 
### Still Cooking After Sixty Years

### The Recipe Collection of Carl and Georgia McCain

Collected and Edited by Donna McCain Wilson

Published by Ron McCain at Smashwords

Copyright 2017 Ron McCain

### Smashwords Edition License Notes

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Originally distributed to family members - July 1, 2006

### Contents

"Conning" Mamma

Preface

Acknowledgements and Explanations

The McCain Table

### Meats and Main Dishes

File Gumbo

Baked Chicken and Rice

Barbeque Chicken

Barbeque Turkey

Barry's Saturday Beans and Rice

Chicken and Mushroom Gravy

Deer Steak and Gravy

File Gumbo – Daddy's

File Gumbo – Mama's

Fried Deer Steak

Fried Fish

Fried Chicken

Jackie's Chicken and Rice

Jambalaya

Lasagna by Donna

Mama and Daddy's Sunday Beef Roast with Gravy

Mama's Chicken and Dumplings

Meat Loaf

Papaw's Brisket

Pork Chops Supreme

Shake and Bake Chicken

Shrimp and Crawfish Etoufee

Shrimp Gumbo with Okra and Tomatoes

Skillet Barbeque Pork Chops

Smothered Steak

Spaghetti and Meat Balls

Swedish Meat Balls

Vegetable Beef Soup

### Vegetables and Sides

Papa's Food

"Angel" Eggs

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

Collard, Mustard, or Turnip Greens

Creamy Broccoli

Dirty Rice

Field Peas

Fresh Green Beans

Fried Corn Cut off the Cob

Fried Okra

Meemaw's Mac and Cheese

McCain Tartar Sauce

Potato Salad

Rutabagas

Ryan's French Fries

Stewed Potatoes

The "Simple Corn"

### Desserts and Sweets

Huckleberry Pie

Angie's Strawberry Cake

Aunt Edith's Pralines

Aunt Elaine's Coconut Cake

"Boiled" Cookies

Banana Pudding

Blackberry, Blueberry, or Huckleberry Cobbler

Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie

Carrot Cake

Chocolate Delight Pie

Chocolate Pie

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Christmas Coconut Balls

Coconut Pie

Coffee Cake

Divinity

Fresh Apple Cake

Fruit Salad

Fudge

German Chocolate Cake

Heavenly Hash

Homemade Ice Cream

Hummingbird Cake

Ice Box Fruit Cake

Individual Pecan Pies

Jackie's Peanut Butter Pie

Jelly Cake

Lemon Ice Box Pie

Lemon Pound Cake

Millionaire Pie

Mississippi Mud Cake

Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies

Peach Cobbler

Peanut Brittle

Peanut Butter Balls

Peanut Butter Cookies

Pineapple or Banana Pudding

Popcorn Balls

Strawberry Cake

Sweet Potato Pie

Strawberry Pie

Upside Down Cake

### Breads, Butter, and Jellies

Mamma's Jelly

Banana Tarts

Cathead Biscuits

Cornbread

Cornbread Dressing

Homemade Butter

Hush Puppies

Mayhaw Jelly

Muscadine Jelly

Pie Crust

Strawberry Jelly

Sunday Afternoon Yeast Rolls

### Poor Man's Food

Poor Man's Food

"Chitlins"

Egg Gravy

Hog Head Cheese

Potted Meat and Eggs

Rabbit Hash

Red Gravy and Rice

Squirrel and Rice

Weenies and Rice

The McCain Family
The recipes in this cookbook were collected and assembled in this format as a gift for Georgia and Carl McCain on the occasion of their sixtieth wedding anniversary. The children, in-laws, and grandchildren all contributed their favorites and comments. The collection was compiled and edited by Donna McCain Wilson. Georgia McCain adds her unique perspective to this process in the poem below:

"Conning" Mamma

For many years, my kids, especially Donna and Danny, have been on my case

To do something that their old Mamma just did not want to face.

Guess what it was! To write a cook book of old-time recipes,

As well as any later ones I had collected, as you will soon see.

Since somehow I just never did get around to the task,

They finally gave up on me, I thought, and no more did they ask.

But guess what my daughter, Donna, rigged up on me!

She got on the computer and e-mailed me daily as you will see.

"Mamma, how do you make so and so," she would meekly ask.

Well, just to print and e-mail her the recipe wasn't so big a task

So I would email it back to her, hoping it would turn out fine.

Next day on my computer appeared a few more lines.

"Mamma, I was wondering about the blue-berry pie."

I really never knew what would be next to catch my eye.

It finally dawned on me what Ms. Donna was up to,

Getting old Mamma's recipes, this she was trying to do.

I called her a con-artist, which made her laugh so loud,

Yes, she got my recipes, all right and she feels very proud.

Not only her but all the other siblings as well,

They all are pleased to get this cookbook - -as you can tell.

Some recipes I had forgotten which they recalled to mind,

Like egg-gravy, red gravy, hog-head cheese – nothing left behind.

Donna worked hard compiling this-even took off work a few days.

So I hope you enjoy using these recipes – and give Donna all the praise.

Donna's old Mamma just went along with her requests,

Very deceived at first but now I feel it was best.

For I'm almost eighty and will soon leave this life behind

But Mamma's old cookbook will still be here – Just one of a kind.

– By Georgia Davenport McCain
Preface

While planning for the day on which we would celebrate the sixth decade of my parents' marriage, I tried to imagine what gift I would give them. What in the world does one give to someone who has been married for that long? I finally decided that the gift had already been given – to us their children, our spouses and their grandchildren. How many people anymore get to experience the joy of celebrating the faithfulness of their mom and dad staying married to each other for sixty years? They are a model of honesty, of generosity, and of compassion. They made promises to each other sixty years ago, not before a packed cathedral, but before a justice of the peace. They were dressed not in lovely gowns and tuxedos, but in simply casual summer clothes. My mother held her wedding dress under her arm, and had her hair in curlers. She had just purchased the dress when she met my dad who suggested, "Why don't we just get married right now?" A decision made in haste? Perhaps. But my parents keep their promises. For a daughter who has benefited from a lifetime of that faithfulness and commitment, the gift has already been given. This recipe collection is simply an attempt to share with our friends the wonderful family recipes and memories that my parents' home created for me, and for my siblings and our families. It is lovingly dedicated on the occasion of their sixtieth anniversary to my parents, Carl and Georgia McCain.

I love you, Mama and Daddy. Happy Anniversary!

Donna
Acknowledgements and Explanations

This project would not have been possible without the cooperation of my family, especially my mother. Even though I had to apply a little "creative psychology" to get the recipes out of her, she did eventually comply beautifully with my requests. With Daddy, I had to get him on the phone a few times; but he was happy to share all of his cooking and barbequing tips. Each of the rest of the family willingly helped out in his or her own way, providing a favorite, a memory, or a recipe. I am especially thankful to my brother, Danny McCain, who wrote the introductory material at the beginning of each section. Above all, I thank God who gifted us with these loving parents that we honor on this occasion. I thank Him for giving me the ideas and resources that I needed to complete this project.

**Etoufee Sauce** \- We prefer Tony Chachere's Creole Etouffee Sauce.

**File'** \- is a Louisiana spice that is added to gumbo, etoufee, and other Cajun dishes. It is made from ground sassafras leaves. Daddy has been known to cure his own. You can purchase this spice in most stores now.

**Memaw, Meemaw, Nanny, Grandma, Mamma, Mama** \- All names for Georgia McCain given by various family members.

**Nutritional Information:** MasterCook (the software I used for this project) will automatically compute nutritional information when you enter a new recipe. In order to have accurate information, you must enter correctly the exact measurements for ingredients and the correct number of servings. This was especially difficult to do in this project, since my mother rarely measures things. In most of the recipes, I had no idea how many servings a recipe would make. (We just ate it until it was gone!) 1 have, however, done the best that 1 could to make an educated guess. So you must assume that the nutritional information is just that - an educated guess. There were a few recipes for which I simply did not have a clue. In those cases, I left off the nutritional information. For some reason, the program did not know what corn meal was, so recipes containing that ingredient may be inaccurate.

**Papaw, Daddy** \- Names for Carl McCain

**Pone -** What we call the round of cornbread when it is dumped out of the iron skillet.

**Quotes -** All of the quotes that came from the members of the family have been credited. Unless they are otherwise credited, the comments were written by me, Donna McCain Wilson.

**Roux -** This thickening agent is used in many Cajun dishes and is traditionally made by browning flour in an equal amount of cooking oil. Over the years, my parents have started making a healthier version by browning the flour in an iron skillet without the oil. The flour must be watched very carefully and stirred constantly to prevent burning. Daddy declared that doing it this way "cuts down on the greasiness". I am not sure Mama and Daddy do this for health reasons, since they are quite likely to add a generous amount of sausage to the finished gumbo! They just think it tastes better this way.

**Seasonings of Choice -** You will see this designation several times through out the book. The McCain's favorite seasoning choices are salt, pepper, Tony's Creole Seasoning, McCormick's Season All Accent, garlic powder, onions, garlic, paprika, and occasionally a little red pepper.

**Software:** I am thankful to my daughter, Kimberly, for the gift of the software program, MasterCook that I used to compile the recipes.

The McCain Table

About 40 years ago, Mr. Barton Parker constructed an eight food table and ten tall straight-back chairs and sold them to the McCain family. That table and those chairs have seen a lot of use during the past forty years but, fortunately, they are just as strong today as the day they were delivered. This is a testimony to expertise of Mr. Parker, the gifted carpenter who designed and built them. He selected the best wood and put that table together using the skills that only a craftsman of his stature was capable of. That table became the centerpiece of the McCain family for the next four decades and a symbol of things that were important to us.

A table is primarily made for food. And the McCain household always had plenty of it. Hunger was not a part of our family. In the morning there was "toast and cocoa." At "dinner" (the meal in the middle of the day) and supper, there was rice and gravy, chicken fried steak, white beans and rice, biscuits or cornbread, iced tea or fresh milk, and more sweet things than any family ever needed. Some of the best southern cooking, slightly influenced by our Cajun neighbors to the south, passed across that long table. And the McCain household became known as a people who cooked good food.

Meal time was one of the great times of fellowship around the McCain household. Special guests were invited to eat with us. These included relatives, friends and all the "revival" preachers that came along, including such great men as Glenn Griffith and Don Hughes. However, you did not have to have a special invitation to eat at the McCain house. Any visitor who happened to be in the house whenever it was meal time would hear, "Come on and eat with us." Daddy would always come home in the middle of the day to eat and often he would invite one of his fellow telephone repairmen to come with him. In addition to the friendship that we enjoyed while eating, an even more important social event was drinking coffee. Coffee was such a part of our social visits, that when a person came to visit us, he or she was not asked, "Would you like a cup of coffee?" but ''What do you use in your coffee?" Hundreds of people have laughed and told stories and enjoyed good fellowship around the McCain table. And the McCain home became known as a place of friendship.

No meal ever began at the McCain table without all who were there bowing their heads and waiting while a blessing was asked over the food. This was a reflection of the faith that was an important ingredient in the McCain family. It was not a thing to be "showed off" but it certainly was not a thing to be ashamed of. The Christianity that Daddy and Mamma practiced was real and natural. It was what encouraged the McCains to be honest, compassionate, conscientious and hard-working people. And the McCain family became known as people who loved and served God.

The most obvious thing about the McCain table is that it was a place for the family to gather. Whether it was a holiday feast or an ordinary meal, the McCains regularly gathered around that table. Meal times were official times to eat. We did not practice what many modem families practice – everyone eating in shifts. Daddy sat at the head of the table and directed the affairs of the meal time. Mamma often refused to sit at the table but stood at the counter nearby, waiting to get a glass of milk or serve someone at the table another piece of pie. The boys always headed for the back of the table so they could see what was going on and have immediate access to the bowls and pots that were on the table. Dolores refused to sit in the middle of the big table because she complained she spent all of her time passing things back and forth and did not have time to eat. The grandkids sat wherever they could find a place. Conversation usually lagged during the meal. It was largely restricted to "pass some of that cornbread down here" or "Is there any more of them peas in that pot?" In between meals, the McCains loved to argue and debate in loud and boisterous voices so much so that many of the "in-laws" who joined the family thought we were angry with each other. However, let someone try to abuse or take advantage of any member of this family, regardless of what side of the argument he was on, and he would find out very quickly that around the McCain table there was a family who loved each other and stood up for each other.

For all the years of the marriage of Carl and Georgia McCain, the McCain table has been a reflection of the combined McCain personality and values. It was a place of excellence. It was a place of interaction. It was a place of diversity. It was a place of laughter and stories. It was a place of love and fellowship. It was a place where small McCains grew up to become adult McCains with all of those qualities and characteristics that were represented at that table.

When you look at the seven McCain children, their spouses and the 19 grandchildren, you will see that around Mr. Barton's beautiful table, a strong and noble family was carefully fashioned. This family was constructed with the best character qualities and put together as only skilled craftsmen can. We are McCain Family and we are proud of our parents, Carl and Georgia McCain, the family architects and builders who brought us up around the McCain table.

We invite you to come join us at the McCain table and celebrate sixty years of a truly blessed family.

Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table. Thus is the man blessed who fears the LORD.

Psalm 128:1-4

-Danny McCain

File Gumbo

Gumbo is a word that fits as naturally into the McCain vocabulary as words like "Grandma and Grandpa," ''hunting and fishing," "going to church" and arguments about Democrats and Republicans. In fact, gumbo has sort of grown up with the McCain family.

I don't think gumbo was a part of the Davenport tradition, so Daddy is probably right in his claims that he taught Mamma how to make gumbo. However, like the rest of the the McCains, gumbo has grown and developed and matured and even begun to produce offspring of its own. Our abiding affection for gumbo eventually spawned etoufee in the McCain household and now it is following the growth pattern of its predecessor.

In the early days, gumbo was little more than chicken broth poured over rice with a little file added to each bowl. That made the gumbo very green and kind of stringy (or "ropey" to use proper Rigolette English). Mamma and Daddy experimented with all kinds of gumbo, including squirrel, rabbit, and duck gumbo. On very rare occasions, Mamma would splurge and buy enough shrimp to make shrimp gumbo. Maybe twice in her life, she even purchased all of the ingredients to make genuine "seafood gumbo." However, it was chicken gumbo that was the standard fare around the McCain house.

Somewhere along the line, we learned to admire Uncle Tiny's squirrel and duck gumbo which was much darker and thicker than our own. He taught us that you put the file' in pot while you were browning your onions and garlic to make a kind of a roux (apparently a French word whose meaning I am not quite sure of, but something that is essential to good gumbo). We also learned from Uncle Tiny to add sausage to our gumbo. That no doubt added a little more cholesterol but enhanced the already mouth-watering taste. A little after this, Daddy learned how to pick off the sassafras leaves and dry them on the clothes line and then grind them to make his own file. That added a new dimension to the McCain version of gumbo that put it beyond the reach of even the best Cajun gumbos of South Louisiana.

At that point, gumbo had grown up and become one of the permanent members of the family. Fill up a bowl about two thirds full of rice. Pour that greenish liquid over it with the solidified greasy mixture of spices floating on the top, mix in a little cornbread and you have something that is, to use one of Daddy's favorite expressions for McCain food, cat-larapin.

Gumbo was more than a food for the McCain household. It was a cultural and social test. Most of the preachers that came to pastor our little church came from the north. Shortly after "them Yankees" arrived, Mamma would invite them out to the house and feed them file' gumbo. If the preacher liked his gumbo and asked for a second helping, we knew we had a good preacher who was going to be a blessing to us. If when he was offered a second helping and asked how he liked it, he used such expressions as "It sure is interesting" and "I think I will wait for the dessert" we knew it was just a matter of time and he would be packing up his things and heading back north. The gumbo test never failed.

