Laura Walker Makes Family Favorites: Mac & Cheese, Collard Greens with Smoked Turkey, and Sweet Potato Pie!

Well, hello, and welcome to “At Home” today. We’re so glad that you’re here. You know, when you don’t come by we miss you. We say, “Where is that Mary from Stahlstown?” Or, “Where is Joe from Wisconsin?” You know what, we’re always glad ’cause this is a time when the family gets together. That’s what “At Home” is all about, family and friends. And today, one of my very special friends is here and she’s gonna share some awesome side dishes that you’re gonna… They’re great for a picnic. They’re great for holidays. They’re just playing great to eat any time of the day that you’d want. And my friend, Laura Walker, is here to share some of her fabulous recipes. But you know I have a very special request to make of all of you who really know that God hears and answers prayer. There’s a fellow from our church, his name is Bill. We’ve been praying and praying for him because he needs a miracle. I’m not gonna go into a lot of details but this is a man who has a family and children, 52 years old and had a brain aneurysm and there’s not much hope from the doctors. But you know what, we know the great physician. And we’ve been praying and believing for him. And I’m asking you, if you know how to pray and you believe that God hears and answers prayer, would you add Bill to the list of people that you pray for. And I will tell you of his progress and we may even have him come on the program when he’s fully restored. I would just ask you to do that in Jesus name. You know, that’s the thing about belonging to a body of believers in a church. That’s why everybody needs to have a church, a church home. Because when there’s something wrong, something goes haywire in your family, or you just need prayer, you have a family that cares about you like we all care about Bill. And that’s why if you don’t go to church you need to find a church. You need to find a place where you fit right in and it feels right at home. And if you’re stuck in the house and you can’t get out much, we have an 800 number, I’m sorry, an 888 number and doesn’t cost you a cent to call. And there are prayer partners that are right there who are willing to pray with you 24/7. And they can be your connection when you have a need in your family. Okay, well, we’re gonna do our today’s hint and then we’re coming back and Laura’s gonna be cooking up oh boy, greens and sweep… Oh, I won’t tell y’all. We’ll be back in just a minute. Here’s today’s “At Home” hint. Try placing a few unshelled pecans in your saucepan when cooking greens, kales, or collards it will help keep the odor down. If you’ve got a helpful hint, we’d like to hear from you. Send your hint to “At Home” Hints Cornerstone Television, Wall, Pennsylvania, 15148-1499. Well, here I am in the kitchen with my good friend, Laura. I’m so glad you’re here today.

And I’m so glad I’m here too.

We like to cook, don’t we?

We love to cook and–

We cook food and eat.

We love to eat.

Unfortunately. But you know what, Laura and her daughter, both are excellent cooks. And they made some stuff, we get together and we have fun evenings. And this macaroni and cheese recipe, I said, “Somebody’s gotta make this.”

It’s the best.

And it’s you. Yeah, okay, get us started, Laura.

Okay, well, of course you wanna boil your noodles.

[Arlene] It’s one pound, right?

It’s one pound of noodles. Yeah, and what I like to do is melt my butter and just pour it over the noodles.

[Arlene] Which is about how much butter?

About a stick and a half.

Stick and a half. Okay.

And then you just mix it up.

[Arlene] All right. ‘Cause that gives a good covering, huh?

[Laura] Yeah, it does.

[Arlene] And it also tastes good. I mean, that with a little bit of salt and pepper and some cheese and you’re ready to go.

[Laura] Oh my, I tell you.

[Arlene] Okay.

And then, the next thing I like to do is take my egg.

Just one egg in a whole pound?

Just one egg. Beat it. Okay.

[Arlene] All right, that kinda holds it all together, huh?

[Laura] Just pour it right in there.

Right in here, okay. I’ll do clean up for you today.

Well, thank you dear, I appreciate it. All right, and just mix it up real good. And the next thing we wanna do is take our Velveeta cheese.

Now we got you the crumbly ones, like this, right?

Yeah, that’s really nice too because it’s not very easy to grate.

It’s hard. Just dump both of these in here?

Just dump both in there.

Okay.

Okay, so that is, actually let me tell you how much that is in case they wanna make this at home. That is a cup and a half of Velveeta.

Okay.

And then we’re gonna take a cup of milk.

[Arlene] All right.

[Laura] Pour it in.

[Arlene] Okay. Get rid of that.

[Arlene] Very good.

And a half a cup of half and half.

Oh, that’s the cream, huh?

Yes.

