Good folks, good food, good book

You know it's a good recipe book when the stories leap off the page and the pictures send you running to the store to buy any and everything in sight.

That was the case when we opened up Lari Robling's "Endangered Recipes: Too Good to be Forgotten." ($17.95, Stewart, Tabori & Chang) The Philadelphia News columnist and public radio contributor knows good food--and good people. The writing was so good that we sat outside on the porch---in 90 degree weather--ooohing and aaahing over it all.

Sunday dinner recipes for crab cakes (yes, Maryland-style, thank you) and Georgia Pecan Pie had our mouths watering. And the striking food photography by Mark Thomas is enough to make you gain 10 lbs. while just flipping the pages.

Robling's wonderful tone makes the stories accompanying these recipes from everyday people--folks she's met through the years--as authentic and real as the instructions handed down from our own grandmothers, aunts and uncles.

"Kitchen Wisdom," a collection of true-to-life tips on everything from how to grind pork butt to the best way to store marshmallows, will stick to you like a plate of good down-home BBQ ribs.

Here's a book that leave you hungry for seconds. Yum!

THE TAKEAWAY: Excellent recipes---many familiar, others worth stepping out of your comfort zone. We've got one copy of Endangered Recipes: Too Good to Be Forgotten to give away at random. How can you make it yours? Dish about your family's favorites via e-mail to productmom at gmail dot com; on Twitter @Tweetymama or leave a note for me here. Giveaway expires 5-21-09.