-Danny McCain

Baked Chicken and Rice

Servings: 8

From Allison Sweeney's recipe collection that Meemaw sent her.

1 1/4 sticks margarine

8 cups water

2 envelopes onion soup mix

1 chicken, whole, cut up

2 cups rice

Melt margarine in 4 quart dish. Add onion soup mix and stir well.

Place chicken, cut into 8-9 pieces in layers on top of mixture. Sprinkle on uncooked rice. Add water.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for one hour.

Remove cover in last few minutes to brown.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 581 Calories; 35g Fat (55.2% calories from fat); 22g Protein; 42g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 71mg Cholesterol; 1120mg Sodium. Exchanges: 3 Grain(Starch); 2 1/2 Lean Meat; 5 1/2 Fat.

Barbeque Chicken

Servings: 12

Daddy never was big on barbeque sauce. He always left it up to the diner to add his favorite sauce after his chicken or brisket was slow cooked. If you can make this chicken, you may decide you don't need the sauce either.

2 chickens, whole

salt and pepper

Tony's, All Season

Garlic powder

paprika

Cut chicken through breast bones and flatten.

Combine all seasonings to make a dry rub and rub into chickens with your hands.

Wrap chickens in foil and refrigerate at least 2-3 hours, or overnight if possible.

Cook chickens unwrapped over direct heat fire unitl brown about 1-1/2 hours. (Daddy prefers hickory wood.)

Remove from heat, wrap in new foil (to avoid cross contamination) and cook for another hour.

You can tell when they are done if you are able to easily twist apart the leg of the chicken.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 342 Calories; 27g Fat (72.3% calories from fat); 23g Protein; Og Carbohydrate; Og Dietary Fiber; 94mg Cholesterol; 94mg Sodium. Exchanges: 3 1/2 Lean Meat; 3 Fat.

Barbeque Turkey

Servings: 20

Daddy loves to barbeque a turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas. With some of Mama's homemade cornbread dressing, it is always a hit.

1 Turkey

salt and pepper

Tony's Creole seasoning

All - Seasoning

Garlic powder

Paprika

Combine all seasonings to make a dry rub. Massage into turkey.

Wrap in foil and refrigerate for several hours, or preferably overnight.

Unwrap turkey and put on grill over open hickory fire for one hour.

Remove from heat and wrap with new foil, then place back in grill in indirect heat.

Slow cook for about 2 more hours until done. You can tell if turkey is done if the leg will separate easily.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 410 Calories; 219 Fat (46.9% calories from fat); 52g Protein; 0g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 174mg Cholesterol; 167mg Sodium. Exchanges: 7 Lean Meat.

Barry's Saturday Beans and Rice

"I enjoy going to Mama and Daddy's to eat beans and rice every Saturday. But they better have cornbread!" - Barry McCain

Barry comes over every Saturday to have "dinner" (that is what we call lunch in the south) with Mama and Daddy and with anyone else at the house. Most of the time, he brings his daughter, Emily, with him and sometimes the whole family. They always have the same thing: beans (could be red beans, navy beans, Northem beans, or whatever they are in the mood for), rice, and hot cornbread. Emily's favorite is Northern beans. Daddy thinks you need to eat this with raw onion which he always keeps in a small cup beside his plate. A big glass of milk doesn't hurt either!

Barry's wife, Tina, says that she and Barry have tried and tried to make that cornbread at home, but never could get it to turn out like Mama's!

navy beans

salt and pepper

1 onion, chopped

2 slices bacon

sausage links

Soak dry beans of choice (red, navy, northern, kidney etc.) overnight.

Rinse and put in cooking pot with enough water to cover.

Add salt and pepper, chopped onion, bacon and sausage, cut into small pieces for flavoring.

Cook until tender.

Serve over hot cooked rice.

Chicken and Mushroom Gravy

Servings: 6

Ronnie hates mushrooms, but Mama's mushroom gravy is one of his favorite foods. He used to request Mama's mushroom gravy when he came home from college. Mama says this is an easy one. If you have leftover fried chicken, try this recipe.

1 fried chicken

1 can mushroom soup

water

Take a fried chicken, or fry one until it is done.

Pour a can of cream of mushroom soup over it.

Cook until tender.

Serve over rice.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 210 Calories; 9g Fat (41.5% calories from fat); 27g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 81mg Cholesterol; 225mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 4 lean Meat; 1/2 Fat.

Deer Steak and Gravy

Servings: 12

"They will have to have deer in Heaven so Sister McCain can make me some deer gravy." - Bro. Kaufman (Mama and Daddy's pastor) This is probably HIS favorite dish that Mama makes. Mama says that this is also one of Daddy's very favorite dishes.

She recently took this dish out to Tioga Sheriff's Department and got rave reviews. Mama and Daddy cook for the Sheriff's Department about 4-5 times a year.

3 pounds deer, cut in serving-sized pieces

3/4 cup vinegar

water

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

salt and pepper

McCormick's Season All

Accent® seasoning mix

Tony's Creole Seasoning

water to cover

1 package gravy, dry mix, brown

1 package onion gravy, mix

1 package mushroom gravy, mix

Cut deer in serving sized pieces. Soak at least 2 hours in water with 3/4 cup vinegar added.

Rinse in soak in plain water for another 2-3 hours.

Brown meat in cooking oil. Then drain off oil, and add water to cover.

Add seasonings, such as Season All, Tony's, Accent, Salt and Pepper, or whatever you wish.

When it starts to boil, add gravy mixes. More gravy mixes may be added to make more gravy. Use gravy mixes of your choice. Keep the gravy kind of thin, not thick.

Let cook until tender.

Beef stew, or round steak may be used in this recipe, if you don't have deer.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 177 Calories; 6g Fat (29.7% calories from fat); 27g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 96mg Cholesterol; 280mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 3 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

### File' Gumbo – Daddy's

Servings: 10

Kimberly has fond memories of Papaw showing her how to make his gumbo when he visited at our home one time. He wanted to make sure his grandaughters could carry on the gumbo tradition. I think in later, healthier years, Daddy learned to leave out the bacon grease when he made the roux and just browned the flour by watching it very carefully to keep it from burning as it was cooked in an iron dutch oven. He said that cut down on the "greasiness".

Daddy likes his version to be a little spicier, and he would use whatever game he had. Years ago, Daddy started making gumbo, and taking it out to the Sheriffs Department in Tioga, Louisiana. While the idea of people contributing something to honor public officers has become quite popular after the tragedy on 9/11, Daddy has had this habit for years. What started out as an annual event, became more frequent, and eventually included Mama and multiple other dishes. Daddy often goes out to drink coffee with his friends at the Sheriffs Department.

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon file'

Seasonings of your choice

Meat of your choice

6 cups cold water

small amount pork sausage

2 hard boiled eggs

2 cups cooked rice

Brown flour in iron skillet until desired color is reached. No grease is needed if you watch the flour carefully so that it does not burn.

Add file' to make roux. Add 1 cup water to roux mixture and mix until blended.

In meantime, start cooking meat of choice (1 chicken, or 2 squirrels, or 1 large rabbit, or 3 ducks, or any other meat) in large pot of water.

Add seasonings of your choice (chopped bell pepper, garlic, onions, green onions, salt, red pepper, black pepper) to water mixture.

After roux is well blended add, to meat broth. Add cut up sausage for flavor.

Simmer until meat is tender.

Chop hard boiled eggs and add to gumbo right at the end.

Serve over cooked rice.

File' Gumbo- Mama's

Servings: 12

"So far, I have never tasted anyone else's gumbo that even comes close to theirs. " - Dan Simmons, who says he gets a "zesty" feeling everytime he eats a bowl of Meemaw's and Papaw's gumbo. This is the McCain signature dish, loved by most everyone, particularly grandkids, Katie and Kyle. Mama and Daddy's gumbo pots have provided comfort food for many a soul in many locations. Wherever we happened to live when Mama and Daddy came to visit, they brought their file' and made us some gumbo. File' is a seasoning spice unique to the Louisiana culture. It is made from ground sassafras leaves and has a unique, pungent odor. I can't imagine eating gumbo without the addition of this aromatic seasoning.

1 Whole Chicken, cut up

1 tablespoon shortening

2 tablespoons flour

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons file'

2 quarts water

1 link pork sausage, sliced 1" thick

salt and pepper to taste

6 cups cooked rice

Melt shortening and place chopped vegetables in pot.

After cooking for a few minutes, add water and cut up chicken.

Brown flour in iron skillet without oil. When starting to brown, add file' to brown with it. Watch carefully so it does not burn.

When this is brown, add some water from the chicken pot and stir until smooth.

Then add mixture to chicken pot, and cook until chicken is tender. (30 minutes - 1 hour)

Pork sausage cut into 1 inch lengths can be added if desired.

Serve over rice.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 334 Calories; 15g Fat (42.1% calories from fat); 199 Protein; 28g Carbohydrate; 19 Dietary Fiber; 80mg Cholesterol; B4mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 1 1/2 Fat.

Fried Deer Steak

Servings: 8

This is one of Kenny's favorite foods. And the reason it is so good is due in part to Kenny's skill in butchering the deer. Kenny worked for years in a grocery meat market, and he is an expert at removing the parts of the deer that give it the wild taste. This is an incredibly tender and delicious steak. And Kenny is a fine hunter as well, providing much of the deer steak that is available to us. Most of the men (and some of the ladies) in our family love to hunt. But hunting is not about killing for sport. We always eat, or share the game that the hunters bring home. When I am home, I will finish the eating the leftovers wrapped up in a breakfast biscuit and accompanied by some of my Daddy's coffee.

1/4 cup vinegar

water

2 pounds deer (Back strap deer steak cut in serving size pieces)

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup milk

1 cup flour (for dredging deer steak)

salt and pepper

Seasonings of choice

3/4 cup oil

Soak the deer in vinegar water--about 1/4 cup of vinegar to a good bit if water for several hours.

Rinse deer steak then pound with meat tenderizer until tender. Cut into serving size pieces.

You can also dip this in a mixture of egg and milk. Season to taste with whatever seasonings you like.

Roll it in seasoned flour and fry until crisp in hot oil in iron skillet

Drain on paper towels.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 392 Calories; 249 Fat (56.6% calories from fat); 29g Protein; 139 Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 122mg Cholesterol; 73mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 3 11/ Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 4 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Fried Fish

Servings: 10

Ryan says this about McCain fried fish: "It's about the only place I'll eat fried fish." Fish fries were favorite events at the McCain household. If the fishermen in the family had a great day, then we were sure to be rewarded with a fish fry soon after the fishing trip. I remember one time when the electricity went out and we spent hours scaling and cleaning fish in the dark. We could not waste this wonderful food. Usually, a full scale fish fry took at least 2 fry cooks. Daddy would fry the fish in his fish frier in the back yard, and Mama would fry the french fries and hush puppies in the house. Daddy often put the fried fish in big paper bags to absorb the grease and hold in the heat. Ketchup and homemade tartar sauce completed the meal. This was usually one of the few paper plate meals we had, which made the dishwashers in the family happy. When I think of fish fries, I usually think of Uncle Everett Epnett since he was such a great fisherman and often provided some of the fish, as well as inviting us to his own fish fries. Not too many invitations to dinner were issued to this family of nine, so that was always a real treat!

10 fish, cut in serving sized pieces

1 egg, beaten

water

1 cup cornbread mix (We prefer corn meal)

salt and pepper

2 cups vegetable oil

Beat egg and thin with a little water.

Add salt and pepper to corn meal. Can be placed in paper bag.

Dip fish in egg mixture, then place in paper bag and shake well to coat with the corn meai mixture.

Fry fish in hot oil until brown and crisp.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 439 Calories; 45g Fat (91.7% calories from fat); 19 Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 19 Dietary Fiber; 19mg Cholesterol; 131mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Lean Meat; 9 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Fried Chicken

Servings: 6

No Louisiana recipe book would be complete without a recipe for fried chicken. My dad and I agree that the way it tastes bests is to be fried in an iron skillet. I always loved the dark meat, my favorites are the legs. Mama would often cut up the chicken into pieces, and then added a package or two of legs for all of us kids. It must have taken a while to fry enough chicken for that whole crew!

1 chicken, whole, cut up

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk

1 cup flour

salt and pepper

Tony's, paprika, or other seasonings of choice

vegetable oil

Season chicken with salt and pepper and other seasonings.

Prepare egg wash by beating eggs, and thinning with a little milk.

Add salt, pepper and other seasonings to flour.

Dip chicken pieces in egg wash, then dredge in flour mixture.

Fry in hot oil in iron skillet. Leave a little space between pieces. After chicken starts to brown, turn down heat to medium so that it will get done.

Make sure not to put too much chicken in pan, as this can cool down the temperature of the oil and cause the chicken to absorb too much grease.

Drain on paper towels.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 452 Calories; 29g Fat (59.5% calories from fat); 289 Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 159mg Cholesterol; 123mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch}; 3 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 3 1/2 Fat.

Jackie's Chicken and Rice

Servings: 8

My sister, Jackie, makes the best chicken and rice I have ever had. She seems to think the "sloshing part" was important. I know that this is a favorite of my Daddy, since he requests it every time he visits her. To my onion-hating children: It won't taste the same without the onion! -- Donna McCain Wilson

1/2 stick margarine

1 chicken, whole, cut up

1/2 cup flour

3 1/2 cups boiling water

3 chicken bouillon cubes

1/2 onion, chopped

1 cup rice

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in microwave, then pour in roasting pan.

Place flour on a large plate. Sprinkle well with salt and pepper.

Dredge chicken parts in flour mixture.

Place chicken parts in roaster and "slosh" around in melted butter with skin side down.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes until skin starts to brown.

While baking, add 3 chicken bouillon cubes to 31/2 cups boiling water until dissolved.

After 20 minutes, remove chicken from oven.

Sprinkle 1/2 chopped onion over chicken.

Add 1 cup rice to the roasting pan.

Pour water and bouillon cube mixture over chicken.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for one hour. If mixture appears dry, more water can be added.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 427 Calories; 26g Fat (56.5% calories from fat); 20g Protein; 25g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 71mg Cholesterol; 421mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 2 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 3 1/2 Fat.

Jambalaya

Servings: 10

This recipe reminds me of Daddy. He was usually the Jambalaya cook. He loved to put in all kinds of seasonings In his younger days when his stomach could take it, he would add red pepper or hot sauce. He loved to hunt, and this was a good way to prepare the game he brought home. At one time, Daddy leased some land on Red River. He kept a few dozen cattle and hunted and fished on the property. A levee ran through the middle of the propety to keep Red River from flooding the low lying land on the other side of it. Later, Daddy bought an old shotgun house and had it moved out to the property to serve as a camp house. He furnished it with a couple of sets or bunk beds as well as a couple of other beds so that we could all stay out there sometimes. Mama was not thrilled. because the cooking was done on a wood stove!! But, boy, was that a fun place! We were free as birds out there. We would run up and down the levee trying to avoid the cow piles, fish in the ponds, and my brothers would try to scare me with ghost stories about the old Indian mound that was on the property. We had fish fries and pig roasts, and weenie roasts, and I am sure that Daddy made his jambalaya. Some of my fondest memories of childhood are riding in the back of Daddy's pick up truck with the cattle bars, the wind whipping through my hair. on the way to the levee. Boy do I miss that place!

1 tablespoon shortening or oil

meat of choice (pork roast, chicken, squirrels, etc.)

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

3 green onions, chopped

salt and pepper

Tony's creole seasoning

1/2 teaspoon paprika

vegetables of choice

water

2 cups rice

Brown meat in oil. Drain grease.

Add onions, garlic and other seasonings of choice.

Add water to pot with meat and seasonings and cook until meat is tender.

Some people like to add other vegetables such as celery, green peppers, or tomatoes. Daddy prefers to leave these out. It is your option.

