My husband Keith is busy preparing for the Reynolds family reunion held each June at Yogi By the Lake in Pelahatchie, as Keith serves as secretary for the annual event.
The Reynolds reunion will draw dozens of Keith’s cousins from his mother’s side to Mississippi for a weekend of food, fellowship, and the much-anticipated live auction where you can purchase a handcrafted Reynolds’ gift item for a few bucks, if someone doesn’t raise you “a quarter.” Last year, I came home with a soup bowl cozy and a decorative fly swatter featuring a huge sunflower. Someone outbid me for the homemade spaghetti sauce.
As most of you prepare for family reunions and church memorial services and homecomings, what to bring for the accompanying covered-dish meal is always a challenge. Some things just do not travel well or can be enjoyed even semi-warm to room temperature.
My Daddy always ordered 50 pieces of fried chicken from our local grocery store. You have to love someone a LOT to fry them chicken this time of year due to the heat of the kitchen. You have to be utterly obsessed to fry up 50 pieces of it for a reunion. I recommend ordering it from the grocery store, deli, or restaurant.
The casserole is always a good choice. Casseroles are very versatile when it comes to temperature, and because they are cooked and not coated with mayonnaise, you don’t have to worry too much about giving someone food poison from something setting out too long. And you can’t go wrong with a chicken casserole.
Easy Chicken Casserole
8 tablespoons unsalted butter divided
4 chicken breasts boneless skinless
1/2 yellow onion chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
10.75 ounces condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whole milk
1 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crumbled
1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add two tablespoons of butter to a large skillet on medium heat and cook the chicken for 4-5 minutes on each side before removing the chicken to a plate and chopping roughly.
Add two more tablespoons of the butter with the onion, bell pepper, garlic and black pepper on medium heat and cook for 4-5 minutes until the onions are translucent.
Add in the cream of chicken, sour cream and milk and mix well then pour the mixture into your baking dish.
Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and mix with the Ritz crackers and cheddar cheese and sprinkle it over the chicken then bake for 30-35 minutes.
A potato casserole is always a good option. At Moore Memorial United Methodist Church, there always seems to be a potato casserole on the menu for the meal following a funeral or the annual dinners for the local football teams. I have made this potato casserole for the football dinners several times, and I credit it to Becky Flowers, who usually heads up those events.
Sunday Potato Casserole
2 pounds frozen hashbrowns (cubed)
16 ounces sour cream
2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I use Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar)
1 can (10 1/2 ounces ) cream of chicken soup
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons minced onion
3/4 cup melted butter, divided
2 cup corn flakes, crushed
Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine frozen hashbrowns, sour cream, cheese, soup, salt, pepper, onion and 1/2 cup of the melted butter. Mix until thoroughly combined. Pour into a 13x9 baking dish.
In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup melted butter with crushed corn flakes. Sprinkle over top of casserole.
Cover dish with foil and bake for about 60 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 5-10 minutes to add some crunch to the topping. Serve and enjoy!
Without fail, when we have the combined Sexton-Ferguson family dinner, my mother-in-law, Ann Ferguson, always brings a lime congealed salad the Fergusons call “Poison Salad.” The name stems from Miss Ann practicing her home economics recipes on her father, and him saying it looked like “poison” salad with its lime green hue. But don’t let the name deter you, this salad is yummy good – a favorite of my son, Dean.
Miss Ann’s Poison Salad
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
1 tablespoon sugar
1 package lime Jello
½ cup chopped pecans, toasted
1 cup boiling water
1-1/2 cups 7-Up
Dissolve Jello in boiling water. Cream mixture into cream cheese and beat until smooth with a hand mixer. Stir in pineapple (drained), sugar, and pecans. Stir in 7-Up.
Pour into mold and chill.
Just before the mixture begins to set up, stir again to distribute the pecans in the mixture.
Chill thoroughly and unmold just before serving.
The first time I had Coca Cola cake was at a Taste of the Crossroads event the paper hosted several years ago. Montgomery County Circuit Clerk Lanelle Martin made a Coca Cola Cake and submitted it into the cooking contest, and oh my goodness! It was fantastic!
If you are a chocolate lover, this is the cake for you. And if you don’t like cake, just make a bowl of the icing and get a spoon.
Coca Cola Cake
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (Optional)
1 cup butter or margarine or two sticks or 16 tablespoons
1 cup coca cola (I always use regular coke and have not tried it with any other kind)
3 tablespoons 100% pure cocoa
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Combine sugar, flour and cinnamon in a large bowl and mix well using a wire whisk. Combine butter, the 1 cup of coca cola and cocoa in a pot on the stove and bring to a boil stirring often. Remove from heat and pour over flour mixture. Mix with a spoon. Mix buttermilk and baking soda together and pour into cake mixture. Add marshmallows and continue stirring.(Your marshmallows will not melt) Add in eggs and vanilla extract. Pour into a sprayed 9 x 13 inch pan and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes, testing for doneness. Frost.
Icing for Coca Cola Cake
1/2 cup butter or margarine or 1 stick or 8 tablespoons
3 tablespoon 100 percent pure cocoa
6 tablespoons coca cola
1 (1 pound) package powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pecans (Optional)
Bring margarine, cocoa and coca cola to a boil on top of the stove. Remove from heat and add vanilla and powdered sugar until frosting is of spreading consistency. You can either stir in nuts or sprinkle on top of the cake. Spread over hot cake.
