Katelyn Bailey

“If you don’t have the right words to say, just feed them,” is what Katelyn Bailey’s grandmother always told her, no matter what the situation.
The youngest of six children, she “grew up in the kitchen with Grammi” at Martha’s Market, her soup and sandwich restaurant in Grenada that was open weekdays.
She was about three when she starting tagging along behind her grandmother, developing her love of cooking. And on the weekends, she would teach Katelyn and her cousins to cook. She treasures those memories of her Grammi.

Katelyn recalls just standing over caramel icing, continuously stirring with one hand and then the other. Her grandmother let her ice cakes at an early age, and she loved it when she let her make pasta salad all by herself. She can make the caramel icing, and wishes she had learned to make her fried chicken.
“I just know from my heart” how to make the things learned from her grandmother, who never measured, so she doesn’t either.
“The best thing about cooking is being able to make your own spin, that’s the art of cooking,” she said.

Katelyn is MSU Extension Office Associate and among her duties are the “Kids in the Kitchen” cooking class which meets once a month at the multi-purpose building.
Her favorite food is garden vegetables. She loves collard greens cooked with mustards, to which she adds salt, sugar, butter and pepper sauce, and of course, served with cornbread.
She eats cabbage now, which she learned to cook from her mother-in-law, Tyanne Bailey.
Another favorite is Greek Chicken Lemon soup, “comfort food in the winter”, that was served at the Market.

She likes Piggy Salad at G’s Place in Vardaman, and Lemon Delight from Jeffery’s in Bruce.
“I like to cook and (husband) Britt likes to eat,” she said. Son Karson’s favorites are spaghetti and pasta, and son, Britton “eats everything” including sweet potatoes.
She also loves sweet potatoes and first made the sweet potato casserole at Easter. The cupcake cake was “a huge hit” at Derma Church and it has become their traditional family birthday cake.
Another holiday tradition that has developed for her family is for each to fix a “Market” food when they get together for Christmas to honor their Grammi.
“I have lots of wonderful women in my life teaching me to cook and I feel like that is God blessing me,” she said.

Grammi’s Chicken Salad

6 to 8 chicken breasts, cooked and deboned (I like to use boneless breasts)
4 to 5 celery stalks
1 small onion
Mayo
2-3 spoonful of sweet pickle relish
1 Tbsp. Mrs. Dash
2 tsp. salt
Drain 2 large spoonfuls of pickle relish and set to the side. While using a food processor, chop chicken and put in large mixing bowl. Chop celery and onion very fine. Add to bowl with chicken. Then add 1 large spoonful of mayo and start to stir. Add relish, Mrs. Dash, salt, rest of Mayo and stir until it’s all blended. May add more mayo if not desired consistency.

Grammi’s Chocolate Cupcake Cake

1 box of Swiss chocolate cake mix (4 eggs, 1/3 cup oil, 1 cup of cold milk)
Divide mix into 3 round cake pans and bake on 320° about 15 minutes
Icing:
3/4 – 16 oz. tub Cool Whip  (at room temp)
1 1/2 blocks (12 oz. total) cream cheese (at room temp)
3 cups powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
Beat cream cheese, vanilla and 1 cup powdered sugar until blended. Add Cool Whip and 2 cups powdered sugar.
NOTE: After cakes have cooled, once you are finished icing, place cake in fridge and then make your drizzle. Drizzle needs to be warm to stick to cake. Drizzle:
1/4 stick of butter
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1/4 cup milk
About 1 cup powdered sugar
Melt butter on stove top on low-med. heat. Add milk and cocoa powder. Whisk until blended. Add powdered sugar.

Bailey & Bailey Farms’ Sweet Potato Casserole

Skin, dice, and boil 6-8 sweet potatoes (depending on size) until they are tender. Drain and place into a bowl. Add ½ cup of packed brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. cinnamon, 1 Tbsp. of vanilla flavoring, and mash thoroughly. Place half mixture into a 9×13 casserole dish. Drizzle with maple syrup and add pecans. Place other half of mixture and drizzle maple syrup, add pecans and marshmallows. Bake in oven on 350° until marshmallows are golden on top.