Add 2 cups of rice.

Cook until rice is tender.

Lasagna by Donna

Servings: 12

I guess I added this recipe to the family collection. They all seem to like it. I think the secret is in the use of cheddar cheese. Sometimes when I have time I make my own sauce, but it is really good with the commercial sauce of your choice. This makes a good company dish and freezes very well. -- Donna McCain Wilson

3/4 box lasagna noodles

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

2 jars spaghetti sauce

1 8 oz package cheddar cheese, grated

1 8 oz. package mozzarella cheese, grated

1 small carton ricotta cheese

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

vegetable oil spray

Brown ground beef. As beef is browning add onions, garlic, and green peppers. Drain on paper towels.

Spray vegetable oil spray on 9 x 13 inch pan.

Build lasagna layers with uncooked lasagna noodles, ricotta cheese, meat mixture, spaghetti sauce and cheeses.

Repeat layers as long as you have ingredients.

Use a good bit of the spaghetti sauce to help the lasagna noodles cook in the oven. Mixture should be pretty runny.

Bake at 375 for about 45-50 minutes. Allow to cool a little before cutting.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 418 Calories; 319 Fat (66.2% calories from fat); 22g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 95mg Cholesterol; 458mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 3 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 Vegetable; 4 1/2 Fat.

Mama and Daddy's Sunday Beef Roast with Gravy

Servings: 12

"I look forward to Papaw's roast every Sunday" - Emily McCain

"I enjoy going to Papaw's on Sunday to eat his famous rice and gravy" - Lauren McCain

"Hacking" is something my mother taught me to do to tenderize meat. She usually just flailed away at a piece of meat with a large butcher knife. Later, I learned that they actually made a tool for this activity. I think they call it a meat tenderizer. I am not sure that the "hacking" is entirely necessary with the long cooking time, but who can argue with perfection? The Sunday Roast is usually cooked by my father now, and he is sure to add some onions and garlic cloves (stuffed into cuts he makes in the roast) to the recipe. Rather than cooked in the oven, he cooks his in an iron dutch oven on top of the stove. It smells wonderful and tastes divine. In our Louisiana home, we would always have rice to eat with the gravy. But Papaw being a soft-hearted grandpa will throw in a few potatoes for his grandaughters, Ashley, Lauren, and Emily, who love them.

1 chuck roast

2 packages onion gravy, mix

1/2 cup flour

1 onion

1 small bell pepper

3 cloves garlic

6 or more potatoes, cut in large chunks

2 tablespoons oil

salt and pepper

Season roast with salt and pepper.

Dredge in flour. "Hack" with meat tenderizer.

Brown both sides in oil on top of stove,

Place in roasting pan and sprinkle onion gravy mix on roast.

Carrots and potatoes onions and garlic may be added now or after an hour.

Add water until roast is just barely covered.

Bake at 350 degrees for 2 to 3 hours until fork tender, adding small amounts of water as necessary to make gravy.

Mama's Chicken and Dumplings

Servings: 10

Allison McCain Sweeney writes: Everyone looked forward to me coming to MeMaw's house because they knew that meant they'd get chicken and dumplings. I have loved them since I was little. Meemaw faithfully prepared them for me everytime I came to town. Yum!

Donna McCain Wilson adds her comments: I seem to remember that Allison's mother, Dolores, loved these dumplings too! In fact we all do! This is without doubt one of my all time favorite meals. I used to beg my mom to make chicken and dumplings. They were a lot of work to roll out and to clean up that floury mess. I suspect I loved to eat them a lot more than she loved to make them. She always said that the secret to really great dumplings was a really fat hen. "You want to see that yellow fat floating on the top," she would say. In modern times, some food manufacturer invented frozen dumplings. All you have to do is drop them into your chicken broth. My mother, in great relief over not having to roll out the homemade kind, declares that "you can tell the difference between those and the homemade kind". Because I didn't want to put her through aIl the work of hand-rolled dumplings, I never told her that no store bought dumpling I ever ate was as wonderful as hers. How can some manufacturer put in love? Years ago when I was first married, she gave me the recipe for the "real thing". She had to work hard to write down some measurements since she was used to just dumping everything in until it "felt right". We can't ever lose THIS recipe.

1 chicken, whole, Look for chicken with lots of fat.

3 bouillon cubes

3 cups flour, all-purpose

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 cup shortening

milk

Cut chicken into pieces and cover with water in stewing pot, Season water with salt and pepper.

Add bouillon cubes to water, for extra flavor.

Bring water and chicken to boil, then turn burner to medium heat.

Cook until chicken starts to get very tender and starts to fall from bones.

Take chicken out of broth with slotted spoon, cool slighty and remove meat from bones.

Add chicken back into broth.

Combine remaining ingredients to make dumplings. Roll out on floured surface, then cut into strips.

Drop dumplings one by one into chicken broth. Cook until done.

Meat Loaf

Servings: 8

This was a good way to use up some of that ground beef after Daddy would butcher one of his beef cattle. When most of the children were home, my parents really kept the grocery bills down by raising a lot of our own food. We usually had a garden, or benefited from Grandpa Davenport's garden. Daddy would raise cattle and sometimes hogs for butchering. We have had chickens, my dad and brothers hunted and fished, and Mama picked up pecans and picked berries. We also had a milk cow. I did not know what pasteurized milk was until I got older. The food was always fresh and good and certainly better for you without so many preservatives. The story is told about how one time the family made the mistake of giving the cow intended for butchering a name. That made him very difficult to eat later on!

2 pounds ground beef, lean

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

3/4 cup ketchup

1/2 cup warm water

1 package onion soup mix (Lipton's)

salt and pepper

McCormick's Season All

Tony's Creole Seasoning

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

Mix all ingredients thoroughly and place in baking pan.

Pour 8 ounce can tomato sauce over meat loaf.

Bake at 350 degrees approximately 1 hour or until done.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 426 Calories; 25g Fat (53.2% calories from fat); 24g Protein; 25g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 85mg Cholesterol; 1128mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 3 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 3 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Papaw's Brisket

Servings: 30

"I can remember when I was younger hearing everyone talk about Papaw's brisket, and I wanted to see how he made it. So I would watch him prepare it and season it, and cut holes in it and put garlic in it, etc. And then I was always so fascinated about how he would get up and check it every so often all night. It really made me want to learn how to grill and season meat and cook, and now I do it all the time. -- Bryan Wilson

"Papaw's brisket is one of the things that I am always sad to miss when I am unable to come in for the July celebrations. I haven't found brisket that even compares anywhere else. " -- Laura McCain

15 pounds brisket, untrimmed

salt and pepper

Tony's seasoning,

McCormick's Season All

paprika

Garlic powder

Garlic cloves

Season brisket with salt, pepper, Tony's, garlic powder, and sesonings of choice. Work into meat by hand.

Cut small slits about every 4 inches in brisket and insert cloves of garlic deep into the meat.

Wrap seasoned brisket in foil and refrigerate for 2 \- 3 hours, or overnight.

Put on grill over direct fire for about 2 hours to allow skin to brown. (Daddy likes Hickory wood.)

Remove from heat, wrap with new foil to avoid cross contamination.

Cook over slow fire (move meat out away from direct heat)for 6-8 hours, checking and turning meat 2 - 3 times.

You may have to add more hickory sticks once in a while to keep fire going.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 708 Calories; 60g Fat (77.9% calories from fat); 38g Protein; 0 Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 136 mg Cholesterol; 145 mg Sodium. Exchanges: 5 1/2 Lean Meat; 8 1/2 Fat.

Pork Chops Supreme

Servings: 6

Mama gave this one to me when I became engaged. Must have been worrying about my new husband starving.

6 Pork chops

1 onion, sliced

1 lemon, sliced

6 tablespoons brown sugar

6 tablespoons catsup

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Season pork chops with salt and pepper.

Place each pork chop in a baking dish and top with a slice of onion and a slice of lemon (or juice).

Add a tablespoon each of brown sugar and catsup on top of each chop.

Cover and bake one hour, then uncover and bake about 30 minutes, basting occasionally.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 290 Calories; 15g Fat (46.0% calories from fat); 24g Protein; 16g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 74mg Cholesterol; 241mg Sodium. Exchanges: 3 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates
Shake and Bake Chicken

Servings: 6

I included this recipe to show how my mother looked out for me. After Ken and I had announced our engagement, my mother must have begun to worry about my ability to cook. Though I had helped with the steps to putting a meal together many times, most of my actual cooking experience had been with boxed cake mixes and cookies. My resourceful mother carefully wrote down a number of recipes that I am sure she thought even an inexperienced cook would be able to follow. My oldest daughter was recently going through these and came across this one.

"She gave you a recipe for Shake and Bake Chicken?" she laughed. Yes, she did and it appears to be quite worn! When we started pastoring our first church after we were married just a few months, Shake and Bake Chicken was the only thing I could figure out how to make to take to the church pot lucks! And it was quite popular, actually! -- Donna McCain Wilson

1 Chicken, whole, cut up

1 box Shake and Bake mix

Cut up 1 fryer.

Shake each piece well in the Shake and Bake mix.

Place on buttered baking sheet and bake about an hour at about 300 degrees.

Turn chicken over in about 30 minutres browning each side well.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 342 Calories; 27g Fat (72.3% calories from fat); 23g Protein; 0g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 94mg Cholesterol; 94mg Sodium. Exchanges: 3 1/2 Lean Meat; 3 Fat.

Shrimp and Crawfish Etoufee

Servings: 10

"Being Cajun, I'm a tough critic of Cajun Cuisine. But Nanny can make some of the best Crawfish Etoufee in Louisiana. She passes my test! A+++" -- Tina McCain

One of Daddy's favorite foods too. Kim remembers her delight when Meemaw froze some leftovers so she could take some back to college. What a change from cold pizza!

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 pound crawfish, peeled

2 cans Etoufee Sauce

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon File'

Salt and pepper, Tony's seasoning, Accent

3 cups water

8 cups cooked rice

In large saucepan, brown 2 tablespoons flour, then add file'.

When roux is brown, add 2 cans of Etoufee sauce.

Add shrimp. crawfish, and crab meat (optional).

Add onions and garlic and continue stirring until well mixed. Add 3 cups water and stir.

Season with salt, pepper, Tony's seasoning, Accent etc.

Cook about 30 minutes until tender.

Serve over rice.

Shrimp Gumbo with Okra and Tomatoes

Servings: 10

I never remember Mama cooking gumbo with okra and tomatoes, but I found this recipe in her own handwriting. So she must have sent it at my request at some point. She included this note on the recipe: "These out-of-my-head recipes don't always turn out so good." We never put those kind of vegetables in gumbo, preferring the chicken, sausage and file' variety. But give it a try and see what you think.

1 tablespoon oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

6 pods okra, sliced

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon file'

1 tablespoon shrimp boil

1 1/2 quarts water

1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 small can tomatoes

salt, pepper

6 cups cooked rice

Stir shrimp boil into pot of boiling water.

Put oil (or shortening) into separate dutch oven.

Put chopped onions, garlic and okra into grease and cook a few minutes.

Add flour and file' and stir until slightly brown.

Strain water from shrimp boil and pour into roux mixture.

Add tomatos and shrimp and cook at lower heat for 15 to 20 minutes.

Season to taste.

Serve over rice.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 238 Calories; 3g Fat (9.9% calories from fat); 14g Protein; 39g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 69mg Cholesterol; 80mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 1 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 1/2 Fat.

Skillet Barbeque Pork Chops

Servings: 5

Try these with some of Mama's cheesy potatoes.

1 tablespoon oil

1/3 cup celery, chopped

3 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon mustard

2 cans tomato paste

5 pork chops

salt and pepper

Brown pork chops and add other ingredients.

Cook slowly in skillet for 1 1/2 hours.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 322 Calories; 18g Fat (49.1% calories from fat); 25g Protein; 16g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 74mg Cholesterol; 488mg Sodium. Exchanges: 3 1/2 Lean Meat; 2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Smothered Steak

Servings: 6

Of all the recipes my mother taught me, this is probably my husband's favorite, When we were growing up, we always ate the gravy with rice, My husband is a meat and potatoes kind of guy, and he has always preferred the gravy with mashed potatoes, Whatever your preference, this makes a wonderful tender steak and a very delicious gravy This recipe can easily be doubled to make a company meal. I usually leave out the onions and garlic for my picky kids sake, but either way it is delicious. -- Donna McCain Wilson

2 pounds round steak

1 package onion gravy, mix

2 tablespoons flour

salt and pepper, seasonings of choice

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon oil

"Hack" steak with meat tenderizer tool. Cut in serving size pieces,

Dredge steak in flour seasoned with salt and pepper or other seasonings of choice.

Melt shortening in skillet or dutch oven, and brown steak on both sides.

Transfer steak to oven safe pan and add onion gravy mix, onions and garlic.

Cover steak with water (about 1 1/2 cups)

Cover pan with lid and bake in 350 degree oven for about 2 hours until steak is fork tender.

Check steak every 30 minutes to see if more water is needed.

If needed, add water until pan drippings are of gravy consistency.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 340 Calories; 21g Fat (56.0% calories from fat); 30g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 90mg Cholesterol; 245mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 4 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1 1/2 Fat.

Spaghetti and Meat Balls

Servings: 8

This was a very popular meal for us kids when we were growing up.

1/2 cup onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 heaping tablespoon shortening

1 can tomato paste

1 small can tomatoes

3 cans water

1 heaping tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon parsley

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

salt and pepper

Melt shortening into deep pan. Add onions and garlic. Cook until tender.

Add can tomato paste and small can tomatoes and water.

Add sugar and stir well.

Simmer an hour or so.

Mix salt and pepper with ground beef and shape into meatballs.

Brown and add to spaghetti sauce after it has been simmering for 30 minutes.

Mix sauce with cooked spaghetti. Salt to taste.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 609 Calories; 48g Fat (70.7% calories from fat); 15g Protein; 30g Carbohydrate; 19 Dietary Fiber; 72mg Cholesterol; 192mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 8 1/2 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Swedish Meat Balls

Servings: 24

1 egg

2 pounds ground beef

2 slices bread, soaked in milk

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic

1 pinch salt and pepper

few shakes Accent, Tony's, Season-all

1 small can tomato paste

1 small can tomato sauce

1 cup water

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 small bottle barbecue sauce (Hickory Smoked)

Mix meat, bread, egg, onion, garlic, and other seasonings.

Roll into very small balls and fry until brown. Pour off excess fat.

In another boiler, mix tomato paste and sauce and water. Simmer on low heat for 10 - 20 minutes.

Add meat balls and a few parsley flakes. Continue to simmer for 30 minutes.

Combine brown sugar and barbeque sauce. Simmer this mixture in another pan for 10 - 12 minutes.

Add to meat balls and simmer about 30 minutes longer.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 155 Calories; 11g Fat (61.4% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 19 Dietary Fiber; 40mg Cholesterol; 234mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 1 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Vegetable Beef Soup

Servings: 10

"In our household kids were not in control, and did not make the decisions except for one special day a year. Each year, Mama let us choose the menu for our birthday dinner or supper. One year at a very young age, I chose vegetable soup much to the dismay of Kenny and Barry. They griped the whole time during the meal which made me realize just how much in control I was. Even though I loved Mama's vegetable soup, I secretly got as much satisfaction out the griping and complaining. So each year I would intentionally request Mama's wonderful vegetable soup savoring the flavor, and my brothers' complaining and knowing that on April 26, "1 was in control. " - Randy McCain

1 pound stew meat (or soup bone, or both)

1 can tomato paste

1 can tomatoes

corn

okra

potatoes, cut into 2" pieces

1/4 cup rice

vegetables of choice

sugar

salt and pepper

water

Boil soup bone and/or stew with water. Add salt and pepper and other seasonings of choice.

