Southern Living

If you're glued to Food Network, own a madeleine pan, and regularly make pimento-cheese spread, mayonnaise and crème brûlée at home, this book was written with you in mind. Ignore the four-star rating I gave it; if you live close to or south of the Mason-Dixon line, you could impress the ladies of the Junior League or the alumnae from Kappa Delta with just about any recipe out of this book. It ranks as a five-star purchase for you.

Now, if you're like me and aren't unacquainted with show more canned cream-of-mushroom soup as an ingredient, there are still quite a few recipes in here for you. Most, however, have to be adapted; for example, there's no way I'm going to make my own graham cracker crust. What are Piggly Wiggly and Kroger for, after all? Instead, you just buy that Keebler crust, cut out a few of the more esoteric ingredients or steps and plunge on. The results may not taste like something from a Michelin restaurant, but, hey, you didn't spend two hours on it, either, and it's still pretty good.

If you're like me, with three kids, a full-time job and outside activities, be sure to get the $2.99 Kindle version. There simply aren't enough recipes you'd like to justify paying the hardcover price. show less

When I lived in Southern California, I got excited about container gardening. This book is written by the Editors of Southern Living but it most of the plants featured are suitable for California, New Mexico and Arizona. I have started again here in Texas with a cactus, most of everything that I have planted here has been eaten by the wildlife! The zones for the South have a special section,it is good to know which plants will thrive in your area.

The book is richly illustrated, the colors show more of the plants are true and beautiful to look at. There are divisions into The Basics of Container Gardening, Entryways and Outdoors Spaces, Vertical Gardening, Indoor Containers and Edibles. It has an index in the back so that you can look up your plants. I am using this book mainly as a reference book for when I want more information or even inspiration. My favorite sub chapters are Tough Guys and Semi-Tough Guys. and Succulents. Those are the easiest to grow. Jade plants are so easy to grow that after two years we had them in plenty of different sizes. We hated to toss out the volunteer plants so we were were soon giving them the away.

I highly recommend this for beginning container gardeners and for those who want to try a different kind of plant in containers.

I received this finished Copy by making a selection from Amazon Vine books but that in no way influenced my thoughts or feelings in this review. I also posted this review only on sites meant for reading not for selling. show less

Even if my home will never look this perfect (my decor taste for the holidays might be termed "Chaotic Christmas"), I still enjoy seeing what other people come up with. My favorite was probably the "Blue Christmas." I'm looking forward to trying some of the recipes too!

Even here in Los Angeles I sometimes see Southern Living magazine in the grocery store. And this book on gardening in containers is a beautiful book - and especially well-illustrated. It not only explains the how-to's, such as soil-less mixtures and why you need to change it out occasionally, but the fundamentals of designing a grouping of flowers based on textures or colors. And not just flowers but vegetables, too. But I was surprised as well to see a section devoted to houseplants, which show more has inspired me to add some more plants to my office at work. All in all, a very beautiful book that is especially welcome in the middle of a very wet winter. (I rec'd a copy of the book from Amazon Vine.) show less