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Usually ships in 1 business days | | | | | | “Cornbread? I LOVE cornbread!” For six years, that’s the response Crescent Dragonwagon got when people asked her what she was writing about. Over time, she came to understand: Not only is hot, just baked cornbread delicious, it evokes—powerfully—the heart, soul, and taste of home.
There is an abundance of satisfying cornbreads, as Crescent discovered when she followed the cornbread trail from the Appalachians to the Rockies to the Green Mountains. Traveling to family reunions, potlucks, tortilleras, stone-grinding mills, and the National Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburgh, Tennessee, she heard the stories, tasted the breads, learned the secrets. Join her in this overflowing cornucopia: over 200 irresistible recipes for cornbreads, muffins, fritters, pancakes, and go-withs. Cornbreads from below the Mason-Dixon line (Skillet-Sizzled Buttermilk Cornbread, Truman Capote’s Family’s Alabama Cornbread) meet those from above (Durgin-Park Boston Cornbread, Vermont Maple-Sweetened Cornbread). Southwestern offerings—Chou-Chou’s Dallas Hot Stuff Cornbread, delectable homemade tamales, and tortillas from scratch—meet internationals like India’s Makki Ki Roti. A Thanksgiving with Crescent’s Sweet-Savory Cornbread Dressing is rapturous. Desserts like Very Lemony Gorgeous Cornmeal Pound Cake make any meal exceptional.
Along with this, Crescent gives us the greens, the beans, the salads, stews, and soups that accompany cornbread to perfection. And she tells us the stories, too. Enthusiastic and heartfelt, this thoughtful, exuberant love song to America’s favorite breadstuff and all that goes with it will embrace readers and cooks everywhere. | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Author: | Crescent Dragonwagon | | Paperback: | 392 pages | | Publisher: | Workman Publishing Company | | Publication Date: | November 22, 2007 | | Language: | English | | ISBN: | 0761119167 | | Product Length: | 7.48 inches | | Product Width: | 7.5 inches | | Product Height: | 0.88 inches | | Product Weight: | 1.37 pounds | | Package Length: | 7.87 inches | | Package Width: | 7.8 inches | | Package Height: | 1.02 inches | | Package Weight: | 1.32 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 30 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 30 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
49 of 49 found the following review helpful:
 The essential "cornbread" making cookbook. But so much more. Jul 26, 2008
By J. Lesley
"(Judy)"
This book was given to me by my daughter because she has heard me talking about when my husband and I went on a trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and met Crescent Dragonwagon (as a consumer, not personally). Her restaurant did indeed serve wonderful food and the entire trip was a fantastic experience. I must confess, when I found out that this recipe book concentrated solely on cornbread I was skeptical about it holding my interest. I was wrong.
Let's get the negatives out of the way first:
1. There are no pictures of the finished dishes. I REALLY like pictures.
****EDIT 1/3/2010**** In fairness to Ms Dragonwagon I would like to point out that she added pictures of some of the finished recipes here on the Amazon book page. They are really good photos and will give you an idea of how some of the recipes will look after they are prepared. I'm still cooking up a storm from this book and I'm sure you will too if you decide to try it. Enjoy!****
2. With the exception of the cover, the entire book is black, white, and a kind of pumpkin/orangie color. Not very exciting visually.
3. It is my opinion that much too much emphasis was given to the differences between cornbread as made in the South and cornbread as made in the North. Why go to so much trouble? Just put in the recipes and let me decide if I want to try them.
4. After a while (by about page 100) I really wasn't paying very much attention to the huge amount of information regarding cornmeal and history. Too, too much information.
Now for the positives:
1. It is very obvious that this book was a labor of love for this author. She knows her cornmeal from top to bottom. She even states in the book that this project was six years in the making and I can certainly believe it.
2. Each recipe begins with an anecdote concerning where it came from, who gave it to her or how it evolved over the years. These were simply fascinating to read.
3. Each recipe has obviously been tried, used, and tried again by Ms Dragonwagon. Even within the instructions for the recipes she puts in little nuggets of information to help with preparation, cooking or presentation. I appreciated that and it made each recipe seem very warm and personal.
