By ANN CIPPERLY
Fresh flowers lining the dining room table, mementos from friends and trips decorating shelves, a butler’s pantry set for entertaining — the home of Kay and Fred Yeager in White Oaks is ready to welcome family and friends. While Kay struggled with challenges over the years, she never lost her love of cooking and entertaining that became her therapy. A few years ago, she assembled handwritten copies of her favorite recipes into a family cookbook, which became popular with others too when a Birmingham newspaper wrote about her recipe collection.
Kay grew up in Eutaw, Alabama, where both her grandmothers influenced her love of cooking and gardening. She began learning to cook from her maternal grandmother, MayBelle, when she was 4-years-old. MayBelle, who lived in an antebellum home, prepared meals on a wood stove, refusing to use the “new electric thing.” She had chickens and pigs and made fresh sausage. Her paternal grandmother, Louise, was a gardener and operated a nursery.
When her father died, Kay was almost 13-years-old, and her brother Jim was 9-months-old. At age 18, Kay was attending nursing school in Tuscaloosa when her mother passed away with breast cancer. She began raising her brother, who was then 5-years-old, and managed two houses, a farm and store.
Kay and Fred, who was working on a degree in architecture at Auburn University, had been dating since high school. They became engaged at Toomer’s Corner and were soon married. Kay enrolled Jim at Wright’s Mill School as they began raising him. After Fred graduated, they moved to Vestavia Hills in Birmingham. They moved back to Auburn a few years ago.
The Yeagers have two sons that both graduated from Auburn. Joe and his wife Breanna have one son, Bennett. They are both architects and reside in Nashville, Tennessee. Josh has one son, Will, who attends Pike Road High School and is an active runner in track.
While living in Vestavia Hills, Kay was active in schools and the community, serving as president of the Vestavia Garden Club, PTA and many other organizations. She was also a model and modeled fashions at the country club.
When she was 36 years old, Kay was faced with another challenge. “I went for a routine hysterectomy,” she said, “and I was diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer. I was given less than a 40% survival rate for five years.”
That was 32 years ago. Kay has spent every day enjoying life, realizing every day is a gift from God. “I let God take care of things,” she said. “I couldn’t focus. I was going to live every day.”
Cooking became her therapy. “If I am upset about something, I am in the kitchen cooking.”
Both of their sons enjoy cooking and were always asking for recipes. Kay decided she needed to assemble her favorite recipes for their children, other family members and friends. At first, she had tried typing her recipes on the computer, but it seemed cold and impersonal to her. She set it aside for a while.
In 2015, she became determined to assemble her favorite recipes into a cookbook. She purchased a notebook-style “cookbook” with blank pages and handwrote her recipes on those pages, leaving some blank for family members to add their own.
When she started this project, she was recovering from skin cancer surgery and was housebound for six weeks. She included recipes from family and friends, as well as a few recipes from a cooking class with restaurant owner Chris Hastings and Frank Stitt, two well-known Birmingham chefs.
When Kay and Fred went to Paris for their 40th anniversary, they took cooking classes from Catherine Reed. Kay included some of her recipes as well. She added photos of her and Fred and named the cookbook “KayKay’s 100 Favorite Recipes.”
“I wanted my kids to have this to remember me,” Kay said.
A friend’s parents owned a print shop and copied the pages. She started with 25 copies, but they went quickly. Kay decided to print 500 copies.
A friend arranged a book signing at a small grocery store in Birmingham. The grocery store paid Kay to prepare her pork loin and brownie recipes in the cookbook to serve as a tasting at the book signings, which were held the same day as the store’s wine tastings.
Interest in the cookbook grew when a Birmingham newspaper wrote about Kay’s battle with cancer and her cookbook with handwritten recipes. She sold the 500 copies, which are now treasured by her family and friends. She has tossed around the idea of another cookbook. Meanwhile, she is enjoying cooking and entertaining.
