One of my favorite sections of this beautiful cookbook is the section called "City Fare." There you can find recipes from some of the best restaurants in town. The pictures of homes add a real charm to the book, making you feel a part of the whole culture that is represented in this unique cookbook. We have tried many of the recipes and have really enjoyed sharing them with friends, who are always asking for the recipe.

There is also section of menus that are planned from start to finish so you don't even have to think about what goes with what in planning an entire meal. That's a huge time-saver! This cookbook is a wonderful addition to our cooking library and would even make a treasured gift for anyone who loves to entertain in style.

I highly recommend this cookbook!

As a Southern transplant and lover of Southern food and cookbooks, I was a little dissapointed in this book. Miss Bobo's Boarding House has a long and wonderful reputation and though I would like to, I have not had the pleasure of dining at the establishment. The book contains a ton of history, photographs and memoriblia as well as several wonderful recipes. I was little put off though at the number of recipes that called for Jack Daniels whiskey. I realize that the Boarding House is now owned by the distillery, but to label this as the authentic cookbook of Miss Mary Bobo's legend seems a little odd as Miss Marry never served a drop of liquor on the premises. All in all, the recipies and stories are fine, it just seems that if they wanted to sell a Jack Daniels cookbook then they should have titled it as such and not used the appeal of a Southern legend to sell books.

Earlier write-ups about Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House Cookbook intrigued me so I added it to my collection. Reading through it brought back memories of dishes I hadn't thought about -- much less made -- since my Georgia childhood. Then I started preparing them! I could swear that Miss Mary and my mother must have been bosom buddies, maybe even swapped recipes over a pitcher of homemade lemonade. From Southern Iced Tea to Sweet Deviled Eggs and Country Sausage and Gravy on Baking Powder Biscuits and from REAL Cream of Tomato Soup to Best Fruit Salad, the tastes of rich (read lots of cream and butter!)Southern food once again overwhelmed me. Not that every dish was cholesterol-laden -- try the sweet-sour mouth-tingling pleasure of Fresh Tomato Hash or vinegary Garden Fresh Cucumber Salad, for example. The breads are terrific -- and the main yeast one, Country Loaf Bread, adapted easily to the bread machine, producing a light, tasty, "mile-high" loaf. Fresh Zucchini Bread makes great toast and Our Favorite Raisin Bread, lightly glazed, was perfect with Cheese Soup and that wonderful fruit salad. The sauced Boarding House Meat Loaf pleased everyone, as did Our Famous Pork Ribs, Salmon Loaf, Southern Fried Catfish (AND Chicken, of course)and such beloved side dishes as Yankee Limas, Macaroni and Cheese, Southern Corn Pie and Creole Grits (even my grits-despising Minnesota-bred husband had seconds, Summer Squash Casserole and Our Best Baked Beans. Have only started to re-visit the delights of Southern desserts, sampling Old South Butter Cups and Fresh Strawberry Pie -- more to come! Obviously we can't continue at this rate with daily excursions into this wealth of memories and calories, but I plan to highlight at least one dinner a week with such! With thanks from a Southern California gal with happily-renewed memories of an earlier time and place!

I have actually had the opportunity to visit Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House. The only problem I had was that I visited in August and the first available time for a reservation was in December. Everyone in Lynchburg had nothing but wonderful things to say about the Boarding House and the food that is served there. So the next best thing to being able to eat there was to buy Miss Bobo's cookbook. The dish that my family and friends like the best is the Tenderloin Tips. I serve the beef up with a big heap of mashed potatoes and there is total silence because everyone is just enjoying the flavor of the food. I am ordering a copy for a dear friend of mine who is a true southern belle. I cannot wait to present her with her very own copy. The recipes are very easy to follow and you do not have to be a gourmet chef to use any of them. Another neat thing about this cookbook is the wonderful stories and pictures that are included. Miss Bobo had a very interesting life with many interesting visitors. Any American history buff of the 1880's to 1980's would really enjoy reading just the stories.