Cook of the Week: Friends of the Calhoun-Gordon County Library

Calhoun-Gordon County Library has proven it can feed the body’s hunger as well as its thirst for knowledge. Some of the most wholesome and best recipes comes from friends, neighbors, churches, and, in this case, the library. Not because I spent hours combing through cookbooks at the library, but because the Calhoun-Gordon County Friends of the Library put together a cookbook to raise money for the, well, the library. These types of cookbooks give the best names to recipes: Big Ol’ Mess, Mama’s meatloaf I, II, and III, Grandma’s best cake. You gotta love it. If it includes stories and tales, it’s even better.

This handy book features hundreds of recipes from Calhoun and Gordon County, providing a delicious taste of –well, everything.

Onion Casserole

5 cups Vidalia onions

2 cups sharp cheese

1/2 cup self-rising flour

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

6 Tblsp margarine

Chop onions. Grate cheese. Mix onions and 1-cup of cheese. Add other ingredients and pour into a baking dish. Add remaining cup of cheese to top. Bake at 350-degrees for 30 minutes.

 

Big Ol’ Mess

1 lb smoked sausage, cut into chunks

3 fresh jalapenos, sliced

1 green pepper, cut into bit size chunks

1 sweet onion, cut into bit size chunks

1/4 cup hot sause

1 (10-oz) jar of sweet-and-sour sauce

Lay a 12×18-inch piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Place sausage, peppers and onion on foil. Curl up the edges of aluminum foil. Mix hot sauce and sweet-and-sour sauce in a small bowl; pour over the mixture. Lay another 12×18-inch sheet of foil over and seal the edges of foil tightly. Place in oven at 350-degrees for about 45 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

The great thing about this recipe is its versatility. We’ve made this while camping and cooked it over the grill. It’s also flexible. I made each serving as an individual packet, omitting the veggies our family doesn’t like. Mine had all the veggies and some extras, but my daughter’s had just meat. So have fun. By the way, the name is a misnomer. Using the aluminum foil means. . .no mess.

 

Cream Cake

1 cup whipping cream

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 cup self-rising flour

1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. In a medium bowl, combine hte whipping cream, sugar, egg, flour and vanilla. Mix well. Pour into a greased 9×9-inch cake pan and bake for about 30 minutes or until is springs back when touched. Serve warm.

Note: this cake can be served plain or topped with fresh fruit and whipped cream.

Want to cook with a literary giant, try what Pat Conroy cooked for his family here.