For the record, "Sinkin Spells, Hot Flashes, Fits and Cravins" is the original title for "White Trash Cooking II". They are one and the same. Whatever you do, regardless of the title you buy it under --- DO BUY IT!

I have the original "White Trash Cooking" and this is more of the same. Anyone can cook like this and you don't need all those expensive, fancy herbs and spices. In fact, you don't need much more than salt and pepper. I sit and read these cookbooks like novels. They remind me of my simple roots and I feel like these people are my people. These books are portals to honest and simple times, people and food.

I bought this book years ago when it first came out, and absolute
ly LOVE it: great recipes, great pictures, down-home real food.
Best recipe for biscuits I have ever seen-my book's permanently
stained from use! Even tried the potato chip sandwich, a little
salty, but delish.

You don't have to pay an arm and a leg for pretentious, overpric-
ed "country peasant cuisine," you have it right here: polenta's
grits, baby! A lot of these recipes are solid, delicious food,
stuff we grew up on in the Midwest, stuff our granmas used to
make. And if you have ever attended a church social, you'll re-
cognize many of the dishes in this awesome cookbook.

It's worth it for the center photograph section, for a nostalgic
touch, for in the rush to urbanize here in Florida, many roadside
fruit and vegetable stands have been zoned out of existence. Up
in the Panhandle you might still find roadside boiled peanut sta-
nds(now THAT'S some great eatin'!), and some produce stands-but
if you can't go there-try this book-you won't regret it.

You might approach this book thinking of it as a joke, or in a
condescending approach to white trash(read American Peasants),
but once you start to read the anecdotes and recipes, you gain an
understanding and respect for these tenacious souls.

P.S. Try the cheese grits-with Velveeta and Tabasco sauce-that
will wake you up some!

I first bought this book years ago, when it first came out-and it
shows: the biscuit page has tea stains all over it-so does the
potato-chip sandwich! The latter is worth a try, albeit a tad
salty, but it IS delish. You absolutely cannot fail to make good
biscuits with their recipe, it is simple, basic, and wonderful.
What they do with food is real simple, and the low-priced version
of "peasant food." It is worth it for the pictures in the center
alone, it doesn't put down white trash, it celebrates 'em! Darn
fine cooks, too. Really delicious summer produce recipes, and
the tomato sandwich idea is one anyone can relish.

This book occupies a proud, and well-used, pride of place in my
cookbook collection. Unlike snotty cookbooks where they look
down on the reader, presupposing a well-laden pantry groaning
with esoterica-this is REAL FOOD, REAL SIMPLE. A tribute to all
the white trash who built this country, and really tasty, too.

Y'all try it some, hear?

I have spent many many hours reading and re-reading this book. This is a cookbook by it's cover but when you get inside and look at the recipes read the words and the see the wonderful photos you'll see that it's a cultural documentation of some very beautiful and proud people.

Just as in the original "White Trash Cooking", there are recipes here, but more of an emphasis on cooking for groups. The various situations that call for group food are presented -- quilting bees, funerals, reunions, obligatory holidays. Each chapter is prefaced by a short story illustrating the heart of white trash. The photos are truly astounding, and as in the first book, a big part of the book's appeal. These people don't ever apologize for being white-trash -- they're simple, unvarnished, and neighborly. So is their food.

The recipes are even more outrageously white-trashy than in the first book -- while there are several recipes I tried from the first, there aren't as many that I'd call accessible in this one. I also find dialect-writing difficult to follow. Still, the last chapter is truly touching: An eloquent plea for people to cook with their own hands, instead of relying on store-bought "mummafied" food. Well said!

If you've seen #1, then this is more of the same. The stories are so good, you'll laugh out loud. The photographs are also great, though I prefer those in #1 by a smidgeon. Oh, yea, there are recipes in this one too. I like the ones that say, "you can mess with this and it will turn out fine." I'm not much of a cook, though my husband is.

I must say that all the White Trash Cookin' Books are the best! Though I come from New England, I remember my Grandma making some of these recipes. I did live close to where Ernest Mickler grew up and the Sampson Cemetary is still there amongst the new construction. I never laughed so much reading these books and some of the recipes are outstanding. The Pig Pickin' Cake is a hit everywhere I have served it. I refuse to try Christmas 'Possum! but will try others more to my city folk taste. I recommend these books for your cookbook collection to pass down to your grandkids.

Same cover and look as previous White Trash Cooking books, but not written by Ernest Matthew Mickler. With Ernest's untimely passing, cousin Trisha attempts to pick up the pen and cookin' legacy of Mr. Mickler. She, unfortunately for us, fails. Filled with short, uninviting recipes, this cookbook does not have the same zing or endearing writing flair that her cousin so easily wrought. Skip this one altogether and stick with the original two by Ernest: White Trash Cooking and White Trash Cooking II, Recipes for Gathern's.

This most recent in the White Trash Cooking series is different, almost a parody of the original two books by Ernest Matthew Mickler. There is a real cult following for this book. Not because the recipies are so superb, but because Trisha Mickler has shown a deep understanding for White Trash and White Trash Cooking. If you have memories of family gatherings where the pot luck offerings showed a profound creativity in the use of Miracle Whip, Cheeze-Whiz and Jello, then you will heartily enjoy this book.