A Good Meal Is Hard to Find

I adore the old fashioned illustrations that appear throughout this book; I felt nostalgic as I saw Camay soap, Tang and Crisco in the paintings.  Amy, the artist, talks in the introduction about her inspiration while Martha, the cook, also adds her take. The book itself is organized  with the day in mind, beginning with breakfast and moving through to late night snacks.  There are then anytime treats.  Yum.

Within this framework, there are intriguingly named recipes.  For example, the Morning's Glories section includes "Ethel's Overnight Breakfast in Bed (a casserole), and Marge's Usual Sunrise (a drink) among others.  These titles definitely enticed me and kept me browsing through this book.

The recipes are all doable.  The presentation is quirky and fun.  This title could be a nice addition to a cook's bookshelf.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

This book has a fun old timer vibe with cool retro artwork. Most of the recipes are fairly basic old fashioned and dated to an old fashioned era gone by. If you are a collector this is a great addition to your cookbook collection. I enjoyed looking through it and seeing all these old recipes. Not a goldmine for me as far as things I would cook but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

I’ll be honest I picked this cookbook because of the cute illustration on the front cover and the fact that it was southern cooking..which I love! Things I loved about the book were the vintage pictures throughout it, how the authors used recipes from vintage cookbooks they discovered and from community members, I liked that the authors added notions and notes to each recipe to give readers tips before attempting to make a dish, the small story behind the recipe is listed at the top of every recipe, every recipe sounds absolutely delicious and like true homemade southern cooking that gives a homey feel with passed down family recipes, how the authors separated the dishes into categories labeled: morning glories, lingering lunches, afternoon pick me ups, dinner dates, and anytime sweets. I think it was more creative for the authors to break it up like this then just simply listing them as appetizers, breakfast, lunch, etc. that most cookbooks do and it gives it its own unique appeal.
Only thing I didn’t love about it where that the finished pictures of what the recipes looked like weren’t included in it and I would have liked to see what it looked like when deciding what to try from the cookbook.

I wish this cookbook had been longer! That said, it's so cute! I'd buy this in a heartbeat. I love the little stories that precede each recipe though I wish they would have been longer. So many great recipes I can't wait to try! Even if I can't find the ambition to make them entirely from scratch, they gave me enough to work with that I can make them semi-scratch. The mayonnaise recipe in the beginning does seem like something I can handle, though, so it might be the first thing I try.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a digital copy of this book by NetGallery in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Oh my, this one took me back to rural Central Florida and the home of Grandmama Williams. (except the recipes with alcohol. She would have never allowed that in her home)

There were several recipes I am ready to try. This is truly Southern comfort food.

I absolutely loved the art in this volume!! I would purchase this just for the illustrations.

***Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***

A gorgeously created cookbook with so much art that it makes me think of something Andy Warhol and Julia Child collaborated on,

Give yourself an afternoon with this book! The short stories at the beginning of each recipe are very entertaining. Then, the recipes. These bring back memories that had been forgotten. A home revolves around the kitchen and all of the exciting eats that came out of it. My family and I have now tried 35 of the 60 recipes and are on schedule to sample all of them while rotating some back into our regular menus. This is a delightful read and an excellent cookbook..

What a fabulous concept! So much of what we love about our favorite recipes are the stories behind them. This captures the essence of an old family favorite.

I absolutely LOVED this charming cookbook. I loved the drawings, the little stories above each recipe, the tips and notes, and the charming southern feel. I will be buying this for my kitchen.

What a charming little southern cookbook! I'm from Alabama so I definitely know a thing or two about southern cooking. I loved this cookbook with it's vintage illustrations and timeless recipes. I'd say it's a keeper!

I. loved. This. Book. This is so far off from your normal cookbook that I think most people that give it a try would love it like I did.

A Good Meal Is Hard to Find is a wonderful retro-quirky painting, narrative, and recipe collection by Amy C. Evans & Martha Hall Foose. Due out 28th April 2020 from Chronicle Books, it's 160 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is a wonderfully curated collection of southern (USA) homestyle recipes. Each of the recipes has a short anecdotal story as introduction. They are arranged roughly thematically: breakfast, lunch, afternoon, dinner, and sweets. Each recipe includes an introduction with other info such as portion control and yields followed by bullet list ingredients in sidebars with prep-time estimates. The recipes' ingredients lists are provided with American standard measurements only. Special prep tips and info are provided in colored sidebars in the recipes.

The book does include a list of illustrations and a good cross referenced index. The effect of the whole book with combined recipes, stories, and artwork is quirky and charming. The recipes themselves are appealing and retro. There are no photographs included with the book, but the instructions are very clear and the lack wasn't a minus.

Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Cute little cookbook. I particularly enjoyed the stories that accompanied the recipes, as I am one of those people that "reads" cookbooks for enjoyment, so it is always good to have anecdotes to read with the recipes.

This cookbook has some amazing artwork as well as some fun and easy recipes, several in which I really want to try, such as St. Anthony's Rosemary Braised Rabbit.

What an absolute gem of a book, with zanny artwork, fun stories , and easy recipes, just the thing for a lazy afternoon read (one may even make something) the recipes are good, easy to make, needing only a few ingredients and very little time. I really enjoyed this book, the layout, format and recipes - a very different cookbook

I just reviewed A Good Meal Is Hard to Find by Amy C. Evans; Martha Hall Foose. #AGoodMealisHardtoFind #NetGalley

Amy loves to paint while Martha adores cooking, and together they create a cookbook. Hmm, seems odd to you, right? When you go out to a bookstore with a mind to purchase a cookbook, you would want a book created by chef authors, not a painter. But, I can assure you that this book will make you awed. Created with names of women and their background story behind the dish's name is just creative. And the recipes are so mouthwatering with the perfect illustration, feels like you get a book out of your Grandma's library. And I do enjoy reading cookbook with a lot of stories like storybook.