[Arlene] How could it not be good with cream? Oh boy, all right.

Okay, now we’re gonna pop this in the microwave.

For about how long?

Oh, about three or four minutes.

Okay.

You just check it and stir it.

Okay.

As needed.

Okay.

So, I’ll take care of that.

So she’s doing that. Now, this has about four different of cheeses. It’s not just like Velveeta. We have a variety here and she’s gonna be telling you because it really does make a difference if you use a lot of cheese. Sometimes if you don’t, then kinda tastes like, I would like it with all Velveeta.

No.

It would be too strong.

It doesn’t taste like real macaroni and cheese unless you have the flavor of all the cheeses in there. Now, we put that in for three minutes, but we’re gonna check that periodically.

Okay.

And we’re gonna stir it.

Okay.

Okay. So while that’s heating up we’ll just mix this. And then you wanna take your salt.

Even though it has salt in the cheese, you still add some?

Yeah.

You have to.

Absolutely. And do we have a little measuring spoon?

Okay. See, we don’t do that, I just like–

You know what?

[Arlene] Do it Laura, you don’t have to measure.

[Laura] To be honest I put this–

[Arlene] I know better, that’s why I didn’t put one out for you.

[Laura] I put these recipes together, for you.

[Arlene] For me, I know.

Because I usually just throw a little pinch of this and a little pinch of that.

[Arlene] But the best cooks do that, you know?

[Laura] Oh, yeah.

[Arlene] They really do.

[Laura] Absolutely. Okay, so we put our salt in. We got that stirred up.

All right.

A little bit of pepper. Okay.

[Arlene] And you can do it fresh grated or?

You can. You can do fresh grated if you want to. Probably about three quarters of a teaspoon of pepper.

But you know you could fire this up any way you wanted to?

Absolutely.

Like hot sauce or anything else in there that you wanted.

Oh, yeah. My granddaughter loves pepper so she’s–

[Arlene] Does she?

[Laura] She’s always saying, “Grammy more pepper.”

[Arlene] More pepper, huh.

More pepper. Okay, so we’re gonna check on our Velveeta.

All right. Let me just go over the other cheese as well as she’s doing that. She also has some sharp Cheddar, and she has some Muenster, she also has Monterey Jack. This is Monterey Jack and Colby together, I believe. And, what’s the other cheese? Oh, the Velveeta is in there. Okay.

Yeah. And that’ll be ready in just–

Just a little bit.

One minute, yeah.

Okay. Now, we have it in a preheated oven.

Yes.

350 degrees?

350 Degrees.

All right, and how long does it bake?

About 25 minutes.

25 Minutes. Okay.

That’s about it.

All right, let me spray this while you check that.

Okay, great.

Because she’s gonna do it in a nice deep baking dish ’cause this makes a nice casserole. And you can either butter it or… This is so convenient we’re just gonna spray it. Okay. There we go.

And we’re ready.

That’s done. All right.

Okay.

Okay, that’s good.

So you wanna take your Velveeta and milk mixture, just pour right in.

[Arlene] Very good.

[Laura] And just stir it up. I love cheese.

[Arlene] Because you’re just giving that like a stir to get going in the oven, right?

[Laura] Yes.

[Arlene] Okay.

[Laura] Absolutely.

[Arlene] And all the cheese, it really makes a lot, huh?

[Laura] Oh, it really does.

[Arlene] Okay.

It tastes so good. Okay, now, we’ll just add our cheeses.

[Arlene] All of them one time?

[Laura] Sure, dump them in.

[Arlene] Dump them, there goes the Muenster. What was that you just put in?

[Laura] That was just the Monterey Jack.

Okay, and this is?

And that’s, the sharp Cheddar.

Sharp Cheddar.

[Laura] Not much mild Cheddar, sharp Cheddar.

[Arlene] Yeah, ’cause it has to have a little taste to it.

[Laura] Oh yeah, it really gives it the flavor. All right, so you get all your cheeses in then dump in the rest of your half and half.

Do it now?

Do it now.

[Arlene] Do it now.

[Laura] Do it now. Great.

[Arlene] And you want it to be moist, it shouldn’t be dry.

[Laura] No.

[Arlene] Because as it bakes it dries down.

[Laura] Yes, it does. Doesn’t that look good?

It does. You can put that in a microwave for about 30 minutes or whatever. Maybe not even that long.

You could.

And it would be great.

Okay, so now what we wanna do is pour it into our casserole dish. Okay.

[Arlene] All right. Got it?

