Central West Virginia's Guide To Life

RECIPES FROM MOM

By Lisa Cooper Laughlin
(taught by Helen Cooper Burns)

Cooking isn't as easy as mom makes it look.
She never even uses a cookbook.
She hums as she sprinkles, measuring by hand.
I mumble as I spill ingredients I don't understand.
I ask her, how much do I put in?
She smiles and as she looks over her rolling pin.
Sprinkle, smidgen and dash, what do they mean?
I use a measuring cup to measure everything.
It's from the experience of cooking for years.
With a lot of love and a lot of tears.
I love how she hates to waste.
She reuses food that you can't wait to taste.
No need to waste it if it is still good.
So let's try it again with different food.

Try Mom’s Cornbread Salad
Start with 6 cups of leftover cornbread, crumbled, then dice the following in small pieces:
1 cup onions
1 cup green bell peppers
1 cup tomatoes
1 cup sweet pickles
1 cup left over bacon, crumbled or real bacon bits

You can layer the salad or stir in a bowl and let chill. You can add different color peppers to make more colorful and experiment with mushrooms, hot peppers, raw broccoli or cauliflower, olives or your favorite foods. It's very tasty and you don't need to light your stove! Good for lunch to go or a late night snack.

A great sauce to pour over the top:
Mix 1 cup salad dressing, 1cup sweet pickle juice, 2 teaspoons sugar.