Heavenly Recipes
Story and Photos by Lawrence Chatagnier
Holly cooks a healthy meal
Holly Becnel 22 • Bayou Catholic • Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux • September 2021
This month’s Heavenly Recipe comes from Vacherie native and Chackbay resident Holly Becnel. Holly and her husband Thomas have been living in Chackbay for the past 20 years. They have two adult children who are in the military, Erica and Hunter. Holly is sharing her recipe of maple glazed salmon. “I got this recipe from a local home improvement and food show recently. I love this recipe. I could eat it every week!” Holly says that she is cooking now more than she used to. She likes to cook in black iron skillets. “I love to bake. I enjoy baking cakes, cookies and homemade brownies. My mom used to bake wedding cakes for local weddings. My mom and the local ladies of the neighborhood would get together at our house and bake wedding cakes for the local women getting married. My grandmother taught me how to make the decorative roses on the wedding cakes by hand. It is a very labor intensive process.” “My dad was the outdoorsman of the family; he would hunt and fish. He also had a large vegetable garden. He would grow the vegetables and my mom would cook them. He was also a fisherman. My dad was known for his fresh catfish and boiled crabs.” Holly is the youngest of eight children in her family. “My parents were older when I was born. They were both well into their 40s. I have a greater appreciation for them now. They were at the age where they were wise when I was a youngster. When I was 12, my dad made the camp on the lake our home. I used to travel by boat to get to and from home. I was always kidded that I had to get on a boat to come to work.” Holly has been working for the diocese for the past 38 years. She started working part-time in 1983, then began working full-time in the finance department in 1984, where she worked for the next seven years.
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