Rhonda Huffman
Rhonda Turner Huffman of Bruce likes to cook when she’s in the mood, and she loves to try new stuff. “I wish I had Mom’s (last week’s cook Barbara Turner) talent! She can put a casserole together out of anything and it’s good, and she can cook anything,” said Rhonda, adding that her brother, Brent, is just like their mom, and can cook anything, too.
The skillet barbecues “are my kind of cooking–quick and easy,” and she says she loves them. She likes to do oven cooking, but will fry squash. Some things she says are just better when her mother cooks them, and normally that includes squash, but once last year her mom fried cucumbers instead and Rhonda thought it was squash. But it was very good, she said.
Rhonda also makes the cheese log that her grandmother, Alice Turner, used to make for every holiday, and now she does, saying it is a favorite of all the family members. Among the favorite foods of her and husband, Michael’s children–Joseph, Tyler, Wayne and Hope–are tater tot casserole, pizza and chicken strips. Breakfast food is her favorite and she likes to cook it for supper.
She has a “slew of cookbooks that would make you think I cook all the time.” But she enjoys her addiction to cookbooks and also likes having the internet handy for recipe searching when the cooking mood strikes her.
She also does the post for the weekly recipe board featured at T-N-T Supermarket.
Her family has a lot of get-togethers “just whenever” she said. “We’re a very close family” and they have a huge picnic table in the yard for those family dinners. They like to have outside meals when the weather is pretty. Brent likes to cook Boston butts, which is one of their favorites.
Skillet Barbecues
1 lb. ground beef
Medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup chili sauce
1 Tbsp. vinegar
1 tsp. prepared mustard
1 tsp. Worcestershire
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. celery salt
In a skillet, cook ground beef and onion until meat is brown and onion is tender. Drain thoroughly. Stir in ketchup, chili sauce, vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire, sugar and celery salt. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
Butter Broiled Chicken
6 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
1/4 tsp. seasoning salt
1/4 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
Dash of garlic powder
Dash of paprika
8-10 chicken legs or thighs
Preheat broiler. Combine butter, seasoning salt, oregano, garlic powder and paprika. Place chicken skin side down, on unheated rack of broiler pan. Brush lightly with butter mixture. Broil 5-6” from heat for 20 minutes, brushing occasionally with butter mixture. Turn. Broil for 10 minutes more or until chicken is tender, brushing occasionally.
Mamaw Turner’s Cheese Log
2-8 oz. cream cheese
1 lb. cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
1 cup chopped pecans
Mix all ingredients together and roll in chili powder. (I roll mine in pecans also.) Chill.
Pecan Butter Balls
1 cup butter softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped pecans
In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in vanilla. Gradually add flour. Blend well. Stir in nuts. Cover and chill until firm. Shape dough into 1” balls. Place on greased baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from sheet to wire rack to cool.
