Lillie Gillespie

A red velvet cake was the first thing Lillie Gillespie made completely on her own, and she has continued to make one every Christmas since then. Instead of cookies, that is what she always made for a snack to leave Santa.
An English and Spanish teacher at Vardaman High School, Lillie is the wife of Bruce High School principal, Michael Gillespie.
“Mr. G’s chili recipe is his latest version,” she said. He takes at least three crockpots of it to school at Christmas. “When feeding 40 hungry teachers and staff members, the recipe must be tripled or quadrupled,” according to Mr. G. He serves it with crackers, but Lillie prefers tortilla chips.
“Anything sweet” is her favorite food. She got the honey bun cake recipe from a student at Houlka and loves the recipe. Everywhere she’s taken it, “people love it, and it’s really good with coffee.”

She recipe searches on Google and Pinterest, but tried a chocolate crockpot recipe from one of them that she called a Christmas break disaster.
“Family members and Mr. G like the blueberry pie,” and she always makes them at some time during the holidays. The recipe is from his aunt, Janice Alexander. He likes blueberries, but Lillie doesn’t. She is “learning to like sweet potatoes,” particularly pie and casserole.

She was in the kitchen with her mama (Sherry Wiggs) “forever.” Biscuits or cornbread were her first things to learn to make. She cooks as often as she can now, and some of her family’s favorites are chicken stew, sandwiches from roast cooked with peppers and dry Ranch mix, and fried chicken. She is glad to have her husband’s grandmother, Agnes Gillespie’s, Texas Hash recipe, and also her beanpot.

Thanksgiving at their house is traditional, with her mother making the dressing and chocolate pie. For the turkey, Lillie just “gives him a bath in olive oil and bakes him.” They also have Mamaw’s baked beans, green beans, coconut cake, and more. She did say she is working to get her chocolate pie taste like her mom’s.
Lillie and Michael are opening a deli and gift shop, “G’s Place”  in Vardaman this summer, serving sandwiches, salads, soups and desserts. For at least 15 years she has wanted to have a place to serve food on a small scale, but “Mr. G. wanted a restaurant!”

On their menu, they plan to have homemade chicken salad, homemade pimento cheese, roast sandwich, southwestern chicken salad, chicken stew, chowder with corn, smoked sausage and shrimp, coconut cake, red velvet cake, honey bun cake, pink salad, sweet potato pie, Mamaw’s baked beans, and more.

Honey Bun Cake
1 box yellow cake mix
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
8 oz. sour cream
3 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
Icing:
2 cups confectioner sugar
4 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix cake mix, four eggs, 3/4 cup vegetable oil, 8 oz. sour cream. Spray bundt pan with cooking spray. Pour mixture into pan. Sprinkle one cup brown sugar and 3 tsp. cinnamon over cake mixture. Swirl into cake mixture with knife. Bake at 325° for 40 minutes. Remove from oven to cool. Remove from bundt pan on serving plate. Prepare icing. Mix well. Drizzle over top of cake.

Texas Hash
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 medium bell pepper, chopped
2 1/2 cups tomato juice
2/3 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup water (optional)
Brown ground beef in skillet. Drain well. Add pepper and onion to skillet and saute. Spray 2 qt. casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Add meat, onion and pepper mixture to casserole dish. Mix in all remaining ingredients. Cover dish and bake for one hour in oven preheated to 350°.

Blueberry Pies
12 oz. Cool Whip, thawed
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. almond flavor
1 can blueberry pie filling
Optional: Sliced bananas
Optional: Chopped pecans
2 pre-baked pie shells
After baked pie shells have cooked, the optional chopped pecans can be lightly pressed into the bottom of the shell. If desired, add the optional sliced bananas on top of pecans. Cream together powdered sugar and cream cheese in bowl. Add almond flavor and mix well. Gently stir in Cool Whip until mixed. Spoon into pie shells. Top each pie evenly with blueberry pie filling.

Mr. G’s Chili
3 lbs. ground chuck
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
4 Tbsp. chili powder
3 cans diced tomatoes
1 can chili beans
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 cup water
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 Tbsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. red pepper
10 slices jalapeno, finely chopped
1 1/2 Tbsp. coriander
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 large bell pepper, finely chopped
6 slices extra crispy bacon, crumbled
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. dried mustard
1/4 tsp. salt
Brown ground chuck in skillet. Drain well. Add onion and bell pepper and cook over medium heat until tender. Pour into large stock pot. Add wet ingredients, stirring until mixed well. Add dry ingredients. Mix well. Add more water if mixture appears too thick. Cook, covered, over medium heat until mixture boils. Reduce heat and simmer for at least one hour. Stir often. (If desired, it can be cooked overnight on low in crockpot.) If necessary, chili can be thickened using a mixture of flour and water. (1 Tbsp. flour and enough water to make a liquid instead of a paste. Whisk in small bowl or large mug to remove lumps. Pour into chili and stir quickly to evenly distribute.)