Stuart To Honor 'Peggy' During Show
This appeared in The Neshoba Democrat - June 26, 2013
Peggy Webb has been cooking for as long as she can remember. As the daughter of a preacher, Peggy said she had to help her mother cook, because they never knew who would stop by.

After 41 years of cooking at Peggy's restaurant, Peggy Webb and her delicious cooking have become iconic.

Marty Stuart will pay tribute to this Neshoba County icon Friday during the taping of the fifth season finale episode of The Marty Stuart Show, which will be recorded at the historic Ellis Theater.

Although Peggy is now retired, her love for cooking still burns as bright as the burners on her stove when she prepares meals for her family. She still enjoys doing all of the cooking for family get-togethers.

The mouth watering fried chicken Peggy prepared for over four decades served a variety of people from all walks of life.

"My front door was an equalizer," Peggy said. "When people walked through, it didn't matter if they were a millionaire. They were treated the same."

Peggy lovingly recalls leaving the doors unlocked to the restaurant that she and her family both lived and worked in.

"Back then, we didn't lock the doors. After the lunch crowd was finished, we would put the leftovers on the table. When the kids would get out of school, they would just come in and get what they wanted. The food was always gone by the evening."

Peggy's restaurant is infamous for its "honor system." When the restaurant first opened in 1961, the cost of lunch was 78 cents. After some time the price went up to 90 cents.

Peggy was cooking and waiting tables during that time, and was too busy to get to every table to make change for a dollar, so customers began leaving a dollar bill on the counter.

"I thought that was a great idea, so I put a basket on the counter, and that's how everybody started paying," she said.

Even though Peggy is retired now from the restaurant business, her pace has not slowed down much. She enjoys doing yard work, reading,and spending time with her family.

Peggy has shared some of her recipes.

PECAN PIE

1 stick of butter
1/2 cup white Karo
1/2 cup dark Karo
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs, beaten (reserve 1 egg white)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 dash salt
1 teaspoon flour
2 cups coursely broken pecans

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter in a sauce pan over very low heat and cook until bubbling stops and the solids at the bottom have begun to brown-cool. Combine in a bowl sugar, salt, flour, syrups, eggs, lemon juice, vanilla. Stir well, then blend in butter. Brush unbaked pie shell bottom with egg white. Pour filling mixture into pie shell. Top with the pecans pushing them down with a spoon to make sure all of the pecans are touching the filling. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes then reduce temperature to 325 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Cool to room temperature. Do not refrigerate.

MY MOM'S CHICKEN LOAF

1 whole fryer
1/2 stick oleo
1-1/2 cup celery chopped
1/2 cup bell pepper chopped
1 small onion chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 small can of Pet milk
1 can chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
loaf bread crumbs

Boil fryer. Cool. Remove meat from bones. Saute vegetables in oleo until tender. Mix chicken, soups and vegetables together and pour into baking dish. Crumble enough loaf bread crumbs in to thicken. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

BLUEBERRY PIE

Crust:
1 cups flour
2/3 cup Wesson oil
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups of chopped pecans

Mix with hand and divide dough into two equal balls. Press dough until it fits into pans. Spread one cup of pecans over crusts. Cook at 300 degrees until light brown.

Filling:
1 box powdered sugar
1 - 8 ounce cream cheese
2 packages Dream Whip
1 can blueberry pie filling
1 teaspoon lemon juice

Put lemon juice in blueberry pie filling and stir in can. Mix cream cheese and sugar until well blended. Beat Dream Whip according to directions on box. Mix with cream cheese and spread in pie crusts. Top with blueberry pie filling. Chill thoroughly.

CANDIED DILL PICKLES

2 jars of hamburger dills (total 1/2 gallon)

Drain pickles and cover with ice. When it melts (about 3 hours), drain. Mix 4 cups of sugar, 1 cup vinegar, 1-1/2 tablespoons pickling spice. Pour over pickles in a large bowl. Let stand 3 days on counter. Do not cover. Stir every day. Put in jars on third day.

CHOCOLATE PIE

26 big marshmallows
6 Hershey chocolate bars
1/2 cup sweet milk
1-8 ounce carton Cool Whip
1 cup chopped pecans
1 large graham cracker crust

Melt marshmallows, 5-1/2 chocolate bars, and milk over low heat. Stir and cool. Add cool whip and pecans. Pour into crust. Refrigerate 4 hours. Grate 1/2 Hershey chocolate bar over the top of the pie and serve.

By Angie Griffing
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