Record-setting career stats and multiple Super Bowl appearances make it easy to forget NFL superstars like Brett Favre have mothers. And nobody knows #4 quite like the woman who raised him.
In Favre’s case, that’s Bonita Favre, or Mama Bo as she’s called. When spotlighting the Favres, national media use colorful sound bytes to describe their hometown of Kiln. If they’d bother to dig further, they’d learn the well-spoken Bonita, now retired, was a respected special education teacher who earned a Master’s degree from Southern Miss.
On top of that, she’s a renowned cook whose recipes were in such high demand that in 1999, she and her family published a cookbook, appropriately titled, Favre Family Cookbook.
The captivating book, still on sale at area bookstores, is filled with third generation Cajun and Creole recipes, colorful anecdotes of life in the Favre home and keepsake photos, including one of four-year-old Brett in football pads.
Juggling a full-time job, supporting her late husband Irvin’s high school coaching career and watching four children involved in sports consumed most of Bonita’s early life. Despite the demands of a career and family, making sure her family had home-cooked meals was a priority.
Each morning, she cooked a full breakfast and upon returning home, cooked dinner for her family.
“I got up every morning at 5 a.m. to have a little quiet time and cook breakfast,” she says. “On game day Fridays, I fixed ‘touchdown breakfasts,’ complete with pancakes and other things the boys liked.”
Growing up, her parents were in the restaurant business, but Favre didn’t spend much time in the kitchen. When she married Irvin in 1965, she learned to cook by trial and error.
“I’ll never forget my first strawberry pie,” she says, laughing at the memory. “I stirred and stirred, but never could get it to gel. Irvin came in and began laughing at me, so I threw the spoon against the wall. I kept working at it and I eventually got better.”
Her longtime friend, Pat Ladner, can attest Favre did indeed get a whole lot better in the kitchen. They both had four children that swam, fished, hunted and played ball together on the Favre’s large home place in the country.
When meal time rolled around, the two friends often pooled their resources and cooking skills to feed the large crowd of adults and children.
“We would fry catfish, then prepare whatever items our budgets permitted. Appetizers, like shrimp and avocado dip, were a must to insure an uninterrupted card game later for the adults,” said Ladner.
“Mama Bo’s Shrimp Dip” was one of the first recipes selected for the cookbook, not only for its great taste, but amusing story.
“The shrimp dip (recipe) has survived over the years with only one change,” says Ladner. “We can now afford to make the dip with real shrimp, no longer having to open the little can.”
Favre travels to many of her son’s games, even those in Minnesota. But when the family watches from home, a bowl of jalapeño cheese dip is always on the buffet table.
“It’s Brett’s favorite, so we always fix it when he’s playing,” she said. “That and shrimp Creole are the two things he always requests when he comes home.”
Just like she never missed preparing touchdown breakfasts’ on game day, Brett’s mama will have both dishes waiting the next time he makes the trip to Kiln.
Brett’s Jalapeño Cheese Dip
4 tablespoons flour
1/2 stick butter
1 heaping teaspoon paprika
1 heaping teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon ketchup
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon jalapeño liquid
3/4 teaspoon garlic salt
2 pods jalapeño peppers, diced
1-1/2 cups milk
3/4 pound Velveeta cheese, diced
Cook flour and butter in saucepan until butter is melted. Add remaining ingredients, reserving 1/2 cup milk until needed, if dip is too thick. Cook until cheese is melted. Serve with Fritos or Doritos.
Kara Kimbrough writes a syndicated food column. Email her at kkprco@yahoo.com.
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