From the more than 5000 recipes that Southern Living has available on its web site, the editors have assembled 550 recipes that are web site favorites of readers. These recipes have all received hundreds, if not thousands, of hits and have all earned five star ratings. Readers, invited to leave comments, have given tips for substitutions, suggestions about new variations, and menu ideas, all included here. The result is a book of completely tested recipes which have proven to be most popular with Southern Living's on-line readers, recipes that vary from the typically southern (stir-fried okra, catfish, and ham with collard greens), to old standards (tuna noodle casserole, pot roast, and chili), interesting sandwiches (smoked turkey wraps with caramelized onions, shrimp gyros with herbed yogurt spread), an extensive soup assortment (including my favorites--curried peanut soup, and witches' brew chicken soup), and fine vegetable and dessert sections.

The site's #1 recipe, in terms of popularity, is King Ranch Chicken Casserole, a southern standard calling for chicken, peppers, onions, cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, tomatoes with chiles, seasonings, corn tortillas, and 8 oz. cheddar cheese. The high-fat content, about 10 g. of saturated fat per serving typifies many of the recipes that are reader favorites here. The Sweet Potato Creme Brulee, which, frankly, looks and sounds delicious, has 28.8 grams of saturated fat per serving. The Three-Cheese Mashed Potato Casserole has about 26 g. of fat per serving. (According to cardiologists, a healthy diet should have no more than 10 - 20 grams of saturated fat per DAY.)

The high fat content is not the fault of Southern Living, which is providing what readers want, but it would be helpful if the nutritional content were provided for each of these recipes. (The fat content here is based on my own calculations.) SL includes lighter fare in its magazine, and a few of those lighter recipes are included here, but it is clear from the popularity of many of these recipes that America's cooks prefer the taste of high fat content.

If you are looking for good standard recipes, southern specialties, luscious desserts and appetizers, and veggies and meats for which fat content is not an issue, this is a wonderful cookbook. The recipes are well tested, taste good, and have the endorsement of thousands of home cooks. The many illustrations show them to be attractive, and the directions make them easy to reproduce. If you have health issues and/or are looking for low-fat alternatives, however, you may want to seek other sources for your recipes. n Mary Whipple

I bought this cookbook a while ago and have really enjoyed it. Everything I've made has been quite tasty, and many recipes have been excellent. I really like that they included comments from their website, because often the comments will include variations on the recipes, as well as what others especially liked about the recipe. There are a wide variety of recipes, from appetizers and beverages to main dishes, breakfast items, and deserts. Some use everyday ingredients, but there are also recipes that are a little fancier, so it's a really nice mix. I would definitely add this one to your collection--I use it all the time to cook for my family--plenty of child-friendly recipes, too!

I saw this at my local library and liked the recipes so much I purchased it. You'll want to try these for your family. I've only run across a few that I didn't like so far.