[Laura] I think so.

[Arlene] Okay. Sometimes this stuff likes to splash on you.

[Laura] Yeah. Oh my goodness, I’m telling you.

[Arlene] My mouth is watering already, it really is.

[Laura] You’re gonna love it. Okay.

[Arlene] Okay. And are you doing from the top now?

Yes.

Oh, okay.

You take a half a cup of sharp Cheddar. And you just sprinkle it over the top. I’m telling you guys, you’re gonna love this macaroni and cheese. And then, about a quarter of a stick of butter. And you just wanna dab it over.

[Arlene] Just dot it with a little bit of butter.

[Laura] Yeah.

[Arlene] That gives it a nice brown baked.

[Laura] Yeah, it does.

[Arlene] Oh boy, yummy.

[Laura] And I love butter.

[Arlene] Okay, You brought your friend, Rose, she’s here too. We were having that discussion. She goes, “You know I just like the way butter tastes.” And I said, “Rose, you know what, so do I.”

Yeah.

And I think, it’s better for you than a lot of the stuff that they make with chemicals. You know, Laura is a nurse and she’s up on all that stuff. And so, butter is better than the other stuff, right?

Absolutely.

[Arlene] Okay.

So now we’re gonna pop that in the oven on 350.

Alrighty.

For 25 minutes.

25 minutes. Make sure your oven’s nice and hot. Really important that it is really, really hot.

There you have it.

Okay, in about 25 minutes, 30 minutes?

25 to 30, it’s all ready to go.

It’s done. All right, now we’ve had something cooking and we’re gonna do this real quick because she’s been cooking collared greens. Now, let’s go over the recipe ’cause this is a long process and all you do is just put everything in a pot. So, let’s go through the whole list.

Okay, great. You wanna take five pounds of collared greens, two medium potatoes.

Tomatoes.

Tomatoes. Potatoes, tomatoes.

Yeah, whatever.

[Laura] And three large garlic cloves, a large red onion. You wanna chop them fine.

[Arlene] Chop them fine.

[Laura] Half a teaspoon of black pepper, one to three chicken bullion cubes, two smoked turkey legs, three tablespoons of vegetable oil, and a quarter and a half of water, a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.

Apple cider vinegar.

Just dump it all.

She just put all in there. Now, this has been cooking for an hour and a half. Now this recipe, you know, it’s gonna be in your newsletter so don’t worry about if you didn’t get all the ingredients. But she’s gonna now after spending for an hour and a half cooking just like this. And you’ll think, “There’s so much, it’s way too much.” But this is smoked turkey. And what we’re gonna do now after an hour and a half is?

[Laura] We’re gonna take the meat off of the bone.

[Arlene] Like, ’cause it’s falling off already.

[Laura] Yes, it is.

And we’re gonna take a break. When we come back, we’re gonna show you the collared greens. Stick with us. If you’ve just joined us, you’ve already missed. We got the mac and cheese in the oven. Now we’re doing the collard greens made with smoked turkey.

Yes.

So awesome. And this is the turkey. We’ve taken all, you know, she’s got the bones . I saw a little bone here, Laura. But that’s okay because we’re gonna take this all off the bones and then we’re putting it back in. And then, how long does it cook again?

For about another hour and a half. Well, actually, some people like it al dente. I don’t, I like it like spinach.

[Arlene] Yes, it’s real soft.

Yeah, for another hour and a half it’ll cook.

Well, I’ll tell you, the smell is incredible. Now we’re putting all this back in, right back in.

[Laura] Yes.

[Arlene] Look how those tomatoes got. I don’t want those bones in there. Those tomatoes are, and the flavor and the smell is incredible. It really is. Anything with garlic is incredible.

[Laura] Yes, it is.

[Arlene] When you add it with like a meat or a green.

[Laura] You wanna give that a little stir.

[Arlene] Okay, I will.

[Laura] Okay, great.

I wanna get all little bits off of there. These are the best. Okay, you’re gonna start making some sweet potato pie.

Yes.

Tell us what you’re doing there.

I am telling you guys, this is gonna be the best sweet potato pie that you have ever tasted in your life.

[Arlene] Well.

[Laura] Let me just.

[Arlene] There’s an unbiased opinion.

It really is good.

Well, she’s right, it is great. It is great.

So what you wanna do is you wanna take three large sweet potatoes and you wanna boil them and then–

[Arlene] Or five medium, you said too.