Among Kay’s favorite recipes is a comforting chicken pot pie, which is her signature dish. She embellishes the top crust with cutout pastry leaves, flowers or hearts for creating a gorgeous and delicious dish. Along with chunks of chicken, she adds potatoes, carrots and fresh green beans to the creamy sauce enhanced with poultry seasonings.
She keeps chicken for the pot pies in the freezer to have on hand for entertaining or to take to a friend who is sick. When serving the pot pie at a dinner party, she will pair it with a green salad.
Another favorite is a chicken and asparagus casserole that was served in north Alabama at her oldest son’s engagement party. Kay uses fresh asparagus instead of the canned asparagus called for in the original recipe.
She also enjoys preparing Italian dishes. Many of her recipes are from her aunt’s husband, who is Italian. He is from a town in Italy that made a slightly sweet tomato sauce. Kay uses this sauce with her homemade meatballs that are always a hit. This dish can also be frozen.
While Kay loves cooking, she doesn’t enjoy baking as much. She can be creative in cooking, but baking requires following a recipe. “I love being creative,” she said. “I don’t like following the rules.”
Both Kay and Fred enjoy cooking together. Cooking is a big part of her family, and their children enjoy cooking. The family enjoys going to the beach together, and everyone takes a turn cooking each night. Her brother Jim is a retired police officer and now helps manage a restaurant in Birmingham.
Kay has a raised garden in her backyard. She grows lettuces, cucumbers, peppers and other vegetables. During summer, she makes homemade pickles and pepper jelly that she gives away as gifts to her neighbors at Christmas.
After overcoming hardships and challenges, Kay is living every day to the fullest. “Every day is a gift,” she said, as she continues to enjoy sharing her love of cooking and entertaining.
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Kay’s Signature Chicken Pie
2 cups cooked, cubed chicken
1 cup cubed potatoes, cooked until crisp tender
½ cup sliced carrots, cooked until crisp tender
½ cup green beans, blanched
2 cans cream of chicken soup
½ cup mayonnaise
½ tsp. poultry seasoning
2 pie shells (Pillsbury’s pie crusts)
Combine chicken with other filling ingredients. Place one pie shell in a deep pie pan or small casserole dish; add filling. Cover with second pie crust and crimp edges together. Decorate with pastry cutouts, if desired.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until crust turns golden brown.
Note: Can use a 16-oz. package of frozen mixed vegetables instead of the potatoes, carrots and green beans.
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Chicken and Asparagus Casserole
Myrtice Davenport
6-8 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
1 small onion, finely chopped
½ cup butter
2 cans cream of chicken soup
5 ½ oz. can Pet evaporated milk
½ lb. grated sharp cheddar cheese
¼ tsp. tabasco
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
½ cup white wine
2 Tbsp. chopped pimento
2 cans drained asparagus (Kay uses a bunch of steamed fresh asparagus.)
½ cup slivered almonds
Sauté onion in butter. Add canned soups, milk, cheese, tabasco, soy sauce, salt, pepper, wine and pimento. Stir on low heat until cheese melts.
Arrange chicken in a lightly greased 9-by-13-inch casserole dish. Arrange asparagus over chicken; pour cheese sauce on top. Sprinkle almonds over top of casserole. Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly.
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Nita Colson’s Chicken Salad with Mustard Sauce
4 large chicken breasts, cooked
2 eggs, plus 1 yolk
3 Tbsp. vinegar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. butter, melted
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. dry mustard
Dash of celery seed
Miracle Whip to taste
3/4 cup finely chopped celery
3 hard-boiled eggs, grated
Process cooked chicken in a food processor until finely chopped; set aside.
In a bowl, beat eggs and vinegar together, then add milk, butter, salt, mustard and celery seed. Cook mixture over hot water in a double boiler until thick and creamy.
Add Miracle Whip, celery, hard-boiled eggs and chicken. Combine well. Chill until ready to serve.
Easy Vinaigrette Dressing
Catherine Reed from Paris Cooking School
2/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
Whisk ingredients together until well blended. Store in refrigerator.
