Cook of the Week - Susan Bennett
Susan Scoggins Bennett is this week’s cook of the week. She is married to Jason Bennett. They will be married 18 years in July. Susan is an Instructional Coordinator f or Calhoun City Schools. She also serves on the Calhoun- Gordon County Library’s Board of Trustees. She was raised in Calhoun and has lived here all of her life. When she is not working, Susan enjoys reading, spending time with family and friends, and doing DIY projects with her husband.
Susan learned to cook from her mother and grandmother. She loved helping them in the kitchen for as far back as she can remember. Her mom was even featured as Cook of the Week when she was a little girl and she had to be a part of that! Both of them passed away during the early years of her marriage, and there is so much she didn’t have a chance to learn from them. Both of her sisters are great cooks, so Susan looks to them for cooking advice and new ideas.
Susan really likes to prepare simple, fairly easy dishes with basic ingredients. When she was growing up, they had several gardens on the property every summer. She loved helping her mother and grandmother pick and use those vegetables in their meals. They would also can and freeze the vegetables to have for the fall and winter months. She still enjoys cooking with fresh ingredients today. Her family also enjoys casserole dishes and desserts.
When asked if there was anything that she didn’t enjoy cooking, Susan replied, “Honestly, I’m not very good when it comes to cooking the meat for a meal. I usually leave that up to my husband or my sisters when we are having a big family meal. I am much more comfortable with side dishes and desserts. My husband really enjoys trying out new recipes for meat, so it balances out.”
Susan’s advice to someone who is not experienced with cooking or just starting out would be to find a good, basic cookbook to begin trying some recipes. They have cookbooks with recipes that have five ingredients or less, and other easy meals. Also, record some of your favorite Food Network shows and watch them over and over again to see how they prepare some meals you might be interested in trying. They provide lots of good recipes and cooking advice.
Easy Hot Onion Dip
This Susan’s is one favorites of to take as an appetizer to get- togethers! Ingredients: 3 packages of cream cheese- softened
1 small to medium onion-chopped
2 cups shredded parmesan cheese ½ cup mayonnaise Ritz crackers Directions: Mix all ingredients together. Transfer mixture to a baking dish and cook at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve with Ritz crackers.
Texas Potatoes
Ingredients: 1 large bag frozen hash brown potatoes ( shredded)
2 cans Cream Chicken soup
1 small carton of sour cream
1 small onion chopped, or 1 Tbsp. dried onion
1 cup of margarine ( melted)
2 cups crushed Ritz crackers
3 cups shredded cheese
Salt and pepper to taste Directions: Thaw potatoes in a large bowl. Combine potatoes, soup, sour cream, cheese, onion, ½ cup of melted margarine, salt and pepper. Place mixture in 9 x 13 casserole dish. Mix ½ cup melted margarine with the crushed Ritz crackers. Place crackers on top and bake at 325 degrees for one hour or until golden and bubbly.
Fruit Salad with
of
Pineapple Dressing
Ingredients: 1 can ( 15 ¼ oz.) unsweetened pineapple chunks, drained ( reserve the juice) ½ cup sugar 4 ¼ tsp. cornstarch ¼ cup lemon juice 1 can ( 11 oz.) mandarin oranges ( drained)
1 ¼ cups seedless white grapes
2 large sliced
1 avocado, peeled and cut into wedges ( optional) Directions: Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Combine pineapple juice, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice bananas, in heavy saucepan. Cook until thickened over low flame, stirring constantly. Let cool. Combine pineapple and remaining i ngredients- except avocado. Pour dressing over fruit; toss gently. Garnish with avocado wedges before serving, if desired.