Add tomato paste, tomatos and all other vegetables.

Add a little sugar to taste.

After meat starts to get tender add a little rice.

Papa's Food

"What would you like for me to cook tor you when you come home?" That is the question I get from Mamma nearly every time I am heading for Louisiana. My answer depends upon how long I am going to be there. If I am going to be there a week, I will load her up with all kinds of Louisiana specialty food requests. However, if I am only going to be there for a day or so, I will always order "mustard greens, field peas and cornbread." I learned to eat this kind of food honestly because this was the kind of food Papa, Daddy's father, always liked. It must be good for you because Papa lived to be 106 years old.

Turnip greens are fine. I think they are Mamma's favorite. Collard greens are better but there is just nothing quite like mustard greens which are at the top of the "greens family." To really enjoy mustard greens, they have to be accompanied by two things. First, the greens have to be cooked with a generous hunk of fat back. It is only when you can see the grease floating on the top that you know that they have the right flavor. Second, you have to eat mustard greens with cornbread. And it cannot be just any cornbread. It has to be cornbread that was baked in an iron skillet and has a good strong crust. When you put that kind of cornbread in the mustard green pot liquor and let it soak a little while, now that is some fine eating!

Mamma very seldom cooks mustard greens without also cooking field peas. Daddy has planted a variety of field peas over the years, but must of them are part of the "purple hull" family. Of course, Mamma liked "crowder peas" that make a nice brown pot liquor. However, shelling peas was women's work so Daddy refused to get involved in that until the mechanical pea shellers came along. I am not sure how it happened but I became the designated pea-picking and pea-shelling young 'un. Mamma and I would often get up early in the morning and head for the pea patch. She could pick and shell peas faster than anybody I ever saw but I could usually come in a close second. I don't know much about the process of getting the peas put in the freezer and back in the pot and on the table but it was something that Mamma could do better than anyone else in the world. From my perspective, she is the mustard green and pea cooking world champion. And she can also make a mighty fine pone of cornbread, when she does not yield to the temptation of one of those cornbread mixes with sugar in it.

We seldom eat mustard greens or field peas and cornbread without someone saying, "Too bad old Papa is gone. He sure would have enjoyed this meal." Papa departed from this world in 1988 when I was in Africa. Papa has gone to the place where the streets of gold are a whole lot better than the dirt roads of Lena, and his heavenly mansion cannot be compared to that old unpainted clapboard house beside the railroad tracts he and Granny lived in. However, Papa's diet has not improved much because, even in heaven, there can be nothing much better that mustard greens, field peas and cornbread.

– Danny McCain

"Angel" Eggs

Servings: 24

When we get "deviled eggs", the special treat Papaw makes, we fight over them to the last one. " -- Ashley McCain

Mama and Daddy's grandchildren told me how much they loved Papaw's "deviled" eggs. When I asked Mama why she hadn't told me about that recipe, she replied, "Well, I thought about it, but I did not want the devil in my cookbook." I agree. The devil will get no credit for these delicious eggs. They will be called "Angel Eggs" from now on!

12 eggs

2/3 cup mayonnaise

salt and pepper

Hard boil eggs. Peel and cut in half.

Scoop out yolks. Place in bowl and mash with fork.

Add mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Fill hollowed out whites with yolk mixture .

Per serving (excluding unknown items): 77 Calories; 79 Fat (84.4% calories from fat); 3g Protein; trace Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 96mg Cholesterol; 62mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fat.

Candied Sweet Potatoes

Servings: 6

Mama's sweet potatoes are incredible. You can substitute squash for the sweet potaotes if you want to. If you do that, you cook them in an iron skillet on top of the stove and leave off the marshmallows. Randy likes it that way. I don't know what a "tad" of butter is. Let your conscience be your guide! When I tried to pin Mama down for the exact measurements this was her response: "As for candied sweet potatoes. It's hard to say how many. I just fill up the container I put them in. Add about a cup or a little more of sugar, and a tad of butter and enough water to cover them. After they get done you take them out of the stove, and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over them, and stir them good. Donna, I don't measure hardly anything so how can I tell you how much of what? You'll just have to be the judge. "

I did the best I can with the measurements. If you are confused, maybe you need to call Mama!

4 sweet potatoes

1 cup sugar

1 tad butter

water to cover potatoes

1 tablespoon cinnamon and sugar mixture

1 cup marshmallows

Cut up enough potatoes to oven safe container.

Sprinkle with a cup or so of sugar.

Add the "tad" of butter.

Add enough water to cover potatoes. Stir well and bake at 350 degree until done.

Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over potatoes when they come out of the oven and stir before serving.

When the grandkids are there, cover the sweet pototoes with minature marshmallows and put back in oven until they are just turning color (doesn't take long).

Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes

2 cans mushroom soup

1/4 cup milk

1/4 teaspoon pepper

8 cups potatoes

1 cup thinly sliced onion

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Combine soup, milk, and pepper.

In 9x13 baking dish, arrange alternate layers of thinly sliced potatoes, onions, cheese, and soup mixture.

Cover and bake at about 375 degrees for 1 hour.

Uncover and bake for 15 minutes.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 2206 Calories; 979 Fat (39.0% calories from fat); 89g Protein; 251g Carbohydrate; 229 Dietary Fiber; 251mg Cholesterol; 3275mg Sodium. Exchanges: 15 1/2 Grain(Starch); 8 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 13 1/2 Fat.

Collard, Mustard or Turnip Greens

We always tried to eat some kind of greens on New Years Day. Every one has their favorite greens, collard, mustard, or turnips. But if you were raised on greens, they are delicious to you. The juice they make (called pot liquor by some in the south) is delicious with cornbread. The greens also taste great with Mama's candied sweet potatoes.

collard greens, Mustard or turnip greens may be used instead

2 strips bacon, or 2 inch cube "salt meat"

water

salt

Wash collards and cut out hard centers. Cut or tear into smaller pieces.

Put into pot with bacon and water. "Salt meat", or "fat back" may be used instead.

Cook until as tender as desired.

Season to taste.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 73 Calories; 6g Fat (78.2% calories from fat); 4g Protein; trace Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber; 11mg Cholesterol; 202mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 Fat.
Creamy Broccoli

My daughters, Kim and Victoria, request this dish more than any other. I have to make it for every holiday, birthday, or special meal. I usually use cracker crumbs instead of the bread crumbs. My version calls for 1 cup mayonaise, but either way, it is delicious.

2 packages frozen broccoli

1 can mushroom soup

1/4 cup milk

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup bread crumbs

1/4 stick margarine

Cook broccoli as directed on package.

Place in 1 1/2 quart casserole.

Stir soup and milk until smooth, pour over broccoli.

Sprinkle with cheese.

Mix bread crumbs and butter and sprink.le over top of broccoli.

Bake at 400 degrees about 20-30 minutes.

Dirty Rice

Servings: 8

At one time, our family had a preacher friend who would come to hold revival meetings in our church. This particular gentleman loved Louisiana cooking. But being a rather strait-laced preacher, he could not stand the idea of calling something "dirty rice". "Couldn't you just call it brown rice?", he suggested. We were highly amused by this preacher's silly suggestion and, of course, his name never stuck. Even though he hated the name, he was awfully fond of the dish, which is best when acompanied with my Daddy's barbeque chicken and garlic bread, and my mom's wonderful potato salad.

1 pound pork sausage

1/2 pound ground beef

1/2 chicken livers

6 chicken gizzards

4 green onions, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

green pepper

Accent® seasoning mix

salt and pepper

Red pepper

McCormick's Season All

2 cups rice

1 pint water

Grind together all meat products.

Mix together with all seasonings.

Refrigerate overnight.

Cook 2 cups rice.

Brown meat mixture, drain grease.

Mix with prepared rice, add about 1 pint of water and simmer for one hour.

Dirty rice can be frozen.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 533 Calories; 32g Fat (54.9% calories from fat); 20g Protein; 39g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 108mg Cholesterol; 426mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 1/2 Grain(Starch); 2 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 5 Fat.

Field Peas

Servings: 10

This is what Carmen had to say about field peas: "That's funny that you remembered that I liked the field peas. I love everything that Meemaw and Papaw make, but if I could choose just one thing, I'd sop that cornbread in the pea juice and be perfectly happy. "

There is nothing quite as good as "pea juice and cornbread". Cut up some red ripe tomatoes and some crisp, out-of-the-garden cucumbers and you have yourself a meal fit for royalty. This is Carmen's favorite Meemaw food.

2 pounds peas (field peas, shelled and washed)

water

2 strips bacon

salt and pepper

Put field peas in a pot and cover with water.

Add bacon and salt and pepper to taste.

Cook until done.

Keep an eye on the pot so that the water does not boil out. You want to make sure you have enough "pea juice".

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 81 Calories; 19 Fat (10.7% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 1mg Cholesterol; 25mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fat.

Fresh Green Beans

Servings: 8

It is always a treat when the fresh green beans come in.

1 pound Fresh green beans, snapped

water

1 teaspoon salt

3 slices bacon

water

4 new potatoes

Snap and wash beans.

Put them in a boiler and cover with water.

Add 2-3 slices of bacon and about 1 teaspoon salt and cook until done.

If desired, cut up 3-4 new potatoes and cook with beans.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 62 Calories; 19 Fat (17.6% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 19 Dietary Fiber; 2mg Cholesterol; 308mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fat.

Fried Corn Cut off the Cob

Servings: 6

This used to be one of my favorite garden vegetables in the summer time. Of course, it can only get better with some field peas, fresh tomatoes, sliced cucumbers and hot cornbread.

8 ears corn on the cob, cut kernals from cob, then scrape cob with knife

1 tablespoon sugar

salt and pepper

1/4 cup butter

1 tablespoon oil

Cut corn off the cob, then with edge of knife scrape down the side of the cob to remove the juicy part.

Add to a little cooking oil in iron skillet. Add corn and cook watching carefully to make sure it does not bum.

Add sugar, butter, and salt and pepper to taste.

Cook until done.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 199 Calories; 11g Fat (47.0% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 25g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 21mg Cholesterol; 96mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates
Fried Okra

Servings: 8

"When it comes to Sunday dinner, the best thing on the table is usually fried okra." -- Ashley McCain.

Any good southerner knows that fried okra is one of the best vegetables on the planet. Mama cooks hers a little differently by adding her "breading" to the pan while the okra is frying, rather than rolling it in the meal ahead of time. She thinks it make it crispier. So good with fresh com and field peas and cornbread! Who needs meat?

2 pounds okra, cut 1/2" thick

3/4 cup oil

3/4 cup cornbread mix (We prefer corn meal)

salt and pepper

Season All or accent

Put oil in pan and heat. Add okra.

Turn down heat a little. Fry okra until almost done.

Sprinkle corn meal over okra and stir.

Add salt, pepper, accent or Season All or other seasonings of your choice.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 268 Calories; 22g Fat (72.1 % calories from fat); 3g Protein; 16g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; trace Cholesterol; 127mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1//2 Vegetable; 4 1/2 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Meemaw's Mac and Cheese

"One of my favorite foods ... Everytime I go to La. I always look forward to the delicious Mac N' Cheese that Meemaw always has heaped into a bowl on the table. I can always count on her to look out for me, but it still means soooooooo much to me when I see that heaping bowl of MAC!" -- Jeffrey Simmons.

Ryan also asked for the recipe for mac and cheese. Not remembering that mac and cheese was one of Mama's dishes, I asked Mama what he meant and she sent me these instructions. This one is a grandkid pleaser.

1 package Kraft macaroni and cheese

milk (more than it says on the package)

1 hunk American cheese (such as Velveeta)

Mix up more milk than the Kraft package calls for. Heat on top of stove.

Melt a hunk of cheese in the milk mixture.

Mix in the rest of the ingredients just like the Kraft package calls for.

Pour mixture over cooked macaroni noodles. Mixture should be "soupy"
McCain Tartar Sauce

Servings: 12

"I don't know who came up with this recipe, but we do not think our fish dinners are complete without tartar sauce and hush puppies. Yummy! Fried fish has to be my favorite dinner I get in Louisiana. I was so hungry for fried fish cooked the Meemaw way the other night, but I settled for fried shrimp at Sonny's Barbeque. I always put in my request for fried fish, french fries, hush puppies, and tartar sauce when I know I am going to be in Louisiana. " -- Jackie McCain Simmons

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup sweet pickles

1 cup mayonnaise

Chop onions and pickles.

Mix with mayonaise.

Recipe may be doubled or tripled if needed for large crowd.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 143 Calories; 16g Fat (91.3% calories from fat); trace Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 6mg Cholesterol; 170mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Vegetable; 1 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates
Potato Salad

Servings: 12

I like this best when it is still hot!

8 large potatoes, cut in 2" cubes

1 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1/2 cup sweet pickles

5 eggs, hard-boiled, chopped

3/4 cup onion, chopped

salt and pepper

Boil potatos until they are soft enough to be mashed. Drain.

Add enough mayonnaise to make salad moist, Add eggs, pickles and onions.

Stir salad enough to mash some of the potatoes a little.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 306 Calories; 26g Fat (71.8% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 18g Carbohydrate; 29g Dietary Fiber; 98mg Cholesterol; 253mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Rutabagas

Servings: 6

This is one of my mother's favorite foods. She always talked about how she loved rutabagas. I eat them sometimes not because I am so fond of them, but it helps me remember my mother.

2 rutabagas, peeled and chopped

water to cover

salt and pepper

1 teaspoon sugar

Peel and chop rutabagas and put them in skillet.

Cover with water and season with salt and pepper and 1 teaspoon sugar.

Cook until tender.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 19 Calories; trace Fat (4.0% calories from fat); 19 Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; Omg Cholesterol; 9mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Ryan's French Fries

Servings: 10

Ryan requested a recipe for french fries. When asked what he liked about them he replied, "I don't know they were just good. "

Sorry to disappoint the french fry gourmets, but when I asked Mama about her french fries this was her reply: 'As for Ryan's french fries, I buy uncooked ones at the store and fry until done in hot grease on top of stove."

1 pound french fries (frozen)

2 cups vegetable oil

Heat 1 1/2 inches of vegetable in iron skillet on top of stove.

Fry frozen french fries until crisp.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 524 Calories; 50g Fat (85.3% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 18g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 90mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 10 Fat.

Stewed Potatoes

Servings: 8

Try these when you serve fresh green beans.

16 new potatoes

water

1 onion chopped

salt and pepper

seasonings to taste

1 tablespoon flour

Peel, or scrape as many potatoes as you can eat. The freshly dug ones are much better if you can find them – sometimes they have them at the grocery store.

Add water to cover plus a little more. Add a cut up onion, salt and black pepper and any other seasoning you may want.

Cook until tender.

If you want to thicken them, put about 1 tbsp. flour in 1/2 cup of water and and stir until dissolved and stir into potatoes.

Cook a little longer until flour is cooked. Then eat and enjoy.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 196 Calories: trace Fat (1.1 % calories from fat); 5g Protein; 45g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 15mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 1/2 Grain(Starch)
The "Simple Corn"

"Meemaw makes the best corn ever. I think when 1 was younger I called it 'runny corn'. I tried to get my mom to cook it but it never tastes as good as Meemaw's"-- Lindzee McCain

Ryan asked us the include the recipe for "the simple corn". When I asked him what that was, he said, "1 don't know. It was just good. The corn rules. " Mama gave me her instructions for how she makes "the simple corn".

1 tube frozen corn

1 can com, cream style

Mix all ingredients and heat until warm.