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Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Caribbean Bourbon Marinade
½ cup lite soy sauce
1 Tbsp. Caribbean jerk seasoning
3 lb. pork tenderloin
¼ cup packed brown sugar
¼ cup bourbon
Stir together soy sauce and jerk seasoning. Place pork in a 2-gallon Ziploc bag. Pour mixture over roast. Seal bag and chill 2 to 12 hours.
Preheat grill 350 degrees. Remove roast from marinade and pat dry. Let stand for 30 minutes.
Stir bourbon and brown sugar in a microwave safe container. Cook in microwave on high setting for 1 minute, stirring after 30 seconds.
Grill pork 25 minutes or until 145 degrees. Baste with bourbon mixture last 10 minutes.
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Kay’s Meatballs with Tony Raco’s Suga Sauce
Meatballs:
5 lb. lean ground beef
½ can fine breadcrumbs
Two 6 oz. containers grated Romano cheese (in deli section)
6 oz. container grated Parmesan cheese
3 eggs, beaten
½ tsp. garlic salt
Combine all ingredients and shape mixture into balls. Place on greased broiler pan and bake at 375 for about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on size of meatballs. For easy clean-up, I cover bottom of broiler pan with foil.
Tony Raco’s Suga Sauce:
8 Tbsp. olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans tomatoes, minced
6 small cans tomato paste
½ tsp. pepper
6 Tbsp. sugar
¼ tsp. cinnamon
2 qt. water
Combine all sauce ingredients and simmer. Serve with meatballs over pasta.
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Golden Ham Casserole
2 cups cubed potatoes
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup chopped celery
2 cups cubed cooked ham
2 tsp. chopped onion
¼ cup plus 3 Tbsp. butter, divided
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups whole milk
½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
½ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
½ cup breadcrumbs
Cook potatoes, carrots and celery in a small amount of boiling water until crisp tender; drain and set aside.
Sauté ham and onion in 3 Tbsp. butter until ham is golden brown (not the onion). Place ham mixture and cooked vegetables in a greased, deep 2-qt. casserole dish.
Melt ¼ cup butter in a heavy in a heavy boiler over low heat. Add flour, stirring until smooth. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbly. Stir in cheese, salt and pepper; cook over low heat until cheese melts and mixture is slightly thickened.
Pour cheese sauce over ham and vegetables. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over top. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.
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Appetizer Basil Pesto Cheesecake
1 ½ tsp. butter
¼ cup breadcrumbs
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 ½ cups fresh basil
½ cup parsley sprigs, stemmed
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp. salt
1 clove garlic
16 oz. whole milk ricotta cheese, room temperature
Two 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
8 oz. grated Parmesan cheese
4 eggs
1/3 cup pine nuts
Basil leaves for garnish
Crackers for serving
Butter bottom and sides of 9-inch springform pan. Combine breadcrumbs and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle mixture into pan, turning to coat completely. Place in refrigerator.
Combine basil, parsley, olive oil, salt and garlic in food processor and process until a smooth paste forms, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
Combine ricotta cheese, cream cheese and Parmesan cheese in blender or food processor and mix until smooth, about 2 minutes. Mix in eggs and pour basil mixture into cheese mixture. Blend until smooth.
Pour mixture into springform pan. Top with pine nuts. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn oven off. Cool cheesecake in oven for about an hour with the oven door ajar.
Transfer pan to wire rack. Remove sides of springform pan. Garnish with basil leaves. Serve at room temperature with crackers. Makes about 15 to 20 servings.
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Pecan Pie Squares
Caroline Staggers
Crust:
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup chopped pecans
Mix flour, butter and sugar until crumbly. Then mix in pecans. Press into the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Filling:
1 ½ cups light brown Karo syrup
¾ cup packed brown sugar
6 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
4 eggs, beaten
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ cups chopped pecans
Combine all ingredients except pecans; blend well. Stir in pecans. Pour mixture over baked crust and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
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Dr. Rick Berryman’s Pork Chop Marinade
1 stick butter, melted
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. garlic powder
Pork chops
Combine butter, Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder. Baste pork chops with mixture as they cook on the grill.