“Above all, love each other as love covers a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” Peter 4:8-9
With a servant’s heart and love for others, Kem Jackson has a gift for hospitality. At Easter, Kem and her husband, the Rev. Al Jackson, begin celebrating at a sunrise service, followed by breakfast at church and a homecooked meal for family after services. Kem is sharing her Easter menu, as well as other favorite recipes and her organizing secrets for providing hospitality for Sunday lunches.
Rev. Jackson served as senior pastor of Lakeview Baptist Church in Auburn for 42 and a half years, retiring in 2021. Before his retirement, the ladies of the church honored Kem, who has graciously shared her hospitality over the years, with a banquet. The ladies printed Kem’s recipes in a small booklet with photos of her family and presented a copy one to each of the 200 attending.
Kem has fond members of growing up in the small town of Kinston in the wiregrass. Her grandmother and mother were excellent cooks, preparing fried chicken, roast beef, ham, egg pie and many other delicious dishes. Her father enjoyed making breakfast with homemade biscuits.
At Easter, Kem’s family got together with aunts and uncles at her grandmother’s to celebrate.
While her mother was preparing wonderful meals, Kem didn’t spend time in the kitchen as she preferred to go with her father to the family’s 200-acre farm after school and during summer months.
“In the third grade, my father taught me to drive the truck to help feed the cows and hogs,” Kem remembered. “We also took baled hay to the barn for winter feed.”
Her father had a garden where he grew peas, okra, butterbeans, cotton, soybeans, peanuts and corn. They had 200 head of cattle.
Both Kem’s mother and father taught in the Kinston school system after leaving Fairview, where her father was principal. Her parents also taught Sunday school and enjoyed having guests for meals, especially for Sunday lunch.
Kem learned a few basics of cooking in a high school home economics class. After graduating, she attended community college in Enterprise. Al and Kem met at a youth prayer meeting.
After growing up in nearby Florala, Al attended Auburn University for five quarters until he received a calling to preach. He then transferred to the Baptist School at Samford. After graduating, he became the minister at Carolina Baptist Church.
Kem’s love of cooking and hospitality unfolded after she and Al married. “The Lord brought that gift of hospitality,” she said. “I wrote many letters to my mother asking her for recipes and how she cooked certain things.”
Al accepted a call to be pastor at a church in Fort Worth, Texas. While living there, Al graduated from the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, while Kem received a degree from Texas Wesleyan.
The Jacksons returned to Carolina Baptist Church, and in 1979, Rev. Jackson was called to Lakeview Baptist. Over the years, Kem has hosted Sunday lunches after church for visiting missionaries, church groups and many other fellowships.
“I learned early if I was going to cook Sunday lunch for my family it would be easy to cook a little more to have guests,” she said. “I love offering hospitality and used that as an opportunity for the Lord to bless the ministry.”
Kem is organized. First, she writes her menu and a list of ingredients needed for the recipes. She will prepare casseroles and desserts on Saturday, as well as other dishes that can be made ahead. Since dessert keeps well, sometimes she will make them on Friday.
She also uses a crock-pot for roasts and other meats. If she gets up at six, she can cook it on low for six or seven hours or put it on high for an hour or two, then turns it to low.
On Sunday mornings, she uses the “time bake” on the oven. She removes casseroles from the refrigerator and puts them in the oven to come to room temperate and bake. The dishes will be ready to serve when they return from church.
Then she has time for last minute things, such as baking the rolls and putting ice in glasses. When she opens the door for lunch guests, the house is filled with tantalizing aromas.
Kem also has guests over after church on Sunday nights, including new member fellowships. She will serve snacks, such as dips that she prepared ahead. Sometimes if she is rushed, she will buy fresh fruit and cookies to assemble on a tray to serve with the dips.
“Our children learned to share our home on those Sunday evenings,” Kem said. “Sweet bonding and fellowship happened.”
