Best Cooks Series

Highlighted foods & great cooks

Brenda Pardue sent Laura Mae Ireland’s special recipes. “My mama was a giver, always happiest when ‘doing’ for someone and that usually meant ‘a little something to eat.’ When I would ask her how much of something to add, she always shrugged, saying, ‘Just keep putting some in until it tastes right!’ Her secret ingredient was genuine care and concern for the ones who would receive her offering!” We lost Laura Mae this year. Her chicken salad is only one of the many legacies she leaves us to enjoy.

Mama’s Chicken Salad
1 whole chicken, cut up
4 raw carrots, scraped
1 pt. icicle pickles
6 hard boiled eggs
1/4 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. pickle syrup
1/2 qt. mayonnaise
Salt & pepper to taste

Stew chicken in salted water, cool. Grind chicken, carrots, pickles and hard-boiled eggs. (Laura Mae used her trusty meat grinder!) Mix together, add chicken broth, pickle juice. Gradually add mayonnaise.

______________________________________________________

Icicle Pickles
2 gal. cucumbers, cubed
1 pt. salt
2 T. alum
8 pts. sugar
2 qts. vinegar
1 box pickling spice
tied in cheese cloth
Pour 1 gal. water over cucumbers. Add the pt. of salt. Let stand for 1 week. Stir everyday. On the seventh day, drain and add 1 gal. boiling water and 2 T. alum. Let stand 24 hours. Drain and make a syrup of the remaining ingredients. Heat syrup and pour over cucumbers 3 more days, then can.