Kim Gregory

“There is something special about family recipes,” said Kim Parker Gregory of Bruce.
Grandma (Lizzie) Parker’s meatball vegetable soup is one of those which Kim and her dad, Wayne Parker, still make.
Million Dollar pie was shared with her by her mom, Barbara, and the homemade pimento cheese recipe is from her cousin, Gigi Long.
“I usually double that recipe so I can share!” said Kim.

“Grandma made the best fried apple pies. She tended to cook everything on high, and her fried okra was almost black, but it was so good,” she said.
Kim grew up in Chicago, and tuna noodle casserole was something she “made tons of,” as a teenager.
“Pizza and hot dogs are different there than here,” she said, and that is something she misses, along with cheese curds from Wisconsin which she sometimes has a friend send to her.
“Chicago style pizza is incredible and the hot dogs have a different taste,” she said.

Kim came to Mississippi to attend Ole Miss, and after she got here, learned the most about cooking from her aunt, Lounez Long.
“I feel like I am a country cook–everyday, normal food, nothing fancy,” she said. She prefers to get her recipes from those who make the dishes she has eaten because she knows she will like them.
She does post a lot of food pics and recipes on facebook and loves to look at people’s recipes posted there.
“Long recipes are intimidating,” and she doesn’t care for those that are “labor intensive. Cooking shouldn’t be work. It should be enjoyable. I love to cook for family and it gives me joy.”

Chicken Roll and Orange Pineapple Coconut Cake are family favorites she doesn’t need to show up without.
She makes the chicken roll all the time, and (mother-in-law) Jane’s (Gregory) family expects it at Christmas.
“You can make a meal out of it. Every time I take it, people always want the recipe,” she said.
The recipe is from an old Bruce Fine Arts Club cookbook that was submitted by Paula Jeffery.

Mildred Bagwell brought an Orange Pineapple Coconut Cake to a church event at Mt. Moriah and that’s where Kim got that recipe.
“The cake is not the same if you substitute the Mello Yello,” said Kim, “ and the longer it sits, the better it is.”
She cooks a lot when it’s cold, but says husband Clay is not a soup eater. “He likes meat and veggies.” Kim likes comfort food like mashed potatoes, and her all-time favorite “comfort food meal” would be her dad’s meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn.
“I would rather have potatoes or pasta than dessert,” she said.

“I don’t like sweet potatoes,” she said, and one of her biggest disappointments was at a restaurant where she took a bite of what she thought was pumpkin pie, only to find out it was sweet potato.
She doesn’t like deer meat either, which has always been plentiful in her family.
She and a friend from Illinois had a discussion before Thanksgiving about the difference between the ingredients for stuffing and dressing. Kim would be willing to taste it, “but why would I make stuffing when I can have dressing?”

“Wilma Bailey made the most perfect yeast rolls,” said Kim, “I tried to make them once and it was the biggest glob of mess, but I’m gonna try it again.”
And she wants to learn to make homemade biscuits. “I need to get with Aunt Sue (Langford) to learn to make them.”

Orange Pineapple Coconut Cake
1 box Orange Supreme cake mix
3 large eggs
1 cup oil
1 pkg. coconut cream pie filling
1 can Mello Yello
1 stick butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
2-8 oz. cans crushed pineapple, partially drained
1 cup coconut
2 Tbsp. flour
Mix cake mix, pie filling, oil, eggs and Mello Yello. Bake in three layers at 350° for 25-30 minutes. Remove to wire rack and cool. Mix crushed pineapple, sugar, flour and margarine. Boil over medium heat and cook until thickened. Remove from heat and add coconut. Spread between layers and on top of cake.

Chicken Roll

4 cups cooked, chopped chicken or turkey
8 oz. cream cheese
4 Tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. salt
4 cans crescent rolls
6 Tbsp. melted oleo
1 Tbsp. minced onion
1/2 tsp. pepper
Blend softened cheese, oleo, milk, onion, salt and pepper. Mix in chicken. Mix thoroughly and chill well. Open and separate rolls. Lay flat and put 1 Tbsp. of chicken mixture on wide end of roll. Roll toward pointed end. Twist ends and place with pointed end down on greased cookie sheet. Brush with melted oleo. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.

Grandma Parker’s Meatball Vegetable Soup
1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup rice
2 cans tomato sauce
2 cans Veg-All
2 cans tomato soup
1 can diced tomatoes
Mix ground beef, chopped onion, 1/2 cup rice and 1 can tomato sauce. Roll into small balls and brown in iron skillet. Set aside. Mix remaining ingredients and add cooked meatballs. Cook on medium heat until thoroughly heated. Serve with cornbread muffins.

Syble’s Spiced Tea

(Syble Brasher from Janet Jankinson Facebook)
3 oranges
3 lemons
3 cloves
3 sticks cinnamon
1 cup sugar
Squeeze juice from oranges and lemons, and add all ingredients to one cup water. Boil for 10 minutes. Drain, if you don’t want pulp. Begin making tea as you usually would without adding extra water. Put in cooked mixture, then add water to your taste.

Gigi’s Homemade Pimento Cheese

1 lb. Velveeta cheese
1-8 oz. jar diced pimento, undrained
1 egg
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. vinegar
1/3 cup milk
1 cup mayonnaise
Cube cheese and melt on low, adding pimento, egg, sugar, vinegar and milk. Cook on low for 15 minutes, stirring often to avoid scorching. Remove from heat and add mayonnaise. Chill in refrigerator overnight for best results.

Million Dollar Pie

1 can Eagle Brand milk
1-8 oz. Cool Whip
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 large can crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup chopped walnuts
Crust:
1 1/4 cups crushed graham crackers
1/3 cup melted butter
3 Tbsp. sugar
Mix ingredients for crust and place in bottom of a casserole dish, pressing mixture together and all around the pan. Place in freezer for 15-20 minutes. Mix remaining ingredients and spread on crust. Allow to chill 45 minutes before serving.