Allie Kendall

Mrs. Mississippi Allie Kendall had to submit a favorite recipe on her application for the upcoming Mrs. America Pageant.
Living in Vardaman, she immediately knew that it would be for Sweet Potato Pie.
Besides sweet potato pie and a plain baked sweet potato, she is looking forward to the tasting plate at the annual Sweet Potato Festival.
She remembers learning to make a peach cobbler in Jeanne Cole’s Family Dynamics class at Bruce High School, and how that class “lit a fire” for her interest in cooking.

“We learned to cook simple,” she said. The “cobbler” was just peaches, cake mix and butter. She also learned to make upside down pizza in the class.
“My recipes are A-B-C. With children, you need something fast.” Favorites of children Landon, 8; Mallie Kate, 4; and Kane, 3, are the chocolate gravy and potato soup.
Her husband, Kyle, likes “Plain Jane” and “no casseroles”, she said.
“The kids planted cucumbers, so my mother-in-law (Kim Kendall) is helping them make pickles,” she said. They have also planted Carolina Giant watermelons with their granddaddy, Wayne Gregory.

Allie is starting a family generation cookbook, a project she is excited about.
Her greatest source for recipes is her mother-in-law, and she also gets some from her sister, Amber Crawford, of Houston.
She likes everything she eats to be “as spicy as possible” and she puts “pepper on everything I eat.”

“Tacos are my guilty pleasure,” said the Vardaman School nurse and former Bruce Sawmill Festival Queen.
The Mrs. America Pageant finals are August 25 in Las Vegas. Competition will be all week, with the top 15 named Saturday, she said.
Allie looks forward to meeting all of the contestants.
“It is inspiring,” she said, and “we all have a mutual love for helping others.”

Chocolate Gravy
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. Hershey’s cocoa powder
Mix ingredients well in medium size boiler. Cover with water. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat ‘til desired thickness. Remove from heat and spoon over biscuits.

Sweet Potato Pie
4 sweet potatoes (ideally from Vardaman)
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Eagle Brand evaporated milk
1 pinch salt
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 unbaked pie crust
Boil your sweet potatoes 40-50 minutes. Run cold water over potatoes to get skin to fall off easily or put potato in microwave for 8 minutes for faster results. With mixer on medium, mix all ingredients together with peeled sweet potatoes until smooth. Pour filling into unbaked pie crust. Bake at 350° for 50 minutes. Insert knife in center and if it comes out of the pie clean, then it is done. Pie will puff up while cooking but sink down as it cools.

Cheesy Potato Soup

5-6 large potatoes
peeled, washed and diced
Place in large boiler and cover with water. Add salt and pepper to taste, and one tsp. of minced onion. Boil ‘til potatoes are tender. Reduce heat. Add one cup whole milk, one can condensed broccoli/cheese soup, one small block Velveeta cheese. Simmer ‘til cheese is melted (stirring continuously to prevent sticking.) Optional: add boiled and shredded chicken.

Breakfast Bake
(Betty Crocker Impossibly Easy Breakfast Bake-Crowd Size)
2-12 oz. pkgs. pork sausage
1 medium bell pepper, chopped (one cup)
1 medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
3 cups drozen hash brown potatoes
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup original Bisquick mix
2 cups milk
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 eggs
Heat oven to 400°. Grease 9×13 baking dish. Cook sausage, bell pepper and onion in skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sausage is no longer pink.
Drain. Stir together sausage mixture, potatoes and 1 1/2 cups of cheese in baking dish. Stir Bisquick mix, milk, pepper and eggs until blended. Pour into dish. Bake uncovered 40-45 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.
Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake 1-2 minutes longer or just until cheese melts. Cool five minutes before serving.