by Ann B. Ross
“Absolutely,” I agreed, then stopped on the bottom step with a sudden insight. “Why, Mr. Pickens, I’ve just realized that both of us had the same goal in mind—getting rid of Brother Vern. We’d have been better off if we’d worked together, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, well, I’ll remember that next time,” he said.
Ignoring the wry twist he gave to his words, I asked, “And Lloyd? What’re you going to tell him?”
“I’ll talk to Lloyd tomorrow.” He stopped on the top step and looked at his watch. “Almost today. I’ll tell him a little more than I want Hazel Marie to know, because he’ll understand.” He paused as if deciding whether to say more, then he decided. “I’ve been meaning to talk to him for a while anyway. In fact, he’ll probably say something to you about it, so I’ll go ahead and tell you. If he’s agreeable, I’m going to adopt him.”
“Why, Mr. Pickens!” I exclaimed, surprised and delighted, but before I could say more, Sam opened the front door.
“More trick-or-treaters?” he called. “Good thing you got here—James and I are about to eat all the candy.”
James came limping up behind him, grinning. “We had too good a supper to be eatin’ much candy. Miss Hazel Marie, she cooked us up a feast, an’ didn’t burn anything. Come on in—we glad it’s you an’ not no witches or goblins.”
Mr. Pickens walked in, asking, “Hazel Marie in bed?”
“Just went up,” Sam said. “The babies are better and they’re sleeping.”
Mr. Pickens started up the stairs. “Sam, I didn’t expect you to be here, but since you are, I need help with a little errand. I’ll be back in a minute.”
I stood by Sam and leaned my damp head on his chest. James took one look and went back to the television. “Oh, Sam, what a night.” A lot of it poured out then—about running out of gas and about Trixie and about changing gears and about Brother Vern on his way out—all in no particular order, but he was accustomed to that. He kept patting my back and saying, “And I thought you were home all this time.” Sort of in wonder or maybe disbelief. I had a little of both myself.
“Did Hazel Marie really cook supper?”
“She really did,” he said. “She put turkey tetrazzini on the table and it was as good as anything Lillian could’ve fixed.”
It had been a long day, but I seemed to recall that Pastor Poppy had left a turkey tetrazzini casserole in the refrigerator that morning. I smiled and didn’t say anything. Hazel Marie had let Sam and James think whatever they wanted, just as I’d been known to do on occasion.
“Sam,” I whispered, in case Mr. Pickens didn’t want it known far and wide, “do you know what Mr. Pickens has in mind?”
“About Lloyd?”
I nodded against his chest. “What do you think about it?”
“I think it’s the best thing that could happen,” he said. “What about you?”
I thought about it for a minute, trying out my boy as Lloyd Pickens. It was a stretch, though not all that far from Lloyd Puckett, so I could get used to it. “I think,” I said, looking up at the face I loved, “that all is right with the world. At least for right now, right this minute, right at this moment in time, which is all we can count on anyway.”
Lillian’s Extras
So the next morning I was back at it, determined to finish the recipe book, present it to Hazel Marie, and be done with it. With Brother Vernon Puckett soon to be out of the picture and Mr. Pickens safely within the fold—although Hazel Marie had never known my fear of his leaving it—and James the poorer but able to limp around, she should be able to get her house and herself in order. With the recipe book accomplished, I could turn my attention elsewhere.
But before turning anywhere, I had to add Lillian’s recipes and—wouldn’t you know it, because here she’d come with them—LuAnne’s Helpful Household Hints, which I would have to add as well.
As soon as I approached Lillian with my pad and pen and a glint in my eye, she put her hands on her hips and said, “I was ’bout to think you give up on me.”
I smiled. “You couldn’t possibly think that. I knew if I gave you a chance, you’d fill up an entire recipe book by yourself, so I had to let the others get theirs in first.”
She liked that, a contented look settling on her face. As she brought the coffeepot to the kitchen table, I arranged cups and saucers and we sat down to fill up Hazel Marie’s book with recipes that would complete a meal. I had earlier decided that I wouldn’t push her to contribute a main dish recipe because I’d seen her fix too many chickens, fried, baked, and stewed, to say nothing of roasts, both pork and beef, and knew she didn’t use recipes for them. In fact, she rarely used any recipes at all, but I also knew she occasionally consulted a loose-leaf notebook that she kept on a shelf on the pantry. It was aptly described as loose-leaf, for loose pages, index cards, and magazine clippings were stuffed into it.
