Canzas Williams

“We are peas and tater folks, with cornbread,” said Canzas Williams. “Cornbread is a must,” and says she has been making it “forever.” Since daughter Skylar has also learned to make cornbread, she wants to be the one making it every time.
“You have to taste it. Just stick your finger in it and taste it,” is something her grandmother, the late Vivian Longest,  always told her about cooking.

Canzas learned to cook from her grandmother, and from her mother, Melissa Ford. And most recipes she uses are from one of them.
At her grandmother’s house, she remembers a white step stool that she and her cousins would fight over to sit on and help cook. She and cousin, Calla Longest Brassfield, also spent a whole lot of time in the school cafeteria with Mrs. Vivian.

The peanut butter bar recipe is from her grandmother and Canzas makes them a lot. They were one of the grandchildren’s favorites while growing up. “We would make ourselves sick on them,” she said.
The ham and pickle wraps were also a recipe of her grandmother’s. She usually makes these for their Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays at the family’s request, and “normally none are left.”

Ice cream pie is Skylar’s favorite, and there is never any of that left either. Her boys, Call and Wes, along with everybody else in the family, like the hamburger steaks. Canzas says they usually have them at least once a week.
She and husband, Michael, grill a good bit. They like wild pork loin and sausage. She and the kids like to make cookies from scratch during the holidays, and all of them like to help in the kitchen.

When she and Michael married, he had the stipulation that there would be no store-bought spaghetti sauce used at their house. Her mother-in-law, Barbara Williams, taught her to can and the first thing was tomatoes, so she could make fresh spaghetti sauce and also salsa.
  Grandmother’s Peanut Butter Bars
(Vivian Longest)
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup oatmeal
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups flour
Icing:
3/4 cup confectioner sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 oz. peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Pinch of salt
Mix peanut butter, sugar, egg and margarine until smooth. Then mix flour, baking soda and salt. Add oats and stir until moistened. Spread into greased pan. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until lightly brown. Pour icing over cake while hot.

Ham and Pickle Wraps
(Vivian Longest)
1 pkg. Bryan ham
1 jar dill pickle spears
1 pkg. dry Ranch dressing
1 pkg. cream cheese
1-2 Tbsp. mayonnaise
Mix Ranch dressing, cream cheese and mayonnaise until smooth. Lay ham slices out and spread mixture on to ham. Add pickle and roll it up. Cut into bite size pieces.

Ice Cream Pie
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
1-8 oz. Cool Whip
1 pkg. Oreo cookies
2 or 3 graham cracker crusts
Crush cookies in ziploc bag. Mix ice cream, Cool Whip and cookies in large bowl. Pour into pie crust and freeze. When ready to serve, set out for about five minutes.

Easy Hamburger Steaks
Hamburger meat
Package of brown gravy mix
One can cream of mushroom soup
Fry hamburgers as you normally would .When done, drain grease off. Follow directions on gravy package. Add cream of mushroom soup.