Living 2 Eat |

Ben,

Dougie bars are the special treat Doug and I would share along the way!

One day, I went to Doug’s office with my mom when he opened a drawer, and there was a whole container full of them!  On the evening of my Homecoming Gala in Pratt, Kansas, Doug presented me with a silver platter of Dougie bars in front of 1500 people.  I was so excited, but they were all eaten by the time the show was over.  I didn’t even get one!

Shortly after giving up the Miss America crown, I went to Pratt to do a few events, including a concert at Pratt Bible Church.  At that time, I was engaged to be married, and as a thank you gift, the church compiled their favorite recipes and put them into a recipe book for me to have as we started our marriage.  On page one was the recipe card for Dougie Bars.  Under “Number of Servings,” it says “one.”

Tara Holland Christensen

Miss America 1997

DOUGIE BARS

1 cup sugar

1 cup Karo light syrup

1 cup creamy peanut butter

6 cups Special K cereal

½ bag chocolate chips

½ bag butterscotch chips

Microwave 1 cup sugar and 1 cup Karo light syrup on high for 2 minutes.

Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter.  Mix together well.

Add 6 cups Special K cereal.  Mix together well and press into 9×13 pan.

Melt ½ - ¾ bag of chocolate chips and ½ - ¾ bag butterscotch chips together. Spread over top. 

Cool and enjoy!

Boston Market’s Creamed Spinach

10 3/4 can cream of celery soup

1 tablespoon flour

1/4 cup butter or margarine or canola oil

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt or to taste

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

20 oz. frozen chopped spinach, cooked according to package directions, well drained, OR

2 pounds fresh spinach, cleaned, stems removed, chopped, cooked and drained

1 tablespoon dry onion, chopped, OR

1 small onion, peeled, ends removed, diced

In a large saucepan over medium heat, whisk together celery soup, flour, butter or margarine or canola oil, garlic salt, salt and pepper until smooth and piping hot.

Add cooked and drained spinach, dry chopped onion or diced onion.

Serve.

Dear Ben,

The “Crew” will be here soon so I wanted to get this mailed before they arrive.

I LOVE Bean Salad, but in all these years have never found a recipe that was as good as I knew it could be.  Today was the day!  After experimenting and tasting it, I thought you would love it too.  My Mother and Grandmother would definitely approve!!!  It is super easy but perfect!!!  I have had three helpings and still want more!!!  Hope you will enjoy it!

Love,

Burma

Burma’s Four Bean Salad

2 15- ounce cans green beans, rinsed and drained

2 15-ounce cans yellow wax beans, rinsed and drained

1 15-ounce can kidney beans, rinsed and drained

2 15-ounce cans large white butter beans, rinsed and drained

1 medium red onion, diced in chunky sized pieces

1 large green bell pepper, diced

1 4-ounce jar pimentos, diced but not drained

1-3/4 cups thinly sliced celery

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1-1/2 cups red wine vinegar (or cider vinegar)

1-1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

1 can Campbell’s Tomato soup

Place the beans, red onion, green pepper, pimentos, celery, and oil in a large mixing bowl. 

In a medium saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, and tomato soup with a whisk.  Bring to a boil while stirring. 

Pour over the vegetables.  Toss the mixture lightly.  Toss several times as your salad cools.  Cover and chill for around 4-5 hours.  It is best if chilled overnight.  

This is a perfect dish to make ahead of time and it will keep for several days.  Drain the reserved liquid prior to serving.  (The extra liquid can be used later!) 

Yum Yum Yum!!!

This cake became an instant favorite when it arrived on the scene in the late 1970s. The first recipe for this cake has long been attributed to Mrs. L.H. Wiggins of Greesnboro, North Carolina, who submitted it to the February, 1978 issue of Southern Living magazine. But Helen Moore, a former food editor at The Charlotte Observer, says that hummingbird cake actually hails from Jamaica, where it is called Doctor Bird cake. She says that recipes for basically the same cake by that name were distributed by the Jamaican Tourism Board in the late 1960s.

There are two major schools of thought as to where the name came from. The first is that the cake is so sweet it could attract hummingbirds; the second is that the cake is so good, people spontaneously begin to hum while eating it. No matter which story is true, this is one of the most delicious of all Southern cakes. The recipe is adapted from Mrs. Wiggins’ original.

Special thanks to Chef Rick’s Southern Cooking for this award winning recipe.

Hummingbird Cake

For the cake:

• 3 cups all-pupose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoon soda
• 11/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, Drained (reserve 1/4 cup juice)
• 2 cups chopped pecans, divided
• 2 cups mashed bananas

Grease and flour three 9-inch cake pans; preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together flour, sugar, salt, soda and cinnamon; place into a 4-quart mixing bowl. Add eggs and vegetable oil, stirring with a rubber spatula until dry ingredients are moistened (do not use an electric mixer). Stir in vanilla, pineapple, pineapple juice, 1 cup of the pecans and bananas. Spoon batter into pans.

Bake until cake is golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Allow to cool in pans for ten minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting:

• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 (16 ounce) boxes powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a 2-quart mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and butter; using an electric hand mixer, cream until smooth. Add powdered sugar, beating until light and fluffy; stir in vanilla. Spread frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with 1 cup chopped pecans.

Yield: one 9-inch layer cake

My Aunt Dianne has always been an excellent cook.  When Jon and I married, one of the gifts she gave us was a handwritten recipe book of some of her favorite recipes.  The first one was for Sweet Potato Casserole.  I remembered having it for special occasions as I was growing up, so it was the first one I tried, shortly after we married.  Jon and I will be celebrating our wedding anniversary soon, and this recipe is a must for every Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and any other special occasion we can find! 

