Tillie Gullett
“It’s a good thing I learned to cook very young because when I married Wayne, I had a whole world of opportunities opened up to me–usually with large groups!” said Tillie Nolan Gullett of Vardaman.
“When he was pastor, it was deacon/wife fellowships, senior adult gatherings or church staff and families as guests in our home. When he became Director of Missions, we took on the pastor/wife fellowship every Christmas, meals for mission teams at the office and away, and we forever had guests in our home for overnight or up to a week at a time,” she said.
Large quantities and big numbers to cook for don’t bother her, and she has enjoyed doing her share cooking for groups.
After Hurricane Katrina, they cooked for a mission team of 52 at Bay St. Louis First Baptist Church. With their leftover breakfast biscuits, she learned to make bread pudding.
In more recent years they’ve had extended family gatherings and reunions in their home, and she loves having her Sunday School class over on occasion, saying they can easily seat 20 for eating.
Her mother, the late Vyrl Nolan, preferred to be out in the yard or garden, so, “I learned my way around the kitchen even before I took home economics from Bert Johnson at Bruce High School.”
She loves to make desserts–caramel cobbler topped with toasted pecans, chocolate cobbler; buttermilk, caramel or pecan pie, and apple or pear crunch.
She’s had the Party Chicken recipe a long time and “has used it more than anything serving guests” calling it one of her stand-bys.
The cranberry salad recipe is from the dining hall hostess at Blue Mountain and is one of her favorites around Thanksgiving and Christmas. She also makes the cheese log at Christmas.
She discovered the apple cake recipe while in Potts Camp in a cookbook a few years ago, and everyone likes it so she makes it a lot.
Nacho pie is her newest recipe she got from a friend while camping.
From the Gulletts’ earliest years after marriage, for bridal shower gifts, they give a recipe box that Wayne crafts in his woodworking shop, and she encloses some of her favorite, most “tried and proven” recipes. She always includes the cranberry salad, party chicken and apple cake recipes.
She has recipe books from everywhere, but says usually sticks to the old ones that she keeps in her own box.
She describes her cooking basically simple, and says they have been blessed with people sharing garden vegetables and fruit.
“We eat out of our freezer and fruit jars a lot,” as she does a lot of vegetable freezing and jelly-making.
She especially likes to put up pear halves for a quick salad. Wayne has enjoyed fishing since his retirement in 2006, so they eat a lot of fish and venison, and have begun baking the fish.
She likes Chinese and Mexican food, and says they are “easy-please” when it comes to eating.
They liked the food in Thailand when they spent a few days, but they tired of the curry in everything after two weeks in Bangladesh.
Party Chicken
4 chicken breasts, halved, skinned and deboned
1 jar dried beef, chopped in bottom of casserole dish
Wrap 1/2 strip of bacon around chicken and lay on dried beef. Mix 8 oz. sour cream and one can cream of mushroom soup and pour over the chicken. Refrigerate overnight and cook uncovered for 2-1/2 hours at 275°. (This may be prepared and frozen, but thaw completely before placing in oven.) Can be served over rice.
Cheese Logs
2-8 oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 small can ripe olives, chopped
1 small can mushrooms, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 jar dried beef chopped
2 Tbsp. Accent
Mix all ingredients well and refrigerate one hour. Divide into three equal parts and form three logs. Roll in finely chopped pecans. Chill. Serve on your favorite snack crackers.
Cranberry Salad
1 cup boiling water
1 small package strawberry Jello
1 can cranberry sauce (whole berries)
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
1/2 cup chopped pecans (lightly toasted)
1 cup apple (chopped)
Mix Jello, boiling water and cranberry sauce. Mix well and put in the fridge until it starts to set. Take out and add remaining ingredients. Pour into a salad mold or casserole dish and chill. Serve on lettuce.
Fresh Apple Cake
2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1 1/2 cups Wesson oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
3 cups chopped apples
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
Cream sugar, eggs and oil. Add flour, apples, nuts and vanilla. Mix well and bake in bundt pan or oblong cake pan for 45 minutes at 325-340°, depending on oven.
Use Apple Cake Icing to top:
3/4 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 cup confectioners sugar
Combine butter and brown sugar. Boil about two minutes. Add milk, boil one minute more. Cool to lukewarm. Add confectioners sugar. Beat until smooth and put on cake.
Nacho Pie
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1-8 oz. tomato sauce
2 Tbsp. taco seasoning
1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls
1 1/2 cups crushed Nacho tortilla chips, divided
8 oz. sour cream
1 cup shredded 4-cheese Mexican blend
In large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Drain and stir in tomato sauce and taco seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Simmer uncovered five minutes. Meanwhile, separate crescent dough into eight triangles. Place in a greased 9” pie pan with points toward center. Press onto the bottom and up the sides to form crust. Sprinkle one cup chips over crust. Top with meat mixture. Spread sour cream over meat. Sprinkle with cheese and remaining chips. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes. Let stand five minutes before cutting.
