10/21/2009 6:00:00 PM COOK/Band director passionate about baking
By LEAH TOLBERT Staff Reporter
Baking and cake decorating is a passion for Philadelphia High School Band director and former Miss Alcorn County Jill Shumaker.
Jill, 25, moved to Philadelphia from Corinth in January to begin her first teaching job at the high school and to make a name for herself in a new town rather than staying in her hometown.
After graduating from Mississippi State University in December with a degree in music education, Jill felt very lucky to get the job she wanted and to teach alongside Tom Henry.
"The band is so well-known," she said. "It's an honor to be able to teach here."
When she arrived in Philadelphia it was kind of a culture shock for her since the northern part of the state is a little different. There are similarities to her hometown since already everyone knows everyone, which is one of the reasons she's found it rather difficult to make friends.
After visiting Philadelphia and the school once or twice, she quickly found herself not accustomed to the two-way streets. It took her about two hours to find her way across town.
Jill, who has never lived on her own, says it's been an adjustment for her. She has always lived with a roommate or had two brothers around to keep her company.
However, she feels that living on her own has given her room to grow and figure out exactly what she wants from life.
"The hardest thing right now is being away from my family," she said.
Aside from work, Jill spends time baking for her 200 students, friends, family or just for fun. Her two obsessions are cake decorating and baking cookies using the many unique cookie cutters she's collected.
While working at a Dairy Queen in Corinth, Jill learned how to draw on cakes and was given creative freedom to hone her decorating abilities. For fun, she worked as a decorator for four years.
She said from time to time she makes treats for her students and for special occasions.
For a recent baby shower she purchased a pram stroller cookie cutter but unfortunately no one there recognized the cookie cutter silhouettes.
As for cooking, Jill gives her mother full credit for just about everything she's learned, but she's managed to learn a little since she's been on her own. Preparing her mother's recipes never taste quite as good to her when she's doing the cooking. She thinks it has something to do with the dirty dishes in her sink that she's forced to clean after eating.
"I once had to call my mother to ask her how to boil eggs," she said. "I've pretty much learned everything from her, and she's an amazing cook!"
As for the beauty pageant in 2005, she said she did it on a whim, and it brought her scholarship money that really helped her out during her college years.
It was the coolest experience she's ever had and as she is naturally a shy person, she feels the pageant allowed her to have more confidence and see herself only in a positive light.
Her latest task at Philadelphia is organizing the beauty and beau review, which she considers a challenge.
While she is dating Justin Wallace, 25, a band director at Forest, she feels she's not ready for marriage right now.
Jill is the daughter of Buddy and Jennifer Shumaker and Larry and Judy Logland. Her brothers and their family are Jon Shumaker, Kurt and Holly Shumaker and their children, Mac, 3, and Mia, 1.
Cracker Candy
Saltine crackers (about 1 stick)
1 cup brown sugar
2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 package of Heath bar bits of Brickle
1 package of white chocolate chips
1 cup of finely chopped pecans
Line cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Place crackers in a single layer. Melt butter in brown sugar in saucepan and boil for two minutes. Pour mixture over the crackers. Top with brickle. Cook in 375 degree oven for about five minutes until bubbling around edges. Top with white chocolate chips and pecans.
Mom's
Strawberry Cake
1 white cake mix
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup strawberries and juice (can use 16 oz. frozen strawberries)
1 small strawberry Jell-O
Dissolve Jell-O in half cup of water. Add remaining ingredients and mix together. Cook in preheated 350-degree oven for 30 minutes.
Strawberry
Cake Icing
1 stick softened butter
1/4 cup strawberries, no juice
Confectioners sugar
Beat ingredients and spread over cooled layers
Potato Soup
5 medium white potatoes, chopped
5 cup milk
Onion flakes
1-2 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 tablespoon real bacon bits
2 cans cream of chicken soup or 1 cream of chicken and 1 cream of potato
salt and pepper
Cook over low heat until potatoes are tender. Add one pound Velveeta in chunks. Simmer until cheese is melted. Add bacon bits and scallions on top of soup when you serve.
* This recipe came from Mrs. Wilder. It is almost as good as the potato soup at O'Charley's. She likes to serve it with oyster crackers.
Broccoli and Rice Casserole
1 cup instant rice
small package chopped broccoli
1/4 cup margarine
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom
Spread jar cheese whiz.
Mix casserole in two quart dish. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes. Put foil over to keep cheese from burning.
Taco Soup
2 pounds ground beef (chuck)
1 onion chopped
Cook until meat changes color. Add two small cans Rotel, 16 ounces of tomato sauce, two cans pinto beans, two cans potato soup, one can shoepeg corn, one can beef broth, and two packages taco seasoning. Top with grated cheese and Fritos.
Stripped Delight
Mix one and a half cup graham cracker crumbs, one -fourth cup sugar, and one-third cup melted butter. Press into bottom of 13 x 9" pan. Beat one package, eight ounces, of cream cheese with one-fourth cup sugar and two tablespoons milk until smooth. Fold into half of eight ounce container of cool whip. Spread over crust.
Prepare two boxes, four serving size, chocolate instant pudding with three and a half cup cold milk. Spread over cream cheese mixture.
After chilling for several hours, add cool-whip on top of pudding before serving.
Chocolate Chip Pie
Two eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packaged brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons, 1 stick, butter melted
6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
6 oz. dark chocolate chips
1 9-inch unbaked pie shell
Whipped topping (optional)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In large bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Add flour and brown sugar; beat until well blended. Blend in granulated sugar and butter. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into pie shell. Bake for one hour. Cover with whipped topping, if desired.
