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Courier re-starting food page |
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Thursday, 26 June 2008 |
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Nickerson to profile cooks weekly  Gail Nickerson peruses one of her many recipe collections with assistance from Arwin, the family’s English springer spaniel. Nickerson soon will be overseeing the Courier’s new food page, “Grits and Grace: Recipes for Life.”
That feature — always popular among readers — is coming back.
In the kitchen this time will be Benton’s Gail Nickerson, whose culinary talents are well-respected among residents of two states.
Nickerson is bereavement coordinator for Saline Memorial Hospital Hospice. She lives with her daughter, Andra, and two dogs, Arwin, an English springer spaniel, and Cookie, a tiny schnauzer. Her son, Michael, is pursuing a master’s degree in directing and theater arts at Essex University near London, England.
Nickerson has been cooking since she was a girl.
“I really believe I was born to cook,” the native Texan and longtime Arkansan said, noting that she started cooking when she could barely see the countertop in her family’s kitchen.
“My mother taught me,” she recalled. “I would sit on a little red stool and watch her. She’d let me stir whatever she was making.
“And she let me roll out her pie dough from the time I was 4. I had a miniature Liberty pie tin, and she would give me the leftover pie dough to put in it after she’d cut the dough she was using into strips or made it into a whole crust.
“After she’d make her regular pie, she would make me a baby pie. I even had a baby pie on my wedding day when she fixed a special lunch for just the two of us.
“What I wouldn’t give to still have the iron skillet she would use to cook potatoes, but I’ve got her cooking fork and one of her cooking spoons ... and a ton of memories.”
Nickerson’s mother, Mary Kathryn Landrum Coats, a traditionalist where women’s roles were concerned, stressed the importance of learning to cook well.
“I don’t believe my mother would have allowed me to live in the house if I hadn’t learned to cook,” Nickerson said.
In spite of all those years of watching her mother cook, Nickerson said one of the lessons didn’t take. “I can cook just about anything, but I can’t make pie crust,” she admitted.
While she may not be an expert on pie crust, her family and friends will attest to her outstanding talent in creating just about anything else that can be served on the table. She enjoys cooking for others and the proof is that her guests say they never leave hungry for food or good conversation.
Nickerson’s food feature will be called “Grits and Grace: Recipes for Life.”
She’ll be talking to local men and women — and maybe some younger cooks — to learn their culinary secrets. Recipes of these people will be featured on the weekly page.
Nickerson said she wants recipes, all kinds, that are traditional in families.
“And we’ll want holiday recipes,” she said, “and I want to know the history of the particular things. I want to hear how this was Grandma’s pudding or Aunt Susie’s rolls ... anything that’s special about that particular dish.
“I also want to know if it’s served in a particular dish or bowl and what makes that particular bowl special.
“The economy being what it is now has made all of us more conscious of the price of gas — right? It also has made us look more closely at the grocery store ‘best buys.’ Hopefully, ‘Grits and Grace’ will allow all us to share our tricks of the trade as well as easy and economical hits from kitchens all over the county.”
Nickerson is looking forward to her new adventure in cooking.
“Wouldn’t it be just great if at this difficult economic time that through the Courier we can share our secrets to making life just a little easier? It certainly wouldn’t hurt any of us to find our way back to the dining tables of Saline County, have real conversation over a meal and help the money coffers. It could slim the waistline, but more importantly, we can be graced by of some sweet families with a gathering time around tables all over the the county.
“I am so in hopes that ‘Grits and Grace: Recipes for Life’ will encourage folks here to share their stories,” Nickerson said. “Stories of the ‘foods of your life’ – recipes, tales of the kitchen and what life in Saline County has brought to your family. Share some history of the ways you have been been blessed and graced and don’t forget to throw in some funny stores and mishaps that have occurred in your kitchen.”
Nickerson said she’s looking forward to visiting the kitchens of people she profiles through this project.
“We’ll chat later over sweet tea in your home, and don’t forget to save recipes. Send them in and we’ll go from there. I’m looking forward to hearing from people.”
In addition to favorite recipes from the featured cook of the week, recipes from others will appear on the page. These should be mailed to Nickerson at 725 River St., Benton, AR 72015, or e-mailed to
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Alongside this article are some of Nickerson’s favorite recipes.
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