Bruce Mitchell, known as the Alligator Man, was part of the History Channel’s hit show Swamp People. In 2014 my sister and I drove to Ponchatoula, Louisiana, where I sat down in Bruce’s kitchen with his wife Lorraine to talk cookbook ideas over a lunch of deviled eggs and a bologna sandwich. He wanted to design a cookbook to show his love for cooking and was collecting recipes over the years. I then proposed adding family stories to the cookbook for an inside look at his personal adventures. 

We incorporated his favorite blue jean overalls, local photography, family travels, and his collection of cast iron skillets. Throughout the cookbook I placed line art of stylized foods, along with stamp textures and fonts that connect with his signature stamped logo. The front interior included white space to leave a note and his autograph that also ties into his own handwritten title on the front covers of each book.

The 40 page paperback contains over 20 Southern recipes complete with photos of Bruce and his family’s memories. With the first book being a success, we developed a second book focused on outdoor cooking. You can find Bruce now at outdoor store events, boat tours, and social media appearances. (You can also see him on Cameo.)