[Laura] Yeah, or five medium. And then you wanna dip them in cold water and peel them. Put them in your bowl and then you’re gonna add three fourths cup of butter. And just take your masher, mash it all up real nice.

Well they mash up nice, huh?

[Laura] Yeah, they really do.

[Arlene] I love sweet potatoes. Do you know Paul, Paul hates sweet potatoes but he will eat your sweet potato pie. He won’t eat anything else sweet potato, he’ll eat her pie.

I’m telling you it’s really good.

It is.

Okay, and so, then the next thing you wanna do is you wanna take a half a cup of sugar.

Half a cup of sugar, or regular sugar. Well, these things are like just cooking to death.

I know.

You put a lid on or just leave them go?

No, you just leave them go ’cause you want the water to evaporate. And then you wanna add three-fourths cup of brown sugar.

[Arlene] Okay.

[Laura] Okay. Take your little mixer.

[Arlene] Mash it again.

[Laura] Mash it some more.

Thanksgiving time, Laura baked us a pie and brought it to the house and I said, “Oh, how many pies you make?” How many do you make?

Oh, my goodness.

16?

Yeah.

16.

16 pies.

This recipe makes two.

Yes.

Okay. So.

Okay, now we wanna take our three eggs.

You don’t use this again?

No. I won’t use that again.

No, I don’t think you do.

[Laura] Add the three eggs.

[Arlene] All right.

And the thing that really makes this pie wonderful is the lemon juice.

Really?

Yes. So, three quarters teaspoon of lemon juice.

[Arlene] It’s such a little bit, you’d wonder how it would change that.

Yeah, it makes a big difference.

Good.

[Laura] Three quarters teaspoon of cinnamon.

[Arlene] Okay.

[Laura] Also nutmeg.

[Arlene] Okay.

And vanilla.

[Arlene] So those are the basic seasons?

[Laura] That’s it.

[Arlene] Okay.

And then you wanna take, and the other thing that’s different with my pie is you wanna take a can of sweetened condensed milk.

A whole can or just a cup?

[Laura] A whole can.

[Arlene] A whole can, okay.

[Laura] Pour that baby in there.

[Arlene] All right. Wait, you wanna… I’m gonna give you a little, look at this little spatula.

[Laura] Perfect.

[Arlene] Okay.

[Laura] Okay, and then–

[Arlene] That just adds, that’s why you can cut down on the sugar, huh? Because that sweetened condensed milk has a lot of sugar too.

[Laura] Yes, it does. And then the next thing you wanna do is add your three quarters cup of evaporated milk.

[Arlene] Okay. Good.

[Laura] And then, you’re gonna–

[Arlene] Is that it?

That’s it.

Okay.

Now you’re gonna beat it with the mixer?

All right.

And we’re just gonna–

[Arlene] Well, that seems so simple.

[Laura] It is simple.

[Arlene] Yeah.

[Laura] Very simple and very, very good.

This is where you stand back. Now, you told me the difference when you bake pies. Like most of the time when you bake a pie, this is similar to a pumpkin pie to me, okay. But you said when you bake this, you bake it long and low.

Yes, I put this on 250.

250 degree oven. ‘Cause normally–

For an hour and a half.

Normally they bake like 425 and then you drop them to 350. But this is different, okay. So for an hour and a half at 250.

[Laura] Oh, yeah.

[Arlene] That makes them creamy.

[Laura] Makes it very creamy.

[Arlene] They don’t dry out.

[Laura] No.

Wow. That looks awesome. Delicious. Now you notice, take a picture guys. Please take a picture of the beautiful pie crust that her friend Arlene did for her because she buys a frozen.

[Laura] Yes, I do.

[Arlene] She buys the frozen ones.

[Laura] I do, unless my daughter makes them.

Yes, yeah, Monica, she does. She makes good. But I just thought, well, hey, don’t tell anybody they are the refrigerator ones that you roll out and stick them in a pan. They work great. That’s what I use all the time. But sometimes my other stuff, you know, doesn’t work out as well as I’d like it to. So I just buy those and they always work well.

All right.

Okay.

So, we’ll sit this here.

Okay.

Okay, now.

You’re gonna pour?

Yes. Do you have a dipper?

You wanna dipper?

See if we can–

No, there’s that… Here, I’ll find you a dipper.

Okay. And then I like to take the dipper and just scoop.

How about this, will this work?

That’ll work fine.

Okay.

And just scoop it.

Oh, here’s a bigger dipper.

Oh, that’s perfect. Perfect.

