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Sara Shirey of Talledega County said she became a cook because she was impatient.

"Two of my sisters knit, crochet, sew and can make about anything you want out of fabric or yarn. All that takes a lot of patience, and I just didn’t have the patience for it, so I helped my mother with the cooking," said Sara.

"I have one other sister who’s a good cook, too, but I wouldn’t say I’m a real, real good cook or anything. I just always liked it," she added.

But the 60 bags of peanut and pecan brittle she sells every week might indicate some people indeed think Sara is a "real, real good cook."

Sara has been making brittle for close to 15 years, although she hasn’t been selling it quite that long. She began selling peanut brittle through a local convenience store, and she bought all her peanuts at her local Co-op store, Talladega County Exchange.

"They wondered what I was doing with all those peanuts," Sara said of the Co-op employees, "and when I told them I sold brittle, they said they’d try to sell some for me, too."

Now Sara’s brittle is sold at three locations in her community and she still buys her peanuts from the Co-op.

"They crack all the pecans I use, too. I do a lot of pecan shelling. After a while, my fingers get sore, but my husband Leonard helps me shell some," she said, placing heavy emphasis on the word some.

While it’s just her and Leonard at home now, she’s likely to have some extra faces appear about suppertime. The couple has five children, ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, all nearby.

"All five of our kids live within three miles of us and they’re always dropping in, but we love it. I’m proud they live close by. My mother had four girls and one boy, and I have four boys and one girl. I think it’s wonderful to have a lot of family. When you’ve got a crowd for the holidays and other get-togethers, it’s enough cooking to wear you out, but it’s so much fun," she said.

In addition to making her brittle and spending time with her family, Sara enjoys fishing and flower gardening.

"I enjoy being outside. Leonard used to have a boat, but we got where we didn’t fish as much as we used to. I told him our boys all had boats we could borrow when we wanted to, so we sold ours," said Sara.

Included in the recipes Sara shares this month is her recipe for peanut or pecan brittle.

"I’ve made it so much I’ve kind of slacked-off eating it, and it is fattening, but I still like it, and my kids all love it," she said.

Kellie Henderson is a freelance writer from Troy.

Sara’s Homemade Brittle

2 cups sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
½ cup water
3 cups peanuts or pecans
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

Mix sugar, syrup and water in a medium saucepan. Mix well and cook over high heat until mixture can spin a hair-like thread. Add nuts and cook 10 to 15 minutes more. Stir in butter, salt and baking soda until well mixed. Remove from heat.

Carefully pour onto a large cookie sheet to cool, then break into pieces.

Peach Pie

1 (28 oz) can sliced peaches
1¼ cup sugar, divided
½ teaspoon almond extract
2 sticks (1 cup)
butter, melted
½ cup flour
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 325^o. In a saucepan, heat peaches and juice with ¼ cup sugar and almond extract to boiling. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream well the remaining 1 cup sugar, butter and flour. Add eggs and beat well.

Pour peach mixture into a greased 9 by 13-inch baking dish and drop batter mixture over the top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until brown.

Pecan Pie

1 cup white corn syrup
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
3 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pinch of salt
1 cup pecans
1 9-inch unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 350^o. Thoroughly mix together first six ingredients. Stir in pecans. Pour into pie crust and bake for 45 minutes. Cool before serving. Good served with whipped cream.

Fried Apple Pies

2 cups dried apples
1½ cups sugar
½ teaspoon allspice
1 can refrigerated biscuits

Place apples in a saucepan and cover with water. Cook until fruit is plumped. Mash apples. Stir in sugar, allspice and apples. Let mixture cool.

Roll out one biscuit for each individual pie. Fill with apple mixture, folding pastry in half over apples and sealing along edges.

Deep fry until golden brown. Sprinkle with a little more sugar while hot.

Note: You can also bake the pies at 325o for 40 minutes instead of frying.

Lemon Ice Box Pie

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
Juice of 3 or 4 lemons
1 (8 oz) container non-dairy whipped topping
1 graham cracker pie crust

Thoroughly mix milk and lemon juice. Fold in whipped topping. Pour into pie crust and refrigerate 3 hours or until firm.

Cheese Puffs

¼ pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated
¼ cup butter, softened
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon paprika
24 stuffed olives

Preheat oven to 375^o. Mix cheese with next four ingredients. Pinch off a small amount of cheese mixture and roll around each olive. Place on baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Best served hot.

Potato Casserole

2 sticks butter or margarine
2 pounds hash brown potatoes
½ pint sour cream
1 (10 oz) can cream of chicken soup
½ cup chopped onion
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 cups corn flakes, crushed

Melt one stick of butter. In a large bowl, combine melted butter, hash browns and next six ingredients. Transfer to a greased 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Top with cornflakes. Melt remaining butter and pour over cornflakes. Bake at 350^o for 40 to 45 minutes.

Broccoli Casserole

1 cup uncooked rice
2 (10 oz) packages frozen chopped broccoli
1 medium onion, chopped
½ stick butter or margarine
1 (10 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (8 oz) jar Cheese Whiz

Preheat oven to 300^o. Cook rice according to package directions. Cook broccoli according to package directions and drain.

Saute onions in butter. Mix all ingredients together and transfer to a large (2 quart) greased casserole dish. Bake for 30 minutes.

Squash Balls

2 cups squash, cooked and drained
1 egg, beaten
½ cup plain flour
½ teaspoon
baking powder
Dash of salt and pepper
Cornflakes, crushed
Oil for frying

Mix together first five ingredients. Form mixture into small balls and roll in cornflakes. Deep fry until golden brown and serve hot.

Rice and Chicken

1½ cups uncooked rice
1 cup water
1 (10 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (10 oz) can cream of celery soup
1 (10 oz) can cream of chicken soup
3 or 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 350^o. Stir rice, water and soups together. Place in a greased 9 by 13-inch casserole dish. Place chicken on top of rice mixture. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes.