16 minute read
LIFE
Tammy Heinss left her job in 2016 to focus on writing a cookbook. The work was put on hold when Heinss’ mother, who suffers from dementia, moved in with her. “Cook With Love” was finished in March.
Recipes to Follow
Shelby County Woman Shares Her Mother’s Love for Cooking in New Cookbook
By Virginia MacDonalD
It began as a love of her Mother’s love of cooking.
It has evolved into a way to share recipes with her daughters and everyone else, said Tammy Heinss who last week, for the first time, clutched her brand new 260page cookbook.
She took the name of the cookbook, “Cook With Love,” from an inscription her mother wrote in a cookbook she gave her daughter when she graduated from Booneville High School in Booneville, Mississippi. The book inscription read: “Cook with love. Love you, Mother.”
Heinss, now a Shelby County resident, was raised on a Polled Hereford cattle farm in Booneville.
“I grew up watching my mother cook,” she said. “There was something about her in the kitchen that was warm and inviting. She really loved cooking for us and making things that we all enjoy.”
Heinss’ daughters, Kelley of Huntsville and Sarah of Chicago, have asked her through the years for recipes. So when she compiled the recipes for her book, she said, she thought it would be cool to include a history of the family.
“That was my way to give them a flavor of their heritage.”
Heinss started her own interior design business, Moon Interiors, in 1999. She was the visual merchandiser and buyer for Urban Home Market when she left her job in 2016 to focus on writing a cookbook.
The work was put on hold when Heinss’ mother, who suffers from dementia, moved in with her.
“Her dementia made that year so hard that it nipped my creativity,” she said.
After her mom was moved into memory care, COVID hit.
“I worked on the book for two years straight, collecting new stories to go with those that I had already written,” Heinss said.
The book was finished in March.
“I had it completely compiled and sent it to graphic designer and photographer Kelsey Justice, who used to work for Alabama Magazine. She put the compilation into a layout and design format.
“We went back and forth editing and putting in pictures. I am so pleased with it.”
The book includes a recipe for brined turkey that Heinss claims is the best she has ever tasted. But she will not be cooking it this Thanksgiving.
“We are not having anyone for dinner this Thanksgiving. My daughter Kelly and her family are spending the holiday with his family in Huntsville. Daughter Sarah is not coming home for Thanksgiving but will be home for Christmas
“There will only be the two of us, and I will not be making a gigantic turkey. I am not exactly sure what we will do.”
Last year, the turkey was the hit of her Thanksgiving dinner, along with mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, frozen cranberry and fruit salads, pecan pie and double-layer pumpkin pie.
Heinss is back at Urban Home Market part time doing social media and helping with merchandising at the 17,000-square-foot store. She also continues interior design for clients whom she has worked with previously.
“I don‘t want to take on new clients,” she said. “And I can leave that job at the end of the day when I am done. When you are an interior designer and working on a project, you never really leave that when you go home.”
And what is the cookbook author’s favorite food?
“I love Italian food,” Heinss said. “There are good recipes for lasagna and spaghetti in the cookbook.
“But I gravitate toward homey things in the winter like chicken rice soup and dishes like that.”
She said the best part of writing the book has been that it is a labor of love and fun.
“It’s a personal gift to my children … for them and everyone else.”
“Cook With Love” can be pre-ordered from tammyparrheinss.com/shop
“The best turkey I’ve ever had, hands down! 5-star winner” — Tammy Heinss, author of “Cook With Love”
INGREDIENTS:
Kosher coarse salt 1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves Grated zest of 1 lemon 1 (12-to-14 pound) fresh turkey (Honeysuckle White preferred) 1 large yellow, sweet onion, unpeeled, cut into eighths 1 lemon quartered 8 sprigs fresh thyme 4 tablespoons butter, melted Freshly ground black pepper
DIRECTIONS:
1. The Monday before Thanksgiving, combine 3 tablespoons salt, thyme and lemon zest. Wash the turkey inside and out, drain well and pat it dry with paper towels. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the salt mixture in the cavity of the turkey and rub the rest on the skin, including under the wings and legs.
2. Place the turkey on a roasting pan to catch any drips and wrap the whole dish tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for one to two days. The day before you plan to roast the turkey, remove plastic wrap and put the turkey back in the fridge. The skin will dry out and turn a little translucent.
3. Thanksgiving Day, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. If there is anything on the bottom of your oven, the time to clean it out is before you preheat!
4. Place onion, lemon and thyme in the cavity. Tie legs together with kitchen string and tie the wings close to the body. Brush the turkey with the butter and sprinkle it with salt and pepper.
