MrsK Books: The BTC Old-Fashioned Grocery Cookbook

Thursday, July 3, 2014

The BTC Old-Fashioned Grocery Cookbook

Alexe Van Beuren

ISBN: 978-0-385-34500-2

“Be the Change” has always been the store’s motto, and that’s just what it has done. What started as a place to meet and eat is now so much more, as the grocery has become the heart of a now-bustling country town.

In a small town twenty-five minutes outside of beautiful Oxford, Mississippi, there’s been a revival of food and community. Bucolic small-town Water Valley wasn’t the most logical place to start a grocery and cafe, but that’s just what Alexe van Beuren did, in a historic building that her husband had saved from demolition. The B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery opened in 2010 amidst a cloud of hope and dreams, full of glass-bottled milk, local produce, and Cora’s fried pies. Trouble loomed when hope and dreams proved insufficient for the daily realities of running a small business when lo and behold, Dixie Grimes, a five-star chef, walked through the door in need of a job. Within a few months, Dixie’s food had folks lining up at the window, and the two women discovered that after all, this small town in rural Mississippi was exactly where they needed to be.

The B.T.C. quickly cemented its place as the center of town life, serving hearty breakfasts and comforting lunchtime meals, as well as selling prepared foods like casseroles, salads, and spreads to take home. With vibrant storytelling, 120 recipes, and 60 evocative full-color photographs, The B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery Cookbook (Clarkson Potter; March 18, 2014; $29.99; Hardcover) shares the inspiring story of how dreams can pay off in a small-town tale of food, friendship, and tradition.
Some recipes featured in The B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery Cookbook include:

BREAKFAST: Skillet Biscuits, Sausage Gravy, Honey Goat Cheese Frittata with Prosciutto and Arugula

SOUPS FOR EVERY SEASON: Spinach Artichoke Bisque, Hotty Toddy Beer Chili, White Bean Chicken Chili, Mississippi Catfish Gumbo

SALADS: Dixie’s Famous Chicken Salad, English Pea Salad, Vetra’s Three-Bean Salad

SPREADS AND SANDWICH FIXINGS: Tex-Mex Pimento Cheese, Sriracha Coleslaw, Ham and Horseradish Spread, Kagan’s Dill Pickles

CASSEROLES: Southern Yellow Squash Casserole, Hoop and Havarti Macaroni, Chicken Pot Pie with Parsnips and Roasted Leeks, Oyster Casserole

MAINS: Home-Brined Corned Beef Brisket, Honey Pecan Catfish, Crab Cakes with Dill Tartar Sauce, Coulter’s Red Beans and Rice

SIDES: Creamed Cabbage with Sherry, Yellow Squash au Gratin, Corn Bread Dressing

SOUTHERN SWEET THANGS: Cora Ray’s Fried Pies, Steel Magnolia Cake, Mrs. Jo’s Banana Pudding, Peach Icebox Pie

The B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery Cookbook shares some of the store’s best recipes, giving home cooks everywhere a taste of the food that brought a community together, sparking friendships, reviving traditions, and strengthening an American Main Street.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
ALEXE VAN BEUREN is the owner of the B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery. Raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, she now lives with her husband and their two children in Water Valley, Mississippi.
DIXIE GRIMES is an Oxford, Mississippi, native who has cooked for more than two decades in many fine restaurants. She has helmed the kitchen of the B.T.C. since 2011.

MrsK's Review:
Excited, yes excited! This cookbook has been a delight to browse, to cook with, and to talk about. Small town living has always been dear to my heart. Going home to Grandma's meant going home to Silverton, OR. A small town in the Pacific NW. A small town in which everyone new me because of my Grandma. A small town with a one lane road in and out. A small town where the store-owners were inviting, always ready to chat, always smiling, and always safe. Now that I am living in a small town up in the mountains, I adore everything about small town owners. Conversations are sweeter, life is slower, and community is invested.

Meeting Alexe and Dixie has been like going home for a short visit. Even though our towns are on opposite sides of our nation, we are related. Alexe's voice keeps you smiling while you browse through these scrumptious and enticing recipes. Dixie is quick witted, very frank, and doesn't add any "fluff" to her discussions or recipes.

