Review Me Twice: The Neelys Celebration Cookbooks

I don't have TV, so I haven't watched the Food Network in several years, but when I did watch TV, I quite enjoyed it... most of the time.

See, Food Network shows have this habit of being really... over-the-top perky. Just look at Rachel Ray. Calm down, woman. It's just dinner. It's worse when you have two hosts, because they feed off of each other's behavior. As I recall, the Neelys do this.  But they are one of the most saccharine TV couples you'll ever watch do anything, ever.

The perkiness and the cuteness both shine through in this book... so if you don't like that, skip all the commentary parts (explaining where some recipes came from, what situations they would use these for, stories about holidays, etc.) and get straight to the recipes.

This is a from-scratch cookbook. I don't recall seeing any prepackaged ingredients (I'm looking at you, Sandra Lee).

The Neelys are southerners, so this is good old "down home" (ha! that's their show! "Down Home with the Neelys"!) country cooking. But not to the point that - I think - it alienates non-southerners. (I wouldn't know; this is the kind of food my family makes, because they're from NC.) You've got collards, devils on horseback, mustard slaw, corn bread sticks... but a bunch of not-south-exclusive stuff too. YUM. Yum to everything.

I'm with Alex on the YUM factor.  There was a TON in this book that just sounded delicious and the things that I cooked from it were also delicious.  That's right, I COOKED just for those of you on this blog.

And Alex is right.  There's nothing in this that's prepackaged, which is both nice and kind of annoying at the same time.  Yes, I can make your spice rub really easily, but making their BBQ sauce AND their pork BBQ just for one recipe?  That's a little obnoxious.  So I switched out some ingredients to make the recipe easier for me, and it worked out just fine.

The things I made (potato salad, bacon wrapped shrimp) were both DELICIOUS.  A little time consuming, but really yummy.  This book makes some great things, but personally, I don't think it's a very good beginners cookbook.

Favorite Cookbook

First things first...

Merry Christmas!

Now... let us tell you about our favorite cookbooks!

I know a lot of people swear by Betty Crocker or Julia Child as having written the cookbook you need to own... but for me, it's the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.

If you just moved out of your parents' place and you're trying to figure out the basics, like baking a potato or hard-boiled eggs or the basics of food safety (cross-contamination, knife handling, storage guidelines) you need this book.

If you've been making the same ten dishes for dinner for a year and you're bored, you need this book.

If you have a potluck or family dinner or any other event where you need to whip something up to share with people, you need this book.

It's just one of those old standbys that might sit on the kitchen shelf gathering dust for years at some point, but when you need it, you're so glad you know exactly where it is.

Full disclosure? I don't own this cookbook. But I think every other household in my family does.

Are you a lazy cooker?  Do you have a crock pot?  Then Fix-it-and-forget-it is the cookbook that you need in your life.

Honestly, I love my crock pot.  I use it all the freakin' time and I cook so many things in it.  Chicken, pork, steak, anything.  You can cook ANYTHING in a crock pot.

I own Fix it and forget it lightly, if you're someone looking to watch your figure, but I also want fix it and forget it five ingredients.  All of the recipes in the book are five ingredients or less.

There's a ton of different versions of the cookbook and they're all amazing.  I was given my copy of it by someone who had two.  Really, crock pots are amazing and so is this cookbook.

Author Bio: Patrick & Gina Neely

Pat and Gina Neely are just about the bubbliest couple you'll find on Food Network. They co-own their restaurant, Neely's BBQ, which has been featured on "Road Tasted" (hosted by Paula Deen's sons) and they co-host two shows on Food Network: "Down Home with the Neelys" (which premiered in 2008) and "Road Tasted with the Neelys." This week, we're doing something kind of new and different: we're reviewing their cookbook, The Neelys Celebration Cookbook: Down Home Meals for Every Occasion.

Aren't they just so cute?

Get ready, everyone... it's a week full of food-and-book talk, which are, personally, my two favorite things to talk about.