Wendy Ward

“I do not eat cornbread, peas or butterbeans. I’m not a very good Southerner,” said Wendy Ward of Randolph, although she does cook them.
Wendy attends Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church and played a big role in their recent Chickenbone Cookbook project. About some of her submitted recipes, she describes the fluffy white frosting as so simple and a whole lot like seven-minute icing. “It is a good one,” she said.
When she makes the fudge, she has to make several batches at a time to have enough for everyone, and her grandchildren “beg” for the Shepherd Pie.

She loves the creamed corn casserole, “one vegetable I do like”, but says she doesn’t need to eat it because she is diabetic. Venison was a favorite of her dad’s, so that’s how the crockpot recipe came about.
Her father, “a wonderful cook,” taught her to cook beginning at age 11. They lived in California at the time and moved to Mississippi when she was 16.
She used to send for tomato aspic and cocktail sauce when she got here because she couldn’t get it, saying that salt and pepper were about the only things people used to season their food.
In California they ate things such as smoked tongue, and liver and onions, and Shepherd Pie. “We didn’t do casseroles or make breads.” They always cooked a meat, potato, vegetable and a bread. “And to me, pork chops have to have applesauce.”

Her mother-in-law, Della Finley Ward, taught her a lot about cooking, and she recalls an angel food cake that she made with creamed cheese and pineapple.
Last year was a good garden year, she said, especially for tomatoes. She likes to make salsa so they grow tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers, along with peas.
Rib-eye steak is her favorite food, and cherry salad.
Wendy enjoys decorating cakes, which she has done for 40 years. Besides cooking and decorating cakes, she paints, crochets, sews, knits, scrapbooks and plays a little piano. She got the artistic love from her father, which also passed to her brothers, one who does woodworking and the other is an artist.

A friend calls her “Jack” as in “Jack of all trades” because she does so many things. She loves trying something new and is not afraid to try anything.
She’s been at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church for over a year, and when she cooks for a meal there she might take Shepherd Pie,  salted caramel, espresso or turtle cupcakes, saying the turtles are “decadent” or a 3-layer coconut cake. She learned to make the coconut cake from one of her favorite cookbooks, her Bell’s.
She and Carol Hardin share a lot of recipes, but her take is, “A recipe is a starting point, you don’t have to do what’s in there.”
She likes spice, but not too much heat, and, “If you have cheese, Ro-tel and cream of chicken soup, you can make anything.”

Creamed Corn Casserole
2-16 oz. pkg. frozen whole kernel corn
2 cups chopped red and/or green sweet pepper (2 large)
1 cup chopped onion (1 large)
1 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1-10.7 oz. cream of celery soup
1-8 oz. tub cream cheese with chives and onions
1/4 cup milk
Coat a 2-qt. casserole with cooking spray. Set aside. Place corn in colander. Run it under cool water to thaw. Drain and set aside. In large saucepan, cook sweet pepper and onion in hot butter until tender. Stir in corn and black pepper. In medium bowl, whisk together soup, cream cheese spread and milk. Stir soup mixture into corn mixture. Transfer to prepared casserole. Bake, uncovered, for 50-55 minutes or until casserole is heated through, stirring once.
Slow cooker directions: prepare as above, except to not thaw corn and omit butter. In 3 1/2-4 qt. slow cooker, combine frozen corn, sweet pepper, onion and black pepper. In medium bowl whisk together soup, cream cheese spread and milk. Pour over corn mixture in cooker. Cover and cook on low heat setting 8-10 hours or high heat 4-5 hours. Stir before serving.

Fluffy White Frosting
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
Dash salt
2 eggs, separated (whites only )
1 tsp. vanilla
Combine sugar, water, cream of tartar, and dash salt in saucepan. Bring to boiling, stirring ‘til sugar dissolves. Very slowly add sugar syrup to unbeaten egg whites in mixing bowl, beating constantly with electric mixer ‘til stiff peaks form, about seven minutes. Beat in vanilla. Frost tops and sides of two 8 or 9” layers or one 10” tube cake.

Shepherd Pie
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp. salt
Dash pepper
1-1 lb. can drained green beans, cut
5 medium potatoes, cooked
1/2 cup warm milk
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup shredded processed American cheese
1-10 oz. can condensed tomato or cream of mushroom soup
Preheat oven to 350°.
In large skillet, cook meat and onion ‘til meat is lightly browned and onion is tender. Add salt and pepper. Add drained beans and soup. Pour into greased 1 1/2 qt. casserole dish. Mash potatoes while hot. Add milk and egg. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon in mounds over casserole. Sprinkle potatoes with cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Rich Chocolate Fudge
4 cups sugar
1-13 oz. can evaporated milk, undiluted
1 cup butter or margarine
1-12 oz. pkg. semisweet chocolate pieces
1-7 oz. jar marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped nuts
1 tsp. vanilla
Butter 9” square or 9×13” baking dish. Set aside. Combine sugar, milk and butter in 4 qt. microproof bowl. Place in microwave. Cook on high for 10 minutes. Stir, then cook on high 10 more minutes. Stir in chocolate and marshmallow creme. Blend well. Stir in nuts and vanilla. Pour into prepared dish. Cool before cutting into squares. Makes 48 pieces.

Crockpot Venison Steaks & Gravy
1-2 bottles Italian salad dressing (according to number of steaks)
Venison steaks
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 small cans mushroom slices or pieces
1/2-1 cup oil
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Season-All
Salt and pepper
Marinate steaks in Italian dressing overnight in refrigerator. Add seasonings to flour. Dredge steaks. Heat oil in large skillet. Saute onions and and mushrooms. Remove them to paper towels to drain. Brown steaks in same oil. (Use enough oil to brown steaks without burning. Add as necessary.) Place steaks, onions and mushrooms in crockpot in layers. Add 2-4 Tbsp. seasoned four to drippings. Stir until all flour is moistened and as brown as you like your gravy. Add soup, mixing well. Pour over layers in crockpot. Simmer on low 101-12 hours.