I couldn't wait to try the sausage gravy recipe, not only is this considered "comfy" food... its "pow" to your taste buds satisfies your morning. I am looking forward to our first Fall day just because I want to try the loaded baked potato soup. Now I have always had a yummy potato soup recipe, but I have never added Tabasco sauce or heavy cream to the soup (are your taste buds talking?). When I asked my son to choose a recipe, he chose the Hotty Toddy Beer Chili... he is such an amazing "down home" cook that I have no idea why I would be surprised by this choice but this could be "what's for dinner" over our 4th of July weekend! Do you enjoy salads? You must experience the watermelon with Feta salad or what about an asparagus and strawberry delight? I have not tried any of the deserts, not because I don't like desert but because I am not good at creating deserts... so my daughter is in line for making the peach ice box pie (don't you love that title...I know what an ice box is...perfection for what you will devour).

All ingredients are easy to grow or find at any grocery, the directions are easy to follow with full color shots of how it should look (not how my recreations might look). The history of their town, their friendship, and their life as small town owners will add a "dash" of sparkle to your eyes as you serve up any of these recipes. This is not a "check-it-out" cook book, this is a must "own" and "gift it" type cook book for any one who just loves "home" cooking.

***My invite to Alexe and Dixie... I know of a small town in the west that would be thrilled for you to franchise your BTC specialities in... come on home to us... we will welcome the early morning coffee and Christian fellowship!***

Amazing read, yummy recipes, excellent discussion for book clubs!

Read Chapter One

"I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review."

No comments:

MrsK's Reading Bio

Reading is important! No questions asked, not even a blink of the eye from any student I grew up with. On the first day of the First grade, we were given our first books. Day two we all read aloud, round robin of course. Day three we were place in our first basal, now known as a lit circle group. Books were so important, publishers designed new curriculum so that every student was reading by the end of the first week. These early readers had images that looked like what we could see in the classroom, beyond the classroom, even on the big screen. Reading is important, throughout history every generation has believed that “Reading” opens up the world for endless possibilities.

I adore the 1950’s Dick and Jane books. Actually, most reading specialists and experienced (45+) educators believe that every student learned to read with Dick and Jane. Since these books are being re-issued, I have heard many parents, grandparents, and students claim that Dick and Jane stories of repetition does teach students to read.

Early influences from my mother influenced my desire to read. I would watch her read and we would go on “secret” excursions to the library. The library became my playground. I owned every book I could carry home, of course they needed to be taken back to their home after visiting with me for a week or two. My first book that I could pull off of the library shelf and read was, Father Bear Comes Home. I only saw my dad on Sundays for a few hours. I would pull this beginning reader off of the library shelf every week. Every week I would try to read the first chapter. Every week I got further in the story. My mom would let me check it out, only if I could read it myself (She didn’t like the illustrations therefore she didn’t want to take time to read it to me). One day, I pulled the book from the shelf and when mom came to get me from the children’s corner, I realized that I had read the whole story. I ran to the check out desk and the Librarian KERCHUNKED the checkout card. My mother, brother and neighbors read. My teachers read. We all read aloud all day long in school. The Priest read aloud every day at mass, even in Latin. Everybody in the Doctor’s office read. People on the bus read. Dad’s waiting in their cars as the Mom’s and children grocery shopped, read. In fact, once you could read and write, Sunset Magazine considered you a reader and sent you mail every day.

Reading is important; I’ve spent my life reading. I’ve traveled around the world and into space through books. My favorite genre is whichever book I have open at the time. Children’s Literature is my passion. Book clubbing is one of the best past times, especially if food is involved. In fact my friends of old are in a book club and we are about to embark on a beach trip to “read” and discuss our newest selection.

My “home-run” book story has helped every student find his or her own “home-run” reads. Every year, I have shared my, Father Bear Comes Home, and every year my students have brought in their “home-run” books. That’s the “diving board” into our Lit. Studies.

In “Growing Up Digital,” Tapscott’s insights into the new generations enthusiasm for the Net reminded me of my generation’s enthusiasm for reading, movies, TV, parties and our driving permits. The Net-Generation, as Tapscott describes, “are learning, playing, communicating, working, creating communities, and enforcing a social transformation.”
N-Geners are interactive “techies” who are always looking for a way to “work it” verses the TV Generation of “Baby Boomers” who started out looking for “how it works.” Reading development is tougher today, society moves too fast to invest their “non-working” free time into a book or even “home work.” Since I stepped into my own classroom, I have seen students being told to read, being forced to read, and threatened into reading. Homework is not any longer the vehicle for students to gain their future lifestyles or careers with. Yet, the Internet does create an enthusiasm for learning. Since I have been enrolled in these courses, I have used the computers in every subject. My students are using the newest technology in the classroom because I am giving them investigative sites to use as they learn from each other and books. I agree with Tapscott, in order to bridge the gap with this up and coming generation we must “live and learn with them.”

FTC Required Disclaimer: I receive these books from the publishers. I did not receive monetary compensation for these reviews. These reviews have been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)