Nancy Farrow of Tallapoosa County says she’s like many other women in the workforce; she doesn’t get to cook as much as she would like.

“It’s just hard after you’ve worked all day to come home and cook a meal every night, so I do most of my cooking on the weekends. But I plan to retire in a couple of years, and one of the things I look forward to most is having more time to cook,” says Nancy.

Originally from Marshall County, Nancy says she has lived in Tallapoosa County near Dadeville since she married her husband, John, in 1995.

“I grew up on a farm, and I’ve always lived in the country. John and I live in the home where he grew up, and we’re surrounded by his family farm land. Not many people have the opportunity to live that kind of life, and I’m grateful that we can,” says Nancy.

Nancy says timber is their primary commodity and something John has worked with from a young age.

“He also has ‘dozers and excavators, so he clears land and builds ponds. We also have six catfish ponds,” she says.

John serves as president of the Tallapoosa County Farmers Federation and on the State Catfish Producers Board, and Nancy is on the county Women’s Committee, work she has enjoyed for more than 10 years.

“This year I’ll be coordinating our local cooking contest, and I’m glad to get to do that,” Nancy says.

Nancy says she cooks “a little bit of everything,” but her day-to-day cooking is limited by what her husband John will eat.

“John is what I would call a meat ‘n’ taters man and doesn’t really like anything out of the ordinary,” she says. “He also loves desserts, but most of what I cook I would call old-fashioned Southern cooking, grilling in the summer and roast and fried chicken in the winter. My family in Marshall County is a little less picky, so I save my new recipes for them.”

Nancy did not cook much growing up, but watched her mother and grandmothers, and loves to read new recipes.

“That’s really how I learned to cook, just watching and reading and trying,” says Nancy.

Since August is National Catfish Month, Nancy offers several catfish recipes and three easy salads that can be made ahead and refrigerated to keep things cool in the kitchen as the temperatures rise outdoors. She also shares her Lemon Fluff recipe, a simple, frozen, citrus dessert that makes the perfect ending to a summertime fish dinner.