Thomas family celebrates ‘first’ Christmas

Madison Thomas and her husband Austin got to enjoy their first Christmas with daughter Rorie.

Every time Rorie would open up one of her presents she would scream in excitement.

Thomas has always lived in Philadelphia. Her parents are Kandi and Wayne Marshall. After graduating from high school, Thomas attended Meridian Community College and became a registered nurse. Nursing runs in the Marshall family. 

“My mom is a nurse, my aunt is a nurse, and my cousin is a nurse,” Thomas said. 

She one day hopes to go back to school to get her bachelor’s in nursing. She has been with Sta-Home Home Health & Hospice since September. Austin is also a nurse and works at Rush Hospital in Meridian. 

Rorie loves playing outside, swinging, strolling, and she loves to eat, but she is not a picky eater and will eat anything you put in front of her. 

The Thomas family attends church at The Sanctuary in Philadelphia. Thomas's hobbies include going to church, reading, and singing and likes singing to her daughter. She is passionate about her job and being the best wife and mother she can be. She and her husband are also working on remodeling the home they bought this past year. 

Thomas’s cooking influence is both of her grandmothers, Linda Marshall and Debra Brantley. One of the recipes Thomas shared is her Nana's sugar cookies. As a child, Thomas can remember helping her Nana, Linda, make these sugar cookies, and hopes to do the same one day with her daughter. 

Her other grandmother Debra makes a stew that Thomas often looked forward to eating when she got off the bus as a child. 

Thomas loves cooking recipes from her crockpot. She likes recipes that taste good but are quick and easy to make. Her favorite part of cooking is eating, and her least favorite part of cooking is cleaning up the mess. 

SHRIMP BISQUE

3 cans cream of mushroom soup 

2 cans potato soup 

1 can whole kernel corn 

2 packs of frozen crawfish tails 

4 oz velveeta cheese 

1 tsp Tony C’s 

1 tsp Cayenne pepper 

1 pint half and half 

1 brunch of onions 

Rinse crawfish tails in warm water to thaw. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and cook on low for 4 hours. 

Loaded potato soup 

6 large potatoes 

1/2 onion chopped 

4-6 cups chicken 

1 cup milk 

3 tbsp flour 

1/2 cup heavy cream 

1 lb velveeta cheese 

1 tsp garlic powder 

1 tsp salt 

1tsp pepper 

Peel potatoes and cut into cubes, add to crock pot along with chopped onion, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and broth. Cook on high 3 1/2 hours or until potatoes are tender. Once potatoes are tender, whisk flour into milk until smooth and stir into soup. Add the heavy cream, stir and cook for an additional 30 minutes. Add velveeta cheese and allow to melt. Garnish with bacon bits and chopped green onions. 

NANA’S SUGAR 

COOKIES 

1 stick margarine 

1 cup sugar 

1/3 cup oil 

1 egg

2 cups plain flour 

1 tsp vanilla 

1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp cream of tartar 

Mix all ingredients together. Drop by spoonfuls onion cookie sheet. Flatten out with bottom of small glass coated in sugar. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.