Burtie Rynearson of DeKalb County best describes her cooking as “homemade.”

“That’s the first word that came to mind. It’s all I think of,” she says. “Everyone says I’m a good cook, but I don’t think I’m special. But so many people don’t cook that way anymore.”

She says the first things she learned to make were cornbread and biscuits.

“There were five girls in my family. No boys. We all knew how to make old-fashioned biscuits,” she says.

Rynearson’s knowledge of canning came from her late grandmother, Beulah Stanley. Because there was a fig tree in the backyard, the first thing she canned was fig preserves, she says.

Born and raised in Woodville, Texas, Rynearson, a retired DeKalb County government employee and former recorder, ended up in northeast Indiana by way of her husband, Steve. The couple met through friends while he was stationed at Fort Wolters, and as the saying goes, “the rest was history.”

“All my family is down in Texas. I tell everybody that I’m a transplanted Texan. I was in my 20s when I came up here,” she says.

Rynearson has two children, Tamyra Jauregui of DeKalb County and Steve Jr. of Steuben County, and three grandchildren.

Q. What’s your favorite cookbook?

A. My oldest (in a plastic bag) is the “DeKalb County Home Bureau Clubs Cookbook” from 1937. This is another favorite, “Farm Journal Country Cookbook.” “The Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook” – my mother (the late Lorraine McBryde) gave that to me after high school.

Q. What do you do to keep meals healthy?

A. No diabetes in my family, but I have friends that do. The Wednesday before Super Bowl, we had a tailgate party when I worked in the recorder’s office. One person mentioned that I didn’t have anything for diabetics. I made the cheesecake. I started creating sugar-free recipes.

Q. What do you do with leftovers?

A. Give them to the dog. He’ll eat anything but potatoes.

Q. What vegetable do you eat most often?

A. My favorite recipe is creamed corn. The most we eat each week? We eat a variety. Summer squash, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots and pickled beets.

Q. Do you plant a garden?

A. I tell everybody my garden is at the Courthouse square in Auburn. There’s a farmers market on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Q. Who would you like to take along to buy groceries?

A. My sister Winnie Davis of Marshall, Texas. She’s fun to shop with.

Angel Food Cake

1 1/4 cups sifted cake flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups (about 12 eggs) egg whites (at room temperature)

1 1/4 teaspoons of cream of tarter

2 teaspoons of vanilla

1/4 teaspoons almond extract

1 1/3 cups sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Measure sifted flour, add 1/2 cup sugar and sift four times. Combine egg whites, cream of tarter and flavorings in large bowl. Beat at high speed of electric mixer until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in rest of sugar in four additions, beating until blended after each addition. Sift in flour mixture in four additions folding in with large spoon, turn bowl often. Pour into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool cake upside down in pan on cake rack. Then loosen sides and remove to cake plate. Frost with favorite frosting or serve with fruit and ice cream.

Slow Cooker Apple Breakfast

8 to 10 large apples (Granny Smith or Winesap)

1 (11- to 14-ounce) box granola cereal

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/2 cup honey

1/2 stick butter, melted

Spray inside of 3 to 4 quart crock pot with non-stick cooking spray. Combine apples, cereal and spices in slow cooker and mix well. Stir together honey and butter and drizzle over the apple mixture. Cover slow cooker and cook on low 8 hours until apples are tender. Makes 25 to 30 servings.