Meet the Cook: Liz Pike

Sep
8

Post by community member:

Meet the CookSay hello to Liz from Hillsville, Virginia!

Q. What are your favorite things to cook?
It’s a close race between garden vegetables and baked goods, especially homemade bread. I’m always on the prowl for vegetable recipes to add to my repertoire, though I’m still more likely to throw anything and everything ready for harvest into a quick stir fry. Lots of variety there depending on what’s in season.

Q. How/when did you learn to cook?
I grew up in a small community where I had family on 3 corners of the only crossroads in town. Everyone had large gardens and/or farmed. In the fall family got together for hog and chicken killing time, and I can remember walking in the kitchen of my great grandmother’s to find hog heads sitting around on the tables, counters and stove-top, prepped for headcheese. As a 5 year old I was surprisingly too intrigued to be scared or repulsed, but that scene would have been great in a horror film!

Q. Tell us about some of your cooking triumphs.
Learning to bake homemade yeast breads in the heat and humidity of coastal NC. I broke down and finally asked a professional baker for advice, and was told it was the humidity and I’d not succeed without a professional proofing cabinet. I didn’t believe that and kept trying. I took me years, but I finally succeeded.

Q. What was your most memorable cooking tragedy?
Single cooking tragedy? I can’t think of a single tragedy, more like a huge adjustment period after I had my first child. I could no longer leave something cooking on the stove to run and quickly check on her. I found out quite by accident one night when I almost burned her foot, that I also couldn’t hold her, football style, while stirring things on the stove!

Q. Describe your kitchen. Do you love it, hate it, and why?
For now, my kitchen is the one in my daughter’s rental house. It’s a very basic kitchen with sloping floors, leaning counters and cabinets that I’m sure will hit the floor come hurricane season. But, there’s space to knead dough and prepare homecooked meals so I don’t complain!



Q. Is your pantry organized and are your kitchen drawers tidy? We need to know.
No. They were when I had my own house, but not now. In fact, most of my stuff is in storage, and I’m using only rudimentary cooking tools until I get my stuff out of storage.

Q. Do you have any favorite family cooking traditions?
Growing up we had fried egg sandwiches on Saturday night. That’s something I still do, using my own homemade bread, homemade mayo, and when I have chickens, my own eggs. Homemade makes simple food gourmet!

Q. What is the one gadget (or ten) you couldn’t do without in your kitchen?
My cast iron frying pans. I travel with mine, and have inherited them from both sides of my family. My girls are already fighting over who will get which ones when I die!

Q. If you had to take one food to a deserted island, what would it be?
Tomatoes.

Q. What is your go-to comfort food?
Chicken and pastry, with my own rosemary, sage and parsley.

Some of Liz’s favorite recipes that she’s contributed to Farm Bell Recipes include:

Grandmother’s Cornbread Cake
Grandmother’s Cornbread Cake
Stuffed Tomatoes
Stuffed Tomatoes

Fresh Corn and Black Bean Salad
Fresh Corn and Black Bean Salad
Fresh Corn, Radish, and Parsley Salad
Fresh Corn, Radish & Parsley Salad




See all of Liz’s recipes and blog posts!

Liz Pike blogs at Horseshoe Gardens.

Do you have a recipe post or kitchen-related story to share on the Farm Bell blog?
See Farm Bell Blog Submissions for information, the latest blog contributor giveaway, and to submit a post.

Want to subscribe to the Farm Bell blog? Go here.

What can you enter to win this month? Click here.




Comments

  1. grammieearth says:

    Hi Liz!

    Nice to ‘meet’ you. I’ve been wondering where you have been lately. I’m hoping the hurricane didn’t give you anywhere near what you anticipated.

    Your corn & black bean salad is delish…sans tomatoes. I love everything about a tomato, until it is in my mouth. It makes me SAD every single tomato season!

    Pam

  2. rileysmom says:

    Hi Liz!

    It’s nice to meet you!
    Hope you get your own kitchen soon!
    Been there…..it sucks. But, it’s like Christmas when you unpack your stuff!

Add Your Thoughts



Search Farm Bell Recipes

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Filter by Categories
All Recipes
Appetizers & Snacks
Bagels
Bean Soups
Beans
Beans, Grains & Rice
Beef
Beverages
Biscuits
Blog
Boiling Water Bath
Bread Machine
Breads
Breakfast
Brownies
Budget
BWB Condiments
BWB Fruits
BWB Jams, Jellies, Butters & Preserves
BWB Marmalades & Conserves
BWB Other
BWB Pickles & Pickled Stuff
BWB Salsas
BWB Sauces
BWB Tomatoes & Combos
BWB Vegetables
Cakes
Candy
Canning
Casserole
Casserole
Casserole
Cereals
Cheese
Cheesecakes
Chilis
Chowders
Cobblers
Coffee Cake
Cold Remedies
Condiments
Cookery 101
Cookies & Bars
Cream Soups
Crisps
Crock Pot
Crowd-Size
Crusts
Cupcakes
Cure & Smoke
Dairy
Dehydrating
Desserts
Diabetic
Dips
Doughnuts
Dressings
Egg Dishes
Eggs
Entertaining
Fat-Free
Featured
Fermenting
Fillings
Fish
Food Photography
Freezing
Frostings & Icings
Frozen
Fruit Breads
Fruit Cakes
Fruit Salads
Fruits
Gift Basket Goodies
Giveaways
Gluten-Free
Goat Cheeses
Gourmet
Gravies
Griddles
Grill-Outdoor Cooking
Hard Cheeses
Herbs & Spices
Holiday
Homemade Cheese
How To
Ice Creams
Ingredients
Ingredients & Mixes
Jell-O
Jell-O Salads
Kid-Friendly
Kitchen Gadgets
Kosher
Lactose-Free
Lamb
Leftovers
Lettuce & Greens
Low-Carb
Low-Fat
Low-Sodium
Main Dish
Marinades
Meat Salads
Meet the Cook
Muffins
Non-Dairy
Old-Fashioned
One Dish Meal
Other Breads
Other Breakfast
Other Condiments
Other Dairy
Other Desserts
Other Main Dish
Other Salads
Other Side Dishes
Other Soups & Stews
Other Special Diets
Pasta
Pasta
Pasta Salads
Pastries
PC Beef
PC Chicken
PC Meats
PC Other
PC Poultry
PC Soups & Stews
PC Veggies
Pets
Pickling
Pies
Pizza
Pizza Crusts
Pork
Potato Salads
Potatoes
Potluck
Poultry
Presentation
Preserving
Pressure Canning
Pressure Cooker
Puddings & Custards
Recipe Requests
Relishes & Chutneys
Rolls
Rubs
Salads
Salads
Salsas
Sandwiches
Sauces
Scones
Seafood
Side Dishes
Soft Cheeses
Soups & Stews
Sourdough
Special Diets
Special Occasions
Steam Juicer
Stocks
Stuffings
Substitutions
Syrups
Tarts
Tips & Tricks
Tortillas & Pitas
Using FBR
Vegan
Vegetable Breads
Vegetable Salads
Vegetables
Vegetarian
Wild Game
Yeast Breads


If you would like to help support the overhead costs of this website, you may donate. Thank you!





Thanks for being part of our community!