By DEBORAH GERTZ HUSAR
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
HAMILTON, Ill. -- Kathy Asbury lives by the philosophy hanging on her kitchen wall: Live well, laugh often, love much.
Maybe she should add "eat well" to the list.
Asbury has loved to cook since grade school when her grandmother introduced her to cooking the farm-fresh dishes she still prepares for family and friends.
"Grandma did the cooking. Mom had to help milk cows, clean house and do all the laundry. When her health wasn't real good, she'd sit in the kitchen and say 'Kathy, I want you to do this.' That's how I got started cooking and how I learned I love it," Asbury said.
"I do a little bit of everything," Asbury said. "I like to entertain. I have lots of friends who come over to be my guinea pigs. My family all gets together for holidays, and we have an oyster fry every year."
New recipes appeal when "the ingredients sound a little bit different (when) put together," she said. "The first time I use the recipe to the T, then after that I'll tweak it."
Asbury believes good cooks have an interest not only in the preparation of a dish but in its outcome, and aren't afraid to try new things.
"You have to have an experimental mind in order to be a good cook," Asbury said. "Sometimes it's surprise, but I have had very, very few failures. Most of the time things turn out really good."
Meals may begin with Sausage Cheese Balls or Christmas Pizza Strips, made with or without the meat called for in the recipe.
A light favorite, Mandarin Almond Salad, "is very good in the summertime. It goes with pork really well," she said.
Pork Roast with Honey Glaze, flavored with Dave's Pork Seasoning, is a popular choice.
Sunday Brunch Dish goes together ahead of time and suits a variety of tastes.
"You can use any kind of meat, change it to whatever your company likes," she said.
Banana Split Dessert and Cherry Torte Cake are favorite desserts along with Peaches and Cream Bread Pudding with Amaretto Sauce.
"I love peaches. This is just a little different, a little more elegant," she said.
The showstopper, Blueberry Lemon Trifle, "is so easy," Asbury said. "It's really pretty to take to dinners or get togethers if you want something a little fancy."
Asbury adds flavor, but takes out fat and calories wherever possible, with her cooking, and even the trifle is no exception when made with angel food cake, fat-free whipped topping and fresh fruit.
"It looks fattening," she said.
Looks are key to her Cutout Cookies, decorated for nearly every holiday and special events like the upcoming Bowl for Kids Sake event sponsored by Big Brothers Big Sisters in Keokuk, Iowa. One year Asbury even baked and decorated 69 dozen cookies as a fundraiser for Keokuk Area Hospital.
"The cookies are made with powdered sugar instead of regular sugar," she said. "They stay soft."
Along with cooking, Asbury loves to garden, refinish furniture and cane chairs, read, craft, go antiquing to add to her collection of honey pots and walk -- up to four miles five days a week weather permitting.
"I have plenty to do," Asbury said. "I think you need to make the best from whatever God gives you. I try and have fun."
-- dhusar@whig.com/221-3379
