Howell learned from grandmothers

Makaila Howell learned to cook foods like spaghetti, eggs, hamburgers, homemade biscuits, cornbread salad, and fruitcake from her two grandmothers, the late Tressie Lee Vowell and Betty Lane Walker.

“I’ve always loved to cook since I was a little girl,” Howell said. “I wish I could cook homemade biscuits with my granny one more time. We didn’t use utensils when we were in her kitchen making biscuits. She would use her hands to mix it all up.”

Married to Christian Lane Howell, the couple finds joy in raising their three daughters, Sophia Noele, Mckinlee Layne, and Nova Grace.

“My husband loves my chicken parm alfredo, meatloaf, seafood mac and cheese, and chicken spaghetti,” Howell said. “He does most of the grilling.”

As a stay-at-home mom, Howell started cooking more seriously when her first daughter was born, initially to earn extra income. Recently, she began selling her sweets at Scotty’s Country Store. 

“I really love to make candied fruit and brownies,” she said. “That’s a huge hit with everyone in town.”

She added, “I’ve been perfecting a new brownie recipe by adding more quality ingredients, and it’s a lot better now. They were selling out before, but now they are seriously good.”

For family gatherings and holidays, Howell and her family prepare deviled eggs, dressing, butterbeans, and baked mac and cheese. Depending on their mood, they also grill hamburgers and hotdogs.

In Howell’s kitchen, she often relies on ingredients from her granny’s biscuit recipe: flour, buttermilk, butter, and Crisco, still expertly mixing and dropping them with her hands as she showed her. 

“One thing I’ve learned is you can mess up a lot in the kitchen,” Howell said. “I’ve had my trials and my errors more than I can count. You will always have those days when it doesn’t work out, but you just have to keep going.”

Howell said seeing friends and family smiling and enjoying her food is what makes cooking so rewarding to her. 

“I love to get everybody’s texts saying how good it is,” she said. “They make my day every time they send me a message.”

CORNBREAD SALAD

1 cup green onions 

1 cup chopped bell peppers 

1 ripe tomato chopped 

1 whole can of corn drained 

3 tsp sugar 

8 slices of bacon cooked crumbled 

1 cup mayo 

1 (8inch) skillet cornbread crumbled 

½ cup grated cheese 

Chop onion & bell pepper up together, drain corn, mix with corn bread, tomatoes, and bacon all in large bowl with lid on.

ICE BOX FRUIT CAKE 

1 1/2 box of crushed graham crackers 

1 box of crushed vanilla wafers 

1-2 cans of condensed milk 

1 box of golden raisins seedless 

1 8oz crystallized cherries 

1 8oz crystallized pineapple 

1 pkg pecan (save some for top)

1 pkg walnuts 

½ stick butter melted 

1 large pkg marshmallows melted 

Mix together melted butter and marshmallows, crushed crackers, wafers, fruit (chopped up) and all other ingredients. After mixing good press in a tube pan and decorate with pecans and cherries. Refrigerate until set.

SUGAR COOKIES 

1 cup sugar 

1 cup salted butter 

1 egg 

1 tbsp milk 

¼ teaspoon salt 

¾ teaspoon baking powder 

3 cups AP flour 

Mix butter & sugars, milk eggs and remaining ingredients.

Chill dough couple hours before cutting shapes and baking.