Emily Cowsert Weeks

Emily Cowsert Weeks loves brown sugar and she adds a little bit to a lot of things she cooks.
Her apple dumpling recipe calls for brown sugar, and she also likes to put it in her green beans. But husband, Cody, likes the green beans better with vinegar, olive oil and plain sugar.
Emily takes sliced cabbage and sliced sweet potatoes and lays it on a cookie sheet, with a little olive or coconut oil on the pan, and drizzled on top of the vegetables, and sprinkles them with sea salt. And to the sweet potatoes, she sometimes sprinkles on a little brown sugar. She cooks this mix in the oven and flips it after 10 minutes.
She is a “taste as she goes” kind of cook, and she gets most all of her recipes from Pinterest. The Mississippi roast, which is a Pinterest recipe, is also favorite of Cody’s.

Emily and her clients at Something To Talk About also share a lot of recipes.
Her mother, Carol Clark Cowsert, made sure she and her sister knew how to cook. She enjoys cooking, but doesn’t really have the time that she would like. She does cook a lot on holidays and Carol usually wants her to make the pecan pies and sweet potato pies.
Growing up, they always had a freezer full of vegetables, so their mom would ask them to have the house cleaned, and have two vegetables and cornbread cooked for supper, and she would do the rest.
Emily loves “all food” and chess pie was one she mentioned. Her grandmother, the late Jean Cowsert, made the best chess pie. Carol tells Emily that her pies are close to Jean’s, especially the chess.

Her mamaw, the late Bertha Clark, “Could cook anything. She was a really good cook. With 10 kids, she had to be!”  Emily said she could call her and she would make her whatever she asked for. She wants to be able to make chicken and dumplings like her mamaw’s.
They have a Green Egg, and she enjoys grilling, especially for company. She likes to soak veggies like tomatoes, onions, bell pepper and mushrooms in Italian dressing with a little Tony Chachere’s before grilling them.
She keeps all kinds of spices on hand and she likes to experiment. Jakob, 16, and Kaylee, 12, also like to “cook and create–play around in the kitchen.”

Jakob is the sweet eater. He likes chess pie, sweet potato pie, and prefers Butterfinger Cake over a birthday cake. Cody likes the Butterfinger cake, too. The twins, Carter and C.J., will eat anything and are willing to try things, and all the kids like tacos.

Mississippi Roast
Chuck roast
Stick of butter
1 Au Jus dry gravy mix
1 dry Ranch mix
1 jar mild Pepperoncini peppers

Put all in crock pot. Cook on low eight hours. Serve over creamed potatoes with green beans. (Can either add a Coke and one-half cup brown sugar to green beans OR vinegar, sugar and olive oil.)

Apple Dumplings
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. apple pie spice
3 tsp. melted butter
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1 small Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced into 8 1/2” slices
1-8 oz. Pillsbury crescent rolls

Spray flat sheet pan. Preheat oven to 350°. Lay out crescent rolls. Spread mixture of brown sugar, apple pie spice on roll,  then add pecans. Next place apples in butter and put on rolls. Bake 10-12 minutes. Sprinkle a little apple pie spice on them when done. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Yummy!

Creamy Chicken Corn Chowder
2 medium sized potatoes, diced
1/2 rotisserie chicken pulled apart
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can cream style corn
1/2 small onion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 tsp. Italian seasoning blend
1 tsp. salt/pepper
2 tsp. butter
3 cans milk

In a pot over medium heat, add butter, diced onion, Italian seasoning and diced potatoes. Saute until tender (about five minutes). The potatoes will partially break down and create a starch that will help thicken chowder. While that cooks, pull apart and chop chicken. Add the cans of soup and corn. Mix well. Stir in milk and last tablespoon of butter, salt, pepper to taste. Let chowder cook on medium, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer five minutes. Ready!

Chicken Tortellini
(Ladonna Burt)
Rotisserie chicken, shredded
Angel pasta, cooked
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can English peas, drained
Cheese
Salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a casserole dish. Top with a little more cheese and bake.