By Bev Davis
Nedra and Grayson Lilly have been married 55 years. The Coal City couple met “just out the road” from the Coal City home they’ve lived in since their wedding.
One of nine children, Nedra grew up in Alabama. Her dad was a ventilation specialist in the mines. His work brought him to southern West Virginia to work in a Killarney mine during the 1950s.
The rest is history, as they say. Her family eventually returned to Alabama. She stayed, and the couple raised two sons.
For years, they’ve harvested lots of vegetables from a backyard garden. Tomatoes, cucumbers, beets, squash, green beans, rhubarb and several varieties of peppers find their way into glass jars and onto the table in lots of Nedra’s recipes.
Her summer soup is a good way to use fresh vegetables.
“Most of the time, people think of soup as a winter meal, but we like it all year. It’s especially good in the summer when everything is fresh right out of the garden,” she said.
Served along with her cornbread muffins, the soup is a meal in itself.
For snacking, Lilly makes her own salsa. Tasting as she prepares it helps get the right taste and texture.
“Sometimes if the tomatoes are a little more sour, I can adjust the sugar to take away that sour edge they have,” she said.
Brown sugar works best and gives the salsa a sweetness that mixes well with the saltiness of chips.
Apples from the couple’s orchard wind up in jars and onto desserts like Nedra’s old-fashioned stack cake.
“Making apple butter used to be an all-day job,” Grayson said. “I’ve stirred many a pot. Today, we make it in a roaster oven. That gets the job done much quicker.”
Although canning vegetables still takes a lot of work, pressure canners make the job easier.
“I have sometimes three going at one time,” Nedra said. “We can put up 21-28 cans of beans in a day, and that’s from picking them, washing them and getting them into the jars.”
Here are a few of her favorite recipes.
Summer soup
1 pound ground chuck
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon parsley
1 tablespoon oregano
1 quart of tomatoes
1 cube beef bullion
1 quart V-8 juice
1/2 cabbage, cut into small pieces or shreds
1 green pepper, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
Brown beef with garlic. Add other ingredients. Cook until tender. Good frozen and served summer-fresh on those cold winter days.
Cornbread muffins
1 cup self-rising flour
2 cups self-rising cornmeal
1/4 cup oil
Buttermilk, enough to moisten and get the consistency you desire
Spray your favorite pan with non-stick spray. Mix ingredients and bake at 450 degrees until golden brown.
Stack cake
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons ginger
1 cup melted shortening
1 cup cold water
1 cup molasses
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
Mix ingredients and pour into a pan of flour. Work until thick like biscuit dough. Roll into thin layers. Bake each layer at 350 degrees F. until brown.
Put applesauce or apple butter between layers. This recipe makes about 10 layers. Can be frozen.
Salsa
1 gallon tomatoes
3 small banana peppers
1 small bulb garlic
1 hot jalapeno pepper (more, if you like the heat)
2 cups chopped onions
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon oregano
5 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup brown sugar
Mix together and cook until it reaches the desired thickness.
— E-mail: bdavis@register-herald.com
