As I made my way through Cider Beans, Wild Greens, and Dandelion Jelly
I was reminded of my paternal grandmother and the food I knew she
cooked. Southern Appalachia and the people who live there are in kind
to where my father came from, to the food and customs. Distant eastern
cousins I’d venture to say. I found this book comforting in many ways.
It is not a book of high cuisine; in fact I think I can correctly say it’s all about low cuisine and that’s a good thing. Author, Joan E. Aller, a transplant to southern Appalachia fell in love with the place once she was there. Wanting to preserve a lifestyle that she saw quickly changing she set about collecting the best recipes southern Appalachia had to offer by traveling around the area and gathering up recipes, stories and histories from the area’s inns, hotels, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, taverns and cafes.
I met Sara a few years ago in the Bahamas and quickly discovered she is the kind of person everyone knows. As the owner of