Christi Brown

If she wasn’t a teacher, what would she have been?
“I would love to have my own cooking show on the Food Network, “Cooking With Christi,” said Christi Brown of Calhoun City.
She says she didn’t pay enough attention to her mother, the late Carlene Goodson, about cooking.
“I didn’t try new things until Food Network,” she said, with Alton Brown being her favorite because he is so scientific about everything.
It is said that her first words were “chick, chick” because her mother’s fried chicken was always one of her favorite foods, which she has not been able to duplicate.
Her mother also always prepared a dessert with every meal. “She made good desserts,” Christi said, and butter roll is one of those, too, she says she can’t make like her mother’s.

“I have her pans, recipes, everything–but the taste is not the same.”
She loves to cook fresh, and they have broccoli, cauliflower, collards, cabbage, lettuce, and tomatoes, a staple for husband, Eddie. They plan to do some raised-bed gardening this fall.
Every holiday the kids pick their own favorite dish for her to make. Elizabeth’s is usually corn soufflé, Kathryn’s is broccoli-chicken casserole, Cal and Davis always say dressing, and four of them always want the banana pudding.

While Elizabeth cooks more than Kathryn, this summer the girls plan to have their mom teach them how to cook a dish a week. Christi said they will probably request lessons for spaghetti, lasagna and dressing. Right now they “shop” from her freezer and pantry, she says.
Kathryn  said, “I love her Hummingbird Cake and have always wanted to learn how to make it.”
Elizabeth  said, “She makes the best homemade lasagna in the world. No restaurant can compare! It is amazing.”

The girls call her the MacGyver of the kitchen, because of her resourcefulness when she might not have the exact thing she needs.
“You can always Google,” she says, when you need to improvise or find out how to do something.
Christi loves Creme Brulee and Tiramisu. “Creme Brulee is easy. People are afraid of making it, but using the torch is easy.”
One thing she wants to try and make is deviled eggs topped with fried oysters and bacon marmalade, an appetizer she’s had at Flight in Memphis, adding that eating is out is something that she really loves to do.

Jean Scobey’s Shrimp & Pasta Salad
12 oz. angel hair pasta broken into thirds
6 little green onions
4 oz. chopped pimento
4 oz. sliced black olives
3 Tablespoons lemon juice
3 Tablespoons mayonnaise (Duke’s)
1/4 cup Cavendar’s Greek seasoning (taste as you go because this is very salty)
2 lbs. small cooked, de-veined shrimp
Cook pasta and rinse in cold water. Mix together all ingredients and chill at least four hours.

Holiday Broccoli Casserole
2 packages frozen, chopped broccoli
1 pint sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 cups Ritz crackers, crushed.
1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix
1 well beaten egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups diced, cooked chicken breasts
Cook broccoli as stated on the package and allow to cool. Mix all ingredients, except cheese and cracker crumbs. Pour into a Pam sprayed 13 x 9 casserole dish. Sprinkle crushed Ritz crackers on top. Bake at 325° until bubbly and brown. Add cheese on top while still hot.

Not Yo Mama’s Banana Pudding
2 bags of Pepperidge Farm’s Chessmen Cookies
6 to 8 bananas
2 cups milk
1 (5 oz.) box of French Vanilla instant pudding
1 (8 oz.) block of cream cheese, softened
1 (14 oz.) can of sweetened condensed milk
12 oz. whipped cream (you can use cool whip, but it’s better if you use homemade whipped cream.)
Line bottom of a 13 x 9 inch dish with 1 box of cookies and top the cookies with bananas. Combine milk and pudding mix. Blend well with a hand mixer. Use another bowl to combine the cream cheese and condensed milk and blend till smooth. Add the pudding to  the cream cheese and condensed milk mixture and stir till well blended. Fold the whipped cream into the pudding, cream cheese and condensed milk using a spatula. Pour this mixture over the cookies and bananas. Top the pudding with the remaining box of cookies. Chill overnight.

Shrimp Dip
1 lb. cooked small to med. shrimp
1 8 oz. block of cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. mayonnaise (Duke’s)
2 green onions chopped with whites and green parts
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 dash of hot sauce
1 teaspoon of prepared horseradish sauce
Place peeled shrimp in a food processor and pulse 5 to 7 times to leave the pieces chunky. Mix cream cheese, mayonnaise, green onions, mustard, hot sauce, and horseradish. Stir in the shrimp Line small glass bowl with plastic wrap leaving lots of overhand on the sides. Place mixture into bowl and pack tight with a spatula. Cover dip with the overhanging plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 to 3 hours. When ready to serve, unwrap the top and invert the bowl onto a plate. Remove the plastic wrap.
Serve with club crackers.