "Dairy Hollow House Skillet-Sizzled Cornbread", the very cornbread served by C.D. at her former Eureka Springs inn of the same name. Let me tell you, I didn't think there was much reason to make any other cornbread at all - ever - after that one. Even my husband a true *gasp* cornbread-hater (I'll deal with him later, don't you worry) liked it.
The next two were "Leora's Sweet-Milk Buttermilk Cornbread" and "Ronni's Appalachian Cornbread". Those greens I made the other day were made especially to go with these cornbreads - and they were perfect. The next day, I made Kush from the leftovers, which I only think we had since I'd made 3 pans of cornbread! I just loved having my cast iron pan out for something truly worthy of being made in it.
There is no other book you will ever need for a cornbread recipe. Not ever. This woman has traveled far and wide and found versions that span the globe. Did you even have a clue that cornbread was global?
I have lots of recipes left to try (there's over 200!), and I plan to make as many as I can. I urge you to get your own copy of this book.
Pass the buttermilk, please February 1, 2008
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
Well, I grew up in the South and I thought I knew cornbread, but I had no idea how many different kinds there were and how many variations could be cooked and eaten. It may take me the rest of my life to try all these wonderful receipes, but what fun it will be to try. An excellent book to add to the Cook Book collection.
Finally! Long overdue, but worth the wait January 18, 2008
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
I love to read, so I've often waited impatiently for my favorite fiction writer to publish her or his next novel. But this is the first time I've tapped my foot while waiting for a cookbook writer. As expected, CD comes through again with her fantastic follow-up to Passionate Vegetarian. I'll be cooking my way through these recipes, comparing, contrasting, and savoring every bite for years to come.
As I expected it would be, this is a fantastic book choc-full of corny information. I would never have imagined you could write such a book on a single, seemingly narrow subject, but CD proved that you can. I'm oh so glad she did.
If you love cornbread like I love cornbread, you gotta get this book.
 Too much comparsion? January 14, 2008
6 out of 24 found this review helpful
The book is helpful, somewhat interesting, and has great cornbread receipes. But personally I could do without all the blaa blaa concerning the differences and the why for's between Southern and Northern cornbreads. All I basically need are cornbread recipes and let me do my thing. By listing recipes from both regions, with some LIGHT commentary, hopefully I'm smart enough to see the differences between the two via their different ingredients. But overall I think it's an ok cookbook and certainly better then I could do.
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