Lonnie Morphis

Calhoun Academy senior Lonnie Morphis says he was inspired by his grandmother, the late Nettie Bumgart of Derma, to cook. He learned to cook biscuits and breakfast foods from her first, and has been cooking ever since he was little.

Mostly on weekends is when he says he does more cooking and he just cooks “whatever,” but he grills a lot in the summer time. He “makes his own stuff” and is always trying new things. He says he is always adding a lot of spices so everything is different each time. He “just throws stuff together” and says most everything turns out good. A lot of times he just thinks stuff up, and one example of that is his cinnamon sugar grilled chicken, which he said turned out really good.

He likes to fry chicken, but he always mixes a bunch of spices together  and marinates it first. His favorite food is gumbo, which he does make sometimes. The son of Mack and Teresa Morphis, he says he would like to own a restaurant one day after he finishes college.
He has made a caramel cake and carried it to school before and said Mrs. Teresa James wants him to make another one.

He likes to cook most anything, but mainly desserts during the holidays. Pecan Petites are something his grandmother used to make. He also makes her fluffy pink salad for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

He liked his grandmother’s fried livers, and says hers were made with “Grandma’s touch” because his don’t taste like hers. “But if they don’t turn out okay, you can just go fishing and use them for catfish bait.”

  Pecan Petites
    (Nettie Bumgart)
1 cup Parkay margarine
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 cup chopped pecans
First cream margarine and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in vanilla. Add flour and mix well. Stir in pecans. Shape rounded teaspoons of dough into balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 325°. Cool slightly. Roll in brown sugar.

Pink Fluffy Salad
(Nettie Bumgart)
1 can cherry pie filling
1 can crushed pineapple
(drained)
1 can sweetened con-
densed milk
1 tub Cool Whip
1-14 oz. sour cream
1 cup pecans
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Mix all ingredients together. Put in refrigerator for one hour before serving.

Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
Bake in 350° oven.