VALDOSTA — When the former Cindy Carlisle and her high school sweetheart, David Neck, both of Alexandria, La., got married in August 1973, that whole summer her mom, Lillian Carlisle, taught her how to cook.

“We would choose two or three meals a week, and she and I would cook and bake,” Cindy said. “When David and Dad got home from work, we would have these big meals prepared. They loved it.

“We have been married 38 years so I have been cooking for a long time. My mother cooked a big meal every night and especially on Sunday’s, so I carried on that tradition with my family. I usually prepare Sunday dinner before church so that it is ready right when we get home. When the kids were growing up, we always invited a family or two to join us for Sunday dinner. This is one tradition they remember and still talk about.”

Cindy also gleaned cooking tips from David’s grandmother, Sybil Dupuy of Alexandria, La.

“She taught me how to make rice, candied yams, squash, pork roast. David grew up next door to her, and she cooked for his family all the time.”

Cindy was born in Gulfport, Miss., to Dewey and Lillian Carlisle, both now deceased. When she was 2, her family moved to Alexandria, La., where she grew up.

“My dad was a huge (Louisiana State University) fan, and so I grew up attending LSU football games, always knowing I would go there for college,” said Cindy, who graduated with an education degree in December 1975.

Cindy’s teaching career began in Gonzales, La., the following month.

“I taught school in Louisiana for 14 years, teaching second grade in Gonzales and Baton Rouge and then sixth grade when we moved back to Alexandria.”

She continued teaching when they moved to Valdosta in 1992.

“Once we moved to Georgia and couldn’t attend every LSU home football game, I would fix taco soup for us to eat while we watched the game on TV. I still do that and I think (daughter) Laura does, too.”

Cindy taught at Newbern Middle and Valdosta Middle for 16 years, stopping in 2009 to take care of her 88-year-old father, who died two years later.

“I taught both Life Science and Earth Science, but Earth Science and geology really are what I am passionate about teaching,” she said.

She gets to enjoy her passion when she goes hiking with her husband.

“David and I love hiking in North Georgia and Tennessee, searching for rocks, fossils, and climbing to waterfalls, but also out West in the national parks: Olympic National Park in Washington State, Glacier National Park in Montana, Arches National Park, Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Grand Teton National Park, Grand Staircase Escalante, Yellowstone, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park, and Yosemite.

“I wish all my students could have seen these places after studying them,” Cindy said. “It just makes Earth Science and geology come alive.”

Her husband is a videographer/photographer and owner of Now Productions Company.

“David is an avid hunter, especially a turkey hunter ... now, he guides hunters and videos their hunt to preserve special memories for fathers and sons, grandfathers and grandsons. He is on the Pro staff at Cabelas, and he and Jimmy Whatley hold turkey calling seminars, youth calling contests and youth hunts.”

The Necks have two grown children, son David Randall (and wife Jessica and two children) of Jacksonville, Fla., and daughter Laura Neck, an interior decorator in Atlanta.

“We adore our grandbabies (ages 2 1/2 and 17 months) and take every opportunity we can to see them,” she said.

In addition to making dresses for their granddaughter, the Northside Baptist member enjoys sewing anything from duvet covers to baby nursery ensembles to reading, exercising, and attending Bible study.

And, of course, cooking.

Cindy said she gets the most compliments on her mother’s chocolate pie or banana pudding recipe, or the Five Flavor Cake recipe of David’s mom, the late Joyce Neck of Alexandria, La.

“I’ve always loved to bake and when the kids were home, we often had cake or cookies to feed their crowd of friends,” Cindy said.

“Today’s meal was one of their favorites and what they wanted for their ‘birthday dinner.’”

That meal includes Round Steak with rice and gravy, Green Bean Bundles, Purple-hull Peas, Fruit Salad, the Buttermilk Cornbread recipe of Stonewall Jackson Justice of Valdosta, and Joyce Neck’s Five-Flavor Cake.

Recipes:

Round Steak and Gravy

“I selected this recipe because any meat can be used — chicken, deer, elk, rabbit — and it is very affordable,” Cindy Neck said. “When adding salt and pepper to the flour, taste it until you get the amount of seasoning you like. I like to cook this in a large cast-iron skillet.”

1 large round steak or a package of eye of round

salt

pepper

1 1/2 cups flour

cooking oil

3 cups water

Wash and cut round steak into palm-size pieces.

Add salt and pepper to about 1 1/2 cups of flour. Bread the round steak and fry in enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. While you are frying, sprinkle some of the seasoned flour over the meat, turning it several times. Remove the steak and slowly add about 3 cups of water to the flour still in the pot, stirring constantly to create a watery gravy that will thicken as it bakes. Add the steak back into the gravy, cover, and bake at 350 degrees for an hour. While it is cooking, prepare rice.



Green Bean Bundles

4 cans whole green beans (reserve 1 can juice)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 stick margarine

1 teaspoon salt

dash garlic

1 pound bacon

Wrap bundles of 12 beans (lengthwise) in 1/2 strip bacon, and place in baking dish. In saucepan, combine brown sugar, margarine, bean juice, salt and garlic. Bring to a boil and pour over beans. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, uncovered.



Fruit Salad

1 can each peaches, pears, mandarin oranges, drained

1/2 package Tropical Fruit Kool-Aid

Combine and stir.

“Sometimes I add marshmallows, pecans, and cherries,” Cindy Neck said.



Stoney’s Buttermilk Cornbread

3 Tablespoons bacon grease or vegetable oil

2 cups yellow cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar (if you like sweet cornbread)

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 large egg

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Heat bacon drippings or oil in a cast iron skillet, making sure to coat the sides of the skillet, reserving about a Tablespoon. Combine cornmeal and flour in a large bowl; make a well in the center of the mixture. Stir together buttermilk and egg; add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Pour into the hot skillet and spread 1 Tablespoon drippings over the top. This makes a crispy crust.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden.



Joyce’s Five Flavor Cake

2 sticks butter                                   

1/2 cup vegetable oil                      

3 cups sugar

5 eggs, well-beaten                     

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1 teaspoon rum extract

1 teaspoon butter extract

1 teaspoon lemon extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream butter, oil, and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs until lemon colored. Combine flour and baking powder and add to creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Stir in flavorings. Spoon mixture into greased 10-inch tube pan, and bake at 325 degrees for 1 1/2 hours or until cake tests done. Add glaze if desired or cool in pan about 10 minutes before turning onto rack to cool.

Glaze: 1 cup sugar; 1/2 cup water; 1 teaspoon each coconut extract, rum extract, butter extract, lemon extract, vanilla extract, almond extract. Combine ingredients in heavy saucepan; bring to a boil and stir until sugar is melted. Then pour over hot cake. Let sit in pan until cake is cooled.