Farm Fresh Southern Cooking by Tammy Algood

I like many things about this cookbook: It's size is handy in the kitchen. The photographs are lovely. The layout and design makes recipes easy to follow. The writing is clear and engaging. Many of the recipes appeal to me because they make vegetables more interesting. I've been  on Weight Watchers for almost a year now (ahem, 44 pounds :) and have been enjoying eating more fruits and vegetables. This book gives some new and really very good ideas for making all those zero point goodies a little more interesting.

The two things about this cookbook that I'm not fond of:  It's use of ingredients I don't use much anymore-- like biscuit mix, canned soup, and processed sugar. (They're not in every recipe of course.) The book also has quite a menagerie of ham, pork, shrimp, lobster, catfish, and crayfish recipes which I don't use (typically) and wasn't expecting in a "Straight from the Garden" recipe book.

But, in spite of a few surprises, the vegetable recipes look like they're going to be great and the one I've tried is a keeper (Cherry Rice Salad).