ATHENS — When Henry and Wanda Sterkins moved to Athens from their native Houma, La., the first thing Wanda did was remodel the kitchen of their Suffield Street home.

She had to have a drawer deep enough to accommodate her gumbo pots and appliances handy for whipping up the Cajun cuisine she excels at cooking.

Henry was contemplating retirement from a management position for an offshore drilling operation and Wanda had already begun to surf the Internet in search of a retirement community where they could live more economically when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005.

The couple had already had to evacuate the year before when Hurricane Ivan moved ashore.

“With Ivan, we got as far as Morgan City, 38 miles from Houma, when we got in a five-car collision,” said Henry. “There were thousands of cars on the road and we got rammed by someone on his cell phone. After we got back on our way after four hours we didn’t find a place to stay until we reached Mena, Ark. We had begun stopping and asking at every motel beginning at Shreveport.”

Henry said before he could evacuate, he had to make sure everything was tied down at the oil rig before going home to secure things there before he and Wanda could evacuate.

They were getting tired of hurricanes and the resulting tremendous spike in insurance rates.

A friend, Louis Brugman, an engineer who had moved from New York to Houma 40 years ago, had already left the area for Ft. Lauderdale.

A broken ankle for Henry and a ready buyer for their home in early 2008, convinced the couple it was time for them also to leave. Their friend Brugman had already moved from Florida to Athens and settled on Lucas Ferry Road and encouraged them to come to Athens.

Wanda was also delightfully surprised from her research that the cost of living was much lower in Athens than Houma. They moved to Athens June 20, 2008.

“I couldn’t wait for them to get here,” said Brugman. “We had been friends for 40 years.”

“We just love this area,” said Wanda. “It’s just so centrally located, we can travel for a short time in all directions and get to Nashville, Memphis or Atlanta. And we love the downtown. It’s a small downtown like Houma was in the 1950s while we were growing up. We just love to walk around downtown and then go to the park and feed the ducks.”

“Feed the ducks and then feed the neighbors,” said Brugman, who said Wanda’s cooking was the real reason he urged them to move to Athens.

One of their neighbors, suffering from cancer claimed that Wanda’s gumbo did more to aid his recovery than chemotherapy.

Wanda said that it is a misconception that Cajun food is too hot.

“Real Cajun food is not peppery, but we cook it with a lot of spices, which we know how to use,” said Wanda.

She planted herb gardens in her back and side yards. The couple is anxious to share their recipes — all except for the gumbo.

“That recipe we don’t give out,” said Henry.

Wanda’s specialties are a “mean” red velvet cake; pralines; red beans, rice and sausage; and the gumbo in which Henry lends a hand.

“The gumbo has 14 spices, but not enough hot sauce so that it overpowers it,” said Henry.

The Sterkins say they have come to love LuVici’s restaurant downtown and would like to do a crawfish boil some Saturday.

These are some of the Sterkins’ favorite recipes:



Sauce Piquante d’Ecureuil

(Squirrel Sauce Piquante)



2 squirrels cut into serving size pieces

Salt, black pepper, red pepper

Cooking oil

2 medium onions, chopped

Half medium bell pepper

1 Tablespoon flour

Water

Half can tomato sauce



Rub squirrels well with salt, black pepper and red pepper. Put enough oil in a heavy iron pot to make it about a quarter-inch in depth. When hot, brown pieces of meat well on all sides. When sufficiently browned, remove meat to dish, lower fire to medium and sauté onions, bell pepper and flour in same pot until brown. Put the squirrel back into the pot. Add enough water to cover the meat and add the tomato sauce. Cover with a tight lid. Cook on low fire for about an hour and a half or until the meat is tender.

Serve over rice.

(Rabbits may be substituted for squirrel.) As a variation you might add a half-pound pork tasso or half-pound pure pork smoked sausage or andouille sausage, cut into one-inch pieces with the onions and bell peppers.



Grandma’s Pralines

1 1/2 cups white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup evaporated milk

6 Tablespoons butter

2 cups pecans (chopped)

1 teaspoon vanilla



Put all ingredients into a 3-quart or larger saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until soft to medium hard ball forms in cold water with ice cubes. Take off fire and beat until thick. Drop by spoonfuls onto board lines with parchment paper. Cool until firm.