Food & Faith in Our United Methodist Churches
First United Methodist Church of Pearisburg, Virginia, has been making these fruit-filled handheld pies for some 40 years to raise money for different projects. This year, the church made and sold 710 apple and cherry pies to help fund improvements in their building. Particularly in the American South, people of a certain age loooooove fried... Continue Reading →
It started out with a humble, home-y side dish in the Easter menu for our drive-thru meal ministry. The enthusiasm for "strawberry fluff salad" led me to write about it for this blog, which led to more enthusiasm. It was exciting when Religion News Service picked up on our recipe and blog and included us... Continue Reading →
Two years ago, we did an informal survey to identify ingredients for the favorite potato salad for our meal ministry. It’s not what I would choose or expect, but we went with it. The ingredients are simple but seem to blend well so every taste comes singing through the somewhat less-vocal potatoes: dill pickle, onions,... Continue Reading →
A month ago, we went on a quest for a great broccoli salad to serve at our free community drive-thru lunch. Several tasty suggestions were shared, but we chose this recipe from the collection of a 102-year-old woman who lived in Kenbridge, Virginia. We didn’t expect all of our 90 guests to like it, but... Continue Reading →
In our last post, we shared a new feature on our denominational website, Our United Methodist Table, and a vintage recipe for Potato Puffs. Here's another vintage recipe -- from 1978 and Macedonia United Methodist Church in North Carolina -- for Lemon Whippersnaps. https://youtu.be/8ND2gUaJLVk Let us know if you try it! You may reach me... Continue Reading →
Oh, how I love those sacred recipes from covered-dish dinners and bake sales of lore, where many are gathered with plastic comb binders and the culinary saints whose names are preserved on the pages will be blessed from tabletops for generations to come. Just kidding, sort of. I have loved cookbooks since my 20s, when... Continue Reading →
Eston Boles was a great cook, his daughter remembers. He had to be, because he was the eldest of 13 children born to tenant farmers in Spring City, Tennessee. “His mother taught him to cook to help her,” says his daughter, the Rev. Sherry Boles. When Sherry’s parents married, they moved to Chattanooga, but Eston... Continue Reading →
It’s been a while since we posted about chocolate gravy from Camp Lookout. Several people responded, saying they have great memories of chocolate-infused Southern breakfasts. We reached out to three of them to find out more. Click here for the chocolate gravy recipe. Soppin' chocolate “My grandmother used to call it ‘soppin’ chocolate,’” said Bernice... Continue Reading →
The first time I ever heard of chocolate gravy, I was well into my 50s. "That’s a thing?” I asked. “It’s a Southern thing?” How could I have missed it? Yet miss it I did. I was visiting Camp Lookout when introduced to the notion of ladling warm chocolate sauce over split biscuits for breakfast.... Continue Reading →
“To ease the pandemic stress, we started baking.” That’s what Chris Sneed posted on his Facebook page with this photo of an appealing slice of cake. Of course, I had to call Chris to find out more. “Today we made my Great-Granny Mattson's Oatmeal Cake,” Chris said. “Many people say I am just like my... Continue Reading →
The Call to Cook 