Having moved from the Southwest to the Midwest, I was so excited to find a southwestern vegetarian cookbook. The recipies are interesting, and with a few minor exceptions, pretty simple and straightforward to execute. The pictures are beautifully photographed. My complaints are largely editorial. The index isn't particularly useful for looking things up by ingredients and the recipies themselves require reading through a couple of times. The quantities of ingredients and number of servings are sometimes difficult to discern.

Restaurant quality, but easy to make. Jalapeno Cheese bread is particularly good. A great survival cookbook for Southwesterners stranded temporarily on the East Coast.

This book is very good, particularly for those who enjoy the history of of dishes. The old photographs compliment the book well. The recepie for Machaca has become a family favorite of ours.

More than a cookbook, the Authorized Texas Ranger Cookbook includes a brief history of this unique law enforcement agency. As a recent Texan-by-marriage, I was pleased to learn about the Rangers, and was tickled by such recipes as "Beer in the Rear Chicken."

Unlike Lister's previous book, *Pot Luck: Adventures in Archaeology*, her account here is less anecdotal and personal, but she goes into more scientific detail as she focuses in on five prehistoric Southwestern U.S. sites, namely Lowry Ruin in Colorado, Awatovi-Kawaika-a in Arizona and Kuaua, Pottery Mound and Gran Quivira in New Mexico. The prehistoric pueblo Indian time frame is from the 6th to the 13th Centuries and the conquering Spanish overlays are investigated up to the 17th Century. Archeological discovery times covered are from the 1930s to the 1960s.

College students, Native American helpers, and professional archeologists uncovered scores of embellished walls, different kinds of pottery and evidence of agricultural practices of the pueblo peoples, but conserving the finds was tricky at best and impossible at worst. Some of the most stunning finds were at Pottery Mound in the Rio Puerco in New Mexico. Wall paintings were startlingly abstract, complex and sophisticated. Shells, pottery, and gemstones not found in the area evidenced trade with Mesoamerica while pictures of fish and bison indicated exchanges with plains Indians.

The downside of these finds, the inside story of how archeologist Frank Hibben fudged on and suppressed some of the data at Pottery Mound for instance, is also chronicled by the author. At the end of her chapter on the subject, she states that "It is a pity that they are beclouded by controversy and that the original records are today beyond the reach of further scientific study."

Photos in this book are clear and intriguing. An excellent beginning and in my opinion a must-read for anyone interested in any or all of these five sites.
...

If you are truly into New Mexico cooking and are willing to cook, this book is great. There is no pretense as to the recipes -- just tried and true New Mexico cooking. This book has less "fluff" than its followup cookbook.

Cooking with Texas Grandmas is a fun read with down home, comfort food receipes and wonderful family photos. Not being from Texas, I would have never picked this cookbook up in a store, however a friend suggested I obtain it as I love old photos and family style cookbooks. Glad I did, as everyone will recognize a few of their family favorites and some "Agnes and Agnes" variations on Sunday dinner standards. However, the most interesting receipe is for making pickles...in a washing machine...which horrified this Yankee, but I find myself looking at my Maytag with a new perspective.

This is a great little stocking stuffer of a small cookbook containing the nuggets of Texas' regional favorites. It contains recipes for serious vittles such as peach cobbler, Texas Caviar, fried okra, posole, flan, and King Ranch chicken.

After having the opportunity to eat baby back ribs cooked in the Spicy Chipotle Tolect Barbecue Glaze, I tried the receipe myself. While the prep time is long, it is well worth the effort. The only confusing instructions is the receipe for chile puree (page 120). The receipe does not tell you how many chiles to use. I prepared baby back ribs for a family/friend barbecue. Everyone including the guests from Massachusetts raved about the ribs!

As my rating of cookbooks has been classified by some as rather demanding, please understand that 4 stars is not a slight. This book has a good variation of recipes, directions are easy to follow, the recipes show that they have been tried before publication, and they work well. Contained within 330 pages are a good representation of the major cuisines of Texas, e.g., certainly Southwestern/Mexican, Spanish, French, Cajun, German, African American, Jewish, Italian, Polish, English, Scottish, Irish, Vietnamese, Scandinavian, you get the idea.

This is a little known book that deserves recognition. However, it is a serious book. If pictures are a critical component for you, also understand that you will be disappointed here.

I found this work to be extremely interesting. There seem to be precious few other works available that address the spirituality of our paleolithic ancestors in such depth. As a student of history I believe this book is a valuable addition to my bookcase and a good reference work for anyone doing their own research on the spiritual paths of early man.