Kellie Ruth Logan

“I was trying to make some cute cookies for the Sawmill Festival Queen tea. Since I’m not much of a baker, I knew I needed to stick with something easy,” said Kellie Logan of Bruce. So she took a roll of slice and bake sugar cookie dough, colored sugar and a container of whipped frosting. After baking and cooling the cookies, she put the frosting between two of them, like a sandwich. “Everyone thought they were the cutest cookies. Upon first sight club member Cassie Bryant exclaimed ‘Whoopee Pies!’ I had no idea when I thought up my wonderful idea that it even had a name. She went on and on about how I went over the top with my cookies. If you need a quick and easy dessert to share, this is it. And Cassie will think you are a baking queen.”

Though Kellie’s not much of a sweet eater, cheesecake, tiramisu  and creme brulee are desserts she likes, and she would like to make creme brulee. She does likes a meatloaf recipe she found on-line that uses brown sugar. Husband Eddie’s favorite sweet is chocolate boiled cookies, which she does make occasionally. In her opinion, “anything with cream cheese and sour cream is good,” and right now her favorite food is a baked potato with cheese, and sour cream, of course.

In the summer they enjoy fresh vegetables, with an abundance of squash, peas, tomatoes and corn, along with fresh eggs. Kellie loves the garden vegetables and says she could be a vegetarian. Squash pie and squash dressing are two of her favorite dishes. She freezes all the vegetables except the tomatoes, which she cans. Last year she began putting her peas in the freezer right after shelling. And although they like corn, she hasn’t found a shortcut for putting it up. They also eat a lot of deer, and most everything she cooks, with the exception of fish, is deer–ground meat, tenderloin, minute steak, summer sausage. Worcestershire or seasoned salt are her usual seasonings.?She likes fried deer tenderloin, served with biscuits, which she learned to make from her dad, Tony.

She has mostly been cooking meals since she married, and if she gets stuck, she usually calls her grandmother, Etoyle Cain, or Eddie’s grandmother, Ann Cofer. She has some cookbooks, likes to search allrecipes.com on the internet, and gets recipes from her mother, Annette, and their grandmothers. The bacon-cheese strata is a Dave Ramsey e-meal recipe that she bakes for either breakfast or dinner. Kellie says she is not one to follow a recipe straight by the book, and she uses her measuring cup as a scoop for flour or meal, not to measure.

Sweet & Easy Meatloaf
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup ketchup
1 ½ lb. ground deer meat
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
¾ cup milk
2 eggs
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
¼-½ onion (chopped)
¾ cup crushed crackers (oats may also be used)
Press brown sugar in bottom of 8×8 baking dish. Spread ketchup on top of brown sugar, set aside. In a mixing bowl, mix remaining ingredients and spread on top of ketchup. Bake at 350° for one hour.

Bacon & Cheese Strata
8 slices white bread
6-8 slices of bacon (cooked and crumbled)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 quart jar canned tomatoes (or 14.oz can diced tomatoes) drained
(Separate mixture – 3 eggs, 1½ cup milk, pepper, hot sauce)
Layer ingredients in sprayed 2-quart baking dish as follows:
4 slices bread, ½ of crumbled bacon, ½ cup cheese, ½ of the tomatoes
Repeat a second layer using remaining ingredients. Combine eggs, dash of pepper, and dash of hot sauce. Pour over casserole. Bake uncovered at 375° for 45 minutes.

Yummy Potatoes
Place cubed sweet potatoes and white potatoes in a baking dish. Sprinkle heavily with cumin and curry powder. Pour one cup chicken broth over the top. Add fresh garlic (1 or 2 cloves) or garlic powder. Stir ingredients together. Add butter to the top. Cover with foil and bake on 350° until potatoes are done but not mushy.

Squash Pie
1 (10”) unbaked pie crust
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 cups diced squash
1/4 cup diced onion
4 eggs
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
Mix all ingredients together and pour into pie crust. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until set.

Whoopee Pies
One roll Pillsbury slice and bake sugar cookies
One container Betty Crocker Whipped Creamy White frosting
Optional – white (or any color of choice) sugar
Slice cookies and place on cookie sheet. Sprinkle white or colored sugar on tops of cookies. Bake according to package directions. Allow cookies to cool. Spread frosting on bottom side of one cookie. Press the bottom side of another cookie to the frosted cookie (like a sandwich). Repeat with remaining cookies.

Stuffed Bell Peppers
6 peppers (with top and seeds removed)
2 cups cooked rice
1 quart jar canned tomatoes
½ onion
Salt and pepper to taste
½ tsp. garlic powder
About one lb. ground deer meat
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. olive oil
½ cup ketchup
Shredded cheese
Place peppers in large pot of water and boil for two minutes. Drain peppers and set aside. Sauté onion in butter and olive oil until tender. Stir in meat and cook until browned. Add remaining ingredients and simmer 10 minutes. Spoon mixture into peppers. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle cheese on top, continue cooking until cheese is melted.