Camille Gober

Camille Gober of Bruce made up her recipes for Manicotti, Popcorn Chicken and Meatballs, which are all favorites of her family. She calls the Popcorn Chicken niece Taylor’s (Haire), and says she has a “sixth sense” when she makes it, because Taylor just seems to “show up at the house.”

Camille does a lot of recipe substituting. She knows what she and her family like as far as taste, so she changes things up to suit theirs.
“If you don’t like one spice, leave it out, or change it. Do it to your taste.” She has always been a picky eater and likes garlic in everything. “You can’t have enough garlic,” she said.
She likes Italian and Mexican food and would rather have hamburger than steak, and she will cook seafood or steak, but will not eat them.
She says she is a texture eater, so she doesn’t like shrimp. She will also eat chicken, pork loin and sometimes pork chops.

She is a vegetable person and will now eat cabbage, broccoli and spinach, and used to she wouldn’t. Although she always told her children, Shonda and Sean, to at least taste things. Over the years she began trying more foods  and agrees that “taste buds change as you get older.” She loves spinach dip and says that’s how her manicotti recipe came about.
She has cooked pretty much her whole life–at home and in restaurants. She says she has cooked everything from calf liver and pork brains, to seafood and country vegetables, and also noted that she doesn’t really measure when she cooks.

She wants to make Eggplant Parmesan because she ate it once and liked it, and is going to try. She says she makes a good lasagna and an awesome Western omelet with sautéed ham, onion and peppers. She usually cooks one big meal a day, and sometimes makes breakfast for supper including biscuits and hash browns with the omelets.
Her mother, Lillian Holmes, taught all five of her children to cook. She wanted them to be able to cook and take care of themselves. Family favorites are her dressing, spaghetti sauce, oatmeal cake, candied yams and Italian creme cake.

Camille learned candy making from her mother-in-law, such as peanut butter bonbons, Martha Washington balls, and her husband, Mark, makes fudge. She says they always have sweets around the holidays, and she also likes to make decorated cakes.

An every Sunday night event is a family dinner at the home of her sister and husband, Annette and James Roy Haire. She says she absolutely enjoys family dinners together and spending time with family. And after about four years, it has become a tradition for them.

Manicotti
2-3 lbs. hamburger meat
1 large onion finely diced
2 Tbsp. chopped garlic
1 can Hunt’s Garlic and Herb spaghetti sauce
2 cup pkg. Mozzarella cheese
1 pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 pkg. frozen spinach, thawed
2 boxes manicotti noodles
Brown hamburger with onions and garlic. Rinse. Add spinach and cream cheese. Mix thoroughly. (I use my hands.) Stuff noodles and place in baking dish. Pour spaghetti sauce over and cover with cheese. Bake for about one hour in a 350° oven. (I use homemade spaghetti sauce if I have it left over in the freezer.)

Popcorn Chicken
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. garlic powder or salt
1 tsp. lemon pepper
1 tsp. thyme
2% milk
1 egg
1 tsp. seasoning salt
1 tsp. Weber’s garlic and herb seasoning
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
Cut boneless, skinless chicken breast into cubes. (I make mine a little bigger than a bite.) Mix all dry ingredients together. (Add spices to taste.) Add egg and milk until it is pancake batter consistency. You can also add Italian dressing to the batter and let it sit for a marinade. (I have added a little cayenne pepper for a little kick.) Put in cut up chicken and fry.

Meatballs
2-3 lbs. hamburger meat
1 large bell pepper finely chopped
1 tsp. season salt
1 Tbsp. parsley
1 small can tomato sauce
1 large onion finely diced
Black pepper to taste
1 tsp. basil
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. chopped garlic
2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. garlic salt or powder
About two cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
Mix all ingredients together. Form into balls about 2” in diameter. Bake in 350° oven about 45 minutes until done. (I either put them in barbecue sauce, gravy or spaghetti sauce. They are good by themselves or with just ketchup.)