Mother-daughter cooks share Bait Shop kitchen

Ernestine James and Angela Norris of Calhoun City are the mother-daughter cooking team, along with Kathleen Welch, at The Bait Shop in Bruce.
“Feed ‘em, whatever you want to, as long as we don’t run out!” is what owner Terry Spratlin tells them.
“Fish day, buttermilk pie and meatloaf,” are crowd favorites, according to the ladies.
Ernestine’s mother, the late Louise Hychs, taught her to cook, and Ernestine taught Angela.
Ernestine first learned homemade biscuits, and any and all vegetables, because of their garden. “I would come home after school and cook,” she said.

Hamburgers were Angela’s first thing to make and she’s “still cooking them”.
Ernestine cooks a lot at home, for church dinners, family get-togethers, and every other year on Memorial Day her family has a reunion in a different state.
“Mostly desserts,” is what she does for the reunions, and chicken and dressing, which she does for all the family gatherings. She also usually makes dressing or other meat dishes for church.
“Angela can grill out of this world,” said her mother, and, “I can’t grill. She makes grilled ribs and stuff for family dinners. She wraps them in foil and they are so tender.”
Angela has four children–Jay 13, Trinity 12, twin boys Damario and Lacorio, 10.
“They like soul food. Peas, cornbread, chicken, pork chops, rice, and they love the pizza casserole,” she said.
She is now teaching Trinity to cook, and her favorite thing to make is cinnamon roll bites.

Ernestine loves mustard greens, or any kind of greens, she said. Angela likes chicken fixed any kind of way.
While Ernestine likes to look at recipes, she doesn’t use them because she learned by using “a drop of this or a pinch of that.”
She did, however, try several different caramel icing recipes to get it the way she wanted.
“I learned there’s a lot of ways to make caramel,” she said.
Angela will use a recipe when she wants to make something different, but she always changes it up.
She got the grape salad recipe from the late Dot Strickland, who used to bring it to church. And, yes, she has changed it to make it her own.

Pizza Casserole
2 cups egg noodles
1/2 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup sliced pepperoni
1 cup chopped sausage
16 oz. pizza sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
4 Tbsp. milk
Cook noodles according to package. Preheat oven to 350°. In skillet brown ground beef and sausage with onions and bell pepper. Drain fat. Stir in noodles, pepperoni, pizza sauce and milk. Mix well. Pour into casserole dish. Bake 20 minutes. Top with cheese, then bake another 5 minutes.

Lemon Roasted Chicken Breasts
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 medium chicken breasts
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1 tsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
4 slices lemon
Salt and pepper
In bowl, season chicken breasts with olive oil, dried oregano, paprika, lemon juice, lemon slices, salt and pepper. Shake well. Cover bowl and let marinate 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 425°. Place chicken on baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, then flip chicken and bake another 15 minutes.

Grape Salad
1 pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 container sour cram
1/3 cup white sugar
2 lbs. green seedless grapes
2 lbs. red seedless grapes
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
Combine cream cheese, sour cream and white sugar in bowl. Stir until smooth. Add grapes and gently stir. Sprinkle brown sugar and pecans on top. Refrigerate until cool.