BY MERLE MONAHAN/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
merlemonah@aol.com

WAKEFIELD—Jackie Scarborough was recently appointed director of the Wakefield Sunshine Seniors, for which she is in charge of preparing a meal for 50 to 80 people each month.

This doesn’t bother Scarborough. She’s used to making meals for groups.

Growing up on a farm, Scarborough helped her mother cook for 20 to 25 visiting uncles, aunts and cousins on weekends. Her family numbers 19 when they all get together.

The mother of three is happiest when her children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren come by to eat.

Scarborough, 70, and her husband, Robert, were both born and raised in Surry County. They married in 1958 and have lived in Wakefield for 43 years.

Both retired — he from the Virginia Department of Transportation and she from the Bank of Sussex and Surry — they are enjoying life.

“We do a lot of things together,” she said. “When I need some help in the house, he’s always here, and by the same token, I’m ready to help him in the yard. We’ve always been that way.”

The active twosome is that way at Wakefield Baptist as well. Mrs. Scarborough is Sunday school and Bible school director, while her husband is chairman of the deacon board.

“At home I do most of the cooking, though,” she said. “My husband plants the garden.”

Scarborough cooks the way her mother taught her.

“She wasn’t a fancy cook, but her meals were delicious,” Scarborough said. “When my children come home today, they all want the same fried chicken, garden vegetables and chocolate pie — cooked the way Mama did.”

Scarborough said she was about 10 when she started helping her mother cook.

“My father’s family, brothers and sisters, would all come back to the farm on Sunday for a meal,” she said. “Mama loved to cook, and she had no problem feeding them. In fact, she seemed to enjoy it.”

“I was the one who helped her most, I think,” she continued. “My older sister didn’t care for cooking as much as I did.”

When her mother’s health began failing, Scarborough started cooking the entire meal; she was still in grade school.

“She would sit in the kitchen and tell me how to prepare different things,” Scarborough said.

She thinks she inherited her mother’s love for cooking.

“When my children come home, some of them will offer to bring a dish, but I always tell them not to,” Scarborough said. “I enjoy planning and cooking the entire meal.”

NAME: Jackie Scarborough

AGE: 70

OCCUPATION: Retired from the Bank of Sussex and Surry after 25 years

FAVORITE FOOD: Anything chocolate

LEAST FAVORITE FOOD: Spinach

WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU REMEMBER COOKING? A pot of vegetable soup

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR WORST COOKING EXPERIENCE? I once made biscuits that didn’t rise. They were hard as rocks. I don’t know what happened, but I decided then to use Bisquick in the future.

WHAT IS ONE INGREDIENT YOU CAN’T COOK WITHOUT AND WHY: Splenda. My husband and all three children are diabetic and they love sweets, so, I have to use an artificial sweetener.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU HAVE LEARNED ABOUT COOKING: Do not try to double a recipe — it never turns out right.

WHO IS THE BEST COOK YOU HAVE EVER KNOWN AND WHY: That would have to be my mother, Doris Scott Holt. She was an excellent cook and knew how to prepare for a crowd because she had to do this every weekend.

She and my dad lived on the family farm when my five siblings and I were growing up. Because it was the family homestead, all of his 11 siblings felt like they could come home to eat; it was nothing for her to feed from 20 to 25 people every Sunday. She didn’t seem to mind, though, although she only had me, and one sister to help her.

I remember every Saturday, she and I would kill a few chickens, make a cake and potato salad.

Then on Sunday morning, she’d fry the chicken and cook vegetables.

I learned everything about cooking from her. She was an old-fashioned cook, nothing fancy and I cook that way too.

IF YOU COULD EAT ONE THING FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD IT BE: Anything chocolate

JACKIE SCARBOROUGH’S Corn Pudding

Ingredients:

3 eggs

3 Tbsp. plain flour

½ cup sugar

2 cups milk, 2 percent or higher

2 cups corn, frozen or canned white shoe peg

½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

¼ cup butter, melted

Directions:

Combine eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla and flour. Beat well. Add milk and corn. Melt butter in baking dish and add corn mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes.