Still Cooking After Sixty Years - The Recipe Collection of Carl and Georgia McCain

The recipes in this cookbook were collected and assembled in this format as a gift for Georgia and Carl McCain on the occasion of their sixtieth wedding anniversary. The children, in-laws, and grandchildren all contributed their favorites and comments. The collection was compiled and edited by Donna McCain Wilson. As Donna said in the preface, "This recipe collection is an attempt to share the wonderful family recipes and memories that my parents' home created for me, and my siblings and our families". As brother Danny said in the book, "Meal time was one of the great times of fellowship around the McCain household".
Many years ago, an 8-foot table and 10 tall chairs were sold to the McCain Family. That table became the centerpiece of the McCain family for the next 4 decades and a symbol of things that were important to the family. Some of the best southern cooking, slightly influenced by their Cajun neighbors to the south, passed along that long table.
Meals at the McCain household typically included great Meat and Main Dish entrees, multiple Vegetables and Sides, Desserts and Sweets, Breads, Butters, and Jellies, and even "Poor Man's Food". Many of the food sources were home-grown or even the result of hunting successes.
Recipes for Meat and Main Dish entrees include Traditional Favorites (such as Meat Loaf, Smothered Steak, Baked Chicken and Rice, Spaghetti and Meat Balls, Swedish Meatballs, Vegetable Beef Soup), Southern Favories (such as Chicken and Mushroom Gravy, Shake and Bake Chicken, Smothered Steak, Fried Chicken, Fried Fish), Cajun Favorites (such as File Gumbo, Jambalya, Shrimp Gumbo, Shrimp and Crawfish Etouffee), Barbeque Favorites (Chicken, Turkey, Brisket, Pork Chops), and unique McCain Specialties (Barry's Saturday Beans and Rice, Jackie's Chicken and Rice, Lasagna by Donna, Mama and Daddy's Sunday Beef Roast with Gravy, Mama's Chicken and Dumplings, PaPaw's Brisket).
Recipes for Vegetables and Sides include Traditional Southern Favorites (such as Dirty Rice, Candied Sweet Potatoes, Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes, Collard, Mustard, or Turnip Greens, Creamy Brocolli, Field Peas, Fresh Green Beans, Fried Okra, Potato Salad, Stewed Potatoes, Rutabagas) and unique McCain Specialties (such as Papa's Food, "Angel" Eggs, McCain Tartar Sauce, Ryan's French Fries, "The Simple Corn").
Recipes for Desserts and Sweets include Traditional Southern Favorites - such as Puddings (Banana, Pineapple), Cakes (Carrot, Chocalate Sheet, Coffee, Fresh Apple, German Chocalate, Hummingbird, Ice Box Fruit, Jelly, Lemon Pound, Mississippi Mud, Strawberry, Upside Down), Pies (Huckleberry, Blueberry Cream Cheese, Chocalate Delight, Chocalate, Coconut, Pecan, Lemon Ice Box, Millionaire, Mississippi Mud, Sweet Potato, Strawberry), Divinity, Fruit Salad, Fudge, Heavenly Hash, Homemade Ice Cream, Fruit Cobblers (Peach, Blackberry, Huckleberry), Peanut Brittle, Cookies ("Boiled", Peanut Butter, Old Fashioned Oatmeal), and unique McCain Specialties (Angie's Strawberry Cake, Aunt Edith's Pralines, Aunt Elaine's Coconut Cake, Jackie's Peanut Butter Pie, Christmas Coconut Balls, Popcorn Balls).
Unique recipes for Breads, Butters, and Jellies are provided for Mamma's Jelly, Banana Tarts, Cathead Biscuits, Cornbread, Cornbread Dressing, Homemade Butter, Hush Puppies, Mayhaw Jelly, Muscadine Jelly, Pie Crust, Strawberry Jelly, and Sunday Afternoon Yeast Rolls.
Recipes are even provided for "Poor Man's Food", many remnants of the Deparession Period. As son Danny said in the book, "When it was getting close to pay check time and the cupboards were getting bare, Mamma would reach way back to things she learned in the depression days and become much more creative in her cooking. "Poor Man's Food" includes "Chtlins", Egg Gravy, Hog Head Cheese, Potted Meat and Eggs, Rabbit Hash, Red Gravy and Rice, Squirrel and Rice, and Weenies and Rice.

Mrs. McCain died from injuries sustained in an automobile accident at age 87 on December 9, 2013. She maintained her Christian commitment and ministry, as well as her writing skills, until the time of her unfortunate death.
At the time of her death, many of her books were out of print. To preserve the books and allow many new readers to enjoy, the books are being converted to e-books by her family. To increase relevancy and impact to a more contemporary and international audience, minor edits to the original text have been made to some of the books.
The following article was published in the Cenla Focus in October 2012 prior to Mrs. McCain's death, and provides a synopsis of Mrs. McCain's life as an author. It was authored by Holly Jo Linzay
Georgia McCain, an author of 10 published books, recalls the day she felt the Lord Jesus lead her to start writing. "I was standing in the kitchen, and God asked me, 'What is that in your hand?" McCain remembers, and answered, "'Only a pen, Lord.' Then He asked me if I would use the pen for his honor and glory, and I said, 'Yes, Lord, as you direct me, I will write for the glory and honor of God."
That very night, her first short novel unfolded completely from beginning to end. "The Lord gave me the name of the book and just opened up the story for me from the first page to the last," notes McCain about her first book, Through Troubled Waters, which was published more than 40 years ago. Her first book is a work of fiction interwoven with Biblical truths. McCain has sold thousands of copies, and has received letters from people all over the world expressing how the book touched their hearts. "I never dreamed about writing a book, let alone getting one published,' McCain notes.
As a child, McCain wrote poems and made up short stories. In the ninth grade, as her teacher was passing out Christmas gifts to the class, she called McCain to the front of the classroom. She told the class that Georgia had a gift for all her classmates. Stunned, McCain realized her teacher had made copies of a story she had written and shared it with the class. From time to time, she would write another short story. Later, she was asked by a preacher to write a story that would continue and develop in a religious paper. 'I told him that I couldn't just sit down and write a story. God had to give me the thoughts: McCain recalls, remembering it was later that night that she heard God question h...