The Potluck Club (39 page)

Baby Faith neither acknowledged nor ignored me; she merely rested peacefully in her new, albeit temporary, home. Soon she would be in her own home, where she would be nurtured and could grow to be beautiful and healthy.

I closed my eyes, both happy and tired, and rested my forehead against the glass. I’d spoken to Peggy earlier, told her to plan to stay at the house—Gary’s family too. She’d accepted. I told her there was something I wanted to tell her when she got here, but she wormed it out of me like she always does.

“I’m dating someone,” I said.

“Who?” The sound of her voice was full of disbelief.

“Vernon Vesey.”

“Vernon Vesey! After all these years?”

“Don’t make a big deal about it,” I said, pleading with her like I’d done when we were children and I’d told her about our one and only kiss . . . until now . . .

She promised she wouldn’t, and then we said our good-byes.

It would be nice to have a houseful,
I thought, then began to mentally check off everything I needed to do between now and then.

“Which one is she?”

I heard the voice behind me, and I jumped. Turning, I saw Pastor Kevin. He looked as though he’d aged ten years, if not ten years and a day, since the last time I’d seen him, which was only a few days ago. My “conversation” with Ruth Ann had led me to take time nearly every day to drop by the Moores’ home—even if only to wash some dishes or dust the furniture for Jan or her daughter.

I turned back to the window. “Second from the left,” I said, pointing. “Wrapped in pink.”

“How precious,” he said. I felt his hand slip along the top of my back and then rest on my shoulder. We stood silently, side by side, peering through a Plexiglas window at four new lives with so much ahead of them.
God only knows what heartaches and joys will
come their way,
I thought.

“Life is a strange cycle, isn’t it?” I said.

“That it is, Evangeline,” Pastor Kevin said, squeezing my shoulder.

“How is Jan?” I asked.

Pastor Kevin was quiet for a long moment. Then he answered, “The battle is over. God won.”

Unable to do anything, I continued to look straight ahead. Baby Faith squirmed, and for a moment I thought she was about to cry. Just as quickly, though, she calmed, drifting into sleep.

The Potluck Club Recipes

Brown Rice

1 can beef bouillon soup

1 can onion soup

1 cup rice

1 small can mushrooms or fresh cut-up mushrooms

2–3 pats of butter or margarine

Pour together in a greased casserole dish . . . you know, like Corningware. Put pats of butter on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour, covered.

Serves 4–6.

Evangline’s Cook’s Notes
If you can’t make this dish, you can’t boil water.

Best Oven-Barbecued Brisket

5–6 pounds brisket (or a 3–4 pound eye of round roast)

1 bottle liquid smoke

garlic salt

onion salt

seasoned salt

1 tablespoon flour

1 oven bag

1 bottle barbecue sauce (onion flavored)

½ cup mild picante sauce

Trim fat from brisket. Soak brisket all night in 1 bottle of liquid smoke. The next day, season meat with garlic, onion, and seasoned salt. Put flour in oven bag and shake. Place meat and liquid smoke in flour-coated bag. Put bag into 2-inch deep baking dish. Place dish in 400 degree oven for approximately 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 200 degrees and cook 10–12 hours. Allow meat to cool in its own juice.

Drain juice and boil until thick. Add barbecue sauce and picante sauce and simmer.

Slice brisket. Place in a foil-lined pan and pour barbecue sauce over sliced meat. Heat at about 200 degrees for 1 hour.

Lisa Leann’s Cook’s Notes
Start a day or two before to make the best barbecue ever tasted. My brisket got me into Woodland’s Junior League, and I believe it helped me in my rise to becoming their president.

Mother Dippel’s Chocolate Cake

1 cup shortening

1 stick butter

3 cups sugar

3 cups cake flour

4 tablespoons cocoa

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon vanilla

5 large eggs

Cream the shortening, butter, and sugar. Sift the flour (today you can get some cake flour that doesn’t have to be sifted, so watch for that) with cocoa and baking powder. Add alternately to the creamed mixture with the milk, vanilla, and eggs, lightly beaten together.

You’ll want to beat this really good after each addition.

Bake in tube pan, coated well with a no-stick spray (Mother D. always used shortening and flour, but I don’t think that’s such a great idea in this day and time) at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 45 minutes or until done. (This is where the coffee and conversation come in.) Makes one very large cake for a very hungry family or group of friends.