Huckleberry Pie

The rest of the family always enjoyed huckleberry pie (called Huckleberry Cobbler by the more enlightened) in the same way they enjoyed all the other food Mamma cooked. However, Mamma and I (normally stated as "me and Mamma" in proper Rigolette English) always ate huckleberry pie while we are scratching. That is because, huckleberries come from little low bushes that grow in the woods. And me and Mamma were the only ones who would go into the woods to get them. And when we went into the woods to get huckleberries, we always got full of red bugs. And red bugs always caused you to itch. And there is nothing like an old fashion scratch to solve the itching of red bugs. So, between every bite of that wonderful huckleberry pie, Mamma and I would find a new place to scratch some irritating red bug bite.

However, huckleberry pie was more than worth it. In fact, it is the best pie that Mamma ever made. When I lived in Springfield, Georgia, I was introduced to the huckleberry's rather sophisticated and urbanized junior brother, the blueberry. Blueberries were much bigger and usually planted in yards where you can easily pick them. And a blueberry pie is also delicious. In fact, blueberries were so good that I gave Daddy and Mamma some blueberry bushes from Georgia for Christmas one year. They planted them in the garden, out behind the old well. These blueberry bushes have produced some mighty fme blueberries that we have all enjoyed over the years. Unfortunately, they are just not quite the same as the huckleberries that God planted in the woods among the red bugs. It is sort of like the difference between eating real cornbread and that store bought variety that comes in a box. The latter is easy to fix and tastes good but it just does not measure up to real cornbread made from scratch in an iron skillet. Neither does the blueberry pie quite measure up to huckleberry pie.

Huckleberry pie is the supreme after meal pleasure. It is the ultimate culinary delight. It a dessert fit for the preacher on Sunday. It is at the top of a long list of other outstanding "end-of-the-meal" delicacies that have been found around the McCain household for the last sixty years. When mixed with a little whipped cream or ice cream, it will make even a person who is already groaning from McCain size helpings of chicken and dumplings and peas and mustard greens and cornbread, groan a little more in delight.

-Danny McCain

Angie's Strawberry Cake

Servings: 8

My mom loves this cake that her daughter-in-law, Angie, makes. She says it is "one of her favorite cakes."

1 angel food cake

1 8 oz package cream cheese

1 12 oz Cool Whip®

1 cup cream cheese

1 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups strawberries, chopped

Chop strawberries into pieces, add 3/4 cup sugar and set aside.

Combine, Cool Whip®, cream cheese and powdered sugar and blend well.

Cut angel food cake in half, spread with cream cheese mixture, then add 1/2 of sweetened strawberries.

Place top layer on cake, frost top and sides with cream cheese mixture and rest of strawberries.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 666 Calories; 28g Fat (38.7% calories from fat); 9g Protein; 92g Carbohydrate; 19 Dietary Fiber; 63mg Cholesterol; 560mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 5 1/2 Fat; 6 Other Carbohydrates.

Aunt Edith's Pralines

Servings: 24

Aunt Edith always managed to surprise me on my visits back home with the most wonderful pralines. I have been known to hide them to keep from having to share! (How selfish of me!) On my last visit home, my aunt was unable to make me pralines because she had become a resident in a nursing home. My mother tried to duplicate them, but she and I were unable to detect what a soft ball stage was without a candy thermometer. (My daughter subsequently found that information for me on the internet, so we could include it with our recipe.) I am afraid my mom's good hearted attempt to duplicate Aunt Edith's pralines had a rather "runny result". So we recooked the whole praline batch until we finally got them hard enough. When I visited my Aunt Edith in the nursing home, I told her that she was "sweeter than any praline she ever made me!" While I may never eat another praline made by her loving hands, I will always remember her sweet gifts every time I use this recipe.

2 cups sugar

3/4 teaspoon soda

1/4 cup milk

3/4 cup evaporated milk

1 1/4 pounds butter

2 cups pecans, chopped

Cook cream, milk, sugar, and soda over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture comes to a boil.

Continue cooking until temperature reaches 238 on candy thermometer or forms a soft ball in cold water. Remove from heat.

Add butter. Do not stir. Cool to lukewarm (110 degrees)

Add pecans. Stir 2-3 minutes.

Drop by spoonfuls on waxed paper and allow to harden

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 246 Calories; 20g Fat (70.8% calories from fat); 19 Protein; 18g Carbohydrate; 0g Dietary Fiber, 54mg Cholesterol; 205mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Non-Fat Milk; 4 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates.

Aunt Elaine's Coconut Cake

Servings: 8

"Memaw's coconut cakes is another one of my favorites. I remember as a child searching through the house to see if she had made one for us that visit, and always being excited to discover that she had. " -- Laura McCain.

Actually, the coconut cakes Laura likes so much may have come from Aunt Elaine, or at least from her recipe. Aunt Elaine has an art for baking cakes. And bless her heart, she always knew the exact time to show up on our door step with some wonderful baked goody, oranges, tomatoes or something else from the garden. With Aunt Elaine and Uncle Bob, it wasn't just about the food though. We always have wonderful conversations, story telling, and laughter. I remember being fascinated by Aunt Elaine's tales of living in a place in South Louisiana when she was first married. In that particular remote area, she was refused the right to vote until federal marshalls showed up and escorted her to the place to register. I am proud of my aunt for sticking up for her rights. and for those of the other people who were denied this basic American freedom. I am glad that she was able to stay in that parish long enough to see that particular discriminatory practice change. Go Aunt Elaine!

1 package white cake mix

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups coconut flakes

1 8 ounce whipped topping

Make cake as directed and bake in 9 by 13 inch pan. Cool 15 or 20 minutes.

Pierce cake in different places with fork.

Bring one and one half cup milk, one half cup sugar and one half cup coconut to a boil. Pour over the cool cake.

Stir one half cup coconut into cool whip. Spread over cake.

Sprinkle remaining coconut over top of cake.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 445 Calories; 20g Fat (38.8% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 65g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 6mg Cholesterol; 374mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 4 Fat; 3 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

"Boiled" Cookies

Servings: 24

What we called no bake cookies.

This was a Sunday aftemoon treat sometimes. You never forget the taste of this candy.

2 cups sugar

1 stick butter

2 tablespoons cocoa

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 1/2 cups oatmeal

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In heavy bottom pan mix sugar, butter, cocoa, and milk.

Bring mixture to boil and boil for two minutes.

Remove from heat and add peanut butter, oatmeal (quick cooking variety is best), and vanilla.

Cool and drop by teaspoonfuls onto waxed paper.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 167 Calories; 7g Fat (38.1% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 24g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 11mg Cholesterol; 67mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 1/2 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates
Banana Pudding

Servings: 12

"The best banana pudding I've ever had. Nothing compares. " – Allison McCain Sweeney

Chuck says this is his favorite too.

2 cups sugar

2 tablespoons flour

6 eggs

6 bananas, sliced

1 bag vanilla wafers

1/2 stick butter

2 cups milk

1 can evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine sugar, flour, salt and milk in top of double boiler.

Cook until thickened (a lengthy process). Stir constantly.

After it thickens, cook 15 minutes longer.

Separate eggs. Beat egg yolks. Add some of the hot mixture to egg yolks and stir until it is well blended.

Pour egg mixture into milk mixture and cook 5 minutes longer.

Add butter, wafers and sliced bananas. (Ripe bananas are best.)

Pour into glass pan and add meringue (beat egg whites with about 3/4 cup sugar added)

Brown in oven.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 311 Calories; 99 Fat (26.3% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 53g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 116mg Cholesterol; 111mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 Fruit; 1/2 Non-Fat Milk; 1 1/2 Fat; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Blackberry, Blueberry, or Huckleberry Cobbler

Servings: 8

Danny's favorite dessert.

1 cup flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

2 pints berries

Cook berries (of choice) with 3/4 cup of the sugar and small amount of water. Set aside.

To make cobbler batter: Sift dry ingredients together. Add wet ingredients, except for berries. Mix well.

Pour batter in oven safe pan. Add berries and juice to top of batter.

Cook in 350 degree oven until done-about 45 minutes.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 303 Calories; 8g Fat (24.1% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 55g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 25mg Cholesterol; 180mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 1/2 Fat; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie

Servings: 24

"It is always nice to receive a pie for your birthday! I had a blueberry pie from Nanny for my thirteenth birthday. " -- Lauren McCain

"My favorite dessert is blueberry pie. It is creamy and sweet, the taste is wonderful. " - Emily McCain

"Scrumptious!", agrees Jason McCain

Everybody loves Mama's Blueberry Cream Cheese Pies. You can see she has to make them 3 at a time!

6 cups blueberries

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

2 tablespoons flour

3 graham cracker crumb pie crusts

2 8 oz cream cheese

1 12 oz Cool Whip®

1 cup powdered sugar

Put washed blueberries into cooking pot. Add sugar and just enough water to cover.

Cook until the berries start boiling and make juice, then remove small amount of juice from pot.

Add flour to reserved juice and stir until dissolved. Add mixture back into blueberries to thicken. (This whole process takes about 10 minutes.) Cool.

Mix softened cream cheese, Cool Whip, and powdered sugar until well blended.

Divide cream cheese mixture and add to the 3 pie crusts.

Top each pie with the cooled blueberry mixture.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 332 Calories; 17g Fat (45.5% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 42g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 21mg Cholesterol; 233mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 3 Fat; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Carrot Cake

Servings: 8

We all thought the idea of carrot cake was pretty disgusting until we actually tasted it! A wonderful way to have your cake and eat your "veggies" at the same time.

2 cups flour, all-purpose

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup oil

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups grated carrots

8 ounces cream cheese

1 box powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Mix flour, cinnamon, sugar, soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Add oil, beaten eggs and carrots and mix unitl thoroughly blended.

Pour batter into greased and flour cake pans.

Bake at 350 degrees unitl center springs back to touch.

Make frosting by combining softened cream cheese, butter, 1/4 tea salt, 2 teaspoons vanilla and powdered sugar and blending well.

Frost cooled cake.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 909 Calories; 56g Fat (54.3% calories from fat); 9g Protein; 96g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 156mg Cholesterol; 761mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 10 1/2 Fat; 4 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Chocolate Delight Pie

Servings: 8

This is a delicious recipe and can actually be adapted for people who can't have sugar. I have done this for my husband by using Equal instead of the confectioner's sugar. (I just keep adding packets until I think it tastes about right.) I substitute either real whipped cream sweetened with Equal, or a sugar free whipped topping, and use the Sugar Free instant chocolate pudding mix. Ken really loves the sugar-free version.

1 cup flour

1 cup pecans, finely chopped

1 stick butter

1 cup confectioner's sugar

8 ounces cream cheese

2 cups Cool Whip®

1 box chocolate pudding

2 cups milk

Mix flour, finely chopped pecans, and butter. Press into pie pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Cream together confectioner's sugar, cream cheese, and 2 cups Cool Whip.

Spread onto cooled crust.

Mix 1 box chocolate pudding mix (instant) with 2 cups cold milk. Spread onto cream cheese mixture.

Add remainder of Cool Whip on top and sprinkle with pecans.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 512 Calories; 36g Fat (62.9% calories from fat); 8g Protein; 40g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 72mg Cholesterol; 254mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1 12 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 7 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Chocolate Pie

Servings: 8

Always a favorite at our house.

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup flour, all-purpose

2 eggs, separated

1/2 stick butter

1/3 cup cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In top of double boiler, mix together all ingredients except vanilla, butter, and egg whites.

Cook until thick.

Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter.

Pour into a baked pie shell.

Top with meringue (two egg whites beaten until stiff with 1/4 cup sugar.)

Brown meringue in 475 degree oven until lightly browned.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 229 Calories; 9g Fat (35.4% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 34g Carbohydrate; 19 Dietary Fiber; 71mg Cholesterol; 170mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 1/2 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Chocolate Sheet Cake

Servings: 15

For chocolate lovers this will be a treat and it serves a crowd. The icing smells just like fudge when you make it. Yummy!

Ashley and I prefer the version without coconut, but you make it your way.

1 cup water

1 stick butter

1/2 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

2 cups flour, all-purpose

3 tablespoons cocoa

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk (Add 1/2 teaspoon baking soda in 1/2 cup milk to make buttermilk.)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For icing:

1 stick butter

1 box confectioner's sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa

9 tablespoons milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

pecans,chopped

3/4 cup coconut flakes

Bring to boil in pan, 1 cup water, 1 stick butter and 1/2 cup shortening.

Mix in bowl 2 cups sugar, 2 cups flour, 3 tablespoons of cocoa, 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Pour dry ingredients into wet mixture.

Add two eggs and beat until smooth.

Add 1/2 buttermilk, or make buttermilk substitute with 1/2 teaspoon soda and 1/2 cup milk.

Add 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Bake at 350 degrees on a cookie sheet until cake springs back when touched.

To make icing: Bring to boil 1 stick butter, 1 box confectioner's sugar, 3 tablespoons cocoa, and 8-10 tablespoons milk.

Remove from heat add 2 teaspoons vanilla, pecans and coconut (if desired).

Pour icing over cooked cake and serve the cake on the sheet it was cooked in.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 408 Calories; 22g Fat (47.2% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 51g Carbohydrate; 19g Dietary Fiber; 60mg Cholesterol; 223mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 4 1/2 Fat; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrates
Christmas Coconut Balls

Servings: 36

"Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Mama's coconut balls. Ronnie may have loved them the most, but I think we are all close second's. Why can't it be Christmas every time we go to Louisiana?" - Jackie McCain Simmons

Note the use of the word "icebox". This one, though submitted by Jackie, had to come from Mama's own hand.

1 pound confectioner's sugar

1 can coconut flakes

1 can condensed milk, sweetened

1 stick butter

2 6 oz packages semisweet chocolate chips

1 quart chopped pecans

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 pound paraffin wax

Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips and wax.

Put in "icebox" until set.

Then roll into small balls.

Melt wax and chocolate chips in double boiler.

Dip balls in chocolate mixture until coated.

Cool on waxed paper.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 242 Calories; 16g Fat (55.2% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 27g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 10mg Cholesterol; 43mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 3 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Coconut Pie

Servings: 8

We did not make it a habit of having dessert all the time. We always had birthday cakes, and usually had dessert for company. But Christmas was different. We had lots of desserts, that disappeared rapidly with our big crew. This was one of Daddy's favorites.

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 eggs, separated

1/4 stick butter

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 tablespoons flour

1 small can coconut flakes

1 cup evaporated milk

1 cup water

6 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Separate eggs. Combine all ingredients except butter,vanilla, and egg whites in top of double boiler.

Cook until thickened.

Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla.

To make meringue topping, beat egg whites with 6 tablespoons of sugar and cream of tartar.

Pour pie mixture into baked pie shell and top with meringue.

Brown meringue in 475 degree oven until lightly browned.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 234 Calories; 10g Fat (37.6% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 32g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 87mg Cholesterol; 175mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 1/2 Non-Fat Milk; 2 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Coffee Cake

Servings: 8

Mama writes that she got this recipe from Vickie Spikes. Vickie was raised in Lena, Louisiana, near where Daddy was raised. Mama wrote the following about how their friendship developed over the years:

"When your Daddy was in the Navy he met a guy, Pat Spikes, and got him and Vickie writing to each other. Guess what! They ended up later getting menied. Pat and Vickie were very devoted to each other. (Pat is now deceased.) One day we went to see Vickie, (she is my good friend too) and she had this delicious cake - fresh out of the oven. I told her how good it was and asked her how she made it, and she told me. Everyone who eats it really likes it. I don't know the name so I guess your name of it will do."

I named it Coffee Cake because I can imagine it tastes wonderful with some good Louisiana coffee.

1 yellow cake mix, prepared as directed

1 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon and sugar mixture

1 cup pecans, chopped

Prepare yellow cake mix as directed.

Pour a little of the batter into a baking pan and sprinkle with half the brown sugar and some of the cinnamon and sugar mixture, and some of the chopped pecans.

Repeat until all of the batter, brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon mixture is in the baking pan.