5. Place in the oven legs first and turn down to 325 degrees. Roast for about 3 hours or until the breast reaches 165 degrees and the thigh reaches 180 degrees with an instant-read thermometer. Check the temperature after 2 hours in the oven.
6. Remove from the oven and cover turkey tightly with foil to rest for 20-30 minutes.
7. Carve the turkey and arrange it on a platter. Cover with plastic wrap or foil. It can sit at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
From Page One Friday, volunteers deliver a smile, a bit of friendly conversation and a filling, nutritionally balanced meal.
The program is based at United Way of Central Alabama in Birmingham. Meals are free of charge and there are no income restrictions on seniors who participate. To qualify, an applicant must be age 60 or older, live in Jefferson County and be homebound and without help to shop for groceries or prepare a meal, according to United Way.
Stone coordinates the 10-member Meals on Wheels volunteer team at her church, Canterbury United Methodist. They rotate in delivering 20 meals to the same recipients each weekday at Villa Maria’s two apartment buildings.
Each volunteer has an assigned day to make deliveries, which works out to be one day every other week. Stone’s schedule means she usually participates every other Monday. It takes about 90 minutes to make the deliveries, she said.
When the Canterbury Meals on Wheels volunteers organized, not all the members were familiar with each other, Stone said.
“I had a little party at my house to make sure everyone knew each other,” she said.
That makes it easier when a scheduling conflict arises; they can swap shifts.
While specific residents who receive meals may change from time to time, there are others who the volunteers see all the time.
“They become our friends,” Stone said.
While delivering food is the primary aim, making the deliveries means the volunteers also can do an informal welfare check on the participants
“We make sure they’re OK,” Stone said, adding that if someone doesn’t open their door to receive the meal, the volunteers can let Meals on Wheels know for follow-up.
Journal photo by Jordan Wald
Meals on Wheels volunteer Linda Stone, left, delivers a meal and a smile to Lucille Crowe a longtime resident at Villa Maria Senior Community in Birmingham’s East Lake neighborhood, last week.
Meals and Hugs
A typical delivery day begins at the United Way’s office in Birmingham, where volunteers pick up bags of hot meals ready to go.
Stone and another volunteer, Edie Kitchings of Cahaba Heights, loaded the food into a car last week and took off for East Lake.
At Villa Maria I, they began deliveries on the fourth floor. Resident Dianne Naftel is on their list.
“I think it’s a great service. They are so pleasant, and I feel blessed to have it,” she said.
Dan Lantaff, who lives on the second floor of Villa Maria I, said he loves seeing volunteers like Stone.
“I enjoy their company more than the food,” he said.
During the pandemic, when daily deliveries were restricted, Meals on Wheels volunteers delivered food once a week, Stone said. Every delivery contained a box with frozen meals that participants could eat during the week. Once pandemic conditions eased, regular weekday deliveries resumed.
Stone, a retired pediatrician, became a Meals on Wheels volunteer about a year after retiring from Over the Mountain Pediatrics in 2018. Right after retiring from her 32-year medical career, she “took it easy a bit” and thought about what she wanted to do in the next chapter of her life. While she also is an active member of the Junior League of Birmingham choral group and the choir, Meals on Wheels is “a nice way to be in community with people,” she said.
“Some of them don’t see anyone. I’m not sure some of them have much family. It’s a little bit of a lifeline for them and provides social contact and a meal,” Stone said.
She enjoys the overall experience as a Meals on Wheels volunteer. “I enjoy meeting people, talking to people,” she said. “I enjoy making a difference in people’s lives. It feeds my soul as well as, hopefully, it feeds theirs.” As Stone and Kitchings prepared to leave Villa Maria I and head to the complex’s other building, Crowe smiled as she caught Stone’s attention.
“Give me a hug goodbye,” she said, a request Stone answered with a big smile of her own.
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While Meals on Wheels already is delivering meals to 1,500 residents, more volunteers are needed to meet demand, according to the United Way of Central Alabama.
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12 • Thursday, November 17, 2022
LIFE Like Mother, Like Daughter
Woman Continues Christmas Stocking Tradition Started by Mom
By Anne Ruisi
Preparing for the Christmas season is a year-round job retired teacher Susan White inherited from her late mother, Lois Lee.
That’s because White’s hand-knitted Christmas stockings, originated by Lee, are in demand at Homewood gift shop PrimeTime Treasures not only during the holidays but throughout the year.
“It’s one of our most popular items. It’s Christmas 365 days a year,” said June Pryor, a volunteer and past chairman at the shop, which is operated and staffed by the Assistance League of Birmingham.
