Rose Chandler

Former Calhoun City Home Economics teacher Rose Chandler was always looking for recipes that her class could make in their time frame that would be a good serving size for them. The chicken casserole recipe she got from the late Jessie Phillips proved to be a good one. “It fit the class size and time, and we used it a good bit,” adding that she still makes it sometimes for church meals.

She taught home economics for 40 years and said Mrs. Bert Johnson, of Bruce, was her mentor, who helped her a lot. The last three years she taught she said she had a wonderful department–double oven, dishwasher, microwave, and there was a whole semester of cooking and housing.
She never thought home ec would not be taught in the schools. It was a shock, but she hopes and thinks it will come back.
Miss Rose never cooked growing up, saying that her mother, the late Ottie Blue Chandler, did all the cooking. Her mother had written ingredients for many things, but no instructions. She wishes she had the instructions for some of her mother’s cakes and her chocolate chip cookies. Rose grew up during the Depression, and lived in town, saying that everyone in town had a cow, garden and chickens.

In college at The W, she had some older friends in Home Economics and she thought their foods classes sounded interesting, so that’s what she decided to do. The home ec students lived in a ‘practice house’ for eight weeks, where they were divided in small groups, with each person being responsible for a part of the meals. She enjoyed that and said it was a wonderful experience.

She began to cook more after college–mostly casseroles, salads, desserts, and some poultry. “We learned to cook by measuring at The W,” she said. At first, she was scared to change up a recipe, but that changed later. She combined some recipes to get one for her asparagus supreme and lemon chess pie. The Lemon Chess pie is something she really likes and she thinks the corn meal is the secret to it.

Her sister, Mildred Carter’s, orange salad is something her family likes and she makes a lot for Thanksgiving because of the color. She likes to make a red salad and sweet potato casserole with pecan topping for her family Christmas, and deviled eggs at Easter.
The salad dressing is an old recipe that’s been around a long time, and she remembers Mary Mounger and Christine Hardin sharing it. It can be stored in the refrigerator 2-3 weeks.

For church lunches she is likely to fix sweet potato casserole, asparagus casserole, lemon ice box or pecan pie, cookies or brownies. She was a New Century Club member for over 50 years, and the hostesses usually served a salad, sandwich, and dessert. She said there was lots of recipe sharing among club members.
The low calorie fruit is a Weight Watchers recipe from years ago that is good with Cool Whip. She sometimes takes it for church breakfast and says there are lots of different ways to use it.

Chandler, 89, and her other “ladies of the 80’s” friends eat lunch at Nelson’s in Calhoun City every day and enjoy their social time. Her favorite food is Bluebell Vanilla Ice Cream, and she loves her flowers and flower gardening.

Chicken Casserole
(Jessie D. Phillips)
1 can boned chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 eggs, boiled and chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 Tbsp. onion, chopped
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Cracker crumbs
Mix all ingredients well and pour into buttered casserole dish. Cover with buttered cracker crumbs. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

Rotisserie Salad Dressing
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Wesson oil
1/4 cup catsup
1/2 tsp. mustard
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/4 cup onion, grated
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Juice of one lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Dash of Tabasco sauce
Mix mayonnaise, oil, ketchup, mustard, garlic, onion, Worcestershire, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and tabasco. Store in covered jar in refrigerator.

Lemon Chess Pie
4 whole eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup margarine, melted
1 1/2 Tbsp. corn meal
1/4 cup lemon juice
Pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla (optional)
1 unbaked pie shell
Beat eggs well and add sugar, margarine and corn meal, beating after each addition. Stir in lemon juice and salt. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake in pre-heated 325° oven until firm, about 30-35 minutes. (Knife inserted in center will come out clean when pie is done.)

Asparagus Supreme
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. flour
3/4 cup milk
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 1/2 cups asparagus, drained
1 Tbsp. chopped onion
2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
To make white sauce, put butter and flour in saucepan and stir until mixed. Gradually add milk, salt and pepper; heat. When thick and smooth, remove from heat. Put asparagus, onion and eggs in buttered casserole dish. Mix gently into asparagus mixture about half of cheese and all of white sauce. Add rest of cheese to top. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.

Orange Salad
(Mildred Carter)
1-3 oz. pkg. orange Jello
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup hot water
1 small can crushed pineapple (do not drain)
1 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp. vanilla
1 small can mandarin oranges, drained
Dissolve Jello and sugar in hot water. Let cool 5-10 minutes. Add pineapple and chill until partially set. Add sour cream and vanilla. Whip until fluffy. Fold in orange sections. Pour into individual salad molds.  Chill. Serves 8-10 depending on size of molds.

Low-Calorie Fruit
1 can pineapple tidbits in own juice, not drained
1 can lite sliced peaches, drained
1 apple, peeled and chopped
1 banana, sliced
1-3 oz. pkg. sugar-free strawberry Jello
Cool Whip
Mix fruit together. Sprinkle dry Jello  over fruit and stir to mix. Chill. Add Cool Whip to top when ready to serve.