DONNA KEATING / L’Observateur / August 9, 2000

LAPLACE – Sandi Jones moved from Metairie to LaPlace about 14 years ago.

When she was younger she was a Navy Corp Wave veteran, where she performed nurse duties similar to a medic. Sandi is now a nurse at St.Charles Parish Hospital and loves her job. She also enjoys helping people andanimals.

Cooking is another thing which she takes a lot of pride in. She believes incooking from scratch and doesn’t believe in using convenience foods. Old-fashioned cooking in cast iron cookware is the only way to go for Sandi. Inher home the microwave is only used for thawing meat or heating up food.

She says she enjoys making things from scratch because it brings back memories of seeing her grandparents cook the old fashioned way in their kitchen.

Sandi grew up in a big family with seven children. It was hard for her mother,the late Edna Pace, to cook with so many people in the family. Sandi learnedhow to do things in the kitchen from watching her mom and her grandmothers, Tamer Cagle and Hester Coy, cook. She said her grandmotherCable would let her do anything in the kitchen, including turning butter and making cakes with a hand beater.

Later, Sandi learned more about cooking during her two years in home economic classes in high school.

When she joined the Navy they sent her to boot camp in Florida. From thereshe was sent to the Great Lakes for coreman training. She remembersordering grits in a restaurant, and the waitress asked what a grit was.

Sandi replied it’s not “a grit,” they are called “grits.” Once Sandi explainedwhat grits were to the waitress she said they didn’t have any, which is just as well, because if they didn’t know what they were they surely wouldn’t know how to prepare them, Sandi thought.

Later, Sandi moved to Virginia. She said they did not have the seasonings oringredients used in Cajun or Creole cooking there, but she didn’t give up.

Instead, she learned to cook some of the traditional local dishes there.

She later met a man from New York, who she married. When she met hisfamily they commented to her that she sure used a lot of rice in her cooking.

Sandi said they were used to eating mostly meat and potatoes.

In the early 70s, when she moved to Florida, she went to a Cajun restaurant.

When the cooks there found out she was from Louisiana they wanted her opinion on their version of Cajun cooking. After she tasted some of theirfood, she asked them what it was seasoned with. They said cayenne pepperand Tabasco sauce. She explained to them that it took a lot more thancayenne pepper and Tabasco sauce to create real Cajun food. Sandi alsoexplained to them that Cajun cooking is something you take your time with and don’t rush, giving the flavors time to blend.

When Sandi became a divorced single mom and did not have a job, she had to learn how to cook as economically as possible. She said you can take a littleand make a lot with it, and her recipe for “chicken stuff” is a good example of that. Chicken stuff is something she created from leftovers she had inher refrigerator. Once she didn’t know what to prepare for dinner and tookleft over fried chicken, made a white sauce, added cream cheese and parmesan cheese and served it on toast points. It turned out so good that itbecame a favorite for her children.

Sandi says she often invents things or modifies recipes to her liking.

Her beef brisket is a popular favorite which got started in the early 70s. Shesays it’s important to cook it four or five hours because it’s a tough cut of meat. She cooks her brisket in a smoker, which her neighbor across thestreet gave to her. Using a charcoal smoker is the best because it tastesbetter, she added. So it’s worth it in the end.Today Sandi is remarried to Mike Jones, originally from Georgia, and has five children, Ricky, Dianna, Brandy, Justin and Brandon. She also has twograndchildren and another one on the way and says she really enjoys being a grandmother because of the close relationship she had with her grandparents.

All of Sandi’s children can cook, and they have learned from her. She saysit’s important to know how to cook, and added, “Today we have so many modern conveniences. I wonder what would happen if we went into anotherdepression and people had to learn how to do things from scratch.”Here are a few of her recipes that she would like to share:

SMOKED BRISKET Smoker, preferably charcoal Hickory wood chips Cheese cloth One 10 lb. brisket trimmed to 6-7 lbs.

Seasonings: Equal parts: salt coarse ground black pepper garlic granules paprika

Mix all seasonings together. Rub onto brisket. Place in a covered dish orplastic bag and refrigerate overnight.

Marinade (optional): 4 cups beef broth 1 cup Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp. bay leaves, crumbled1 1/2 tsp. garlic granules1/2 cup red wine vinegar 2 tsps. dry mustard2 tsps. paprika

Mix all marinade ingredients together. Refrigerate overnight or longer.

To smoke: Start the charcoal fire a half hour before putting meat on. When charcoal isready, add wood chips.

To use marinade: Wrap meat in 2-3 thicknesses of cheese cloth. Thickly brush with marinadeand place on grill. Baste water in water pan at all times. Brisket will take 12-15 hours to smoke.

EGGPLANT PARMESAN 1 large eggplant 3 eggs, beaten 1/2 lb. mozzarella cheese, sliced or shredded1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated 1 cup Italian bread crumbs 3/4 cup canola or olive oil 2 tsps. oregano3 8-oz. cans tomato sauce

(If using your own spaghetti or marinara sauce, omit tomato sauce and oregano.)Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pare eggplant if desired. Cut into quarter-inchslices. Dip each slice into beaten egg and then into bread crumbs. Saute’ inhot oil until golden brown on both sides. When all of the eggplant is done,begin layering eggplant, tomato sauce, oregano, parmesan and mozzarella cheese in a two-quart casserole dish. Top the last layer of sauce with a thicklayer of mozzarella cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes, until sauce is bubblyand cheese is melted.

POOR MAN’S ARTICHOKE CASSEROLE (OR CABBAGE PARMIGIANA) 1 head cabbage 1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil 1 cup parmesan cheese 1 cup Italian bread crumbs 4 toes of garlic, finely chopped

Chop cabbage. Put garlic in olive oil. Boil cabbage until tender and drain. Mixgarlic and olive oil into cabbage then mix in bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

CREOLE JAMBALAYA 1 broiler-fryer (about 2 1/2 lbs.)2 cups water 1 large clove of garlic, crushed 1 bay leaf 1 lb. cubed cooked ham or sausage1 large green pepper, chopped 1 tsp. thyme1 cup uncooked rice 3 tsps. salt1/4 cup butter 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper2 large onions, chopped 1 1 lb., 12 oz. can chopped tomatoes with juice1/4 tsp. pepper

Place chicken in large kettle or Dutch oven. Add water, salt, pepper and bayleaf. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes or untilchicken is tender. Remove chicken from broth. Reserve broth in a 2- cupmeasuring cup (add water if necessary to make 2 cups. When chicken is coolenough to handle, debone and cube the chicken. Saute’ onions, garlic and bellpepper in butter until soft. Add ham, tomatoes with juice, chicken, broth,thyme and cayenne pepper to the vegetable mixture. Heat to a boil. Stir inrice, reduce heat, cover and simmer until rice is done.

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