Rebecca Pilgreen

“What I remember earliest is standing in a chair and dropping dumplings in the broth,” said Rebecca Pilgreen.
“I never did make them taste like my mother’s, but my daughters like them.”
“I have been cooking for as long as my mother would let me,” she said.
Rebecca grew up in Loyd, but has lived in Calhoun City almost 20 years now.
Her husband, A.C., was from Calhoun City, but they lived several places before returning there.
She has two daughters, Carolyn of Houston, Tx., and Cathy of Ridgeland, two granddaughters and two great grandsons.
If she had to name a favorite of her family it would be angel food cake (with ice cream) and meatloaf (to which she adds Rotel and makes a ketchup topping.)
She has been making beef summer sausage a long time and shared her version of Brunswick Stew. She and daughter, Carolyn, made up the chili dip recipe, and her daughters love the Lima beans.

“Everybody in Calhoun City knows about these (Granny’s) rolls,” she said about her mother-in-law Virgie’s recipe.
Rebecca uses the internet to search for recipes. She likes Google and Cooking Light, and says she cooks more healthy now.
She has a program on her computer for recipes, so she saves them there as she finds ones she likes.
She made a cookbook of her recipes for her daughters. She also made a one of her family’s favorites recipes, that is named “Pearl’s Dough Tray” after her mother, Pearl Spratlin Hardin.
“The dessert section in both of these are big ones,” she said, also commenting that she likes to bake.

“I have a weakness for bread,” she said. And over the weekend when daughter Cathy was here, they made the big soft pretzels.
She likes to try new recipes, so she also made a taco casserole for Cathy.
“When we’re all together (she and her daughters), we like to cook and sew,” she said.
“Popie (Pope) is so good to us ladies on our street,” so she makes him a pie every now and then. Lemon icebox with meringue is his favorite, but he doesn’t turn down caramel, chocolate or coconut.
Rebecca cooks every day and loves her leftovers. She enjoys loaded sweet potatoes, and will sometimes bake a crockpot full of sweet potatoes at a time, on low for five hours, leaving them damp after washing.

She also likes to make sweet potato muffins and biscuits. She sometimes makes her own rotisserie chicken in the crockpot, and will make tacos with whatever she has on hand.
For 34 years now, she and her siblings have gathered one weekend of the year at Lake Tiak O’Khata. They cook part of the time they are there, “the old family favorites,” and Rebecca always makes her Brunswick Stew.

Granny’s Rolls

(Virgie Pilgreen)
2 cups milk
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 pkg. dry yeast
5 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
Combine first three ingredients in saucepan. Heat until shortening melts. Cool to 105-115°. Place yeast in large bowl. Add milk mixture and let stand 5 minutes. Stir in 3 cups flour. Cover and let stand at room temperature 1 1/2 hours. Add remaining 2 cups flour, baking powder, soda, salt and egg, stirring well. Cover tightly and refrigerate 8 hours or up to 5 days. Punch dough down. Shape into 36 1” balls. Place dough balls 2” apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in warm place free from drafts 25 minutes or until dough doubles in bulk. Bake at 375° for 10-12 minutes or until golden. Dough can be rolled and cut, or made to any desired shape.

Chili Dip
(Rebecca and Carolyn Pilgreen)
1 1/2 lbs. ground chuck
1 large onion
1 large green pepper
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce
1 large garlic
4 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. Tabasco or to taste
1 tsp. Oregano flakes
1/4 tsp. Cumin
1/2 tsp. Paprika
1/2 tsp. chili powder
Cook ground chuck until brown. Add other ingredients and cook 30 minutes. Add 1 can tamales and 3 or 4 cups cheddar cheese. Cook until thick. Better made the day before and heated in crockpot 2 or 3 hours. Served with assorted chips.

Brunswick Stew
(Rebecca Pilgreen)
2 lbs. boneless stew meat, cut in bite-sized pieces.
1 chicken, cooked and de-boned
2 large onions
2 medium potatoes
2 large cans tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
6 cups water
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. chili powder
3 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Cook meat and onions until slightly brown. Add all other ingredients and cook until tender, 2-3 hours. Add more water if needed. Adds 2 cans cream style corn, 1 can English peas or 1 can Lima beans. Bring to boil and simmer a few minutes.

Beef Summer Sausage
(Rebecca Pilgreen)
2 lbs. ground beef, 95% lean (may use half ground and half beef)
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. liquid smoke flavoring
1 Tbsp. mustard seed
1 Tbsp. Morton tender quick salt
3/4 cup water
Mix all ingredients well and refrigerate overnight. Make out into rolls about 6” long. Place on baking rack and cook on 300° until inside is no longer pink. Place aluminum foil over and remove the last 30 minutes.

Lima Beans
1/3 cup olive oil
6 cups frozen lima beans
1 1/4 cups water
Juice of one lemon
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp. lemon zest
8 green onions
In heavy skillet heat 1/3 cup olive oil. Add Lima beans, water, lemon juice, salt and black pepper. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat so liquid is simmering. Simmer uncovered about 8 minutes or until beans have absorbed all liquid. If beans are not tender and water is gone, add a little more hot water. When beans are tender, stir in eight green onions and remove from heat. Stir in unsalted butter mixed with lemon zest and serve immediately.

Aunt Bill’s Sugar Cookies
(Bill Massey, Rebecca’s aunt)
1 egg
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 stick softened oleo
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. soda
1/4 tsp. salt
Beat egg. Cream sugar, oleo and oil. Add other ingredients. Roll into small balls, space a little between them. Press balls down with fork. Bake at 350 about 15 minutes or until slightly brown. Makes 48 cookies.

Strawberry Cake
2 pkgs. frozen strawberries
1 pkg. strawberry gelatin powder
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 pint whipping cream
1 cubed angel food cake
Boil water and sugar until clear. Add Jello. Add strawberries. Let mixture cool. Whip cream and fold into cooled Jello mixture. Pour over cubed angel food cake and mix gently. Pour in tube pan and freeze.