Goldie’s Cook’s Notes
After being tired of hearing my constant pleas for the recipe, Mother Dippel finally caved and taught me how to make this delicious twist to the pound cake. Mother D. and I would often make this together, drinking coffee and talking about the latest installment of
The Young and the Restless
.

Spicy Apple Cider

2 cups water

2 cinnamon sticks

1 tablespoon whole cloves

2 quarts apple cider

1 lemon, sliced thin

1 orange, sliced thin

½ teaspoon whole allspice

All I do is combine water and spices in a large pot on stove and boil. Then I strain the mixture and pour the spiced water into my Crock-Pot. I add apple cider, lemon, and orange and cook over low heat till warm.

Makes 10 cups.

Donna’s Cook’s Notes
Of course I know how to cook. After all, I cooked for Dad most of my childhood. In those days, my best friend in the kitchen was my mother’s old Betty Crocker cookbook, but nowadays I get most of my recipes from the Internet.

Apple Cinnamon Bread

1 cup water

5 tablespoons apple juice concentrate (frozen)

½ cup applesauce

1 teaspoon cinnamon

11/3 tablespoons brown sugar

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups whole wheat flour

3 tablespoons Vital gluten

2 cups bread flour

2 teaspoons yeast

1 extra tablespoon of flour if baking at high altitude

Bring ingredients to room temperature and pour into bread machine, in order. Select “sweet bread” and push start.

Lisa Leann’s Cook’s Notes
There is nothing that smells better on a cold morning than apple cinnamon bread. I used to make it for my kids every week. It was a Lambert house favorite. My, how I miss those days.

Oven-Fried Eggplant

½ cup fine dry bread crumbs

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 eggplant

¼ cup mayonnaise

Combine first 4 ingredients in shallow dish. Peel eggplant and cut into ¼ inch slices. Spread both sides with mayo. Dredge in bread crumbs. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees uncovered for 10–12 minutes or until browned.

Serves 4–6.

Lizzie’s Cook’s Notes
My sweet, sweet Aunt Bettye gave me this recipe many years ago when I was visiting her in her Atlanta home. I took one bite of this scrumptious dish and told her I absolutely had to have the recipe.

Homemade Vegetable Soup

1 large can V8 juice

1 diced medium onion

1 bay leaf

1 small can tomato sauce

2 packages mixed veggies

1 cup macaroni

Mrs. Dash to season

Place ingredients in a large pot. Slow simmer for several hours.

Goldie’s Cook’s Notes
This is another recipe given to me by my mother-in-law. I can still recall the day she made it for the first time. Of course, with the Dippel clan of men, she had to double the recipe. You’ll want to cook this in a large pot and let it simmer all day. Perfect for cold days . . . or cold hearts.

Mexican Tamales

5 pounds lean pork or beef, cooked and shredded

6–7 pounds fresh masa (corn flour)

1 ½ pounds lard

1 tablespoon salt

1 ½ pints red chili sauce (store-bought)

1 bundle oujas (corn shucks)

Completely cover the meat with water, add salt to taste, then slow boil in a large covered pot until completely done. Next, cool the meat and save the broth. When meat has cooled, shred it and mix it into the chili sauce. While meat is boiling, clean the oujas with warm water.

To make the masa, you can mix by hand or use a hand mixer. In a large bowl, mix the masa, lard, salt, and enough broth to make a smooth paste. Beat till a small amount (1 tsp.) is able to float in a cup of cool water. Spread masa, .-to ¼-inch thick, onto the oujas. Add a small amount of meat and roll up. Fold up ends of ouja and place (with the fold down) on a rack in a pan deep enough to steam. Add 1–2 inches water, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and steam about 1 ½ hours.

You can substitute or mix the beef or pork with chicken or fried beans.

This recipe will make 4–5 dozen Mexican tamales.

Vonnie’s Cook’s Notes
This recipe takes me back to a different time. Though the people in that time are long departed from my life, I think of them whenever I mix the masa. You’d think creating this dish would be too painful, but to tell you the truth, it’s my favorite way to remember those I’ll never forget.

