With her dining table set for offering hospitality, Wynne Wages of Auburn is ready to welcome friends into her home. She has a love of cooking and creating wonderful memories around the table with her family and friends. Wynne is sharing family recipes and other favorites she enjoys making for her husband, Dr. Trey Wages, their family and friends.
Wynne grew up in Dublin, Georgia, where each year the town holds a St. Patrick’s Day festival for two weeks, and the Fighting Irish is the name of the football team. Wynne grew up with St. Patrick’s Day being her favorite holiday, and she would wear green, which is still her favorite color.
“It was a great place to grow up,” she said. “It was my father’s hometown, and all of my paternal family lived in Dublin or the surrounding area. We would get together often and have barbecue and Brunswick Stew, which was prepared by my great-grandmother, Mama Tanner.”
Wynne’s grandmother carried on the tradition and made Mama Tanner’s Brunswick Stew. When Wynne’s mother wanted to prepare it, she began gathering information from both grandmothers and wrote the recipe down. Wynne is now the fourth generation to prepare the stew and has tweaked it slightly for her family’s taste.
After high school, Wynne decided she wanted to attend Auburn University, although many of her friends were attending the University of Georgia or Georgia Tech. She had visited Auburn for a football game and loved it. It felt like the right place for her. At the end of her freshman year, her parents moved to the Mississippi Delta, which was where her mother’s family lived.
While her mother had dinner on the table every night, holidays were always a big event. Her family loved to cook and arrange a nicely set table, using fine china and silver at holidays. Since her mother never used paper plates and always used china, Wynne has followed that tradition and enjoys setting an attractive table.
Wynne and Trey met while they were both in pharmacy school at Auburn. After they married, the couple lived in Tuscaloosa a couple of years, which is Trey’s hometown. He decided to return to medical school when their first child was three months old.
They lived in Lewisburg, West Virginia, while he was in medical school, and they moved to Birmingham for Trey’s residency at UAB. They both wanted to return to Auburn and moved back in 2007. Dr. Wages is a partner with Anesthesia Associates of East Alabama.
The Wages have four children. Ted, a graduate of West Point, is an Army officer at Ft. Moore. Ted and his wife, Sophie, have a four month old son. Anna Louise, who lives in Washington, D.C., works for the United States Supreme Court, while Tanner, is a sophomore at Samford University. Wake is a sophomore at Auburn High School.
The Wages attend Lakeview Baptist where they work with the youth group and Near His Heart, which is an annual event for families affected by disability. Wynne has been involved in the community and has served on the East Alabama Medical Center Foundation Board, as chairman of the Distinguished Young Women program and volunteers in organizations where her children are involved.
They are both enjoying having their mothers live in the area now. Wynne’s mother, Judith Driskell, lives in Opelika, while Dr. Wages’ mother, Dianne Wages, resides in Auburn. Both mothers are good cooks.
Among the recipes Wynne is sharing are several Mexican ones that her family requests. “I think Mexican is easy for a family,” Wynne said. “You can set out so many toppings that the family can pick and choose what they like. We also like Italian, the Lasagna is popular, and Trey likes soups. All these dishes can be stretched if the kids bring friends home.”
They enjoy having people over, and she enjoys cooking for a large group of people, such as the youth or college group at church. She will double recipes to have a dish to take to church activities and friends that are sick or have a new baby. She generally keeps a dish in the freezer to have on hand when needed.
When the family tries a dish they like at restaurants, she will try to recreate it at home. While Wynne has her tried and true family recipes, she tries new ones, often changing them to suit her family’s taste.
“I have time now to be creative,” Wynne added. “The kids have favorites and want those when they come to visit. Anna Louise wants Bruschetta.” She will also use the topping on grilled chicken with fresh mozzarella cheese and finish with a balsamic glaze that is purchased.
Lulu’s Trash is similar to Chex mix that her grandmother made often. Wynne grew up eating it, and the kids like it. When she has a crowd over, she will have bowls of the snack placed in several areas. It is also great for gifts.
The dessert recipes she is sharing are from family and friends. The Blueberry Pie with a crunchy topping is from a Mississippi friend and is always a hit. The Wages grow a variety of blueberries on land they own in the country.
“The greatest joy of my life is being a wife and mom,” Wynne said. “Part of that role is feeding my family. We always attempt to have dinner at the same time even though the time could change from 5 to 7. We have always tried to sit down together at the table as much as we could. Those are core memories for me and my children.
“As those times are getting further between, they are holding great significance and tenderness for me. It was the time we were able to talk about the deep things, and some of our funniest memories are things that have happened at our table.
