Baking, says Nancy, “is an outlet for me; a true hobby.
“It’s probably sad to say, but I eat, drink and sleep food,” she says.

When her daughter and two sons, both football players, were at home, Nancy loved nothing more than to put hearty meals on the table and watch the family devour them. Now it’s usually just her and her husband, Otis, on their farm in Killen, but that doesn’t keep her out of the kitchen. She shares some of her and Otis’ favorites in this month’s “Country Kitchen.”

Nancy, who is the Lauderdale County Women’s Committee chairman and a newly elected State Women’s Committee member, works full time at the Lauderdale County Extension office, where for 12 years she has directed the county’s “Today’s Mom” program. Today’s Mom is a six-week-long nutrition class for limited-resource pregnant women and new mothers. In the class, Nancy teaches the women several economical and time-saving recipes to show them how to stretch their food dollars. Many of the recipes she passes along to her classes are ones she uses frequently at home as well.

When she and Otis got married 35 years ago, Nancy made their wedding cake. It was her first, and it was fairly simple, but it got cake-making and decorating into her system. Through the years, she perfected her skills to the point of catering wedding receptions and such for friends and family.

So consumed has Nancy always been with cooking and baking that her daughter, Molly, “sort of got turned off to it all as she was growing up,” Nancy says. So it is with great pride that she recounts the surprise 35th anniversary celebration Adam, Aron and Molly threw for their parents in December.

“Molly just did an incredible job with the cakes and the food and with putting it all together,” Nancy says. “She picked it all up, whether she wanted to or not.”