Family - Alabama Power

Fried Catfish
From the kitchen of Mary Hardin
Ingredients
· 10 catfish fillets, skin removed
· 2 cups flour
· 2 cups white cornmeal
· 2 tablespoons creole seasoning
· Frying oil
Directions
Heat oil in deep fry to 350 degrees F. Wash
fish thoroughly in cold water, drain off
excess moisture
Mix flour, cornmeal and seasoning
together. Pour mixture into plastic bag and
shake fish in mixture a few pieces at a time
until evenly coated.
Fry fish a few pieces at a time
until golden brown in hot oil . Drain
on absorbent paper.
The amount of mixture depends
on the amount of fish, the four cups
should batter about 10 catfish fillets.
Ralph anderson
Laid Back on Lay Lake
That love of good food and good friends with
whom to share it is not confined to residents on
just one of the 12 Alabama Power lakes on the
Warrior, Tallapoosa, and Coosa Rivers. Families with
homes along Waxahatchee Creek on Lay Lake come
together on the second Friday night of each month
for a potluck supper sponsored by Nell Lewis, the
owner of Layport Marina.
A school teacher in the Jefferson County system
for 10 years, Lewis had dreamed of eventually
running her own business around the water. When
she saw a newspaper ad in 1980 listing a marina for
sale on Lay Lake, she decided to investigate.
“This business has been great fun for me,” Lewis
says. “I took over operation of the marina in 1980
and realized that this is what I was meant to do. The
marina is open Friday through Sunday during the
season and offers boat slips, service, fuel and a café
that serves family-style meals.
“About six years ago, some of my friends who live
along Waxahatchee Creek suggested we begin having
a regular gathering as a break from the cabin fever
that many suffer from during the winter months. I
volunteered to have it at the café at the marina so
we wouldn’t have to worry about taking turns hosting
the event at peoples’ homes,” she says.
“I close the café at six in the evening and everyone
brings a dish. We never know what we’re going to have.
Sometimes everybody brings vegetables and other
times we’ve had a table full of desserts. That’s been
part of the fun – not knowing what will be on the menu.
The potluck dinner now is held on the second Friday
of every month and is open to anyone on the lake. We
normally have anywhere from 20 to 40 people attend.”
Jerry and Jeanne Dozier have been regularly
attending Lewis’s potluck dinners since the couple
began enjoying lakeside living nine years ago. The
natives of Tallassee had work-related transfers that
took them to Georgia, New Jersey, and Colorado, but
realized that their hearts were always in Alabama.
They returned in 2003 and settled into their present
home on Waxahatchee Creek in what Jeanne feels is
one of the prettiest spots on Earth.
“This had been my sister Peggy’s favorite fishing
spot for years,” Jeanne explains. “She and her
husband, Bobby, had a place here, and we were
delighted to join them and the extended family
of friends we have made on the lake. And the
opportunity to get together with them regularly at
Nell’s restaurant is such a treat for us.
“What began as a get together for people on
Waxahatchee Creek has now become a magnet for
people all over Lay Lake,” she says. “We enjoy the food
and the camaraderie and are so appreciative that
Nell makes the restaurant available to bring us all
together. It is one of the real joys of living here.”
— Niki Sepsas
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Facing Page: Lay Lake neighbors enjoy gathering at their supper club each month at Nell Lewis’s marina.
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Meg McKinney