Janie York

Janie York of Slate Springs and her son, Daniel, of Bruce, found the recipes for the chocolate lava cake and Chicken Tater Tot Casserole on the internet. They do a lot of recipe searching there. They are always trying something new and usually they like what they try.
“It is good and easy,” she said about the cake, and the first time she made it, “it was all gone.” She likes to serve it with ice cream.
Her mother had a homemade scratch chocolate cake recipe and “they love it” she said. That is something she started making about age nine or 10.
She learned to make boiled chocolate oatmeal cookies from her mother also, saying that was probably the first thing she learned to cook. And her brother will only eat the ones that she makes.

A favorite of her husband, Charles, is honeybun cake. “Everybody in Slate Springs likes that honeybun cake,” said Janie. It is a recipe that ran in The Journal cooking feature, possibly of Lillie Gillespie’s.
At work in the CCES cafeteria, the staff members share a lot of recipes, but she is the one who actually makes most of them.
The Yorks are gardeners. They have been making pickles, and are about to work on their green beans. They also have 45 tomato plants, and they give a lot of tomatoes away.

They have another son, Andy, who lives in Eupora, and six grandchildren, all who like a different kind of pickle.
“I just like to cook, especially when I know the kids and grandkids are coming. I always cook too much.”
Three different men’s teams cook for Brotherhood at Bethany Baptist Church. When it is Charles’ turn to cook, pastor Anthony Stephen’s son, Sam, 8, always looks for Mrs. Janie’s chocolate gravy.

Growing up in Alabama, she attended a summer 4-H program at which she learned a lot about cooking also. “It stuck with me,” she said.
“I have cookbooks all over the place,” she said, including the one from 4-H.

Crockpot Chocolate Lava Cake
1 box devil food cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 2/3 cups water
Spray crockpot. Mix all ingredients together. Pour in crockpot.
1 pkg. instant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups milk
Mix. Spoon into cake mix. Add two cups chocolate chips to top. Just sprinkle on top. Cook on high for 3 hours.

Green Tomato Casserole
6 medium green tomatoes, sliced in rounds
Salt and pepper
1 cup Ritz cracker crumbs, divided
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
6 Tbsp. butter, divided
Layer half tomatoes in greased shallow dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add half cup cracker crumbs and half cup cheese. Dot with 3 Tbsp. butter. Repeat until gone. Bake, covered, at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 minutes or until brown.

Chicken Tater Tot Casserole
16 oz. sour cream
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
3 eggs beaten
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 oz. sour cream onion powder mix
Salt and pepper
Mix all together in a bowl.
1 whole chicken–boil, debone and chop
8 pieces cooked bacon, chopped
1 pkg. frozen tater tots
Mix everything together in one bowl.
Spray casserole dish. Layer bottom with cheese. Pour mixture on top, then add bacon and cheese on top. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes.