The holidays are nearing and you are having a small group of family or guests, but the Twelve Tribes are not coming. You don’t need a 20-pound turkey.
Grace Schinsky can help you with that.
You can make her One-Dish Chicken and Dressing, and everyone at your table will like your menu. Even this recipe makes a large amount. I divided it; we served one and shared the other.
Grace is a member of Hillview Baptist Church in Graniteville. Rev. J.B. Redd is currently serving as interim pastor for the 100-plus-member church, part of the Edgefield Association.
Grace has been a member of Hillview since 1996 and, as most members in small to medium churches, has worn a lot of hats. She has served as a Sunday school teacher and helped with the nursery. At present, she is a member of the Ladies Class and helps with visitation. The class is taught by “two wonderful men,” Grace says – Richard Sykes and Billy Mixon. She also helps in the kitchen when there is a bereavement need in the church.
The kitchen is also used by families and often by non-members. Because Hillview is such a beautiful church, sometimes brides who are not members choose it for the wedding ceremony, and sometimes funerals for non-members are conducted there.
Another of Grace’s interests is the “Stitchers,” a small group of women who meet to do needlework.
Grace has been retired for some time from a job she held for 36 years with United Merchants and Manufacturing in Bath.
Grace and her first husband, Leonard Walker, had no children. She and Tom Schinsky have been married since 1996. Tom – who has two children, Thomas Jr. of Hiram, Ga., and Soraya Johnson of Reidsville – is retired from 30 years in the military.
In making the recipe, I used two cans of the broth from cooking the chicken instead of purchased broth. Grace says that is all right to do but it isn’t as good. This dish can be assembled on Saturday, refrigerated, and baked on Sunday after church to serve a large number – even if the Twelve Tribes don’t show up for … Sunday Dinner.
One-Dish Chicken and Dressing
4 cups cooked and chopped chicken
1 7-ounce jar chopped pimento
1 stick (4 ounces) butter, melted
2 10-ounce cans cream of celery soup
3 eggs, beaten
1 16-ounce package herbed seasoned dressing
1 medium bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup cooked rice
2 10-ounce cans chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix together all the ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees until brown, about 30-45 minutes.