The Jacksons have three children and nine grandchildren. Their son, Josh, a senior partner with Samford and Denson, and his wife, Laura, live in Auburn. Their three children are Franklin, who is attending medical school; Claudia, student at Auburn University and Sam, a senior at Lee Scott.
Daughter Hannah and her husband, Randy, a missions pastor at Luke 4:18 Church, live in Mobile, and their two sons, William and Joshua, are students at Auburn University while their daughter Margaret Anne is a 10th grader.
Daughter Naomi, who was a teacher, and her husband, Matt O’Reily, pastor of Christ Church in Birmingham, have three children, Patrick, Vivian and Jackson.
On Easter morning, the Jacksons attend sunrise service, followed by breakfast at their church prepared by Carpenters for Christ. After Sunday school and church, they come home to celebrate with family.
Kem prepares a pork roast for Easter lunch. She has time after sunrise service to go home, place the pork in the oven and set the time bake. She does not do that earlier, as it would be in the oven too long before cooking (don’t let meat sit at room temperature more than two hours).
She will have the other dishes prepared the day ahead. For dessert, she bakes a Butternut Cake on Friday. While Kem finds the butternut flavoring in the wiregrass, it should be available at a local grocery store.
“Easter is the most meaningful holiday of the year to me,” Kem said. “As a Christian, the reminder of Jesus’ death and resurrection over Easter is the voice of truth that our world needs.
“On a personal level, the truth of Jesus’ provision for forgiveness and salvation has made my life worth living. When I was 18 this truth impacted me and gave my life peace and purpose through God’s salvation. Since then, celebrating Easter is full of joy. What a joy to know God has given us victory over death and made a way for us to spend eternity with him in heaven.”
Roast Pork Loin
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. mustard
2-4 garlic cloves, minced
3 tsp. salt
3 tsp. pepper
3-5 lb. pork loin roast
Combine first five ingredients and blend together into a paste. Spread the paste over the pork, covering all sides.
Place pork on parchment paper in a 9 by 13-inch baking pan. Bake pork at 350 degrees for 20 minutes per pound. When done, let roast sit for 10 minutes before slicing.
Baked Brown Rice
1½ cups uncooked white rice
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can condensed beef consume
1 can water
1 can dry onion soup mix or 1 onion, chopped
1 stick butter, sliced
Combine all ingredients except butter. Pour into a greased 9 by 13-inch baking pan. Lay slices of butter over top.
Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes.
Sweet Potatoes and Cranberries
This is one of the first recipes Kem learned to prepare when they lived in Texas. It has remained a family favorite for holidays. When cranberries are in season, she freezes several bags to use throughout the year.
6-8 medium sweet potatoes
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 cups fresh cranberries, (can use frozen cranberries that have been thawed)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
Boil potatoes until tender, coo1, peel, quarter and place in dish. Cook sauce on medium until berries pop. Pour on potatoes. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes.
Butternut Cake
Duncan Hines butter golden cake mix
3/4 cup water
1 Tbsp. butternut flavoring
3 large eggs
6 Tbsp. soft butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and lightly flour two 9-inch cake pans.
Blend all ingredients in low 30 seconds. Beat on medium for 4 minutes. Pour batter into pans. Bake for 21-22 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and place on a wire rack. Cool completely.
Prepare frosting and frost cooled cake layers.
Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
4 oz. butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp. butternut flavoring
1 lb. confectioners’ sugar
1/2-1 cup pecans, chopped
Cream butter and cream cheese thoroughly. Add flavoring and mix. Slowly add sugar until creamy. Frost and stack cake. Pecans may be folded into frosting or sprinkled on top.
Coffee Punch
Recipe from Dr. Dorothy Caveuger
This recipe was served at daughter’s Hannah’s wedding. The recipe was increased to serve 200. The punch has been served at many showers, parties and weddings.
