Colleen George and Heather Lee are a mother-daughter team who used to run a pizza joint in Westhope, but now work alongside each other at Baker’s Market in the small town 2 miles from the Canadian border. Colleen does the baking, while Heather manages the grocery’s produce and deli departments and cooks a lunch special four days a week. Read more about the small-town grocery store and an effort to make the rural grocery business more viable here.
Colleen shares a recipe she bakes often at the market, banana bread brownies. Heather shares her fiesta corn dip recipe, which the self-described “dump cook” created with “a little bit of this and a little bit of that.” Both Colleen and Heather come from a long line of good cooks.
“My grandma (Colleen’s mom) was very much a dump cook,” Heather says. “We do have some family recipes, but most of them are a little bit of this and a little bit of that.”
BROWNIES:
1½ cups sugar
1 cup buttermilk (or sour cream)
½ cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1¾ cups (3 or 4) ripe bananas, mashed
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
CARAMEL FROSTING:
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup butter, cubed
¼ cup 2% milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1½-2 cups powdered sugar
In a large bowl, combine wet ingredients and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Incorporate dry mixture into wet mixture.
Pour batter into a greased 9x13-inch pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool.
To make the frosting, bring brown sugar, butter and milk to boil. Remove from heat and cool until lukewarm. Mix in vanilla and powdered sugar. Frost brownies.
Recipe by Colleen George, Baker’s Market, Westhope
2 cans Mexicorn, drained
1 can Rotel
1 can green chiles
2 pkgs. fiesta ranch dry seasoning
2 cups sour cream
2 cups mayo
2 cups shredded cheese
2 dashes cayenne pepper
In a large bowl, combine sour cream, mayo, dry ranch and cayenne pepper. Stir in remaining ingredients. Chill before serving with tortilla chips.
This makes a large batch of dip. Cut in half if you aren’t making it for a crowd!
Recipe by Heather Lee, Baker’s Market, Westhope