Mama’s Broccoli Casserole

2 10-ounce packages frozen chopped broccoli

1 cup mayo

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

1 can cream of mushroom soup

2 eggs

1 cup crushed Ritz crackers

Boil broccoli for 5 minutes, then drain and allow to cool.

In a separate bowl, mix mayo, cheese, soup, and eggs. Add broccoli to mixture; stir well and then place in buttered cooking dish. Sprinkle Ritz cracker crumbs on top. Bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes.

Serves 6–8.

Evangeline’s Cook’s Notes
One taste and you’ll know why this was Ruth Ann’s favorite broccoli casserole recipe. How I wish she were here to eat it one more time. (By the way, Mama always made this for both Thanksgiving and the day after, cutting up the leftover turkey and adding it to the mixture. Beats a turkey sandwich any old day of the week.)

Lasagna

2 pounds ground beef

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tablespoon parsley flakes

1 tablespoon basil

2 teaspoons salt

1 can tomatoes

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

1 16-ounce package lasagna noodles

1 teaspoon olive oil

2 12-ounce cartons cottage cheese

2 beaten eggs

2 tablespoons parsley flakes

2 teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon pepper

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 pound mozzarella cheese

Brown meat, drain off excess fat. Add next 6 ingredients, then simmer until mixture becomes thick. I find this usually takes about an hour.

Cook your noodles in boiling water with a teaspoon of olive oil and some salt. Drain and rinse with cold water.

Meanwhile, combine cottage cheese with next 5 ingredients. In a 13-by-9-by-2-inch pan, make layers of this mixture, then noodles, and then mozzarella cheese, followed by meat mixture. Repeat. Bake at 375 for half an hour.

Serves 12 (3-inch square per serving).

Lizzie’s Cook’s Notes
On days when you have little else to do, make this up and, once cooled, seal and freeze. Perfect for last-minute luncheons, church socials, or days when you’re forced to visit friends who are dying.

Sal’s Denver Omelet

1 tablespoon butter

¼ cup chopped onion

¼ cup chopped green bell pepper

¹
/8 cup chopped ham

¹
/8 cup chopped bacon

3 eggs

1 tablespoon cream

¹
/8 teaspoon salt

¹
/8 teaspoon pepper

3 drops Tabasco sauce

¼ cup shredded cheese

Sauté onion, bell pepper, ham, and bacon in hot skillet with butter. In a small bowl, whip eggs lightly and add cream, salt, pepper, and Tabasco sauce. Add mixture to sautéed mix and let omelet brown on one side. Flip over and brown on the other side. Cover top with cheese, fold omelet in half, and serve.

Makes 1 large serving.

Donna’s Cook’s Notes
One of these babies first thing in the morning keeps me going till my late afternoon lunch break. It’s one of my favorite ways to start the day.

Indian Chai Tea

3 teabags black tea

4 cups water

1 3-inch cinnamon stick

1-inch piece of gingerroot cut into 4 slices

½ teaspoon cardamom seeds

½ teaspoon black peppercorns

½ teaspoon whole cloves

1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds

1 cup milk

honey

Bring water to boil. Add spices, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Add teabags and steep 10 minutes. Add milk and heat to drinking temperature. Be careful not to boil. Strain mixture through a clean cotton dish towel. Serve with honey to taste.

Lizzie’s Cook’s Notes
Years ago, when I volunteered at a nursing home in a nearby town, I was treated to India chai tea in the afternoons by one of the precious ladies I visited there. I hadn’t thought of drinking it again for years now and was thrilled when I learned that Jan had the recipe and actually enjoyed drinking it in the afternoons.

Lisa Leann’s Cinnamon Rolls

1 cup water a little warmer than room temperature

1 egg

3 cups bread flour

¼ cup sugar

2 tablespoons powdered milk

1 teaspoon salt

5 tablespoons butter, softened

1 teaspoon instant yeast

¹
/3 cup butter

½ cup vanilla ice cream

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup butter, softened

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

½ cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour water, egg, bread flour, white sugar, powdered milk, salt, 5 tablespoons butter, and yeast into your bread machine. Set machine on the “dough” setting and turn on. As dough mixes, melt . cup butter in a small saucepan. Add brown sugar and ice cream and boil for two minutes to create caramel sauce. Pour sauce into bottom of lightly greased 9-by-13 pan.