Velala Langford

Velala Langford of Calhoun City uses Old Plantation sausage seasoning when making chicken and dressing, as her mother Dottie Parker, did, and has stayed with it. The seasoning makes the dressing hot, and her family likes it that way.

Her mother taught her to cook, and she recalls  her father, Stanley, helped Dottie cook every meal. She said they were both good cooks. With three brothers and three sisters, “we did some cooking!” Her mother might have 6-8 cakes when everybody was home for Christmas, and she is thankful for those memories.
She cooks lunch every Sunday for her family and doesn’t remember when she didn’t. She does it because she loves to cook and for her family to come and enjoy it. Daughters Shelly Moore and Rhonda Ray are not picky and enjoy everything she cooks.

Her family likes “home cooking” and among their favorites are baked pork loin, green beans (to which she adds a little sugar), chicken spaghetti (granddaughter Kayla’s favorite); peas, butterbeans, and cabbage, a favorite of grandson Jordan, who also likes broccoli. They loves her cubed potatoes which have been drizzled with oil, sprinkled with Tony Chachere’s and baked. She might also have corn on the cob, cream style corn, or fried okra. She says she just tries to mix it up on Sunday. Sons-in-law Mike?Ray and Mike Moore are good at grilling, she says, so sometimes they grill for Sunday lunch.

Her coconut pie recipe has been in the family for years, and is husband, Calvin’s, favorite. The recipe can also be used to make chocolate pie, which is Jordan’s favorite. Mike and Mike “simply love” the lemon pie.
Her favorite food is fried chicken, but she bakes now more than she used to and always cooks with olive oil, and she also loves tacos. Velala is not known to follow recipes exactly, but has stayed with the dressing and pie recipes, and granddaughter Kayla is also becoming known for the same thing as far as not following a recipe.

“I have been blessed to have lived this long, still take care of myself and cook for my family– ‘blessed beyond measure,’” said Velala.

Coconut or Chocolate Pie
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups milk
2 heaping Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
4 egg yolks (discard whites)
1 can coconut or two cups
1 small Cool Whip
1 frozen pie crust.
Mix flour and sugar. Beat eggs. Add milk and eggs to flour mixture. Mix well and add vanilla. Cook in microwave, checking every few minutes to stir until it reaches consistency of custard pie. Add coconut and stir. Place in already baked pie shell. Let cool and top with Cool Whip. Chill in refrigerator. Double for two pies.
(For chocolate pie, add 4 Tbsps. of cocoa to dry ingredients. Follow same recipe leaving off coconut.)

Chicken and Dressing
5 chicken breasts
6 eggs
Cornbread (2 regular size black skillets)
1 onion, chopped
4-5 heaping Tbsp. Old Plantation sausage seasoning
Boil chicken breasts. Set aside. Save broth to add to mixture. Boil eggs and peel. Cook cornbread. Chop cornbread, add chopped eggs, chopped onion. Mix all together. Add broth from chicken, along with three or four cans chicken broth until mixture is about consistency of cornbread, but a little soupier. Then add seasoning. Stir well. Taste as you add it to make dressing as hot as you want. Place chicken in baking dish and pour dressing over chicken. Bake at 350° until done.

Quick Lemon Pie
1 graham cracker pie crust
1 can Eagle Brand milk (I use cheaper brand)
1-8 oz. Cool Whip
1/2 cup lemon juice
Empty condensed milk in bowl. Add lemon juice. Stir until it thickens. Add Cool Whip. Mix well. Pour in pie crust and chill.

Baked Pork Loin
1 medium pork loin
Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
Garlic salt
Pepper
2 medium onions
1 large bell pepper
Place loin in foil. Pour Worcestershire sauce over meat. Sprinkle with garlic salt, pepper and creole seasoning. Slice onions and bell peppers. Place on top of meat. Sprinkle with a little more creole. Wrap in foil. (I?double my foil.)?Place in baking dish and put in refrigerator overnight. (Sometimes I cook immediately.) Bake in oven on 350° for 3-4 hours.

Chicken Spaghetti
2 regular size pkgs. spaghetti, cooked as directed
3 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can original Rotel
5 chicken breasts, boiled and pulled apart
1/2 box Velveeta cheese, cut in cubes
1/2 cup water
Set crockpot on high. Place about 2/3 of spaghetti in crockpot with 1/2 cup water. Cream the cream of chicken soup with about 2/3 cup water and add to spaghetti and stir. Drain Rotel and add to mixture. Mix well. When hot, add cubed cheese. Stir until melted.?If you need to add more water, you can. (Sometimes I add more chicken soup.)?As mixture gets hot, stir. I cook mine about 30 minutes after it gets hot.