Opelika E vents, Society, & Food SH
Ann Cipperly’s
U PC OM I NG EVENT S: • SUMMER SWING • JODY FULLER - COMEDIAN • STAMP OUT HUNGER • DAVIS BENEFIT • EAST AL CAR SHOW • GARDEN TOUR • FARMER’S MARKET
‘Cook Out’ opens new location in TigerTown
Southern Hospitality
Robert Noles/Opelika Observer By Morgan Bryce Associate Editor
Photo by Ann Cipperly
Mother, daughter share thoughts on motherhood, favorite recipes
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nita Brown and her daughter, Scarlotte Vaughn, both cherish motherhood, believing it is a gift from God. Both ladies also enjoy cooking for their family and are sharing their best recipes, along with thoughts on being a mother. On a perfect spring afternoon, we met at Scarlotte’s and her husband Dale’s home on the north side of Opelika in a wooded setting. The Vaughns moved into the house last year to have more space for their three children. The dining room was stunningly decorated with tall candles and lovely linens from a recent dinner. Scarlotte enjoys decorating, which she says she picked up from her mother. “I feel like I share her same style now,” she says. When Scarlotte was growing up, her parents restored the historic Samford home on 9th Street and decorated it beautifully. Anita and her husband, Randy, both grew up in Opelika, and they met in high school. When Anita’s father was in the military, he met her mother in Germany. After the war, they were married and moved to Opelika. “I think a lot of the cooking talent in the family has been passed down from my greataunt,” says Anita. “She spent her life cooking. She was the cook for a famous opera singer in
Germany. During the war, my aunt hid the opera singer, and my mother was close to them.” While the Nazis knew her great aunt was hiding the opera singer, they never found her. During the bomb raids, soldiers would not allow her aunt to go to a shelter. Anita feels it was a miracle that both her aunt and the opera singer survived. Randy’s family, who owned Southern Electronics, enjoyed southern cooking, while Anita’s mother prepared European style meals. One of the recipes from Randy’s family is an oldfashioned recipe using canned tomatoes with saltine crackers. When Anita was growing up, she watched her mother cook, as she explained how to prepare the dishes. Anita did the same when teaching her daughters to cook. Scarlotte is the oldest of three children. “When I had cancer at 33 years of age,” says Anita, “Scarlotte was about 10 years old, but she helped me so much. She was there to bring me things and helped with her siblings, who were 4 and 3. Scarlotte was a blessing.” When Scarlotte was attending Opelika High School she met Dale at a swimming meet. Dale was a student in high school in Sylacauga. They became friends and started
dating when they were seniors at Auburn University. Scarlotte went to New York City for her internship. She then moved to Birmingham where Dale was living. Two and a half years later, they married and moved to Opelika in 2004. Dale is the owner of two businesses, V3 Media Group, which does website development, and Riipl, an integrated computer software development company. They have three children, Tripp, 11, Georgia, 10, and Thomas, 6 years old. All the children attend Trinity Christian School. Until last year, Scarlotte worked as managing editor of East Alabama Living magazine. “Once the children were busy in swimming and dance,” she says. “I felt like I was stretching myself out too thin. I felt I could be there more for my children if I was not working. I help Dale some with his books.” Scarlotte enjoys cooking for her family and feels her mother’s love of cooking influenced her. When she was a young child, she began cooking eggs, cookies and macaroni and cheese. She now relies on her Instant Pot two or three times a week after activities with the children. The night before she had marinated See Cipperly, page B10
One of America’s fastest growing restaurant chains has come to Opelika. “Cook Out,” based out of Greensboro, North Carolina, opened the doors of its new Tiger Town location last Tuesday. Known for its freshnot-frozen charbroiled burgers and 40-flavorplus selection of milkshakes, Store Manager Will Reynolds said he believes Cook Out will become one of Opelika’s culinary destinations. “I think what really sets us apart is our value. We cook our burgers like you would at home - it’s a real chargrill, and we use grade-A meat that’s
delivered seven days a week from North Carolina,” Reynolds said. “We take expensive measures to ensure higher quality. We turn around, and cook those quality ingredients properly, just like you would at home. Then, we sell them with our regular meal for $4.99, and it’s a value. For a family of four, you can eat for 20 bucks, which is unheard of nowadays.” In addition to burgers, fries and shakes, the menu offers other Southern fare, including hush puppies, barbecue chicken sandwiches and more. Reynolds said his location is actively seeking new employees. With more than seven years of experience working for Cook Out,
he added that benefits of working for them include unlimited, performance-based overtime and opportunities for rapid advancement. “All of our hiring is done in-store with on paper applications. Currently, we’re doing interviews more or less on the spot,” Reynolds said. “We’re a performance-driven company, and we prefer to promote from within a lot. It can be a very lucrative profession, and not typical fast food pay. There’s no glass ceiling here.” Cook Out’s hours are 10:30 a.m. - 3:10 Sunday - Thursday, and 10:30 a.m. - 4:10 a.m. Friday and Saturday. The store is located at 2168 Interstate Drive next to Steak ‘N Shake.
Bi-annual ‘Garden Tour’ slated for May 19-20 By Morgan Murphy For the Opelika Observer The Lee County Master Gardeners of Alabama will be hosting their bi-annual “Garden Tour" May 19 from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and May 20 from 1-5 p.m. The tour will consist of five gardens in Auburn and five gardens in Opelika, with one of those being an educational demonstration garden. Types of gardens included in the tour are: entertaining gardens, a trillium garden, vegetable gardens, an orchid house, an orchard including a bee demonstration, vintage gardens, two brand new lake gardens, historical gardens and more. “You can have a garden anywhere, and that is one of the things the master gardeners try to promote, you can plant anywhere," said tour
coordinator and Master Garden Sheila Allen. “These are wonderful gardens, it will be a delightful day, I have never heard anything but great things about it…there is something for everyone." Tickets for the event are $30 in advance and $35 the day-of. They include one lunch on either day from Chicken Salad Chick. The Lee County Master Gardeners is a nonprofit group that promotes the education of a wide array of topics. Each year, proceeds from the event
are used to give out a scholarship to a local college student. For more information or to purchase tickets, reach out to any master gardener or visit one of the following locations where tickets are sold: - Auburn Chamber of Commerce, located at 714 E Glenn Ave. - Aces Hardware, located at 2101 E University Drive - The Potting Shed, located at 4137 Moores Mill Road - Heritage Gifts and Gourmet, located at 108 S 8th St. - Wild Birds Unlimited, located at 1550 Opelika Road - The New Blossom Shop, located at 905 Geneva St.