I’ve been asked for this recipe more than any other. 

Tara Holland Christensen

Miss America 1997

Aunt Dianne’s Sweet Potato Casserole

4 cups mashed, cooked sweet potatoes

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup melted margarine

1 tsp. vanilla

¼ tsp. cinnamon

Topping:

¾ cup melted margarine

1 ½ cup light brown sugar

1 ½ cup pecan halves

½ cup all purpose flour

Bake potatoes in the microwave.  Peel, mash and measure.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Put into greased 9×13 casserole dish. 

Mix topping ingredients and pour over sweet potatoes. 

Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Louise Starling  is one of the most colorful people that I have ever met.   She has the ability to move heaven and earth when on a mission, and can whip the devil himself without blinking an eye.    I have seen here ride a Yazoo lawn mower (not an easy task) wide open, pressure wash a trailer, scrub a floor, and work an adding machine at lightening fast speed.   She could do anything and wasn’t afraid of anybody.    Simply put, she was tough!   She drives fast, really fast… in fact, she holds the record for the most expensive speeding ticket in Collier County, Florida — almost $600.   Again, she drives really fast! 

“Weezie” is someone all the kids loved because she was fun.   I can remember her taking my brother, sister and me to the community park once and wanting to ride a non motorized merry go round.   We sat on the merry go round and Weezie started spinning it.   To this day, I can remember hanging on for dear life because she was spinning us so fast!   We loved it and could hardly walk in a straight line after our ride finally stopped.  

When I think of folks who spoke their mind, Weezie tops the list.   Whatever she thought, she said.    She could always be counted upon to let you know exactly how she felt!   Good or bad, she was going to articulate it.  Heaven help you if you missed church because she felt everyone needed to be at church, and be there every time the doors were opened!  Behind a loud bark is a big heart that gives sacrificially to the church, to the schools, and to anyone with a hard luck story.    Weezie always seemed to be buying clothes for others, and she took great pleasure in doing for those needing a helping hand.

Growing up, I never remember eating a meal at Weezie’s dining room table, however, I did eat many bowls of lima beans, chicken wiggle and chicken & yellow rice at her kitchen counter.   As she got older, she no longer cooked large meals each day.  BUT, when she cooked the chicken dishes, she had enough to feed an army.   No one walked away hungry.   Weezie would eat out daily and was always the bright spot at any restaurant.   She would ‘hold court’ and rarely allowed anyone to pay the tab.   Weezie and my father would nearly have a fist fight at the end of the meal over who was going to pay for dinner.   Once in Miami they ended up shredding the bill as they played tug of war with it!

My favorite Weezie recipe is “Chicken Wiggle”…  it is the perfect dish when not feeling the greatest or on a cold day.   Something about this dish that just warms the heart and makes you feel better, or perhaps it was just how I felt when I was eating with Weezie. 

UPDATE:  I WROTE THE ABOVE ALMOST A YEAR AGO (August 14, 2008).  SADLY, WEEZIE LEFT US YESTERDAY (August 25, 2009) BUT WAS WARMLY GREETED BY OUR LORD.  WE WILL MISS HER.  WEEZIE… WE LOVE YOU AND WILL SEE YOU AGAIN ONE DAY!

Chicken Wiggle

1 whole chicken cubed

2 onions

1 can English peas

1/3 bottle Worcestershire sauce

2 bell peppers

1 lb package egg noodles

1 small jar pimentos, undrained

1 small can mushrooms

Hot sauce to taste

1/2 lb butter or chicken broth

Cook chicken until tender and cut into bite size pieces.   Cook onion, pimentos, and pepper in 1 cup broth or butter.  Cook noodles in chicken broth until tender.   Add other ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes.

From the kitchen of Sarah Ryan – Parkview Church of God

Caramel Apple Dip

1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Apple slices

Beat cream cheese, brown sugar and vanilla together until smooth.

Serve with apple slices.

Sprinkle chopped nuts on apples, if desired.

From the kitchen of Mrs. Valerie A. Smithhart — Vicksburg, Mississippi

Bodacious Buttermilk Pie

1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 T. all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Cream butter on high speed of mixer.

 Gradually add sugar, beating well.

Add flour and beat until smooth.

Add eggs and beat until well blended.

Add buttermilk and vanilla; beat well.

Pour filling into pie shell.

Bake 5 minutes at 400 degrees.

 Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake an additional 45 minutes, or until set.

Cool to room temperature; chill.

From’Our Favorites,’ Unobee Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution

7-Up Pound Cake

3 cups sugar
2 sticks margarine
1/2 cup shortening
5 eggs
1 tsp. coconut extract
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup 7-Up
3 cups sifted flour

Cream sugar, margarine and shortening.

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

Add extracts, lemon juice and salt.

Add flour and 7-Up alternately, beginning and ending with flour.

Pour batter into greased and floured Bundt pan. Bake at 325 degrees (do not preheat oven) for about 1 hour. Test for doneness.

Cool in pan 10 minutes.

From ‘Divine Tastes’,  Our Lady of Victories Catholic Church

Alice’s Lemon Nut Cake

1 lb. margarine
2 cups sugar
6 eggs
4 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 lb. (2 1/2 cups) white raisins
1 lb. (3 1/4 cups) chopped pecans
4 T. (2-oz. bottle) lemon extract

Cream margarine and sugar; add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.

Sift flour and measure. Sift flour again with salt and baking powder. Coat raisins and nuts with small amount of flour mixture and set aside.

Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Add raisins and nuts; mix well. Stir in lemon extract.

Bake in 10-inch tube pan at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Alternative: Bake in 4 loaf pans for about an hour.