Durenda Frye enjoys cooking, especially when she can share her meals with family and friends.
“My cooking has improved a lot over the 34 years that I’ve been married. My first attempt at making gravy could have been used as wallpaper paste,” she said.
Frye grew up in Neosho Falls, where “I had a wonderful childhood,” she said.
She and her five siblings lived down the road from her grandmother, Dollie Stephens, who always had a lemon pie on the window sill or chicken and dumplings simmering on her stove.
“We had so much fun at my grandma’s house,” she said. “We’d sleep on the floor and in the morning she’d cook eggs and bacon and have fresh fruit from her orchard. I always said that when I had grandchildren I wanted to be just like my grandma Dollie.”
She met her husband, Jim, on a shopping trip to Burlington. The two talked for a while and went their separate ways. Two years later she ran into Jim on another shopping spree and he asked her for a date.
“My mom wasn’t too keen on my dating Jim. He was divorced and had five sons, but I was determined and a couple years later we were married,” she said.
The couple have two daughters, Shelley Wagner and Stephanie Morrison, who have a 10-year age difference.
“I was blessed with two daughters. When I found out I couldn’t have anymore children I opened my daycare 26 years ago. I just love taking care of children, which includes my grandchildren,” she said.
The couple also provided a home for foster children for 16 years.
“We never turned away a child because he or she needed special care,” she said.
Frye likes to clip recipes from publications and has a collection of more than 500 cookbooks.
“I’m easy to buy for. Just get me a cookbook,” she said.
Caring for children, Frye usually has a sweet treat in her kitchen. She especially likes to make cupcakes. Each Wednesday she makes a different flavor cupcake as a snack for youths attending TeamKID at her church, First Baptist.
“Next week I’m going to make birthday cupcakes with a candles so the kids can celebrate Jesus’ birthday after TeamKID classes,” she said.
She and Jim also enjoy fishing and plan on making a few trips to the pond during the Christmas holiday.
“I don’t get to go fishing very often, but I don’t care how cold it gets, I’m going fishing the week after Christmas,” she said.
Several of Frye’s favorite holiday recipes are listed below.
Fried Crappie
10 crappie fillets
Canola oil
2 cups Bisquick
2 cups instant potato buds
2 tablespoons garlic salt
2 tablespoons pepper
Mix Bisquick, potato buds, garlic salt and pepper in a bowl. Put fish in batter and mix until completely covered.
Put 1-inch Canola oil in skillet and heat. Place fish in skillet and cook 3 minutes on each side until light and golden brown.
Cherry Coke Salad
3/4 cup cold water
3/4 cup white sugar
1 can cherry pie filling
1 can crushed pineapple
2 (3 ounce packages ) cherry Jell-O
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup Coke
1 package chopped pecans
Mix water and sugar in sauce pan, bring to a boil, add pie filling and bring back to a boil. Put Jell-O in a large bowl, pour mixture over Jell-O and stir until dissolved. Stir in pineapple, lemon juice, coke and pecans. Pour into 9 x 13 inch cake pan, place in refrigerator to set.
Sweet Potato Souffle
3 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Melt butter and mix all ingredients, add eggs one at a time once other ingredients are mixed well. Pour into 9 x 13 inch glass pan.
Topping
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup flour
1 cup pecans
Melt butter or margarine, add flour, sugar and pecans. Pour topping over sweet potato mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
Chocolate Ribbon Pie
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
2 (3.9 ounce) packages instant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups milk
1 (9 inch) prepared chocolate cookie crumb crust
In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon milk. Beat until smooth. Gently fold in 1/2 of the whipped topping. Spread on the bottom of crust.
In a large bowl, combine chocolate pudding mix with 2 cups milk. Beat with wire whisk for 2 minutes (mixture will be thick.) Spread over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate 4 hours or until set. Just before serving, spread remaining whipped topping over pudding layer.
Cheeseball
2 packages cream cheese (softened)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped green peppers
2 teaspoons Worchestershire sauce
Garlic salt to taste
1 jar pimentos
1 package chopped nuts
Mix all ingredients together, form into a ball and then roll in chopped nuts.
Shrimp and Wild Rice Casserole
1 package Uncle Ben’s original wild rice
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 — 10 3/4 ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Cook rice according to package directions, minus 1/2 cup water, let cool
Bring 2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to boil in a medium saucepan and add shrimp. When water returns to a boil, cook shrimp for 1 minute, drain immediately and set aside
Heat butter in a saucepan and saute green peppers and onions until soft, about 5 minutes.
In a large bowl combine rice, soup and 1 1/2 cups of the cheese, shrimp and vegetables. Add salt and pepper to taste, mix well.
Spray 9-inch square or 11 x 7 inch glass casserole dish.
Bake uncovered at 325 degrees for 20 minutes or until bubbly.
