Good Cookin'The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Good Cookin'Dessa Rodeffer, Quill Publisher/Owner
April 11, 2018
There seems to be a lot of good cooking going on in our rural communities with either Maidrite dinners, taco dinners, pizzas delivered, soup suppers, pancake and sausage dinners, fried chicken dinners, chicken and noodle dinners, beef and noodle dinners and they include all the trimmings, with drinks and homemade desserts.
Summertime brings on the ice cream socials - most all are homemade - and fall brings the turkey suppers with dressing and mashed potatoes and gravy and the trimmings. It makes your mouth water just to read the menu in the ads they put in "The Quill."
My friend from Media said a man in one of the stores in Burlington who runs a cash register, always asks her to fill him in on any church supper that is going on so he can be sure to take part in it.
My editor Shirley and I were lucky enough to attend the dinner this past Saturday evening at Fountain Green.
We arrived right on time at 5:00 p.m. and the church was already full in their lobby. We were handed number 55 and 56 and stood with an already early crowd that began to arrive at 4:00!
We enjoyed visiting with several sitting on the stairs as we waited to be called including Rick Johnson and his wife from Dallas City, and Rick Johnson and his wife of near Fountain Green, and Bob Shutwell and his wife from La Harpe.
It was a short wait before we were called, and we were quickly served their homemade and delicious meal. .....the best beef & noodles I've ever had, juicy hamloaf, fried chicken, 7-layer salad, cole slaw, scalloped corn, strawberry and banana salad, and a lot more....plus about any kind of pie you would want, fresh rolls, butter, tall glasses of ice tea, lemonade or water.
No one couldn't leave a drop of anything on their plate. We visited with the Wood sisters from Webster and a couple from Hamilton at our table and a lady from the church who sat and visited for a moment.
Although this dinner always draws a crowd, she said it was their homemade ice cream social of several different flavors along with maidrites, pressed chicken, baked beans, applesauce, homemade cake and beverages that really draws the crowd of around 500 in the summer, the first Wednesday in August.
Everyone brings their own lawn chairs and it is served out in the church yard. She explained how they cook 40 chickens for the pressed chicken.
Ten of them cook four chickens, pick off the meat, grind the chicken in a grinder, then pressed the chicken. They warm up the chicken broth and pour it over the chicken and press it again.
Then they butter slices of bread to keep the bread from getting soggy when they put on the moist pressed chicken. She said it is soooo gooood!
Finally their 61st Annual God's Portion Sale is in November the Saturday before Thanksgiving where they serve homemade cream chicken on biscuits, steamburgers, chili, and vegetable soup, homemade pies and coffee and tea. The auction starts at 1:00 p.m.
My husband Mike, busy with our cows calving, really appreciated Roger Kerfoot's big helping of beef & noodles he sent with me for him. He immediately put his pizza in the refrigerator, then dug in.