Remember that good Sweet Potato Balls recipe from Carolyn O’Dell recently? Carolyn also gave me today’s recipe for Banana Peanut Salad from Mildred Weber. I talked with Mrs. Weber recently.
When Forest Hill Baptist Church, Anderson, was started as a mission in the early 1960s, Mildred’s husband, the late Rev. Joe Weber, was the first pastor. During the early months, the pulpit had been filled by ministers from Anderson First Baptist. For the first months, the congregation of many young couples and children, Mildred remembers, met in the basement of a member’s home, then in a store building where curtains separated the rooms.
“If you didn’t like your Sunday school lesson, you could listen to the one on the other side of the curtain,” she said with a laugh. During the eight years they were there, a couple of buildings were constructed and plans were underway for the sanctuary. Mildred says these were the most exciting years of their ministry.
From there they went to First Baptist at Fountain Inn, then for a year of mission service in Brazil, and then to Connie Maxwell Children’s Home for eight years. Her husband had served in several capacities at Connie Maxwell, but when he retired he was president. In his retirement, he did interim work.
About a year after his retirement, he suffered a heart attack, and during his last years he was in poor health until his death in 2006.
The Webers had three daughters – Pam, who died in a car accident at an early age; Carol McCombs; and Jolene Smith – as well as three grandsons and two great-grandsons.
Anticipating her husband’s retirement, the couple decided to live in Anderson, Mildred’s hometown, where their daughter Carol and other relatives live. Mildred is now a member of Forest Hill in Saluda Association, and currently shares teaching duties in a Sunday school class.
Mildred Weber
The recipe she is sharing with us is easy to make, but I made a mistake. I used plain raw peanuts. Our daughter Lee, who dropped by, did some tasting and so did one son-in-law, Joel. “It’s a little bland. It needs something,” they both said, and agreed the peanuts should be salted. And that’s what Mildred had said to do – use roasted salted peanuts.
This could almost be a dessert, but Mildred uses it as a salad, and it has gone with her family through all their churches, she said. We thank her for sharing with us. It is easy to make and I think you’ll like it, but be sure to use the salted nuts! It needs to chill a few hours or overnight, just right for making on Saturday and serving for … Sunday Dinner.
Banana Peanut Salad
3 or 4 bananas, sliced
1 8-ounce carton whipped dessert topping
1 cup chopped, roasted and salted peanuts
1 cup miniature marshmallows
Layer ingredients in serving container, beginning and ending with the peanuts. Cover. Chill for several hours or overnight. Note: You can add a few more peanuts and marshmallows if you like.