Country Cooking from a Redneck Kitchen Book Review

It has been so long since I have read a cookbook and I have missed it a lot.  I had the first book from Francine Bryson which I got because of her appearance on the television show, CBS’s The American Baking Competition so I couldn't pass up the chance to read the next one.  Country Cooking from a Redneck Kitchen by Francine Bryson seems like a nice cookbook to go with all the baking from the last book....plus that cover looks like you could eat it. 

Few people know that national pie champion Francine Bryson got her start on the cooking contest circuit at age sixteen with a savory stuffed pork loin—that won first place. In Country Cooking from a Redneck Kitchen, Francine invites you into her home to share recipes for everything that graces her Southern table: chicken dinners, savory pies, Sunday suppers to serve the preacher, make-and-take casseroles, dips and other redneck whatnots, backyard barbecue favorites—and, of course, three chapters devoted to her celebrated baked goods, including her most-requested holiday sweets. Feeding people is what Francine loves to do, and here are simple instructions for 125 dishes with 60 color photographs to help you to bring her Southern charm to your table.

I ordered this book and it came so quickly!!  I was excited to start reading this book that I even put down the book that I was reading to start it quickly.  I scanned through the recipes really quickly before I had time to read it cover to cover and I found the strangest recipe that I have ever seen in a cookbook- Squirrel Pot Pie.  I know that I won't be making it anytime soon but bless her for including a recipe that she knew people would think was crazy. 

Each recipe had a little story above it which I love to read about how the recipe is used for her family and why they love it.  The recipe for the grits and bacon fritters are interesting although I don't have grits in my pantry so I probably wouldn't go out and buy them but if I get some, I will probably try it.  My favorite section was the yard bird section because I like chicken like the fried chicken and faked out fried chicken.  I am more likely to make those recipes and intrigued by the homemade cream of chicken soup but my only problem is knowing how much of this recipe to use to replace the canned version.  Granny style mac and cheese sounded interesting and very different from mine so I would try it out and see how I liked it.  The blueberry BBQ sauce sounds very interesting but we don't use that much BBQ sauce because my husband doesn't like it and I think that he would like it even less with blueberries but I could be wrong!!  There is a recipe for cube steak which sounds interesting but my husband likes his dad's recipe which has bread crumbs instead of flour so I probably won't get a chance to try it.  I think that this is a great recipe for people just starting out that might not have a recipe book or traditions from their families.  There are many things that would be interesting to a first time person starting out and trying to make their own family traditions.  As always, I find the dessert section the most interesting with a bunch of recipes that I would love to make including the Buttermilk Pie, Chocolate Pound Cake, Brown Sugar Pie, Oreo Brownies and Sour Cream Cookies.  So whether you are someone just starting out or just looking for some down home recipes, this book has some great stories and wonderful recipes that I know that I will try a few and I hope that you do too!!!

**I was given a copy of this book for my review and honest opinion.  All opinions here are my own.