Birdie Tidmore

Birdie Tidmore’s favorite place to try out new recipes is with the Bruce United Methodist Church women. When she sees a good recipe, especially a dessert, she usually tries it out on them first since her husband, Dorsey, is diabetic. She and the ladies of the church swap recipes often, and most of the time  when someone brings a new dish, they also bring copies of the recipe to share.

Her most recent recipe tried out on the ladies was the Chicken Crescents, which they said they liked, and Carolyn Easley told her she had made several times already.

“The UMW is delighted to have Birdie to test out her recipes on us. Everything she cooks is really good,” said Carolyn.

Estelle Cook tried the cheeseburger soup out on her family and told her it is now a favorite of her kids and grandkids. Birdie has also been making chicken and dressing and gravy for the annual Harvest Dinner at the church since 2002, when her family moved here.

The barbecued meatballs were a favorite of the church ladies from Drew, where the Tidmores came here from.

She has accumulated many cookbooks over the years, and Taste of Home magazines, and she gets them out every once in awhile to find something new. She says she’s had a few flops, but most are successes. If they are flops, she just “x’s them out”.

She learned to cook in the 50’s in her high school home economics class, in which she also recalls having a fashion show of clothes they made, and sliding around in sock-feet “buffing” floors they had just learned how to wax.

She does a little more cooking around Christmas time and says it’s mostly traditional. For the holidays, she makes candy to give away to friends, and sometimes pies, adding that she tries a new candy recipe or two each year. Fudge is her favorite candy, chocolate chess is her favorite pie, and potatoes, fixed any way, are her favorite food.

Chicken Crescents
1 can Pillsbury crescent dinner rolls
3 Tbsp. butter
3 oz. softened cream cheese
2 Tbsp. softened butter
1/2 tsp. McCormick’s lemon pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1-3 oz. can mushrooms, chopped fine
1/2 cup Pepperidge Farm Herb seasoned croutons, crushed
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Separate dinner rolls into eight triangles. Mix cream cheese, butter, lemon pepper, chicken, and mushrooms together. Place small amount of mixture on each triangle (about 1 1/2-2 Tbsp.) Roll up and seal ends by pinching dough. Dip in melted butter. Make topping of croutons and pecans, and roll each crescent in it. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet 15-20 minutes at 375°. Personal note: I prefer adding pecans into mixture and rolling crescents in just the croutons. If you can’t find Pepperidge Farm croutons, any herb seasoned croutons will work.

Barbecued Meatballs
Meatballs:
3 lbs. ground beef
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup cracker crumbs
2 eggs
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. chili powder
Sauce:
2 cups catsup
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. liquid smoke or to taste
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 cup chopped onion
To make meatballs, combine all ingredients (mixture will be soft) and shaped into walnut-size balls. Place meatballs in a single layer on wax paper-lined cookie sheets; freeze until solid. Store frozen meatballs in freezer bags until ready to cook. To make sauce, combine all ingredients and stir until sugar is dissolved. Place frozen meatballs in a 13″x2″ baking pan; pour on the sauce. Bake at 350° for one hour. Yield: 80 meatballs.

Cheeseburger Soup
1/2 lb. ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup shredded carrot
3/4 cup diced celery
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. dried parsley flakes
4 Tbsp. butter or margarine, divided
3 cups chicken broth
4 cups diced peeled potatoes (1 3/4 lbs.)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
8 oz. processed American cheese, cubed (2 cups)
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4-1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup sour cream
In a 3-qt. saucepan, brown beef; drain and set aside. In the same saucepan, saute onion, carrots, celery, basil and parsley in one tablespoon butter until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add broth, potatoes and beef; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Meanwhile, in a small skillet, melt remaining butter. Add flour; cook and stir for 3-5 minutes or until bubbly. Add to soup, bring to a boil. Cook and stir for two minutes. Reduce heat to low. Add cheese, milk, salt and pepper; cook and stir until cheese melts. Remove from the heat; blend in sour cream. Yield: 8 servings (2 1/4 qts.)

5-Day Coconut Cake
2 cups sugar
24 oz. frozen coconut (no substitution)
2 cups sour cream
1 box yellow cake mix, plus two whole eggs
Place sugar, coconut and sour cream in tightly covered container overnight in refrigerator. Bake cake in two layers, according to directions on box with two extra eggs. When cool, split making four layers. Put filling between layers and on top only. Place in sealed cake cover and refrigerate four days. Coconut is slightly liquid and will soak into cake.