Deana Ferguson

By Published On: February 10, 2016

Chicken is Deana Schmitz Ferguson’s favorite food. She likes her chicken salad made with celery salt, sweet and dill pickles and mayonnaise. That was one thing served in the tea room that was operated for about three years in her Simply Charming store in Calhoun City.
They also served chicken almond casserole, homemade pimento cheese, fruit, and dip. Her dip was made with Eagle Brand milk, cream cheese and marshmallow creme.

Deana FergusonHer mother, Shirley Schmitz, taught her to make Dirty Rice and she makes it a lot. “It’s easy and good, and my family (husband Joey, and children, Jase, Jake, Marlie and McKenzie)  love it,” she said.
Her mother started teaching her to cook when she was around 10, and she likes to make her mother’s homemade banana pudding. Grape Salad is what she likes to make for family get-togethers.
Sister-in-law, Lisa, gave her her first Bell’s Best cookbook, the original one, and it’s her favorite of the three she has. Cookies, cornbread and hot fudge sauce were the first things she learned to make.

Icebox cookies from her Bell’s Best, chocolate chip cookies from the Hershey’s bag, and brownies were some she mentioned.
Deana looks everywhere for recipes–Facebook, internet and cookbooks. She shares recipes on Facebook, many of which she tries first. Paula Deen and Rachel Ray are her Food Network favorites, but she says she doesn’t get much of a chance to watch.
She likes cooking sweets more than anything. The boiled oatmeal cookies she usually makes once a week.  “There are tons of recipes for boiled oatmeal cookies, but this one is never fail,” saying she doesn’t use as much oatmeal as called for in most of the recipes. They are one of Jake’s favorites, and all of the kids like them.

She used to help her grandmother, Jimmie Schmitz, cook, and she always made homemade rolls. “I remember her putting Crisco in everything.” Deana says she puts Crisco and salt in her cornbread. Her family loves peas and cornbread. Joey also likes barbecue chicken bites and the kids, pigs in a blanket.
The Fergusons cook a lot of deer and the kids like it, too. They marinate it in A-1 and barbecue sauce, use seasoning salt, wrap it in bacon and cook it in the oven.
She and Joey plan to open a restaurant in Bruce in a few months serving a variety of good home-cooking.
Dirty Rice
1 can beef consomme soup
1 can French onion soup
1 cup rice
1/2 stick butter
Mix all together. Pour in microwave safe dish. Cover and cook for 14 minutes. Let set 5-10 minutes before you uncover.
Grape Salad
1 large container Cool Whip
1-8 oz. cream cheese
2 cups green grapes (seedless, washed and cut in halves)
2 cups red grapes (seedless, washed and cut in halves)
1-16 oz. confectioner sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans (divided–1/4 for topping)
In large bowl, mix Cool Whip, cream cheese and confectioner sugar. Mix until smooth. Add 3/4 cup chopped pecans and four cups of grapes. Stir together. Pour in 9×13 serving dish and sprinkle with brown sugar and remaining pecans. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Boiled Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
2 cups sugar
3 Tbsp. cocoa
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 1/2 cups quick oats
1 tsp. vanilla flavoring
Mix butter, milk sugar and cocoa. Bring to boil and cook two minutes, stirring constantly. Take off heat. Add peanut butter, vanilla and oats. Drop by teaspoon full onto wax paper.

Chicken Almond Casserole
3-4 chicken breasts, cooked and diced (or 3 cans white chicken)
Large can cream of chicken soup
Small can cream of celery soup
8 oz. sour cream
Salt, pepper, celery salt
Bake in casserole dish until bubbly.
Add crushed Ritz crackers and sliced almonds to the top and put back into the oven until brown.

Homemade Ice Cream
(Tastes like snow cream)
Large container Half & Half
Eagle Brand milk
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Add whole white milk to full line. Stir and freeze in ice cream freezer.

Homemade Pimento Cheese
Heat large block Velveeta cheese, 1/2 cup milk and 1 Tbsp. sugar in the microwave one minute. Stir, then heat  30 seconds and stir, repeating until creamy. Let it cool about 10 minutes before adding two cups of mayonnaise. Drain two jars pimentos, and add to mixture, along with three cups sharp cheddar cheese. Refrigerate. Will keep two weeks.

Share This Story!