Published: March 13, 2008 11:21 pm            

Gwen Picquet, cooking for a cause

AMERICUS, Ga. — While making her way through her kitchen, she says she keeps herself busy preparing cakes for her sister’s missionary trip.

Gwen Picquet, 54, is known for her excellent cooking skills, and for donating her time, cooking passionately, for a cause.

“I can wake up at 7 a.m. and cook until midnight,” she said as she explained her love for cooking.

Picquet often gets lost in preparing and organizing special cooking events and suppers for her church. Today she stands in her kitchen as her great-nieces tug at her, wondering if they will prepare cookies for church this evening.

“The Girls In Action (GAs), a missionary group for first through fifth-graders, will prepare cookies and lemonade this month in remembrance of Annie Armstrong, a missionary who dedicated her life to teaching the whole world about Jesus,” said Picquet.

As she picked up a magazine called, GA World, she explained the girls are required to prepare a dish monthly.

“Last month they read about how the children of Indonesia purchased their food on the sides of the road, and about how they would prepare chicken soup. So, they made chicken soup. They devoured it,” she said with a laugh.

Picquet said she started making homemade biscuits at the early age of nine.

“I made my first biscuits in 4-H. I was in the fourth grade,” she said as she explained she attended Thalean Elementary School, long since closed.

Picquet sits down to read over ingredients she will need to prepare her next project.

“I plan to make a dozen cakes for my sister’s mission trip. I will freeze them before we leave for Easter. My family will gather here for Easter next week and then we will travel to Charleston to celebrate Easter with my husband Bennie’s family,” she said.

Picquet said her home is the hub of activity during the holidays, with some 35 to 40 family members in attendance.

“We will prepare a ham and two to three turkeys and, everyone brings a dish,” she said as she described most of her waking hours are involved in cooking.

“I read recipe books like many would read a novel,” she said as she searches through a homemade recipe book with many of her favorite recipes.

“My son Ben loves my ham and potato casserole, but he picks the ham out. He loves the potatoes and cheese. It’s basically a scalloped potato,” she said explaining she loves to cook old-fashioned recipes, but often settles for a few quick and easy ones, because of the fast pace at which most live today.

“I love to cook my homemade yeast rolls the best. I also love twice-baked potatoes, hash brown casserole and Tennessee corn bread salad,” she said explaining the salad is made with one six-oz. package of cornbread mix, prepared according to package directions, three cups of chopped tomatoes, one cup of chopped bell pepper, one cup of chopped onion, one-half cup of chopped sweet pickles, (save juice), 12 slices of cooked bacon (drained and crumbled) and one cup of mayonnaise mixed with the pickle juice.

“You crumble half of the baked cornbread in the bottom of a square casserole dish, approximately 8x8 inches. In another bowl, combine tomatoes, pepper, onion, pickles and bacon. Blend with spoon. Spoon half of the vegetables over the cornbread. Drizzle half of the mayonnaise mixture over the vegetables. Repeat the layering procedure with the remaining cornbread, vegetables and mayonnaise mixture. It may be cut in squares for serving. It is very important to cover tightly and chill overnight. Be sure to use fresh tomatoes for a delicious dish beyond belief. It serves eight,” she said.

Picquet is not only involved in GAs, she serves as coordinator of Senior and Adult Suppers at Faith Baptist Church.

“You know what they say about the Baptists: they meet to eat,” she said with a laugh as her great-niece, Kearsten Hudson, shows off an Easter card she has made for her missionary group.

“They make cards and they take them to the Senior Group homes,” Picquet said explaining the seniors really enjoy the cards on special occasions.

Picquet said cooking to her is an outlet by which she relaxes. Getting lost in time, she’s found busy in her kitchen with her Kitchen-Aid preparing goodies for her next quest.

“It relaxes me. I love to cook. I enjoy donating my time to cooking,” she said explaining she has been involved with cooking throughout her children’s school years, from preparing breakfasts for bus drivers to cooking a delicious dish for teachers’ socials.

“My future goal for retirement is to learn to bake and decorate wedding cakes, and I want to learn how to quilt. I know quilting is time-consuming and if I start now, I would not finish it,” she said as she unveiled the Toasted Pecan Cake which she has prepared.



Lisa Law writes for the Americus (Ga.) Times-Recorder.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.