Daphne Warren

“With the restaurant (Nancy’s) and Nancy Warren as a mother-in-law, I don’t have to cook!” said Daphne Warren of Calhoun City.
Most of the time, no matter who does the cooking, the Warrens do their eating at Nancy’s house or the restaurant. Nancy’s has been open for over 25 years, and right now Daphne is working there on Thursday, Friday and Saturdays.
Daphne and Lee’s family members are children Joshua, Jayme, Jayden, twins Jagger and Jaylee Grace, and granddaughter Westlyn, five months.
She collects cookbooks and loves to look at recipes on Pinterest. The talarena recipe “makes a big pot and everybody loves it,” and the black-eyed pea casserole is “so good and the boys like it too.”

A combination of lemon pepper, garlic pepper salt and Toney’s is her favorite seasoning. The Warren family used to do more camping than they do now and the Camp Chicken was something she prepared ahead of time for husband Lee to grill. She also uses the seasoning in making hamburgers.
Cake decorating is something she enjoys. Nancy and Daphne’s sister-in-law took a cake decorating class many years ago, but she is the one who makes cakes now.

She helped her sister-in-law make son Joshua’s first birthday cake 24 years ago and “it snowballed from there.” Her kids like when she bakes because they either get extra cupcakes or pieces of cake they can decorate themselves. She most regularly makes red velvet with cream cheese icing, strawberry or pink lemonade cupcakes.
For family gatherings, she brings the cakes, and sometimes homemade ice cream to go along with it. She recently made peach, and cantaloupe, and she wants to make watermelon. Her family’s favorite is vanilla.

At nine years old Daphne could make cornbread, but doesn’t now because she says hers doesn’t taste like Nancy’s. They love vegetables and Nancy’s husband James is their gardener.
She is a member of Tri-Community Homemaker Club and most times for meetings, they will have a potluck meal, which is something she really likes.
While sushi is her favorite food, and she does like a challenge, she is not up for making the time-consuming dish. She has started making ganache, though, and she works with a lot of fondant.

Black-Eyed Pea Casserole
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
1 1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder
3/4 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
2-15 oz. cans black-eyed peas, drained
1-10 oz. can mild tomatoes with green chiles, drained
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
2-6 oz. pkgs. cornbread mix
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
Preheat oven to 375°. In 10” cast iron skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion and cook approximately 10 minutes.
Add bell pepper and jalapeno. Continue to cook approximately 10 minutes, or until peppers are tender. Remove from skillet. Set aside. To same skillet add ground beef, cumin, garlic powder, chili powder and black pepper. Cook until beef is crumbled and browned. Drain.
Add onion mixture to beef mixture, stirring to combine. Add black-eyed peas and tomatoes with green chiles. Stir to combine. Sprinkle cheese over beef mixture. In medium bowl, combine cornbread mix and buttermilk.
Stir to combine. Sprinkle cheese over beef mixture. In medium bowl, combine cornbread mix and buttermilk. Spoon over cheese layer. Bake approximately 45 minutes, or until cornbread is golden brown. Remove and serve immediately.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes
9 oz. frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed (from 12 oz. can, reserve 3 oz. for icing)
1 box white cake mix
3 egg whites
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
In stand mixer, mix all ingredients on medium for two minutes. Pour into cupcake liners and bake at 350° for 22-25 minutes. Ice with pink lemonade icing when completely cooled. (For less tart cupcakes, use 5 oz. pink lemonade concentrate and 4 oz. water.)
Icing:
5 cups confectioners sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup Crisco
3 oz. pink lemonade concentrate
1 drop red food color, optional
Mix butter and Crisco until mixed well. Add sugar, one cup at a time. Mixture will be very dry. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl. Slowly add the pink lemonade concentrate while beating on medium speed until fluffy.

Camp Chicken
Season chicken leg quarters with lemon, pepper, garlic pepper salt and Toney’s seasoning. Place in ziploc bag 2-3 days ahead of using. Cook on grill.

Chicken Dip
10 oz. can chicken, drained
1 block cream cheese
1 pkg. dry Ranch mix
Mix ingredients and serve with wheat crackers.

Talarena
2-16-slice pkgs. cheese
2 lbs. ground beef
1 large onion
1 bell pepper
1 small jar mushrooms, drained
3 Tbsp. chili powder
1-12 oz. pkg. egg noodles
1 can Rotel tomatoes
2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
2 small cans tomato sauce
Brown meat with onion, bell pepper and chili powder. Drain. Add Rotel and tomato sauce. Heat corn and mushrooms in separate pan. Cook noodles until tender.
Layer half meat mixture in Dutch oven, half the noodles, half the corn mixture, then one package cheese. Repeat layers. Bake covered one hour at 350°.

Apple Crescent Roll Dessert
1 stick butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 can Sprite
1 large apple
1 can crescent rolls
Melt butter. Add sugar and set aside. Cup apple into eight slices.
Roll one slice of apple in each crescent triangle. Place rolls in casserole dish and cover with butter mixture. Pour Sprite over top. Bake at 350° until brown. (About 45 minutes.)