While White’s Christmas stockings delight customers and earn her extra income, they are a legacy from her mother, who started making the stockings to sell at PrimeTime Treasures decades ago.
“That was my mama’s life. She was widowed for 47 years,” White said. “She made them all year long.”
For more than 30 years, until she became ill several years before her death in May at 98, Lee knitted the stockings and sewed angel tree toppers and ornaments to sell at PrimeTime Treasures. Her daughter doesn’t do sewing crafts, but she’s mastered how to make the Christmas stockings.
Mainly working with red, green and white acrylic yarn for the stocking itself, she incorporates a charming design, such as an angel, Santa and Mrs. Santa, a snowman, tin soldier and reindeer, to decorate each one.
While her mother made the Christmas items consistently all year and kept them in a box under a bed until it was time to add a name to the top of the stocking when it was ordered, White waits for an order to come through before she starts knitting.
“I work better under pressure,” she said.
White said her mother made 60 to 70 Christmas stockings a year. This year, White made 50.
Each sells for $92, Pryor said. Of that amount, White keeps $75 and the rest is used for the shop’s operating expenses.
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Her Mother Tried …
Knitting is a hobby that came later in life, White said. She recalled her mother trying to teach her young daughter the craft, but White said she just wasn’t that interested in learning it. Knitting captured her attention in 1972 when she was a student teacher at a Bessemer kindergarten.
A teacher at the school taught her and she made a red, white and green Christmas stocking for her then-fiancé, and future husband, George.
“That stocking still hangs on my mantel every year,” she said, noting this Christmas marks the treasured stocking’s 50th anniversary. The couple will celebrate their Golden Wedding anniversary next year.
Additional Christmas stockings were made as the couple’s family expanded over the years, including for their two children and two grandchildren.
“The dogs even have them too,” White added
Her Christmas stockings hold up well for years because she uses the acrylic yarn, White said. “Moths get at wool and will ruin it. Mine is 50 years old and doesn’t have holes.”
After she learned to knit, White often would help her mother make Christmas stockings when she got a lot of orders and “if she was in a pickle.” One task she didn’t learn was how to make repairs to a stocking.
“Mama could repair. She could do almost anything,” White said.
While White has stopped taking orders for the season, she will start accepting them after New Year’s. Examples of her work are on display at PrimeTime Treasures, where customers can place an order.
Those at the shop fondly recall White’s mother and enjoy seeing White when she pops into the shop.
“Her mom was a precious lady, and Susan is very much like her,” Pryor said.
Susan White said her mother, Lois Lee, made 60 to 70 Christmas stockings a year. This year, White made 50. White is shown above with some of her stockings at PrimeTime Treasures in Homewood.
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Inspired by Coca-Cola
Vestavia Hills Native Creates Popular Series of Santa Claus Paintings
By Anne Ruisi
Artist Dirk Walker didn’t discover his true calling until he was in his 30s, but since then he’s created several series of paintings that focus on scenes such as wildlife, landscapes, Birmingham landmarks and, notably in the holiday season, Santa Claus.
His Santa Claus artwork will be on display Dec. 1 at a Christmas trunk show at Brombergs in Mountain Brook from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Walker’s Santa Claus paintings, which he started creating about 25 years ago, have become popular with collectors – so popular, in fact, that one pediatrician collected 27 of them and decorated his office with the paintings during the holidays, Walker said.
“People have a warm, fresh and sometimes funny response to them,” Walker said.
He started painting the Santa series almost as a joke, he said. He always loved the Coca-Cola Santas and wanted to paint one.
People still ask him to do them, and while in previous years he made different versions to pick from, this year he’s only doing two original Santa paintings. Fans don’t have to worry about the originals being sold before they can buy one; Walker offers prints.
As a child in Vestavia Hills, Walker doodled, but his desire was to go into architecture. He was accepted at Auburn University but not into its renowned architecture school, so he went into industrial design.
Walker was working for Central Bank of the South in the 1980s when he started painting for stress relief. He took one of his pieces to the Loretta Goodwin Gallery in Birmingham to get framed, and Goodwin was impressed. She asked to see two or three more of his paintings.
“It took me about two years to feel confident to bring more in,” he said.
Eventually, he bought the gallery when Goodwin retired and owned it for about 20 years, until he decided to concentrate on painting and brought in Beverly McNeil.
The Beverly McNeil Gallery in Birmingham now carries his work, as do galleries in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. He has an online print store at dirkwalkerfineart.com.
Courtesy Dirk Walker
Dirk Walker started painting the Santa series almost as a joke, he said. He always loved the Coca-Cola Santas and wanted to paint one.
Acrylic on canvas by Maya Eventov
Acrylic by Maya Eventov
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