Oh Gussie!: Cooking and Visiting in Kimberly's Southern… (2024)

I'm going to go all kinds of personal stuff in this review. If you are not a fan..then kiss it and go read a different one.

I LOVE Kimberly Schlapman. She is probably one of my favorite "famous" people that exists outside of my love of a few fiction authors and Norman Reedus. Her family lives in my small town so she is here a lot. My daughter is in her niece's grade in school and the school chorus was trying out some "Little Big Town" songs and they wanted to ask the group if they could have a few signed pics to give away for one of their fundraisers. Kimberly Schlapman and Little Big Town went above and beyond. They came to my daughter's school and sang with these middle schoolers. They didn't advertise what they did for publicity. They just did it.
Kimberly spends quite a bit of time here with her family and one of my friends saw Kimberly at the local grocery store and completely went fangirl. She ended up getting her pic taken with her and well...she is my friend so you can imagine that Ms. Schlapman was thinking "Do I need that restraining order?" She was very gracious with my now embarrassed friend. SO yes, I love her.

Now for the food.

The book is different than the norm of cookbooks. It's separated by chapters titled Family, Friends, Music, Home and Away instead of the normal cookbooky type chapters. I didn't mind this but I could see that some readers wouldn't care for it so much.

Another thing about this book is that Ms. Schlapman makes it personal. She tells little tidbits of her life and stories that bring her memories of the food she shares. Including one that featured her husband that passed away and Black Walnut cake.

The photos in the books are done beautifully, there are several of her and her family, several of flowers and few of the foods. I do wish that there were just a few more of the food dishes but I ain't hating.

I got this book from the library because I've been holding off to get one signed by her. Every stinking time she has held a signing near me something has popped up and I haven't been able to attend. Yes, I know I could have gotten someone to get one signed for me but I want to fangirl.
I'm purchasing this one for my collection though, even if a few recipes feature my nemesis: Cream of whatever soup.
I still love it.

Look at some of the goodies:
Citrus Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

Rosemary Pork Chops

Crazy Daisy Squares

Not many people have reviewed this beautiful cookbook but Here is a review that I like so I'm featuring it.

The last cookbook I rated on here (Donna Bell's Bake Shop: Recipes and Stories of Family, Friends, and Food), I complained it had too much writing. I think this book had a lot of writing too, but it didn't bother me as much. Maybe it was because I'm a fan of Little Big Town, or maybe because I found Kimberly Schlapman's story interesting, or maybe because she sounds like one of the nicest people. I'm not sure. But I enjoyed reading her story and I found a few recipes I do plan on making at some point. My only complaint was that there were not enough photos of the finished recipes. I enjoyed the photos of her and her family, but the pictures of flowers just didn't seem necessary. I would have loved to see what more of the finished recipes looked like, and maybe that would have made me want to try more of them.

I really like the old time recipes in this.....

gross

I absolutely loved this cookbook. I checked it out at the library but realized I needed to own my own copy. I read cookbook as they are biographies. There is nothing more personal than an author who shares their stories and family recipes.

Storytelling is the Best

The stories that are told with each recipe are wonderful. There are many recipes that are new to me but many are not. I will try the ones that are not a part of my cooking experience.

She is just as sweet and Southern as you'd expect and that totally comes through in this cookbook. I didn't get any recipes from it, but it was still a fun read.

Beautifully photographed and lovingly written. I enjoyed reading all the recipes and narrative.

While I've seen her show, I'm not that familiar with Little Big Town. I checked this out because I love Southern cooking, and the show was energetic and fun.

I liked getting the stories behind the recipes; the book is autobiographical and includes more backstory than most cookbooks, but that didn't bother me. I wasn't wild about all the family photos - I could've done with more detailed photos of the food and less personal photos. But most of the recipes are sound and this was nice to look over for inspiration.

There isn't anything that different in here if you've read other Southern cookbooks. However, some staples - like the salads - are broken down in a very simple way that makes them more manageable for everyday.

The thing I disliked most is that the book is broken down into sections like Music, Family, Friends. She ties this out with stories involving those things, or for example, the recipe comes from a Friend. I would've preferred these to be grouped more traditionally like Starters, Mains, etc - she could've kept the backstories the same - because it's much easier to find recipes like that.

If you're a LBT fan, or a fan of Southern cooking, this is worth checking out. I got 3-5 good recipes from it, so I think it was worth the time.

This book is divided into 5 chapters, Family, Friends, Music, Home and Away instead of typical chapters like appetizers, meats, desserts, etc. Each chapter begins with a little enjoyable autobiography of Kimberly’s life related to the chapter title.

When it comes to cookbooks, I’m a picture person. I want to see the results of recipes because I’m such a bad cook. There are several pictures of recipes but for the most part instead of pictures of the final results, I saw pictures of flowers, Kimberly posing out outside or in the kitchen, pictures of her family or no pictures at all. Those are great additions but I also want more pictures of the recipes.

I will forgive the recipe for boiled peanuts (peanuts, water, and salt). I can forgive anything if a recipe book contains ideas for bacon. Bacon, Lettuce, and Fried Green Tomato Sandwich with Garlic Mayo and Cheddar Bacon Biscuits ~ O.M.G.

There's a few recipes in here that I'm willing to try, but the majority of them don't pique my interest. I have two issues with this book (as with a lot of cookbooks these days). There are too many photos of her family and flowers -not the food. I just think it's absurd to charge someone thirty dollars for a book with full color photos and have so many pages with pictures of flowers. I can't eat those! Those flowers aren't going to help me in the process of trying a new recipe.

Secondly, the book isn't organized like most cookbooks. The chapters are Family, Friends, Music, Home and Away. What??!?! Whatever happened to Appetizers, Meats, Poultry, Soups, and Desserts?

My Mom was looking for this and I requested it from the library. So I get first crack at it. Like the Robicelli's A Love Story with Cupcakes, this isn't just recipes but Kimberly Schlapman's story with the recipes. No profanity here from the Little Big Town member.

Name dropping from the world of country music and recipes that range from classic to modern day. Saw some very interesting ones I think would be crowd pleasers. I expect we'll see more books from her.

Totally engrossing!!

Love your music. Love the cooking show. Absolutely in love with your cookbook! I already have 2 weeks of menus planned. Thank you for PROUDLY sharing your southern heritage along with glimpses of your life, family and friends.

Already tried one thing and it was good and see many others to try - unlikely they are clean/healthy but they sure looks tasty!

The Lazy Woman's Strawberry Pie was great - used raspberries and blueberries and added vanilla!

Not enough photos of finished recipes.

There are a lot of recipes in this book. I just wish there were pictures of every creation.

Quite a few recipes I'm going to try.