Bake at 350 degrees until cake springs back when touched in center.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 438 Calories; 17g Fat (33.4% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 71g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 1mg Cholesterol; 432mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 3 1/2 Fat; 4 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Divinity

Servings: 12

Angie, the "candy-maker" of the family, loves to make divinity. We all love to eat it.

2 cups sugar

2/3 cup boiling water

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup pecans, chopped

1/4 cup Karo syrup

3 eggs, separated

1/8 teaspoon salt

Combine sugar, Karo, salt, and water and let boil without stirring until small amount forms a very hard ball in water.

Beat egg whites until stiff and then beat in hot syrup.

Continue beating until stiff.

Add vanilla and nuts and drop by spoonfuls onto waxed paper.

Place one pecan half on top of each piece.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 226 Calories; 7g Fat (27.5% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 40g Carbohydrate; 19 Dietary Fiber; 47mg Cholesterol; 45mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1 1/2 Fat; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrates
Fresh Apple Cake

Servings: 10

There are times in the fall when the air is crisp, and the apples come in, that I long for this cake. Mama used to bake it in an iron dutch oven, which only added to the flavor. Great with some Louisana coffee. The cinnamon smell is wonderful.

3 cups flour, all-purpose

1 1/2 cups oil .

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups sugar

3 cups apples, peeled and chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 eggs

1 cup pecans, chopped

Sift together all dry ingredients with the exception of sugar.

Add oil and vanilla to dry ingredients and beat until it forms a smooth batter.

In a separate bowl, beat eggs until smooth and foamy.

Gradually add sugar, continue beating until well blended.

Pour this mixture into flour batter. Add apples and pecans.

Pour into greased bundt pan or dutch oven and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until done.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 688 Calories; 41g Fat (53.2% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 76g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 37mg Cholesterol; 226mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 8 Fat; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Fruit Salad

It would not be Christmas without this fruit salad. It is the first leftover I go back for a few hours after the meal.

1 large can fruit cocktail

1 can crushed pineapple

2 apples, chopped

3 bananas, sliced

3 oranges

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup sugar

maraschino cherries, coconut, or other fruits if desired.

Mix all fruits and nuts together and chill until time to serve.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 2011 Calories; 81g Fat (34.3% calories from fat); 15g Protein; 335g Carbohydrate; 23g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 15mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 lean Meat; 7 Fruit; 15 1/2 Fat; 13 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Fudge

Servings: 12

Nothing smells as wonderful as fudge cooking! Kids and grownups alike love this Christmas treat.

3 cups sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons flour

1/4 pound butter

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cook sugar, milk, salt, cocoa, and flour until it forms a soft ball in water.

Remove from heat. Add vanilla and butter.

Beat until smooth enough to pour.

Let cool. Cut into squares.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 284 Calories; 8g Fat (26.1% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 53g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 23mg Cholesterol; 111mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain{Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 1/2 Fat; 3 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.
German Chocolate Cake

Servings: 8

This was one of Mama's favorite company cakes when we were growing up. It was a good way to use up some of those pecans she loved to pick up.

1 cup evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

3 egg yolks

1 stick butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 small can coconut

1 cup pecans, chopped

1 cake mix (German Chocolate, prepare as directed)

Prepare cake mix and bake as directed.

In top of double boiler, combine evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, margarine and vanilla.

Cook until thick (about 12-15 minutes).

Remove from heat and add coconut and pecans.

Stir until thick enough to spread on cake layers.

Frost cooled cake laters with thickened icing.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 721 Calories; 46g Fat (56.2% calories from fat); 8g Protein; 73g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 120mg Cholesterol; 461mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 1/2 Non-Fat Milk; 9 Fat; 4 Other Carbohydrates.

Heavenly Hash

Servings: 12

It does sound "heavenly, doesn't it?

2 #2 1/2 cans crushed pineapple

2 #2 1/2 cans fruit cocktail

1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped

4 egg yolks

3/4 teaspoon yellow mustard

1 cup milk

lemon juice, from one lemon

1 pint whipping cream

Mix milk, mustard, egg yolks and lemon juice together and cook until thick or until it coats on a spoon.

Remove from heat and cool. Add marsh mellows until all are melted.

Cool. Fold in whipped cream--then drained fruit.

Let stand several hours before serving.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 367 Calories; 26g Fat (61.5% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 33g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 128mg Cholesterol; 36mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 2 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 5 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates
Homemade Ice Cream

Servings: 20

We always looked forward to the times in the summer time when Mama would get out the ice cream freezer, and make homemade ice cream. It was so hard to wait until the motor started to whine, and we knew it was almost done. And then Mama would say it had to rest a while! Oh the agony of waiting for that first dip! We fought over who got to lick the dasher. Banana is my favorite! A good way to beat the Louisiana heat!

4 eggs

3 cups evaporated milk

2 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

6 cups milk

5 bananas, mashed and sweetened

3/4 cup sugar

Mash bananas and add 3/4 cup sugar to sweeten. Add rest of sugar gradually to beaten eggs.

Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Continue to beat until mixture is very stiff.

Pour into ice cream freezer or put into regular freezer and freeze.

Surround ice cream freezer with crushed ice alternated with rock salt added, until the ice cream churn is full.

Ice cream is done when motor starts to whine or ice cream freezer is having a very difficult time turning.

Other fruits such as strawberries or peaches may be substituted for the bananas.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 226 Calories; 6g Fat (24.7% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 37g Carbohydrate; 19 Dietary Fiber; 58mg Cholesterol; 141mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 1/2 Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Hummingbird Cake

Servings: 10

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups oil

3 eggs

2 cups sliced bananas

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup crushed pineapple in juice

1 cup pecans, chopped

1 8 oz package cream cheese

1/2 cup margarine

1 pound powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine flour, salt. soda, cinnamon, and sugar. Stir gently.

Add eggs and oil stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Do not beat.

Stir in vanilla, pineapple, pecans, and bananas.

Spoon batter into 3 well-greased and floured 9 inch cake pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

To make frosting: Cream margarine and cream cheese until smooth.

Add powdered sugar, beating until fluffy. Stir in vanilla.

Frost cake and sprinkle with nuts.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 1055 Calories; 599 Fat (49.3% calories from fat); 9g Protein; 128g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 81mg Cholesterol; 406mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 11 1/2 Fat; 5 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Ice Box Fruit Cake

Servings: 16

"I always looked forward to this traditional Christmas dessert MeMaw made. It is chewy and yummy. I don't like regular fruit cake but I love Meemaw's ice box fruit cake. " -- Allison McCain Sweeney

"Anybody can make a pie, but Meemaw is the only person I know of who makes a yummy fruitcake. I look forward to this special treat every Christmas. I think I like it so well because it is loaded with fruit. I have to contend with my mom and Uncle Ronnie for my share. " -- Jessica Simmons

This recipe has been in our family for years and is a real favorite of my brother, Ronnie and my sister, Jackie. Mama says she first got the recipe when the mailman left some of the fruitcake in her mail box at Christmas time. Later, he gave my mom the recipe. This recipe is one of those that we strongly associated with the Christmas holidays. It makes a great gift.

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

1 pound graham crackers

2 cans coconut

1 pound walnuts

1 pound pecans

1/4 pound candied citron

1/2 pound candied cherries

1 box raisins

1 pound dates

Crumble graham crackers in large bowl.

Pour condensed milk over graham crackers.

Add all other ingredients to mixture.

Mix well with hands.

Press into large rectangular pan.

Chill in the refrigerator.

Fruitcake may be cut into squares.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 916 Calories; 58g Fat (54.1 % calories from fat); 17g Protein; 95g Carbohydrate; 11g Dietary Fiber; 13mg Cholesterol; 260mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 2 Fruit; 11 Fat; 2 Other Carbohydrates.

Individual Pecan Pies

Servings: 14

"Very good pecan pies!" -- Cris McCain.

Victoria's favorite Meemaw dessert are the individual pecan pies. How her eyes would light up when Meemaw would place a large pile of warm pecan pies of the table in front of us!

When my husband was still allowed to have sugar, pecan pies were his favorite dessert too. Except that his idea of an individual pecan pie was the 8 or 9 inch size! I remember the first time he visited our home before we were married. It was Christmas time and at first there were plenty pecan pies. But he had no idea how fast our big family could make those pies vanish. He approached my mom with his most accommodating tone, "If you will please tell me how to make some pecan pies, I will be happy to make more for you." My mother laughed and helped Ken "make" his pies!

So many people have been delighted with a gift of an individual pecan pie from Mama's kitchen. She gives them to anyone who cares for her, or for those she loves: teachers, doctors, nurses, her pastor's family, the people in the grocery stores where she shops, neighbors and friends. If you help her in some way, or if you just look like you could use an act of kindness, she is liable to reward you with a jar of jelly, a pecan pie or a copy of one of her books. Mama loves to pick up pecans. Every year, friends and relatives will let her know when the pecan crop will come in. Mama scoffs at the modern pecan picker up devices, prefering to do it the old fashioned way. She and Daddy will then shell and pick out the pecans and fill out freezers with them. I wonder how many pecans and pecan pies she has given away! Every time Mama makes pecan pies she always saves one or two for her youngest grandson, Hayes Reid, who loves them too. Does he get the special treatment because he is the "baby" of the family, or because he is named after the maiden names from his two great grandmothers?

14 individual pie shells

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup Karo syrup

3 eggs

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 cups pecans, chopped

Place chopped pecans in bottoms of unbaked pie shells.

Mix all the rest of the ingredients together and pour over pecans. Leave a little space at top.

Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.

Jackie's Peanut Butter Pie

Servings: 8

"I got this recipe from a college friend. Mama loves peanut butter so much she will eat it straight out of the jar, so I knew she would love this pie. I was right. Every time she comes to visit I make her a peanut butter pie. She tries to eat little slivers at a time to make it last longer. The only trouble is that my teenagers love it too, and they go round and round about who gets the peanut butter pie. When Meemaw comes, unfortunately, is the only time they even see a peanut butter pie in our house. " -- Jackie McCain Simmons

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup milk

8 ounces cream cheese

9 ounces Cool Whip, thawed

1 graham cracker pie crust, 9 inch

1/4 cup nuts, chopped

Whip cheese until soft and fluffy.

Beat in peanut butter and sugar, slowly add milk, and blend.

Fold in topping.

Pour into a graham cracker crust.

Sprinkle with nuts.

Freeze until firm.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 537 Calories; 35g Fat (57.9% calories from fat); 9g Protein; 48g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 33mg Cholesterol; 346mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 6 1/2 Fat; 3 Other Carbohydrates.

Jelly Cake

Servings: 12

I hope we have gotten this recipe right. This is something wonderful that Mama used to make before cake mixes and boxed desserts were so popular. She filled the holes with her own wonderful jelly and it was a truly delicious dessert. Unfortunately, Mama cannot remember how she did this cake, since she has not made this in years. I have tried a few versions and a/ways put the jelly in a little too early and it became incorporated into the cake. Instead I wanted to bite into hot pockets of jelly. So I figured out you have to wait until the cake is about done before adding the jelly. I am sure we will never be able to get something that is exactly like Mama's version, but I hope this will be close enough. It certainly will be better with Mama's own homemade jelly.

1 1/2 cups flour, all-purpose

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup milk

1 cup jelly

Sift dry ingredients.

Cream butter, sugar, and eggs. Add to dry ingredients and blend well.

Add vanilla and milk. Stir until well blended.

Pour into buttered and floured 8 inch square pan. Bake at 350 degrees until just barely done.

Remove from oven. Poke holes in cake with end of wooden spoon.

Fill each hole with jelly and spoon jelly on top of cake.

Place back in oven for a few minutes to warm jelly.

Eat while warm.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 280 Calories; 9g Fat (28.7% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 48g Carbohydrate; 19 Dietary Fiber; 54mg Cholesterol; 274mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 1/2 Fat; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Lemon Ice Box Pie

Servings: 8

Jackie used to like to make this pie when we were teenagers.

2 cups vanilla wafer cookies, crushed

2 tablespoons butter, melted (shortening may also be used)

1 cup sweetened condensed milk

2 eggs, separated

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup sugar

Make crust by adding melted butter or shortening to crushed vanilla wafers (graham crackers can also be used.)

Press into pie pan.

To make filling, place condensed milk in bowl and add lemon juice.

Stir and add the beaten egg yolks.

Pour into prepared crust.

Beat egg whites until stiff adding 1/4 cup sugar.

Cover pie with egg white mixture and brown in oven.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 472 Calories; 199 Fat (35.2% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 70g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 67mg Cholesterol; 273mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 3 Fat; 4 1/2 Other Carbohydrates
Lemon Pound Cake

Servings: 10

This one came from the recipe collection that Mama gave me when I became engaged to be married. -- Donna McCain Wilson

1 cake mix (lemon flavored)

1 lemon pudding mix (instant)

1/2 cup oil

4 eggs

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup lemon juice

Mix all ingredients together.

Beat with electric mixer about 3 minutes on medium speed.

Pour into bundt pan and bake approximately 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 315 Calories; 17g Fat (46.8% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 39g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 75mg Cholesterol; 312mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 3 Fat; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Millionaire Pie

Servings: 16

Sounds "rich" to me!

1 9 oz bowl Cool Whip®

1 can angel flake coconut

1 can condensed milk, sweetened

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 small can pineapple, crushed and drained

1 cup chopped pecans

2 graham cracker pie crusts, 9 inch

Mix all ingredients and pour into pie crusts.

Store in refrigerator until firm.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 328 Calories; 18g Fat (47.9% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 40g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 6mg Cholesterol; 202mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 3 1/2 Fat; 2 Other Carbohydrates.

Mississippi Mud Cake

Servings: 15

Kimberly says she remembers when she was a little girl that Uncle Barry told her the name of this ceke. She was afraid to eat it because she thought it "really had mud in it". Of course, this was the same child that thought she could hatch eggs when she was 2 1/2 years old. Meemaw had read her a Dr. Seuss story about an elephant that sat on an egg and hatched it Kim's logical little two year old brain thought, "If an elephant can do it, then why not me?" So one day while I was taking a nap, she got busy and made a "nest" of my couch pillows and got some eggs out of the refrigerator. Then she sat on them to hatch them. Well.... I guess you know the rest of the story. When we told Meemaw this story, she was highly amused and knew exactly what happened. "It was that book I read her about the elephant sitting on those eggs", she declared. Right now my grown up Kim is "hatching" out plans for her wedding next April. I bet her Alabama fiance' would like some Mississippi Mud Cake too!

This is also one of Chuck's special favorites.

1 3/4 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 cup pecans, chopped

1/3 cup cocoa

4 eggs

1 1/3 cups flour

Marshmallows

1 1/2 sticks margarine, softened

1 box powdered sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 evaporated milk

1 cup pecans, chopped

Place sugar in mixing bowl. Add cocoa and mix. Add oil.

Add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add vanilla, flour and pecans.

Pour into greased and floured 9x13 inch pan.

Bake at 350 degrees until done, but not overdone.

While baking, mix powdered sugar, margarine and cocoa to make icing.

Add milk and cream. Add vanilla and pecans.

Spread top of warm cake with marshmallows until they are slighly melted

Spread icing over hot marshmallows.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 505 Calories; 36g Fat (61.1 % calories from fat); 5g Protein; 46g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 51mg Cholesterol; 128mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 7 Fat; 2 Other Carbohydrates.

Old Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies

Servings: 36

Donna's favorite cookies.

1 cup raisins

1 cup water

3/4 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour, all-purpose

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Simmer raisins and water in sauce pan over low heat until raisins are plump – about 20 or 30 minutes.

Drain raisin liquid into measuring cup and add enough water to make 2 cups.

Mix shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Stir in raisin liquid.