“Now, Lillian,” I said, “what I want from you are recipes that Hazel Marie can use to complete a meal. I don’t care what they are—desserts, appetizers, side dishes—whatever you think she’d like and would be able to make.”
“Well, I might have to help her with some of these, but I know what she like and that’s what I’m gonna give her.”
And did she ever. I copied recipe after recipe, all while Lillian entertained me with recollections of when she’d made each one, the guests we’d had for dinner the evening she’d served it, and which ones were favorites of Hazel Marie or Mr. Pickens.
“These here now,” she said, pushing over several sheets of paper, “they mostly for appetizers an’ odds ’n’ ends. Mr. Pickens, he can eat a bait of toasted pecans, so she better do two batches of ’em when she start to do one.”
Toasted Pecans
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
3 cups pecan halves
Salt, to taste
Preheat the oven to 275°F. In a bowl, pour the butter over the pecans, stirring to coat well. Arrange the pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt. Bake for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Store in an airtight container.
Makes 3 cups.
Shrimp Cocktail Sauce
To 3/4 cup of catsup, add 11/2 tablespoons of lemon juice, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon of horseradish, a few drops of Tabasco, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir well to combine. Chill thoroughly.
Gazpacho
1/2 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced green pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup thinly sliced (or diced) cucumber
1 cup diced fresh tomatoes
103/4-ounce can tomato soup, undiluted
103/4 ounces water
11/2 cups vegetable juice cocktail
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon commercial Italian dressing
Garlic salt, to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
4 dashes hot sauce
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate. Stir gently and serve in chilled bowls or mugs.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
(Hazel Marie, Lillian says to go to a produce stand for the freshest vegetables in the summer. She also says that you need your vitamins and you can get them better with this recipe than with a pill.)
Lime-Ginger Ale Punch
Mix a 1-liter bottle of ginger ale with two 6-ounce cans of frozen limeade, undiluted. Stir well, pour over ice.
Serves 4.
Olive-Cheese Puffs
You can prepare this up to a week ahead, if desired.
Blend 1 cup of grated sharp Cheddar cheese with 3 tablespoons of soft butter or margarine. Stir in 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of paprika. Mix well.
&
nbsp; Wrap 1 teaspoon of the cheese dough around each of 24 stuffed olives, completely covering the olive. Freezer-wrap, then freeze.
Makes 24 appetizers.
To serve:
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Unwrap the desired number of frozen puffs (do not thaw) and arrange them, without touching, on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden. Serve warm.
(Lillian says that this is another recipe you should make two batches of, especially if you’ve invited Coleman.)
Now for a couple of congealed salads, which means you should make them ahead of time. If you wait too late in the day, you’ll have to eat them with a spoon.
Good Salad
One 20-ounce can crushed pineapple and juice
Two 3-ounce packages cherry Jell-O
2 bananas, diced
Two 10-ounce packages thawed and sweetened raspberries and juice
2 cups sour cream
Add enough water to the pineapple mixture to make 3 cups of liquid. Heat the liquid and dissolve the Jell-O in it. Cool till syrupy. Add the rest of the ingredients except the sour cream.
Pour half of the mixture into a ring mold and let set. Spread the sour cream on top and spoon the rest of the Jell-O mixture over it.
You may use strawberry Jell-O and frozen strawberries instead of cherry Jell-O and raspberries.
Serves 6.
Christmas Cranberry Salad
3-ounce package cherry Jell-O
1 cup hot water
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon plain gelatin dissolved in 1 cup pineapple juice, then melted over hot water
1 cup ground raw cranberries
1 orange and rind, ground fine
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Dissolve the Jell-O in the hot water, then add the sugar, lemon juice, and pineapple juice–gelatin mixture, and stir until blended. Chill until partially set, then add the remaining ingredients and pour into a ring mold. To serve, unmold on lettuce leaves. Fill the ring with a small bowl of mayonnaise mixed with 1 or 2 tablespoons of orange juice for garnish.
Serves 8.
(Lillian says to tell you that both the above recipes make pretty Christmas salads, but I expect you already know that because she serves one or the other every year.)
Cottage Cheese Salad
3-ounce package lime Jell-O
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 cups cottage cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup half-and-half
3-ounce bottle pimento-stuffed green olives, sliced
Dissolve the Jell-O and gelatin in the hot water, then stir in the rest of the ingredients. Pour into a ring mold and refrigerate until set.
Serves 4.
Pepperoni Quiche
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Sprinkle into a 9-inch unbaked pie shell:
3/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup chopped pepperoni
1 tablespoon chopped green onion
In a bowl, mix together the following:
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon oregano
Parsley
Pour into the pie shell. Bake for about 45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.
