Meet the Cook: Cathy Jones

Say hello to Cathy!

Q. What are your favorite things to cook?

It is hard to think of one favorite thing I like to cook… probably my Grandma Smith’s sugar cookie recipe and any kind of pie and BREAD!

Q. How/when did you learn to cook?

I learned to cook watching my grandmothers. The 1950’s Betty Crocker cookbooks were and are wonderful for instruction, too. Since my grandmothers have passed on, the old Betty Crocker book is still my “go to” help.

Q. Tell us about some of your cooking triumphs.

Making my grandmother’s recipes taste close to hers is my happiest triumph. Learning how to render lard and can were great thrills for me as well.

Q. What was your most memorable cooking tragedy?

A few years ago I spent an afternoon picking black raspberries. I made pie from some of the berries. It looked and smelled wonderful. While I was outside visiting with a friend who dropped by, my Labrador, Maggie helped herself to the entire center of the pie, leaving me the crust. (I think she thought she was being generous!)

Q. Describe your kitchen. Do you love it, hate it, and why?

I am very thankful for my kitchen. We remodeled it, making it larger, a few years back. After a small cramped space with 5 children running through while cooking, I am always thankful for what I have now. My favorite things in my kitchen are my husband’s grandmother’s dining room table and chairs, and a dresser that an ancestor made in the early 1800’s, and my great grandmother’s bread bowl. Many of the things I use to cook with were my grandma’s things that date from the ’30’s to the ’90’s. Using their kitchen tools brings back happy memories.

Q. Is your pantry organized and are your kitchen drawers tidy? We need to know.

Ha! It is on the rare day I re-organize it, lol. The other 363 days of the year, not so much!

Q. Do you have any favorite family cooking traditions?

I make my Grandma Smith’s rolls for holiday meals. My niece, Livvie is learning how to make them now. Also, gingerbread men and houses at Christmas time. That has been something that my children’s friends have gotten involved with, which is so much fun!

Q. What is the one gadget (or ten) you couldn’t do without in your kitchen?

My cast iron pans, my grandma’s potato masher, my baking stone, my knives. My pressure canner and mason jars! Oh, and my strainer and colander.

Q. If you had to take one food to a deserted island, what would it be?

My grandma’s sugar cookies!

Q. What is your go-to comfort food?

Coffee!

Some of Cathy’s recipes on Farm Bell Recipes include:

Find all of Cathy’s recipes and blog postshere.

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