You know, this is just “At Home” we’re looking for things all, you know, it doesn’t matter, right?

That’s right.

[Arlene] It looks so much like pumpkin. It really does. It sure tastes different.

[Laura] It’s really, really good.

Yeah. And this, again, makes enough for two pies. So if you wanted to just make one, just do half the recipe.

Yeah.

[Arlene] We have to get that scooped up in there. Sweet potatoes when they’re fresh like that and they’re warm, it takes no time for this to come together. You don’t wanna do the potatoes and let them sit and get cold though, right?

[Laura] No, you don’t. You wanna make sure they’re warm so that your butter melts when you put that butter in there.

See, I always go back and forth with his last few spoons to make sure that it’s even.

[Laura] Yeah, I do that too.

[Arlene] ‘Cause you want it to be right. Yeah, I think you got it girl.

That’s it.

And clean it up ’cause that’s somebody’s mouthful. That’s what mom always said. Your mom was a great cook too, wasn’t she?

Oh, my goodness.

Let me take this.

Yes, she was.

Okay, in the oven?

In the oven.

Okay.

Here we go.

Here we go. In with the mac and cheese, this is gonna be awesome. And here’s the other one.

Okay.

Okay. They both gonna fit in there?

I think so.

Okay, well you know what? While she’s putting that in the oven getting ready to bake, we have some that’s already baked. And when we come back, we’re gonna be showing you the finished products of everything you’ve seen today here “At Home”. Stay with us, we’ll be right back. Thanks, Laura. Now, you wanna be sure to send for the newsletter or if you have a subscription on the online email, you have to get these recipes ’cause I know you’re gonna include them in some of your upcoming meals or even holidays. Laura, this looks so awesome. And everybody’s been dropping in from, you know, everywhere. Let’s start there. There’s the mac and cheese.

[Laura] Okay, would you like have some?

[Arlene] I would love to have some.

[Laura] All right, dear.

[Arlene] And you can make it as creamy as you want. You can bake it as thinner or thick. It kind of depends on you, doesn’t it?

[Laura] Yes, it does.

[Arlene] It does.

I like it creamy.

Yeah, I do too. Oh, that’s fine.

Is that good?

Yeah, because if I eat anymore, the staff will kill me ’cause they’re saying, “Don’t, you can’t have all that.” Okay, here’s the greens. Show us the greens.

[Laura] Oh, don’t they look wonderful?

[Arlene] And sliced tomatoes around, it’s beautiful.

[Laura] Yes. And these are for you.

[Arlene] For me too.

[Laura] Yes, these are for you.

[Arlene] With my mac and cheese.

[Laura] And then I’m gonna help myself to some.

Look at that, isn’t that incredible. I hope you’re… If you could smell this, you would be like going out to buy the greens immediately.

You see how the turkey shreds up.

It does and it gets brown, it’s wonderful.

Yes.

Okay, and then next to that is the sweet potato pie. Oh my, the sweet potato pie. Now, she baked these ahead so we’d have something to show you. I’m gonna put this here, would you just cut us a piece?

Absolutely.

Okay, there’s your knife.

[Laura] Absolutely.

You know, not only is she a great friend, she’s one of those friends that comes through when you need somebody to help you out. Laura is always there. She’s always praying for you or helping you in any way that she can. And that’s what a true friend is all about. And I appreciate her for that. And she has worked with some of the finest heart physicians, heart team in the operating room. Very varied in variety in her mind because you know what, I always tell her she has such a zest for life and she has such a zest for people.

Yes.

And I’m gonna ask you if would just pray for our viewers today.

Absolutely.

See what the Lord would have you pray for them.

Father, we just thank you today. Lord God, we thank you that we can come to you with every need and concern that touches the lives of everyone that watches this program. And so, Father, we lift every need to you today and we ask that you would move God and that you would do what only you can do. And we asked these things in your wonderful, precious name, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Thank you Lord. Thanks, Laura.

Welcome.

It was such a joy to have you with us. It was such a joy.

It’s my pleasure.

All right, it was such a joy to have you with us too because if we did these programs and you didn’t drop by, wouldn’t be any sense to doing them. But we thank you. It’s always great when the family drops by. So, be sure to join us the next time because it just wouldn’t be the same without you here “At Home”. We’ll see you then.

[Narrator] Furnishings provided by Levin Furniture featuring Lane’s Country Living Collection. Food provided by Jordan Banana Company, wholesalers of fresh fruit and vegetables Dravosburg, Pennsylvania