“Those are times that I treasure,” she added, “and I hope that my children will recreate them as they have their own families. Even on the days I didn’t want to cook, the end result was sitting down together and eating a meal together.
“Our time in Auburn has been greatly influenced by our time around the table, and that is how we have developed friendships. Whether it was sharing a meal after church or for watching a ball game, having those times with friends and family has made our life so fulfilled and rich.
“We have developed family here through having people in our home,” Wynne said. “Whether it is family, extended family or friends who have become like family, food is the glue that brings us together.”
Chicken Tortillas
½ onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. butter
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
4-6 chicken breasts, cooked tender and chopped
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 pkg. 10-inch flour tortillas
1 cup heavy whipping cream
8 oz. bag Mexican blend shredded cheese
Sauté onion in butter. Add cream cheese and stir into a sauce. Add chicken and Rotel tomatoes.
Spoon the mixture into tortillas, roll up and place in a greased casserole dish. Pour whipping cream over the rolled-up tortillas. Sprinkle cheese on top. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 minutes more.
Bruschetta Topping for Grilled Chicken or Crostini
Mixture can be used on top of grilled chicken with fresh mozzarella, or on toasted focaccia or ciabatta bread as an appetizer.
2 cups diced tomato
¼ cup packed fresh basil, chopped
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp. freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. sugar
1 medium-sized garlic clove, pressed or finely minced
salt and pepper
Combine all ingredients. Store in refrigerator until ready to use. For crostini appetizers, place topping on small slices of toasted bread, and to top grilled chicken, place a slice of fresh mozzarella on each chicken breast and top with the bruschetta mixture.
Kilbourne Potato Soup
This is named after a soup served at the Old Hardware Fish House in Kilbourne, Louisiana, where my parents, aunts and uncles used to visit.
1 stick butter
1 chopped onion
2 stalks celery, chopped
½ bell pepper, chopped
4 Tbsp. flour
8 cups chicken broth
6-10 baked potatoes, peeled and mashed (depending on how chunky you want the soup)
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz. Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 small pkg. Conecuh sausage, cooked and cut into bite-sized chunks (optional)
1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Sauté onion, celery and bell pepper in butter. When limp, add flour, stirring in for about a minute. Add chicken broth and baked potatoes. Stir and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes.
Add cream, Velveeta cheese, cooked sausage, jalapeño pepper and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer over low heat for at least 30 minutes, stirring often.
Dogtrot Blueberry Pie
1 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. salt
1 large egg, beaten slightly
2 to 2 ½ cups fresh blueberries, washed and drained well
Uncooked deep dish piecrust
Topping:
¼ cup all-purpose flour
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
½ cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Blend sour cream, flour, sugar, vanilla, salt and egg until smooth. Fold in blueberries.
Pour filling into pie shell and bake for 25 minutes.
While pie is baking, make the topping by thoroughly combining flour, butter and sugar. Then stir in pecans.
Sprinkle topping over pie and bake for 10 additional minutes.
Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate before serving.
Serve with whipped cream on top.
Weezy’s Key Lime Pie
I usually buy two “extra serving” pie crusts and then triple the recipe.
5 egg yolks
1 can condensed milk
1/2 cup lime juice (I use Nellie & Joe’s)
Graham cracker pie crust
Stir egg yolks into condensed milk; add lime juice gradually, starring as it is added. Pour into baked graham cracker pie shell. Bake at 325 degrees for about 25 minutes.
I usually buy two “extra serving” pie crusts and then triple the recipe.
4th Generation Tanner Brunswick Stew
My Tanner family would routinely gather for a dinner of barbecue and Brunswick Stew. I have revised it, based on the recipe developed by my mother, Judith Lee Driskell, which was based on what she learned from my great-grandmother, Thelma Tanner and my grandmother, Jocelyn Tanner Driskell.
Never make this with chicken. That is sacrilege to anyone who grew up on South Georgia Brunswick Stew.
2 lbs. smoked pork. Chop as fine as you want it in the stew.
32 oz. chicken stock (might need more if stew is thicker than you want)
1 can tomato sauce
2 cans petite diced tomatoes
6 potatoes, diced and cooked– don’t let them get mushy as they will continue to cook in the stew for a long time
2 onions, chopped
20 oz. ketchup
2 cans whole kernel corn
2 cans cream style corn
¾ cup Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. sugar
Salt and pepper
Hot sauce (optional)
Start early in the day so that it has plenty of time to simmer for several hours.
