Baptist Casserole

There's a lot of things (and people) we miss about Henleyfield, but one of the things we miss the most is Ms. Betty Burks' "Award Winning" Baptist Casserole.  The "award" came at Drew's Top Chef themed 30th birthday for Best Entree.  He knew it was gonna be the winner before he ever put a bite in his mouth!  Baptist Casserole is Ms. Betty's staple dish at every NHSBC function and everyone loves it!  She was always sweet to make sure that I took Drew home the leftover casserole after Ladies Luncheon and it was a special treat for him.  It's been a good six months since he's had some, and when I mentioned possibly making it, he was more than excited.  He even set the meat out to thaw for me!  I put on Facebook that I was cooking it and got several inquiries as to what it was (though no one from New Henleyfield had to ask!).  So, I'm going to borrow from my friend Tammy's blog idea and post a recipe!  This will probably be the only time you get a recipe from me!

Baptist Casserole

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
1 cup spaghetti sauce
1 cup sour cream
8 oz mozzarella cheese
2 T butter
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1 roll crescent rolls

Brown meat and drain.  Add sauce.  Place in 9x13 pyrex.  Mix together sour cream and mozarella cheese.  Spread over meat and sauce mixture.  Top with crescent rolls.  Pour melted butter and Parm cheese on top.  Bake at 375 until bubbly.

Trip to Henleyfield

             My heart is so full after a wonderful weekend visiting friends in Henleyfield and surrounding areas.  It was a jam-packed few days, but we sure had a blast!  Here are some highlights:

*Visiting my teacher friend Joni and her kids Hughie and Ellie.  Evangeline quickly discovered how to climb on a stool to reach their stash of candy.  She has a candy-radar I promise!
*Staying with Mr. Doug and Mrs. Carolyn.  We love getting to see them as always, and Evangeline especially enjoyed seeing the horses, dogs, and cats.  Trey had a VERY rough night Friday evening and we really appreciate how patient Mr. Doug and Mrs. Caroyln were.  Most people don't like being woken up in the middle of the night by a screaming baby, but they didn't seem to mind at all!  I told a friend we were staying with church members from Henleyfield and she remarked that she was surprised that we had people we felt comfortable staying with.  I am very grateful for their friendship and a place to stay whenever we want to come down to visit.
*Sunday School Party at Henleyfield.  Drew is jealous that I got to go to the annual Sunday school party and he didn't.  I even got to play dirty Santa and won a candle warmer.   It was a blast getting to see all my friends and watch them fight over a set of flashlights!  Those were the best Dirty Santa gifts I've ever seen!
*While I partied, Evangeline hung out at our old house with all her buddies.  The Wises are staying there since their house burned and it was so much fun getting to hang out in it for a little while.  Evangeline seemed a little confused at first, but warmed up quickly when she saw Zander and Angelynna.  Everytime I asked Evangeline if she wanted to go see Zander she just laughed and laughed.  She loves "Dander" so much! 
*Evangeline got to go to Morgan's 10th birthday party and skated for the first time!  Also she had some cake (always a favorite) and Judy gave her a balloon which she held in her hand the entire way back. 
*We had a sweet visit with Mrs. Sybil and Mr. E.J.!  Mrs. Sybil is recovering from shoulder surgery and hasn't been able to get out much lately, and we enjoyed getting to stop by!
*A trip to Bogalusa to see all of our Dobson/McJunkin friends.  Jenny and I were college roommates and her parents moved to Bogalusa after Hurricane Katrina shortly before I moved to Pearl River County.  We were thrilled to discover that they lived only about 20 minutes from us.  I made frequent visits to their house whenever Jenny, Tim, and their kids Anna, Adam, and Alyssa were over.  I really really miss seeing them so frequently!  Evangeline had a blast playing and going for a ride through the jungle on the golf cart!  Trey seemed happy to see everyone, too, but he missed his Daddy.  I caught him on video saying, "Dada" for the first time. 
*Mrs. Phyllis, our sweet neighbor, had an 80th birthday party that we were thrilled to be able to attend.  And..... we got more cake!
*Stopped by our other neighbors, the Barnes', and got to see them for a little bit.  Mrs. Rose is the kind of person that when she tells you she misses you, you know she means it.  She said everytime she makes white beans she thinks of Drew because she was always sweet to call up and tell us she had supper ready for us.  The Barnes' also miss Blue Bell a lot.  Blue Bell was a good guard dog for their house, too.
*The major highlight, and our purpose for coming, was the children's choir program at New Henleyfield.  They are a talented group of kids and I couldn't have been more proud!  Mara and Ashley did a fantastic job directing them, too!  One of my favorite moments was Beau's solo.  Afterwards I told him what a great job of singing he did and that I always gave him rap solos and didn't know he had such a beautiful voice.  Beau responded, "I tried to tell you!"  The kids all seemed so happy to see us and it just made me feel so loved!  I am so thankful to have been able to have worked with them for four years.  I meant what I told them, that I have now moved from their choir director to the President of the New Henleyfield Children's Choir Fan Club. 

We headed home exhausted, but feeling totally blessed.  Blessed to have these friends in our lives who loved us and still love us.  I am thankful that God gave us safe travel there and back even though I was so tired.  I am looking forward to our next trip down there!