4. These recipes are GOOD! I have tried four so far and absolutely loved each one, my hubby on the other hand only liked two.
DAIRY HOLLOW HOUSE SKILLET SIZZLED CORNBREAD - The first words out of hubby's mouth were, "Does this cornbread have sugar in it?" He didn't like it, I liked it but will not add the sugar next time. We are firmly entrenched in the no-sweetener-in-cornbread camp. On cornbread, now that's a whole other story. I must confess to liking this but I'm more lenient in food basics than my sweet darlin'.
JANE'S TEXAS-via-VERMONT MEXICAN CORNBREAD - I invited two friends over to taste test this with me. (Thanks Bonnie and June for being willing to sacrifice in the name of research!) We LOVED this cornbread and so did hubby when he got home. I paired it with.....
UNCANNILY GOOD SANTA FE STYLE QUICK GREEN CHILE SOUP-STEW - The recipe says it serves 4 to 6 generously. No, make that 10 to 12 generously. It was a fabulous vegetarian bean soup which just took wings and flew when combined with the cornbread mentioned above. For non-vegetarian consumption I would add some shredded chicken or a nice grilled polska kielbasa sausage.
PATSY'S CORNBREAD SALAD - I have this recipe in a pamphlet/recipe book from Lodge Manufacturing (makers of cast iron cookware) and it has always been a favorite of mine (hubby doesn't like this no matter what I do to it!). The difference here is that Patsy developed the recipe over time and hers has a different dressing and believe you me, that dressing makes that salad completely scrumptious! I'll never use bottled dressing again.
I am impressed with this cookbook. Yes it may seem to have a rather narrow focus but it isn't just about cornbread, it is about cornMEAL. That ingredient can be combined with others to make some pretty wonderful dishes. I can imagine myself using this book over and over and over for years to come. If you don't already have a well seasoned cast iron skillet, invest in one. They are relatively inexpensive and come from the factory pre-seasoned now so you get to skip that step. The cast iron skillet makes that indescribably delicious crunchy/crispy crust which makes cornbread a food of the gods. With this book you will have recipes to try out for months, and that's just counting the cornbreads.
22 of 22 found the following review helpful:
Beth Feb 06, 2008
By B. A. Kaplin
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!
18 of 19 found the following review helpful:
As ever.... Dec 19, 2007
By Ms. V. Garland
As ever, this cook book by Crescent Dragonwagon is as much at home on your bedside table as in the kitchen. Read it for history -- who'd have thought corn had so much!?; for personal inspiration -- that comes with the territory, with Crescent; for laughs -- her friends and anecdotes about them are pretty funny; for sociology -- you think I'm kidding?; and oh, yeah, for recipes. Amazing recipes. Well researched, carefully documented, easily followed, they come from old family recipes and beyond. Cornbread, we learn from Cornbread Gospels, is not just for soup, anymore. It's for breakfast. It's for dessert. It's good, 24/7.
11 of 11 found the following review helpful:
Who Doesn't Love Cornbread? Feb 02, 2008
By AM Coleman
"Anne"
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.
12 of 13 found the following review helpful:
sizzling! Dec 26, 2007
By C. Smith
As another reviewer suggested, this is the sort of cookbook that you'll want to keep near you for lively, inspired reading. By the time I finally got this book back into the kitchen, it was already dog-eared, and I've been cooking from it almost every day since. The recipes are clear, delicious, and fail-proof. I have been a big fan of Crescent Dragonwagon's Inspired Vegetarian cookbook because she's such a fantastic, generous writer. In The Cornbread Gospels, she dives deep into a beloved subject and just keeps dishing up great recipes, corn-lore, and people stories. She also has included recipes for side-dishes and ways to use leftovers. When you open up your oven to pull out a batch of sweet-smelling cornbread (try the Dairy Hollow Skillet-Sizzled recipe), all will be right in your world. Crescent Dragonwagon knows how to satisfy our bellies, minds, and hearts.
See all 30 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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