• Potato Salad
• Candied Yams
• Gooey Butter Cake
Potato Salad
Makes 8 to 10 servings
4 large potatoes, boiled and diced small
2 eggs, boiled and diced small
1 and three-fourths cups Hellman’s Mayonnaise
1 and one-half tablespoons onion powder
1 teaspoon sweet pickle relish
One-fourth cup sugar
Paprika, sufficient to sprinkle on top
Peel potatoes, dice large; boil 20 minutes or until done. Drain and cool; when cooled, dice small. Set aside.
In large bowl, mix together eggs, mayonnaise, onion powder, sweet pickle relish, sugar and parsley. Add potatoes. Mix together. Transfer to a smaller bowl or glass pan; smooth potato salad. Sprinkle paprika over top. Refrigerate overnight.
- Alneter Leach, mother of Felicia P. Fields
Candied Yams
Makes 8 to 10 servings
10 nice-sized yams or sweet potatoes
1 cup water
1 stick butter or margarine
1 and one-half cups brown sugar
One-half cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
One-fourth cup orange juice
Peel skins off yams or sweet potatoes; cut into medium-size slices. Rinse. Place yams in large aluminum pan with 1 cup water; cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Then add butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice. Cover with foil, return to oven and bake for 2 hours. Remove from oven, and turn yams over once gently. Add orange juice; cover with foil, return to oven for 1 hour. Add marshmallows on top; return to oven just until melted (watch carefully so they don’t burn). Stir the entire mixture gently before serving.
- Lynette Dupree, “Church Lady”
Gooey Butter Cake
Makes 12 servings
1 stick butter, melted
1 package Butter Cake Mix
1 egg
Gooey topping:
1 stick butter, melted
8 ounces cream cheese
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 box confectioner’s sugar (reserving one-fourth cup)
Melt 1 stick butter. Add dry cake mix and egg; combine until smooth. Press very thick batter into bottom of ungreased rectangular cake pan. Melt 1 stick butter; add cream cheese, and stir. Add vanilla; stir. Sift in confectioner’s sugar after reserving one-fourth cup for top of baked cake; stir until smooth. Add eggs; stir until smooth. Pour on top of batter. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until golden brown (checking frequently toward end of baking time). Once cool, add reserved confectioner’s sugar.
Optional additions to gooey topping: Add 1 medium mashed banana or 1 sweet potato (cooked and mashed) with 1 teaspoon each cinnamon and nutmeg.
- Kimberly Harris, “Church Lady”