Tania Nelson

Tania Nelson of Vardaman learned mostly on her own to cook, but as an adult she got a lot of help from Jeannie Winter. Growing up eating peas, butterbeans, tomatoes, and salt and pepper, Tania said Jeannie taught her to “throw a little garlic salt in everything!”
The chicken and dressing recipe she uses originated with Nancy Carol McNair who taught Jeannie, and Tania learned from her. She likes it because you can taste and adjust it. She doesn’t do a lot of measuring, she judges by consistency.
She cooked in high school all the time and the main things she made were teacakes, which she learned from her grandmother, and yeast rolls, made by the recipe on the yeast package.

Once her children got into sports, “we lived out of the concession stands,” she said. “I don’t have an excuse now,” saying that she just doesn’t cook as much as she used to. She used to make cathead biscuits but hasn’t made them in years.
Her favorite food is “a good steak”, and she likes sweet potatoes. She and husband, Damon, have grandchildren, all of which like chicken strips and corn on the cob, but a favorite of Rivers, 9, is potato salad.
She “fell in love with chocolate cobbler when Mrs. Doug (Easley) would bring it to the Christmas party at school. It’s always best with ice cream.” she said.

Daughter-in-law Ashley likes the baked beans and daughter Kelsey, the green beans.
Even though her bunch usually brings the desserts for their gatherings, she most times makes sweet potato pies. She has made caramel cake, but doesn’t feel like hers will ever measure up to Damon’s aunt’s, the late Louise Dismuke.
Even though Tania collects and looks for recipes all year for the Sweet Potato Cooking Contest, it has been a while since she has had an entry.

Baked Beans
3-28 oz. cans of Bush’s Baked Beans (I like Bold & Spicy)
2 bottles Jack Daniels BBQ sauce
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 lb. (or more if you like a lot) of browned hamburhger meat
Dash of garlic salt (1 1/2-2 tsp.)
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
Combine all ingredients saving bacon to sprinkle on top. You may not need all of the BBQ sauce–be your own judge. Bake at 350° until bubbling.

Smothered Green Beans
(Not your traditional green bean casserole)
5-15 oz. cans green beans, drained
1 lb. bacon
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Preheat oven to 350°. Pour drained green beans in ungreased 9×13 pan. In large skillet, cook bacon until almost done but not too crispy. Remove from skillet and drain on paper towel and chop. Sprinkle cooked bacon on top of green beans. Whisk together brown sugar, melted butter, soy sauce and garlic powder. Pour over green beans. Bake for 40 minutes.

Cheesy Ranch Potatoes
9 red potatoes
1/2 cup prepared Ranch dressing
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chives
2 Tbsp. butter
Preheat oven to 400°. Boil potatoes with butter for 10 minutes. Drain. Add dressing, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper–one ingredient at a time, gently stirring after each. Transfer to a 9×13 baking dish. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with cheese, and gently stir. Top with chives and serve.

Easy Chocolate Cobbler
4 Tbsp. butter melted
1 cup self-rising flour
3/4 cup white sugar
3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 1/4 cups boiling water
Grease an 8×8” baking pan. Pour butter in bottom of baking pan. Mix in medium bowl flour, 3/4 cup of sugar and 3 Tbsp. cocoa. Add milk and vanilla. Stir to combine and spoon into baking pan on top of butter. Do not mix in. Combine 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar and 1/4 cup cocoa. Sprinkle evenly over batter in pan. Don’t mix in. Slowly pour boiling water over. Do not mix in. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until center is set.

Chicken & Dressing
Cornbread:
3 cups self-rising cornmeal
1 cup self-rising flour
6 eggs
1 Tbsp. sugar
Dash of salt
Approximately 1 cup milk (enough to make slightly soupy)
Preheat oven to 425°. Lightly grease 8” baking dish. In large bowl mix together cornmeal, flour, sugar and salt. In separate bowl, mix together eggs and milk. Pour milk mixture into cornmeal mixture and fold together until there are no dry spots (batter will still be lumpy). Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Bake until top is golden brown and tester inserted into middle of cornbread comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.
4 frozen biscuits cooked
4 slices bread
1/2 pkg. saltine crackers
1 bundle green onions, chopped
1 small sweet onion, chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of celery soup
3 sticks butter
2 whole chickens and 2 or 3 chicken breasts boiled with 1 stick butter (save broth) removed from bone
Sage, salt and pepper to taste
Extra chicken broth
Crumble cornbread, bread, crackers and biscuits. Mix well. Add soups and pour chicken broth over mixture until soupy, mixing well. Add onions and shredded chicken. Mix well. Add sage, salt and pepper to taste. Melt one stick of butter and mix. Pour one stick of butter over the top. It is best if you mix and refrigerate overnight. Cook at 350° for 1 1/2 hours or until desired color and consistency.