2 cups water
1 ¼ cup sugar
2 oz. instant coffee or more, if desired
In a saucepan, combine water and sugar. Boil until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Stir in coffee and steep until cool. Can prepare this ahead and store in refrigerator until ready to use.
½ gallon vanilla ice cream
1 gallon milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Put scoops of ice cream in punch bowl. Add coffee mixture, milk and vanilla. Makes 50 servings.
Flourless German Chocolate Cookies
3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ tsp. salt
2 cups chopped pecans
3 egg whites, room temperature
2 Tbsp. milk
2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cup sweet, shredded coconut
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Whisk together the first three ingredients. Add pecans, egg whites, milk and vanilla. Mix until combined. Fold in coconut and chocolate chips.
Drop 1 to 2 Tbsp. of mixture 2 inches apart on a parchment paper lined pan.
Bake for 14 minutes at 350 degrees.
Granola
2 Tbsp. butter or 1 Tbsp. butter and 1 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup wheat germ and/or ground flax seed
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
1 cup maple syrup
6 cups oatmeal
1 cup nuts
½ cup coconut, optional
Dried fruit
Melt butter. Mix all in order. Layout on 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Add dried fruit when cool.
Refrigerator Bread and Butter Pickles
8-10 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp. kosher salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup coconut or brown sugar
2 cups cider vinegar
3 tsp. mustard seeds
Toss cucumbers and onion with salt. Refrigerate for one hour. Remove cucumbers from refrigerator and rinse with cold water several times. Drain, place in a large sealable container and set aside.
Combine sugars, cider vinegar and mustard seeds in a medium pan over medium heat. Cook until sugar is completely dissolved and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and pour over cucumbers.
Let cool for 30 minutes at room temperature. Seal and chill in refrigerator overnight or at least 12 hours. Store in the refrigerator up to 1 month.
Sausage and Grits Casserole
6 cups chicken stock
1 ½ lbs. sausage
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups quick grits
12 oz. Velveeta, cubed
½ cup butter, cubed
½ cup milk
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch pan. Cook and drain sausage. Stir in cream cheese. Set aside. Boil stock; add grits. Reduce heat and cook covered for 5 minutes.
Add cheese and butter. Stir well until melted. Add milk. Slowly stir in eggs then 3/4 of the sausage mixture.
Pour in the pan. Sprinkle cheese and the remaining sausage mixture on top.
Bake for 40-45 minutes. Can be frozen for later. When ready to serve, thaw and bake for 60 minutes.
Copper Pennies
My mother made this for Pat Hall’s bridesmaids’ luncheon. She loved them so much that they are now a staple at every Hatcher gathering!
2 lbs. carrots, sliced thin
1 small bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 tsp. salt
Boil in water until tender.
1 can tomato soup
1 cup sugar
½ cup salad oil
3/4 cup vinegar
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. yellow mustard
pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients. Mix well. Pour over carrots, peppers and onions. Place in the refrigerator overnight.
Cranberry Salad
Four 3 oz. pkg. Jell-O of choice, such as raspberry, cherry, orange (I sometimes use 3 pkg. cherry and 1 pkg. orange.)
2 cups boiling water
1½ cup sugar
½ cup cold water or orange juice
1 cup pecans, chopped
2 oranges, ground (or 2 cans mandarin oranges)
20 oz. crushed, sweetened pineapple
2 cup fresh cranberries, ground
Dissolve Jell-O in boiling water. Add sugar, Let cool. Add remaining ingredients. Make two days ahead before serving.
Brunswick Stew
Recipe from Grandmother Eunice Chance
2 cups ground boiled chicken
2 cups ground cooked pork
1 cup cooked butterbeans
1 qt. creamed corn
1 family bottle catsup
1 qt. tomatoes
1 large onion
¼ cup vinegar
3 cups cooked cubed potatoes
1 cup nonfat stock
½ stick margarine or butter
Add to taste: hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper
In a large stockpot, combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer until fully cooked and flavors have blended.
