Newspaper Page Text
HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
< ’ a
If this face is
familiar, it’s prob
ably because
you’re a regu
lar at My Sister’s
Case, where Millie
Cotton is always
smiling and joking
with customers
from behind the
cash register.
Story and photos by Charlotte Perkins
Journal Lifestyle Editor
When Millie Cotton gets to work
before daybreak each morning,
there’s one thing she knows she
can count on. Some of her customers will be
waiting in the parking lot before the doors
open - waiting for sausage patties, bacon,
eggs cooked to order, grits, biscuits, sawmill
gravy and plenty of hot coffee to get the day
started.
Mostly those “regulars” get together at
Table 18, and they do a lot of talking too,
sorting out the world’s problems or listen
ing while the others do. Plenty of important
matters have been settled around that table
or in the booths in the back. Candidates and
elected officials show up there, hoping to
have a chance to eat some of the down home
cooking in between handshakes.
People who visit the Georgia National
Fairgrounds frequently for dog and horse
Company's coming... for breaktartl
By CHARLOTTE PERKINS
Journal Lifestyle Editor
Two things we can count
on during the middle Georgia
summer are hot days and
company coming. Maybe
there’s time for one more
visit with the grandkids.
Maybe a cousin or old college
roommate is stopping by on
the way back from Florida.
Maybe your mother-in-law is
heading your way.
In any case, there’s noth
ing like a grand breakfast
to make company feel like
you knew they were com
ing. Here are some recipes
to make it special
Ham 'n Chese Omeet
Bake
Here’s a brunch bake
that has it all, from ham
and cheese to veggies, with
a biscuit crust. It was cre
ated by Julie Amberson of
Brown’s Point, Wash., and
was a grand prize winner in
the 2004 Pillsbury Cookoff.
It’s similar to the familiar
Strata, but doesn’t require
an overnight wait.
1 (10-oz.) box Green
Giant Frozen Broccoli &
Cheese Flavored Sauce
1 (10.2-oz.) can (5
biscuits) Pillsbury
Grands! Flaky Layers
Refrigerated Original
Biscuits
10 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon dry ground
mustard
Salt and pepper, if
desired
2 cups diced cooked
ham
1/3 cup chopped onion
4 oz. (1 cup) shredded
Cheddar cheese
4 oz. (1 cup) shredded
Swiss cheese
I
The staff of My Sister’s Case is celebrating the Perry restaurant’s 10th birthday this week. This shot was taken after the restaurant, which
serves only breakfast and lunch, was closed. Earlier, the staff had served nearly 200 for breakfast.
1 (4.5-oz.) jar Green
Giant Sliced Mushrooms,
drained
Preheat oven to 350
degrees. Cut small slit in
center of broccoli and cheese
sauce pouch. Microwave on
High for 3 to 4 minutes,
rotating pouch 1/4 turn once
halfway through microwav
ing. Set aside to cool slight
ly-
Meanwhile, spray bottom
only of 13x9-inch (3-quart)
glass baking dish with cook
ing spray. Separate dough
into 5 biscuits. Cut each bis
cuit into 8 pieces; arrange
evenly in sprayed dish.
In large bowl, beat eggs,
milk, mustard, salt and pep
per with wire whisk until
Let Your Own Light Shine
p The Tiyfiting St ere T\
ast Electrical Su'ps> jr
926 Carroll St. • Perry, GA 31069
478-224-8888
T-F loam-spm SAT 10am-2pm
shows and othei - events tend to stop back by
on each visit.
My Sister’s Case is that sort of place -
unpretentious and friendly, with food that
reminds many people of the food they grew
up eating: fried chicken, cornmeal muffins,
turnip greens, inashed potatoes and gravy,
rutabagas - you name it.
The restaurant was started 10 years ago
this week -on July 22 to be precise. That’s
when two sisters, Millie Cotton and Barbara
Ann Herring, got their money together and
took over the barbecue restaurant their
brother Don Herring was running on the
site.
“Don named it,” Barbara Ann explains.
Their sister, Bobbie, joined them in the
effort, and the restaurant quickly became
a landmark for people looking for country
cooking, an eat-all-you-can buffet and a
home-like atmosphere.
The Herring Sisters (Bobbie and Barbara
Ann have reclaimed their maiden names)
I mm
V/ 1 l^ri
well blended. Stir in ham,
dnion, both cheeses, mush
rooms and cooked broccoli
dnd cheese sauce. Pour mix
ture over biscuit pieces in >
dish. Press down with
back of spoon, making xA
sure all biscuit pieces K
are covered with egg flywSjli
riiixture.
Bake at 350°F. for
40 to 50 minutes or iSS
until edges are deep B
golden brown and cen- f|
ter is set. Let stand 10 B
minutes before serving.
(jut into squares.
This breakfast casserole was
a Pillsbury Bake-Off winner,
atid has ham, cheese and
brocccoli bubbling up around
a biscuit crust.
FOOD
grew up near Enterprise, Alabama.
They were part of a big, hardworking fam
ily with seven children, and their mother,
Patsy, who moved here to be with them
and is now in a local nursing home, set
the example most of the children followed.
When they were children she opened a small
restaurant to provide home cooking to sol
diers from Fort Rucker.
As for the kids, they were cooking as soon
as they could reach the oven door.
“I made my first biscuits when I was
6 years old,” Millie says as Barbara Ann
laughs and remembers standing right beside
her near the wood-burning stove.
“We were standing on an apple box,” she
says. “We shaped the biscuits by hand.”
They both concede that they’ve read a few
church cookbooks and learned a few tricks
of the trade when it comes to the amounts
of ingredients they need to have on hand,
but essentially the sisters made a success
of their restaurant by cooking the way they
s Wmh
See BREAKFAST, P. 6
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LONGHORN
BUTCHER SHOP
Barn-6pm Tues. - Sat. • Closed Sun. & Mon.
Shelled 201 b box PETITE BABY LIMA BEANS .. $29.88
Shelled 201 b box ZIPPER PEAS $26.88
41b Package YELLOW CREAM CORN $4.98
41b Package WHITE CREAM CORN $5.98
201 b box WHOLE OKRA $19.88
Shelled 20lb box PEAS WITH SNAPS $24.88
20lb box BUTTER PEAS $24.88
1207 Sunset Ave. • Perry Plaza • Perry, GA 31069
478-987-5711
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§1
WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2006
learned to cook at home - just on a larger
scale.
Barbara Ann, who was in charge of the
kitchen as the case off to a fast start, hasn’t
been able to work for two years now, since
her foot was crushed in an automobile acci
dent. She’s still facing more surgery, and
gets from place to place in a wheelchair, but
she makes every effort to keep up her favor
ite hobby - fishing -- and her smile lights
up the booth as she gets together with old
friends. Bobbie has retired to Fort Myers,
Florida.
Millie is keeping the whole thing going
seven days a week with help from her
son, Chris Cotton; Barbara Ann’s daugh
ter, Sonya Yoder; Erin Hopper, Cindy
Henderson, Theresa Pruett, T.J. Jackson,
Michelle Brake, and a steady stream of loyal
customers --
like those guys who come in every morn
ing and sit around Table 18.
5C
l Barbara Ann
I Herring was the
I main cook at My
|: Sister’s Case for
[years. She was
| sidelined two
I years ago by an
f automobile acci
\ dent that left her
| wheelchair-bound,
but she is still at
l the case regular
ity to enjoy being
| with the custom
ers and her family
land friends.
00035697