Breazeale makes candy at Christmas
Making Christmas candy is a family tradition for Melinda Breazeale.
Every year, she and her mother, Mable Galloway, dedicate at least one day to making all kinds of different candies before Christmas.
They usually start at 9 a.m., and sometimes they continue to make candy into the night, sometimes as late as 9 p.m.
Melinda’s father, Dwight Galloway, loved Martha White’s bonbons, so they love to make those whenever they get together to make candy, and her mother gives the candy they make away as Christmas gifts.
Breazeale said she learned to cook at a young age when she would stay in the kitchen to watch.
Her grandmother, Ruby Taylor, taught her how to cook tea cake cookies when she was only 5 years old.
“I’d climb up onto the barstool, and she would let me mix the bowl,” Breazeale said.
Since then, Breazeale’s cooking has evolved to include all sorts of things, including her favorite dish to cook, sticky chicken, which is chicken that is essentially cooked twice.
“I love this chicken, and my whole house loves it, too,” Breazeale said. “We probably eat it at least once a week, and it slides right off the bone.”
Breazeale said her favorite chef is her husband, John, who cooks for her when she sometimes has to work late at Lisa’s Sassy Scissors salon. John also cooks one of her favorite meals: his pot roast.
Breazeale has another food she loves.
“My favorite food that I eat to feel better is my great grandmother’s goulash,” Breazeale said. “It’s definitely my comfort food.”
Breazeale is from the House community, and she now lives in Philadelphia with her husband, John. They have two children, Samantha Hoskins and Colby Breazeale.
Her daughter Samantha is married to Jihida Hoskins, and together they have 4-year-old Avery Hoskins.
Breazeale is an animal lover, and they have two fur babies, Piper, a chocolate Yorkie, and Diesel, a German shepherd.
STICKY CHICKEN
Ingredients:
1 Family pack chicken breast
Salt & pepper
2 cups of flour
3 cups cooking oil
Directions:
Allow cooking oil to get hot and place chicken in oil. Brown both sides then remove chicken. Turn to medium heat and allow to cool down. Return chicken to skillet and cook for 1 hour.
CRACKED GREEN BEANS
Ingredients:
3 Large cans of green beans (drained)
10 Tablespoons of soy sauce
½ Cup of brown sugar
10 Pieces of bacon fried (crumbled)
½ Cup margarine (melted)
Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a casserole dish and bake at 350 F for 30 minutes.
RED VELVET TRUFFLES
Ingredients:
1 Box red velvet cake mix
1 Container vanilla frosting
1 Block cream cheese
1 Bag White chocolate chips
Directions:
Make cake according to directions on the box. Let it cool. Crumble cake and mix in frosting and cream cheese. Roll mixture into balls. Melt chocolate chips and dip the red velvet balls into white chocolate. Put into refrigerator until the white chocolate has hardened. “This is a favorite of my mom’s, and I make it on our list of Christmas candies each year.
JOHN’S POT ROAST
Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 Box onion soup mix
2 Cups of beef broth
Directions:
Cook in an instant pot for 70 minutes on high.