Sift together flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and spices and blend in raisin liquid. Add nuts, oats and raisins.

Drop teaspoons full about 2 inches apart on ungreased sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 8 to 10 minutes.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 145 Calories; 6g Fat (36.0% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 22g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 10mg Cholesterol; 70mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 1 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Peach Cobbler

Servings: 12

Peach cobbler is a favorite summer time dessert Canned or fresh peaches may be used, but if using fresh, slice and sweeten first.

1/2 stick margarine

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 heaping teaspoon baking powder

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup milk

1 cup peaches

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Add milk and blend well.

Pour into deep dish in which the margarine has been melted. Add peaches.

Bake at 350 degrees until done--about 3/4 of an hour.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 151 Calories; 4g Fat (25.5% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 279 Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 2mg Cholesterol; 181mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates
Peanut Brittle

Servings: 8

Jackie says that she used to make this for Daddy when she was home, "because he loved it so much. Even to this day, I still buy him peanut brittle as a little extra gift for Christmas because I know he loves it. "

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup com syrup (light)

3 cups peanuts (raw)

1/4 cup water

3 teaspoons soda

Mix first four ingredients; cook until peanuts turn brown and quit popping.

Add soda and pour onto buttered platter, spreading thin; allow to cool.

Remove from dish and break in pieces.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 591 Calories; 27g Fat (38.6% calories from fat); 14g Protein; 82g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; Omg Cholesterol; 48mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 2 Lean Meat; 4 1/2 Fat; 5 Other Carbohydrates.
Peanut Butter Balls

Servings: 24

I remember rolling out multiple batches of these for Jackie's wedding. Everyone seems to love them, especially if they like peanut butter.

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

2 sticks butter

1 pound box confectioner's sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

12 ounces chocolate chips

1 cup pecans, chopped

1 bar paraffin wax

Mix crumbs and sugar, melt butter and pour into crumb mixture.

Add peanut butter and nuts. Shape into 1 inch balls.

Melt chocolate chips with paraffin wax in top of double boiler. Let cool slightly.

Drop balls into wax and chips mixture, then remove and place on wax paper until cool.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 246 Calories; 18g Fat (63.2% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 21g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 21mg Cholesterol; 147mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 3 1/2 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates
Peanut Butter Cookies

Servings: 36

A real kid favorite!

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon soda

1 1/4 cups flour, all-purpose

Cream butter and peanut butter. Add sugar and cream thoroughly. Add egg.

Sift flour and soda together and work into creamed mixture.

Form into balls and place on baking sheet flattening with a fork.

Bake at 350 degrees for ten minutes.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 80 Calories; 5g Fat (49.9% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 12mg Cholesterol; 45mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.
Pineapple or Banana Pudding

Servings: 12

Everybody loves ''from scratch", cooked banana pudding, but if you ever try the recipe with pineapple, you may never go back to bananas. This dessert was a real favorite at our house and is best when eaten while warm.

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon flour

3 eggs, separated

1 can pineapple, crushed and drained

4 sliced bananas may be substituted

1/4 stick butter

1 cup milk

1 small can evaporated milk

1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

1 small box vanilla wafers

6 Tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Combine sugar, flour, salt, milk, and evaporated milk in top of double boiler.

Cook until slightly thickened, stirring constantly. (Takes 15-20 minutes to thicken sometimes.)

Beat egg yolks and add some of the hot mixture to the egg yolks to temper.

Stir then add egg yolk mixture to hot mixture.

Cook 5 minutes longer.

Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla.

Add cut up bananas OR drained pineapple and crumbled vanilla wafers.

Prepare meringue by beating egg whites in cold bowl, Gradually add cream of tartar and the 6 tablespoons of sugar.

Pour pudding mixture in glass baking dish. Spread meringue on top.

Bake at 425 degrees until meringue is brown.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 187 Calories; 6g Fat (26.0% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 32g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 61mg Cholesterol; 112mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Popcorn Balls

Servings: 8

A good autumn treat.

2 cups corn syrup (light)

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 quarts popcorn, popped

Boil syrup and salt over a low fire, stirring constantly.

When few drops in cold water become brittle, add butter.

Pour over com and mix together and shape into balls.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 299 Calories; 5g Fat (12.7% calories from fat); 19 Protein; 69g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 4mg Cholesterol; 278mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 Fat; 4 Other Carbohydrates.

Strawberry Cake

Servings: 16

For as long as my Grandma Davenport was able, we celebrated her birthday and Christmas on Dec 23. Two of the party foods I always remember were hot cocoa and this strawberry cake. One of the most memorable of Grandma's Christmas parties that I attended was right after Ken and I had gotten engaged. After introducing him as my fiance to my cousin, Helen, she immediately flew at him with an enormous Louisiana hug. Even though Ken is rather reserved in nature, he seemed to get a kick out of our exuberant friendliness. I always remember Grandma Davenport when I make this cake. - Donna McCain Wilson

1 package white cake mix

1 package strawberry gelatin powder Oello mix)

3 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup water

1/2 box strawberries, frozen

1 stick margarine

3 tablespoons milk

1/2 box strawberries, frozen and drained

1 box powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour three cake pans.

Mix cake mix, box of jello mix, eggs, oil, water and 1/2 box strawberries.

Pour into prepared cake pans and bake at 350 until "done".

Mix butter, powdered sugar, cream, and drained strawberries until right consistency to ice cake.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 270 Calories; 16g Fat (52.2% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 30g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 35mg Cholesterol; 241mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 3 Fat; 2 Other Carbohydrates.

Sweet Potato Pie

Servings: 8

I can't think about sweet potato pie without thinking of Ada and Robert. They asked us to call them Aunt Ada and Uncle Robert and we did. They were an elderly African American couple who lived in a ramshackle house next to some property near Red River that Daddy had leased at one time. We often checked on the property, and the cows we kept there, in the evenings after we ate supper. We loved to visit Aunt Ada and Uncle Robert and they were always so glad to see us. Aunt Ada was as generous as her meager income would allow. She would buy us ginger snaps and share whatever produce from her garden that she could spare. Mama liked to send Aunt Ada and Uncle Robert treats from the garden or the supper table, as well. She knew that Aunt Ada loved sweet potato pie and she would always send her some when she made the pies. Sometimes Aunt Ada would make the sweet potato pies and send Mama some. Later, Daddy moved a camp house right next door to the old couple and ran wiring several miles so that we could have electricity in our camp house. Aunt Ada and Uncle Robert were thrilled to finally have the ability to have electricity, as well. One day Daddy received a very sad cal1. Uncle Robert and Aunt Ada's old house had burned to the ground.

And that is how Aunt Ada and Uncle Robert came to live in our camp house. They were actually quite delighted to move over next door. It was completely furnished and had everything they needed. Though it was no mansion, it was a good bit nicer than their old place. Daddy worked some kind of payment plan out with Uncle Robert so that he could pay on the house as he could afford it, and before too long they were able to purchase it entirely. One of my most cherished possessions is an old churn that Aunt Ada gave to my parents. It always reminds me of happy childhood days on the levee, ginger snaps, and generosity that knows no racial boundaries.

2 cups sweet potatoes, cooked

3 eggs

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup evaporated milk

1 pie crust

Mix all ingredients thoroughly.

Pour into an unbaked pie shell.

May be topped with Cool Whip sweetened with powdered sugar.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 240 Calories; 12g Fat (44.4% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 289 Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 83mg Cholesterol; 217mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Strawberry Pie

Servings: 8

1 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

3 tablespoons strawberry gelatin powder

1 cup water

1 pinch salt

1 quart strawberries

1/2 cup sugar

1 graham cracker crumb pie crust

Cool Whip®

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

Cup strawberries in half and sweeten with 1/2 cup sugar. Set aside.

Mix sugar, salt, cornstarch, and water. Cook until thickened.

Remove from heat. Add gelatin. Cool.

Alternate adding gelatin mixture and strawberries to pie crust until shell is full.

Top with Cool Whip sweetened with powdered sugar.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 350 Gaieties; 8g Fat (19.2% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 71g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 205mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 1 1/2 Fat; 4 Other Carbohydrates
Upside Down Cake

Servings: 10

1 cup flour (Mama's note: Might be best to use self rising)

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 dash salt

3 eggs, separated

1/2 cup pineapple juice (can use peach instead)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 can pineapple slices (or peach halves)

Mix all dry ingredients together and add fruit juice, egg yolks and vanilla.

Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into butter.

Melt 1/4 pound butter in frying pan and add 1 cup brown sugar.

Lay fruit on top of butter and sugar. Top with cake batter.

Cook at 350 degrees until done.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 157 Calories; 2g Fat (8.6% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 33g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 56mg Cholesterol; 93mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 0 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Mamma's Jelly

"There ain't nothing like Mamma's jelly." That is a Rigolette expression which captures the essence of the typical response to the contents of those jars labeled "With Love from the Kitchen of Georgia McCain."

Mamma's jelly usually starts by "picking." Though Mamma will occasionally accept a gift of blueberries or other fruit that will provide the substance for her jellies, most of the jelly-making fruit come from her own love for picking things. The girl who grew up picking cotton still loves to pick blackberries and blueberries and muscadines and grapes and strawberries and mayhaws and peaches and pears and plums and figs and, if we are all lucky, even huckleberries. The only part of the jelly making that I know much about is the picking part. However, I have observed a little of the rest. After picking the berries, all the leaves and twigs and bad ones have to be picked out. Next, the fruit has to be thoroughly washed, put in a cloth, "mashed" until all the juice comes out and then cooked with sugar. Somehow, these things get in little jars that find themselves in the refrigerators of all kinds of people all over the country.

There are several proper ways to eat Mamma's jelly. Of course, the most obvious is that you spread some on a slice of "light bread," put some peanut butter on another slice, marry the two together and you have what all of the McCains in the world, except Daddy, really love – a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. (Daddy was fond of saying, "1 don't want to eat no sandwich.") A second way to eat Mamma's jelly was to toast a piece of light bread, spread margarine over the top of it real thick while the toast was still hot so that it would melt and then spread some of Mamma's jelly on it. A variation of that was to take one of "them" big cathead biscuits that Mamma used to make, put some butter on it and then add the jelly. That always made some fme morning-time eating. One of the early usages of Mamma's jelly was to make what she called a "jelly cake." That was before the days of cake mixes and icing found in a can. However, a good old-fashioned jelly cake tasted as good in those days as the fanciest German Chocolate cakes taste today.

Some other usages of Mamma's jelly include bribing the preacher, bribing the doctors at tht hospital, bribing the police at the sheriff's department, bribing the teachers and principal at Tioga High School.

Mamma's jelly has gone around the world. Airline officials, airport security and Nigerian customs officials have all seen Mamma's jelIy, carefully wrapped in some kind of cloth and placed inside zip-lock bags. However, they have never tasted it because when Mamma's jelly travels 7000 miles from Rigolette as a part of the 50-pound pieces of luggage, "loving your neighbor as yourself' with a gift of Mamma's jelly just does not apply. And besides, giving a gift of mayhaw jelly does not seem appropriate to those who cannot fully appreciate the labor of love and the exquisite taste that are always a part of all Mamma's jelly.

-Danny McCain

Banana Tarts

Servings: 8

This was such a favorite of a/l of us children when we were little. We used to beg and plead for Mama to make these for breakfast. It took the most sophisticated wheedling skills to get her to consent to all that rolling out of dough for seven young ones.

2 1/2 cups flour, self-rising

1/2 cup shortening

1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup milk

1 egg

3 bananas

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Mash banana and sweeten with sugar and set aside. More bananas and sugar may be needed to fill crusts.

Mix flour, shortening, sugar, milk and egg well and form balls.

Roll out and put the fruit (crushed and sweetened bananas) on the rolled out dough.

Seal the dough and fry in deep fat until brown and done.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 458 Calories; 22g Fat (42.2% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 61g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 28mg Cholesterol; 519mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 4 Fat; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Cathead Biscuits

Servings: 10

Mama's wondetful soft biscuits are hard to duplicate. Daddy always called them "Cathead Biscuits." They taste best when slathered with some of her homemade jelly.

3 cups self-rising flour

2 tablespoons shortening

1 tablespoon baking powder

2/3 cup milk

Mix all ingredients together. Add enough milk to hold biscuits together, may need a little more or less.

Put flour on your hands and roll out biscuits by pinching them off and shaping them by hand.

Place on greased pan and add a little dab of shortening to the middle of each one.

Bake at 400-425 for 10-12 minutes until done.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 166 Calories; 3g Fat (19.0% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 29g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 2mg Cholesterol; 630mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Cornbread

Servings: 8

In our family we have cornbread wars. Some of us insist that the only way to eat true southern cornbread is with NO SUGAR! Others who, according to the first group, have been influenced by "Yankee ways" think that a little sugar helps the flavor. Ryan, who is obviously in the first group weighs in, "I've never had better cornbread. Other cornbread is simply sweetened bread." On the other hand my wonderful brother-in-law, Dan, feels differently and loves the sweet variety. Mama's recipe depends on who she is making it for. She has tried to come up with this compromise and adds just 3 tablespoons of the sweetened stuff to try to keep everybody happy. When you make this, if you are like Danny, Ryan, and me and like it without the sugar, you can leave that part out. One wonderful way to eat cornbread either hot or cold is crumbled into a bowl and covered with cold milk!

2 cups corn meal

1 cup flour

1 heaping teaspoon salt

1 heaping teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

1 1/3 cups milk

3 tablespoons Jiffy corn muffin mix, Optional!!

1/4 cup shortening, melted

Add some of oil to iron skillet and heat on top of stove.

Mix all the rest of the ingredients and the remainder of the oil.

Pour into hot greased skillet.

Bake at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 162 Calories; 9g Fat (49.3% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 29mg Cholesterol; 385mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Cornbread Dressing

"Nanny makes the BEST cornbread dressing!" -- Cris McCain (Cris, Kenny's wife is the newest McCain to join the family.)

"This is Mama's famous cornbread dressing recipe. I married a yankee and I never get cornbread dressing unless I am in Louisiana for a holiday. We eat Pepperidge Farm dressing and sometimes spice it up with shrimp or crab or something. Nothing compares with the wonderful smell of turkey and cornbread dressing cooking on Christmas morning." -- Jackie McCain Simmons

"The memories I have of Mama making cornbread dressing were all happy ones. When Mama was happy, she used to have this odd little noise that was somewhere between humming and singing. It sounded something like a "yenh" sound, but none of us were ever able to duplicate the sound. She usually ''yenhed'' to the tune of "At the Cross". Mama often made the sound on holidays, but she was horribly embarrassed when someone would "catch" her "yenhing". Eventually she made herself stop, and we all miss the sound. I liked to help Mama make the dressing by chopping the eggs or bell pepper. She always let me have a little cup of the uncooked dressing, because I absolutely could not wait until it was cooked." \-- Donna McCain Wilson

1 pone cornbread, crumbled, cooked in iron skillet

3 eggs, hard-boiled, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped, chopped

5 green onions

chicken or turkey giblets and livers, chopped

large amounts of chicken or turkey broth

Prepare broth by boiling chicken or turkey parts with plenty of water, salt and pepper.

Crumble cornbread.

Chop vegetables, eggs, and chicken or turkey parts and add to cornbread mixture.

Add broth until corbread mixture is moist enough. Mama always liked it "soupy",

Bake at 350 degrees about 30- 45 minutes until it is as firm as desired.

Homemade Butter

Mama never used a churn when she made homemade butter. She put the milk in a big jar, and shook and shook and shook it. Or she assigned the shaking task to us and WE shook and shook and shook it! We drank a lot of milk growing up, but I never did learn to get anything but a swat with her tail from any of those cows.

Milk (from cow, not store!)

salt

To make homemade butter, you have to have a cow. Either early in the morning or late in the evening you take a milk bucket and go milk her. In case you've never milked a cow, you pull on her udders until milk comes out.