Serves 6.
(Hazel Marie, this is good for a ladies’ luncheon, but don’t tell anybody what’s in it—they may think it sounds too much like pizza.)
Salmon Croquettes
143/4-ounce can salmon, drained and picked over
1 egg, beaten
Handful crushed cornflakes
1 teaspoon grated onion
Cornmeal for coating
Mix together all the ingredients except the cornmeal. Form finger rolls and coat with the cornmeal. Fry quickly in hot oil.
(Lillian serves creamed corn, lima beans, and sliced tomatoes with this. It’s one of my favorite family meals.)
Serves 4 to 6.
These next three recipes are for side dishes that go especially well with beef—steak or roast. They make tasty alternatives to fried, scalloped, or baked potatoes, although there’s nothing wrong with potatoes any way you want to serve them. Lillian says that it’s a marvel to her that women seem to prefer the rice casserole, while men rave over the cheese pudding and the company grits. Maybe it’s the cheese that does it.)
Rice Casserole
1/2 stick margarine
103/4-ounce can beef consomme
103/4 ounces water
4-ounce can chopped mushrooms
1 cup white rice (not minute rice)
Dash of salt
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cut up the margarine in the bottom of a casserole. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bake with the top on the casserole (or fasten foil tightly over the top) at least 1 hour.
Serves 6.
Company Grits
2 cups cooked grits
5-ounce can evaporated milk
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons butter
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Add all the ingredients to the cooked grits. Pour into a buttered baking dish. Bake until high and brown, about 30 minutes. Serve at once.
Serves 6.
(You’ve probably noticed that Lillian makes it a habit to serve Company Grits whenever we have a visitor from the North.)
Cheese Pudding
Butter, softened
10 slices loaf bread
1/2 pound sharp cheese, grated
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, beaten
Butter one side of each slice of bread, then cut into cubes and put a layer into a casserole, lining the sides of the casserole. Then begin alternating grated cheese and more bread cubes until the dish is full, ending with cheese.
Mix together the rest of the ingredients and pour it over the bread and cheese. Let stand for several hours. Bake at 275°F for about 45 minutes, until high and brown. Wonderful with beef.
Serves 6.
Cornbread Dressing
Sauté 2 cups of finely chopped celery and 1 small finely chopped onion in 1/2 cup of butter until tender.
5 cups cornbread, crumbled (can make early and freeze)
2 cups herb-seasoned stuffing mix
2 teaspoons rubbed sage
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 eggs, beaten
141/2-ounce can ready-to-serve chicken broth
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Combine the cornbread, stuffing mix, sage, poultry seasoning, and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the celery mixture, eggs, and chicken broth. Stir until moist. Pour into a 13 × 9 × 2-inch baking dish. Bake for about 30 minutes.
(Lillian says that this looks complicated but it’s not. She says you can cut down on preparation time, especially on a busy holiday, by chopping up your onions and celery the day before and storing them in Ziploc bags in the refrigerator till you’re ready for them the next morning. And you really should make your cornbread about a week ahead of time and freeze it. That way, the dressing can be put together and ready for the oven in just a few minutes.)
These next four recipes are for vegetable casseroles. As you know, every meal (except breakfast) should have at least two vegetables, the fresher the better. If you ever want to do plain vegetables, like green beans, or collard, turnip, or mustard greens, plan to spend all day on them. Once y
ou’ve shelled, snapped, picked over, and washed them, then run to the store for a streak-of-lean and let them cook for several hours, you’ll probably decide to open cans the next time.
Sauce for Broccoli
103/4-ounce can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
Mix all the ingredients together and stir well. No need to heat—just pour over hot broccoli (fresh or frozen) and serve.
Makes about 3 cups.
Squash Casserole
1 stick margarine
8-ounce package Pepperidge Farm cornbread stuffing
2 pounds yellow squash, cooked, drained, and mashed
103/4-ounce can cream of celery soup
1 cup sour cream
2-ounce jar chopped pimento
5-ounce water chestnuts, drained and chopped fine
2 small onions, chopped
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Melt the margarine and, in a bowl, pour it over the stuffing. Line the bottom and sides of a 9 × 11-inch baking dish with half the stuffing.
Mix the remaining ingredients together and pour into the lined dish. Sprinkle the remaining stuffing on top. Bake for 30 minutes.
Serves 6 to 8.
Broccoli Casserole
Three 10-ounce packages frozen chopped broccoli, cooked and drained
1/2 cup mayonnaise