I have on my desk a drawing made for me from our visiting grandson Tillman of Mt. Pleasant who is celebrating his fifth birthday this month. Across the bottom is a “mural” of a person (or a Martian, it’s hard to tell), a bale of hay (which looks like an upside down “U”), another, smaller upside down “U”, and then another smaller upside down “U” with a stem at the top (ergo, a pumpkin).
On the first line at the top are the letters T-I-L-L-M. On the second line one sees “A-N.” Then there is a third line consisting of the letters A-P-T-L-M-O-M-A. I asked him what word those letters spelled.
“I don’t know, Nannie,” he answered. “I thought you would know.”
You’re going to like this recipe and it is much easier to understand than Tillman’s mystery word. You will use it often and thank Sandy Schwarz of Rhode Island (by way of St. Helena Baptist Church on South Carolina’s coast) for sharing it with us. It is from a church cookbook, as are most of the recipes here. Please send us a copy of your book so our other good South Carolina cooks can enjoy dishes prepared your way.
A few weeks back, I used another recipe from St. Helena’s book and shared with you that Rev. Richard Spearman is the pastor and that the church, organized in 1966, has a current membership of around 300. It is part of the Savannah River Association.
Mrs. Schwarz lives in Middleton, R.I., and it is appropriate that a Rhode Islander contribute to a South Carolina Baptist church cookbook. Remember your Baptist history that it was Roger Williams (1603-1683) of Providence, R.I., who started the first Baptist congregation on these shores in 1639 (although some claim that it was John Clark in Newport, R.I., who did so in 1638).
When asked by her friend Jean Jones of St. Helena to submit a recipe to the book the church was compiling, Sandy did so. After living in Ohio, she and her late husband Bill moved to Middleton, where they lived for many years. A medical secretary, Sandy doesn’t recall where she got the recipe, but we thank her for contributing it to the St. Helena cookbook so we can all enjoy it.
Mrs. Schwarz lists this as an appetizer, but it is so good that you may want to have it as a snack any time of day. Because of the cream cheese, it should be kept in the refrigerator. We can’t really say it is low calorie (with all that sour cream, cream cheese, mayo and rolls), but the several vegetables take away some of the guilt. Try making this soon — either for a snack, or to serve as an appetizer while everyone is waiting for you to serve … Sunday Dinner.
Veggie Squares
½ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sour cream
2 packages crescent rolls
½ cup chopped cauliflower
½ cup chopped carrots
½ cup diced tomatoes
1 package dry Hidden Valley Ranch dressing
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese
½ cup chopped broccoli
½ cup chopped green onions
½ cup chopped or sliced black olives
Let cream cheese soften at room temperature.
Heat oven according to directions on the package of crescent rolls. Press the rolls into a 15×10-inch jelly roll pan, pressing the seams together and making the dough level. Bake 7-8 minutes. When baked and still hot, press down gently to remove all air pockets.
Cream together the mayonnaise, sour cream, the dry dressing mix and cream cheese. Spread evenly over the cooled crust in pan.
Sprinkle the chopped vegetables on the cream cheese mixture. Using fingers or the back of a spoon, press the vegetables very gently into the cream cheese mixture.
Chill and cut into squares for serving.