Add all the ingredients along with the chopped meat. Bring it to a boil, but then reduce the heat to low and cook all day. Stir occasionally, being careful not to let it cook too fast.
Adjust the salt and pepper to taste. Optional: add hot sauce of your choice. If stew gets too thick, add a cup or two more of chicken stock.
Lulu’s Trash
This is named after my grandmother, Helen Louise Garrett Lee. I was named after her, Wynne Louise, and now that I’m a grandmother, I have adopted her moniker…Lulu.)
1 box Cheerios
1 box Corn Chex
1 box Rice Chex
1 bag thin pretzel twists
1 can mixed nuts
1 cup (or more) pecan halves
1 pint vegetable oil
1 stick butter
Garlic powder
Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco or your preferred hot sauce
Mix the Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce and garlic powder into the vegetable oil. Use as much of each as you would like to taste. My mixture ends up being a nice chestnut brown.
Mix cereals and pretzels. Pour on half the oil mixture.
Bake at 200 degrees, stirring every 15 minutes, for 1 hour.
Then add nuts, 1 stick butter and the rest of the oil mixture.
Continue baking for another hour, stirring every 15 minutes.
Cool.
Linda’s Lasagna
Named after my mother’s sister, Linda Louise Lee Smith
1 lb. hot Italian sausage
½ lb. ground beef
¾ lb. mozzarella cheese
½ onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
¾ cup parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 Tbsp. salt
1 ½ tsp. basil
1 egg
¼ tsp. pepper
¼ cup chopped parsley (less if dried)
1 large can (28 oz.) Italian style crushed tomatoes
2 small cans (6 oz. each) tomato paste
½ cup water
15 oz. ricotta cheese
Oven-ready lasagna noodles
Brown meats. Drain for healthier, don’t for better. Add onion and garlic. Add sugar, salt, basil, pepper and parsley. Mix. Add tomatoes, tomato paste and ½ cup water. Simmer sauce 1 to 1 ½ hours on low.
Combine ricotta cheese and egg. Refrigerate while sauce simmers.
Layer:
Sauce
Noodles
Ricotta cheese
Mozzarella cheese
Then repeat.
Remainder of sauce
Top with rest of the parmesan and mozzarella cheeses.
Bake covered with foil for 25 minutes at 375 degrees, uncover and bake another 25 minutes. Let stand for about 15 minutes to set.
Southwest Chicken Salad
2-3 chicken breasts
Frontera Classic Fajita Skillet Sauce
Black Bean Salsa, recipe follows
Lettuce
Shredded cheddar cheese
Tortilla strips
Chipotle ranch salad dressing (brand of your choosing)
Cook chicken breasts in a slow cooker on low for 6 hours (or on high for 4 hours). When finished, shred the chicken. Pour Frontera Classic Fajita Skillet Sauce on shredded chicken, keep in the slow cooker on warm until ready to serve.
Black Bean Salsa:
15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
14 oz. can corn, drained
Cherry tomatoes or 1 medium tomato, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
½ cup red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
In a large bowl, combine beans, corn, tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, garlic and cilantro. Add olive oil, red wine vinegar and lime juice, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Pour liquid mixture over bean mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Small Town Pound Cake
In honor of my hometown of Dublin, Georgia.
3 cups sugar
2 sticks butter
8 Tbsp. Crisco
6 eggs
3 cups cake flour
1 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon flavoring
Cream butter, sugar and Crisco.
Add eggs one at a time.
Add flour in 4 parts, alternating with milk in 3 parts.
Add flavorings.
Two keys to this recipe: First, mix long and hard in a stand mixer. I let the mixer run while I am cleaning up and greasing & flouring the bundt pan. Second, start with a cold oven. Do not preheat the oven.
Cook in well-greased & floured bundt pan at 300 degrees for 1 ¼ to 1 ½ hours.
Crockpot Macaroni and Cheese
8 oz. macaroni, cooked
1 tall can evaporated milk
1½ cups regular milk
1 tsp. salt
3 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 eggs
1 stick butter
Pepper
Mix together and put in crockpot. Cook 3 hours on low.
To make this a main dish, add sliced and sauteed Conecuh sausage for the last 30 minutes!
Jess’s Margaritas
1 bottle Corona Light
1 12 oz. can frozen limeade
1 12 oz. can water (use empty limeade can)
1 12 oz. can tequila (use empty limeade can) (I often do an extra 6 oz.)
2 limes worth of juice (or to taste)
Dump all that in a pitcher, stir it, refrigerate it, stir it again, then serve it.
Rim your glasses with salt, of course.