Take it in the house. Strain it through a clean white cloth.

Set it out where it's warm until it turns to clabber.

Pour the clabber into a jar with a lid on it and shake it over and over and over and over and over some more until it makes butter.

The butter will come to the top. Take it out and whip it and get all the buttermilk out and it is ready to eat. Add a little salt to taste.

Delicious!! Call me when you get it made.!!!
Hush Puppies

Servings: 20

This is everybody's favorite side dish when we have a fish fry. Just throw the hush puppy batter into the french fry grease and forget about your diet for the week. The onions are an essential part of this dish.

1 cup flour

1 cup cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 onion, chopped

1 1/4 cups milk

1 dash Tobasco sauce, or Louisiana hot sauce (optional)

vegetable oil

Mix all ingredients together, except oil.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls in hot oil.

Brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.

Per Serving (excluding u.nknown items): 63 Calories; 19 Fat (13.2% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 11mg Cholesterol; 166mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 0 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates
Mayhaw Jelly

My mother's jellies have been gifts for countless people. The people I work with love to receive my mother's jellies at Christmas time. One of my co-workers, Barbara Turner, has a delightful little grandaughter who is about one and a half years old. She loves my mother's jellies. One morning Barbara made Claire some toast and spread my mother's jelly on it. She told me that Claire picked up the toast, licked all the jelly off, then threw the bread down, and stuck her little fist in the jelly jar all the way to her wrist.

4 1/2 cups mayhaw juice

51/2 cups sugar

1 package Sure-Jell

water

Go to the woods and gather some mayhaws. Bring them home, wash them removing the stems, leaves, etc.

Boil with about an inch of water above the mayhaws. When tender, cool.

Then take a clean white cloth and squeeze out the juice.

To make the jelly, take 4 and 1/2 cups of juice and 5 and 1/2 cups sugar, and 1 package Sure-Jell.

Put juice on the stove and bring to a boil. Add Sure-jell and again bring to a rolling boil.

Then add sugar (I usually add 1/2 cup extra.)

Let come to a rolling boil and boil about 1 and 1/2 minutes.

Pour into hot jars. Boil rings and lids in hot water about one minute and put on jars. Seal tightly. Let stand until they jell.

Muscadine Jelly

For the past several years, I have tried to get home in the fall. My mom knows that I like to give a little gift to my co-workers, so she will load me up with jelly to share with them at Christmas time. One year, this is the letter that I wrote to accompany their gift from Memaw's bounty.

The jelly was made for you by one of the sweetest little old ladies in the world, my mother. She is the soul of generosity and lives to do little things to make people happy. All year long, she gathers berries and fruits, and picks up pecans, so that she can bless people with her jellies and pies. I only wish she could infuse a little of her wonderful spirit into every jar. If she were able to do that, along with the sweet flavor you would get a taste of:

"Generosity that motivated you to share something sweet with those whose paths cross yours"

"Kindness that enabled you to slow down and listen to the hurts of someone who needed a listening ear"

"Humility that caused you to get on your knees in prayer every day"

"Fun that would inspire many a practical joke and great story"

I know that my mother would wish for you the happiest of aIl Christmases. She would hope that every time you spread her sweet jelly on your toast, that you would understand the reason for her gifts. She is hoping we will remember the Greatest Gift -- a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes who came to bring us peace!

1 package Sure Jell

5 cups muscadine juice

7 cups sugar

Bring juice to boil and add Sure-jell. Bring to full boil and add sugar. Let boil about 2 minutes.

Put boiling water in jars and empty just before adding jelly. Pour juice into hot jars.

Boil jar lids a minute or so in hot water and put on the jars. Let set until jelled.

Pie Crust

Servings: 8

Well, if you are feeling domestic, perhaps you can make your own! Homemade pie crusts DO taste so much better.

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup shortening

1/4 cup ice water

Sift together dry ingredients.

Mix butter and shortening and lightly work chilled shortening mixture into flour mixture.

Add cold water and roll on lightly floured board.

Roll circle of dough until it is well over edge of pie pan.

Press into pie pan, sealing edges with a fork.

Follow directions of pie recipe whether to bake pie shell or not.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 249 Calories; 19g Fat (67.4% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 18g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 16mg Cholesterol; 208mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 3 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates
Strawberry Jelly

"Memaw jelly is one time that I like to keep in stock in my fridge. Whenever Dad is down visiting Memaw and Papaw, I tell him that he needs to bring me some. Her strawberry jelly is my favorite, and I have talked dad into making room even if it is in his jacket pocket to bring me some. " -- Laura McCain

3 1/2 cups strawberry juice

5 cups sugar

1 package Sure-Jell

Boil your berries – Strain them and put 3 and 1/2 cups juice on stove to boil.

When it starts to boil, add Sure- jell. Let come to a rolling boil and add 5 cups sugar. (I add an extra 1/2 cup.)

Let boil hard for 1 and 1/2 minute. Take off heat and pour into hot jars.

Seal with hot lids and rings. Let set until jelled.

Sunday Afternoon Yeast Rolls

Servings: 24

Sunday was a day of rest in our house. After church, we always had a substantial Sunday dinner. But after the dishes were cleared, it was time for the children to read or play quietly or take a nap. Supper was "catch as catch can". We ate leftovers, or made a bowl of tuna salad for sandwiches. But once in a glorious while, Mama would wake early from her nap and roll out these yeast rolls. The yeasty aroma would fill the house and before long everyone would be awake wondering when it was time for them to come out of the oven. I was always pretty fascinated with the way the bread would rise. I seem to remember one time when Mama wasn't looking that I beat all the rising rolls back down. Mama was NOT happy about that one. - Donna McCain Wilson

2 packages dry yeast

2 1/2 quarts flour, all-purpose

1 1/2 tablespoons salt

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup warm water

1/2 cup dry milk

1 pint water

1/2 cup shortening

Dissolve yeast in 1 cup warm water.

Add sugar and shortening.

Mix together dry ingredients.

Add part of dry mixture to liquid mixture and beat with rotary beater about 4 minutes.

Add remainder of dry mixture and knead by hand.

Cover with damp towel and allow to rise until doubled.

Form rolls and place on baking sheet. Allow to rise once more.

Bake at 350 degrees until brown.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 258 Calories; 6g Fat (19.4% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 45g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 3mgCholesterol; 412mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

Poor Man's Food

Daddy used to tell us that when he was young, his family was "poor as Job's turkey." I don't know how poor old Job's turkey was, but if some of Daddy's tales of the depression days were any indication, Job's turkey must have been a pretty lean bird, with little chance of showing up on a Thanksgiving table. Daddy claimed that when he was young, they would have to sit outside the chicken house and wait for a chicken to lay an egg so that they could have something to eat. I thank God that I don't ever remember such times. However, when it was getting close to pay check time and the cupboards were getting pretty bare, Mamma would reach way back to things she learned in those depression days and become much more creative in her cooking.

Fortunately, most of the time when we were growing up, Daddy had a milk cow so we always had plenty of milk in the house. And since we always had fresh milk, we always had fresh butter. Some of my earliest memories are skimming off the cream from the milk, letting is set up a few days and then shaking it in a jar until it turned into real butter. I doubt if old Job's turkey ever had any fresh butter. We might not have had a lot of fancy food in the house but you could take a little cornbread, especially the kind with the nice firm crust, pour some good old fresh milk over it, let it soak for about thirty seconds and you had a fine poor man's meal. Daddy liked to use butter milk with his cornbread but most of us kids never really developed a taste for butter milk. "Cocoa and toast" was the morning variation of that. Take a piece of nice crispy toast with lots of butter on it; poke it down in your hot chocolate and even the rich city folk could not eat better than that.

Mamma used to make egg gravy and just plain flour gravy, to be served with big old cathead biscuits. Mix a little grease in with some tomato paste and cook a little rice and you had "rice and red gravy," one of our favorites. Mamma is the only person in the world that I know who cooked "potted meat with eggs" and "weenies and rice." When we killed a hog, Daddy liked to cook the chitlins (which to our sophisticated friends who are not accustomed to poor man's food, are "hog guts"). Mamma always complained that the things made the house stink, and Daddy never was successful in creating a taste for them in any of the children. However, he was much more successful with his hoghead cheese which is neither cheese nor does it come entirely from the hog's head. Hoghead cheese, along with dirty rice always convinced all our Yankee preachers that we really were "poor folks." If we did not have a lot of meat in the house, we always had plenty of guns around and the woods were not far away. Therefore, the McCain diet regularly included things like rabbit hash, duck gumbo, squirrel gravy and deer steak.

We may have been poor by some people's standards but even our poor man's food was a whole lot better than the pre-packed food that some of the rich folks ate. Jesus said, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God" (Luke 6:20). One of the reasons poor people from Rigolette are so well prepared for God's kingdom is that they are already used to eating food fit for a king.

-Danny McCain

"Chitlins"

Servings: 4

For the uninitiated "chitlins" are chitterlings. That is how people who are trying to be fancy will spell them. (Though why in the world anyone who would want to eat chitlins would want to be fancy is beyond me!) Chitlins are, to be plain about it, hog intestines. Daddy is one of the many people in the South who love chitlins. They even have an annual chitlin festival in South Carolina called the "Chitlin Strut". Daddy is definitely the only one in our family that loves this "delicacy." Mama absolutely refused to make them for him. I remember one time when he was cooking them and curious Jackie, who was about 12 at the time, thought she wanted to try some. So she got a big mouthful and about knocked us down running to the door to spit them out. Mama got me the recipe, but this is what she had to say about them, ''All I know is to buy your chitterlings, most stores (in Louisiana) handle them and before you start cooking them, clamp a clothes pen on your nose!!! They are the stinkiest things you've ever smelled.

I never cook them. This is Daddy's dish.

1 pound Chitterlings

salt and pepper

Tony's sesaoning

Accent® seasoning mix

red pepper

water

Clothes pin

1/2 cup flour

2 tablespoons cooking oil

Clean chitterlings very thoroughly, rinsing and washing repeatedly.

Cook chitterlings until tender in boiling water seasoned with salt, pepper, Tony's, Accent, red pepper.

Chitterlings may then be rolled in flour and fried, or eaten as is.

The clothes pin is for your nose, to block out some of the unpleasant smell while they are cooking!

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 346 Calories; 28g Fat (73.2% calories from fat); 11g Protein; 12g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber;144mg Cholesterol; 32mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 4 1/2 Fat.

Egg Gravy

Servings: 6

Mama scoffed at my request for this simple recipe. It was a reminder of the lean years when the grocery money didn't quite stretch until payday. But egg gravy over hot biscuits was exactly what I craved when I was pregnant with my children.

2 tablespoons bacon grease

2 tablespoons flour

water

2 eggs, beaten

salt and pepper

Brown flour in bacon grease. Add water to make gravy.

When gravy is brown and right consistency, stir in well beaten eggs.

Cook until eggs are done.

Serve over hot biscuits.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 71 Calories; 6g Fat (75.6% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 67mg Cholesterol; 42mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1 Fat
Hog Head Cheese

My parents were thrifty and believed in using up every edible part of the hog. There is no cheese in the Hog Head Cheese. My mother loves this stuff!

1 hog head

water

salt and pepper

green onions

Tony's Creole seasoning

Accent® seasoning mix

Get a hog head and make sure it is cleaned and all hair shaved off.

Boil in large pot until tender with desired seasoning such as salt, pepper, Tony's Accent, and whatever else desired.

Take out of pot and debone it Grind meat in grinder. Add green onions and any other sesaonings you desire to meat.

Press into large bowl. Put plate on top and put something heavy on top of plate to press the meat together – could be a large can of peaches, or whatever.

Place in ice box for an hour or so before eating. Cut into slices and eat as desired.

Potted Meat and Eggs

Servings: 6

Another "Poor Man's Recipe" requested by Ronnie. He must be getting some ideas in case those retirement years get pretty lean. We really used to eat this stuff while we were waiting on payday. Somehow, Mama could make a meal for 9 people on just about nothing.

1 can potted meat

5 eggs, beaten

Break 4 or 5 eggs into skillet and scramble.

Add 1 can potted meat and stir until eggs are done.

Rabbit Hash

Servings: 8

Ronnie jokingly asked for this recipe to be included in the "Poor Man's Section". When I asked Mama for it, she had already been pestered plenty by me for all these recipes and she was pretty tired of our strange requests. She sent me the following poem as a reply:

"We want your recipe for rabbit hash, my children said,

To make hash the poor little rabbit has to be dead.

Reach for your gun and then load it with a shell.

Go out the door and look to see that all is well.

Keep walking, keep looking until you spot something white.

Make sure it's a rabbit and then pull the trigger tight.

Oh, you say you can't-the rabbit looks at you with an innocent eye

You drop the gun and walk away trying hard not to cry.

Now wait a minute, you say you want some rabbit hash!!!

What?? You're gonna buy one already dead with some cash??

But where will you find it, they don't sell dead rabbits in the store,

So maybe you'd better eat something else-there's food galore.

Now, for those not so tender hearted, here we go \--

A rabbit hash recipe I'm attempting to write here below.

1 nice sized rabbit

3 tablespoons cooking oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic

salt and pepper

Tony's Creole seasoning

Accent® seasoning mix

Select one nice size rabbit from wherever you can get him. Skin him, take out his guts, and cut him up into pieces.

Boil him until he's tender. Pull all the meat off the bones. Cut it into small pieces.

Put him in a skillet in 2-3 talblespoons of cooking oil. Cut up and add a large onion and several small pieces of garlic.

Sift salt, pepper, Tony's, accent, season-all or whatever seasonings you have onto the rabbit.

Keep stirring and checking until you feel satisfied it has turned into rabbit hash.

Hope you enjoy a dish I probably haven't cooked in 40 or 50 years!!!

Red Gravy and Rice

Servings: 8

Another of those delicious budget stretchers requested by Ronnie.

3 slices bacon

1 can tomato paste

1 small can tomatoes, crushed (if desired)

rice

water

Fry bacon until crisp. Add tomato paste and if desired well crushed tomatoes.

Add a cup or two of water and let cook down until it forms a gravy cosistency.

Serve over rice.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 27 Calories; 1g Fat (38.6% calories from fat); 1g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 2mg Cholesterol; 167mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fat.

Squirrel and Rice

Servings: 6

Mama says that "Old country men love this dish. "

We ate a lot of unusual foods growing up: rabbit, squirrels, wild ducks, and of course deer meat.

Daddy was a great hunter until an accident put out his eye. After that, his depth perception was not so good. But he used to bring home plenty of squirrels and rabbits for Mama to cook. Over time Daddy has grown pretty soft hearted about squirrels though. He loves to sit at the window and watch them play in the trees. He was really upset not too long ago when a neighbor shot some of his "pets".

2 squirrels, cleaned and dressed

water

1 chopped onion

2 cloves garlic

salt and pepper

Accent® seasoning mix

Tony's Seasoning

1 cup rice

Clean squirrels, cut into pieces.

Put in cooking pot with onions, garlic, salt, pepper, Accent, Tony's, and any other seasoning of choice.

Cook until tender. Add rice and cook another 15 minutes until rice is done.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 132 Calories; 1g Fat (3.8% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 27g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 8mg Cholesterol; 12mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable.

Weenies and Rice

Servings: 6

This is actually quite delicious, believe it or not. Put lots of black pepper in it.

4 hotdogs

1 tablespoon oil

3 cups cooked rice (left over)

salt and pepper

Cut several weiners into pieces. Fry in small amount of oil.

Drain oil. Add left over rice to pan and cook until heated through.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 262 Calories; 14g Fat (47.6% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 279 Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 19mg Cholesterol; 427mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch}; 1/2 Lean Meat; 2 Fat.

The McCain Family

