Wilma Johnson

Wilma Johnson of Vardaman enjoys trying new desserts she can use sweet potatoes in for the annual Sweet Potato Cooking Contest.
She has entered the contest for at least 10 years now and watches for recipes she can add sweet potatoes to.
She first began entering the contest to help with desserts for the banquet.
When she tries out a new recipe, it is usually one for the contest. And she usually tries them out pretty quickly after she finds them.
Mrs. Wilma was a second place winner in last year’s Sweet Potato Baking Contest with her “Best Sweet Potato Cake.”
It was her mother’s recipe, and she still makes it once in awhile. Besides the buttermilk glaze and cream cheese frosting, the ingredients include cinnamon, pineapple, coconut and pecans.

In 2013 she won the Mayor’s Cup with her Simply Delicious Sweet Potato Cake, which has a vanilla, butter and nut frosting. She continues to bake this cake, also.
Growing up and in their teen years, her sister, Clara Mae Pounds, was in the kitchen cooking, while Wilma did the house cleaning. Clara Mae still makes homemade biscuits like their mother did, but Wilma says hers are not like theirs.
“I was fortunate we lived next door to my parents, Wilma and Ella Tedder, when Wayne and I married,” she said, “I was always calling or going next door for my mother to help with cooking certain dishes.”

“Before long, cooking became a pleasure, and now at our family gatherings there are 14 at our house,” she said. And she tries to cook things that are their favorites.
She usually sticks to the recipes the family likes and among them are sweet potato pie, meatloaf, and mac and cheese, especially for their four grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Mrs. Wilma “made a lot of those” 3-Day Coconut Cakes when she worked at FSA that her friends requested. “The Rotel wontons are a handy little finger food,” she said.
The Johnsons had a garden up until last year and vegetable soup is something she would always make and freeze because it is their favorite, and “we enjoy sweet potatoes any way I fix them,” she said.
As for the people at Midway Baptist Church, they look for her strawberry cake.

3-Day Coconut Cake

1 box Duncan Hines white cake mix, prepared according to package directions
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1 can cream of coconut, divided (near drink mixes)
8 oz. Cool Whip
3 pkgs. frozen coconut, thawed
Prepare cake in two 8” round pans and let cool. Frosting: Beat cream cheese and sour cream with mixer until combined. Add vanilla and sugar. Beat until smooth. Slowly beat in half of the cream of coconut. When combined, fold in Cool Whip. Refrigerate until ready to frost cake.
To assemble cake, split the two to make four layers. Place one layer, cut side up, onto cake plate and drizzle with 2-3 Tbsp. of reserved cream of coconut. Allow to soak into cake. Then spread about 3/4 cup of frosting over layer. Sprinkle with coconut. Repeat process until last layer. Top cake with last layer, skip cream of coconut on this one. Frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting. Cover entire cake with coconut, sprinkling it on, pressing it gently into frosting. Work over wax paper when putting on coconut. Scrape up and use coconut as it falls onto paper. Sprinkle top of cake with extra coconut, but don’t press into cake this time for a fluffy look. Keep cake tightly covered in fridge a couple of days before slicing–three is better. Cake continues to moisten and is better every day. (If your cake is even slightly warm, the whole process will be very messy. Refrigerate cake and frosting for half hour to help make job easier, if needed.)

Meatloaf

2 lbs. ground chuck
1 tube snack crackers crushed
1 1/2 tsps. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 egg
1 cup tomato sauce (8 oz.)
2 tsp. parsley flakes
Mix well and place in 2 qt. dish.
Sauce:
1/2 cup ketchup
3 Tbsp. light brown sugar
2 tsp. mustard
1/4 tsp. chili powder
Mix well and put on top of meatloaf when ready to cook. Bake at 300° for an hour. (Recipe can be doubled and baked in a 9×13 pan for a large number.)

Macaroni & Cheese

1-8 oz. pkg. small elbow noodles
1/3 cup butter
1-8 oz. Velveeta cheese
2 Tbsp. flour
2 cups sweet milk
Prepare noodles according to directions on package. Put noodles in casserole dish. Cut Velveeta in pieces and add to noodles. Stir well. Melt butter and add flour and milk to make like a gravy. Pour over noodles and cheese. Stir well. Can add a little more milk to get enough to barely cover noodles. Put in oven uncovered on 325° until it is bubbly and cheese is all melted.

Rotel Wontons

3 boxes Filo puff pastries (usually found in frozen desert section of store)
1 roll mild ground sausage
1 large bag Mexican cheese, grated
1 can diced original RoTel
1/2 cup (or more) prepared Ranch dressing
Thaw puff pastries. Brown and drain sausage. In bowl, mix all ingredients well. Then fill into the puff pastries. Cook at 350° until cheese is melted and bubbly.