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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 Xz —nnrrr— y 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 ’ 'I II -rasap ~~~ £ fjgap* IT . ' ja It ***&■ I*., f Ski ■» — §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