The B.T.C. Old Fashioned Grocery Cookbook by Alexe Van Beuren

The B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery CookBook by Alexe Van Beuren with recipes by Dixie Grimes is the first cookbook I've ever reviewed.  And I loved it!!  I enjoyed looking through the book and reading the story of how Alexe opened her grocery store, what it was like and how the cafe evolved...thanks to Dixie.  She'd hired 5 different cooks and was about to fire the 5th when Dixie walked in wearing jeans and a ball cap and Alexe hired her on the spot because she needed some meat sliced.  That was the best decision she ever made.  Dixie had been professionally trained and her recipes began drawing people into the cafe.

I loved the photos in the cookbook, Alexe's stories written midst the recipes and learning more about B.T.C. (Be The Change) Old Fashioned Grocery.  B.T.C. is in Water Valley, Mississippi...a small town of 3500 people.  Alexe's descriptions of her town and her grocery/cafe just made me want to jump in my car and visit Water Valley just to buy some of her beautiful, red tomatoes!  In fact, Alexe reminded me a lot of The Pioneer Woman with her writing and her vision.

Dixie sounds like a wonder.  There are recipes for biscuits and gravy (familiar to me) to Grillades (unfamiliar to me).  There are many recipes in this cookbook I'd like to try--and many, we're told, have become favorites of Water Valley.

Get the cookbook.  You'll feel like you've found new friends---in the small town of Water Valley, Mississippi.  I'd give this book 5 out of 5 stars! You can read the first chapter here.

I received this book for free from BLOGGING FOR BOOKS for this review.