Sorority House Cook: Verlean Caruthers, Retired

“I started cooking [at Tri Delta] when I was in high school [in] like about nineteen seventy-two. I was about 17 years old…It was an after school job. I started washing dishes. And I done that for about five years. Then I got kind of promoted up to the cooking.”

--Verlean Caruthers

What follows is a portion of the original interview that has been edited for length. To download the entire transcript in PDF form, please click here.

SUBJECT: Verlean Caruthers, RETIRED
HOUSES: Tri Delta & Delta Gamma Sororities at The University of Mississippi
DATE: July 13, 2004
LOCATION: Mrs. Caruther’s home
INTERVIEWER: Mary Beth Lasseter

Mary Beth Lasseter: Okay today is July 13. It is Tuesday afternoon, and I am sitting in Miss Verlean Caruther's kitchen. I called her about a week ago to ask if I could do an interview. Miss Verlean used to cook for the Tri-Delta houses on campus. As a great surprise today she had her mother join us, Miss Mary Alice Lewis. Miss Mary Alice used to cook on campus as well [see Mary Alice Lewis transcript] So, Miss Verlean, could you please state your full name and tell me where you're from originally?

My name is Verlean Caruthers and I've lived her in Oxford all my life.

Now what is your birthday?

5-15-54 [May 15, 1954].

And where do you work?

Now I'm working at Baptist Memorial Hospital. I've been there eight years.

And do you like it?

It's all right. But I'm used to begin at Tri-Delta. I worked there 26 years.

So tell me about cooking at the Tri-Delt house. When did you start cooking?

Oh, Lord. I started cooking there when I was in high school, like about '72 I was about 17 years old.

Now did you cook while you were in school as an after-school job, or--

It was an after school job. I started washing dishes. And I done that for about five years. Then I got kind of promoted up to the cooking.

And what were your hours like when you were seventeen?

Um, it was after school, so it was like from about 1 to whatever time we closed for the night.

Now, Miss Mary Alice [Verlena’s mother], did you work at the Tri-Delta house when Miss Verleane worked there?

Mary Alice: Well, yeah she started with me. I started up under her.

And how long did it take you – when were you promoted to cook?

Oh, it was like…a couple of years afterwards.

Okay, so you worked after school washing dishes. Alright. Can you tell me a little bit about that? Maybe some things you liked to cook, or how you got interested in it?

I always loved to cook. I always have. And I come from a cooking family. My mom is a great cook. So I just come in to eat one time and I asked if they needed me to do anything and they just started showing me what to do and I just started cooking. Anything.
So who was showing you what to do? My mom, Mary Alice Lewis. And there was another lady. I can't remember her name. She worked there. And we cooked up under Miss Corsey. She was our boss lady.

Was she the Tri-Delta house mother?

Yes.

Did Miss Corsey hire y'all, or did somebody in the kitchen hire you?

But Miss Corsey hired me. And then Miss Alice Taylor came in. She took over. And I worked up under her for like about ten years. And then after she left I worked under Miss Baker who is still there now.

What do you like [to] cook?

Oh. I like to fix spaghetti, meatloaf. Roast. Green beans. Macaroni and cheese. I've learned to make lasagna and stuff now from scratch. I know how to do that. I've done a lot. Most anything you can cook I can do it.

Do you cook differently at home than you did for the Tri-Delta house?

Not really. It's basically the same. You just have to not cook a big portion of it. It's basically the same thing.

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Now what do you cook that the Tri-Delta's used to love?

Oh, chicken and spaghetti.

And how do you do that? I'm sure you cooked it many a time.

Uh. Cream of mushroom soup. Cream of chicken soup. Add diced tomatoes. I always put my diced tomatoes in a blender and just let it grind up. Make a sauce out of it. Cook your noodles and dump all of it in there. It's just onions, salt, and pepper.

And you bake it?

And then after you get your noodles and added to your to you, uh, all of your sauce, your cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, and your diced tomatoes and stuff…once you get that sauce made up, just dump your noodles over in there, put it in a big pan. Let it get hot. Put you some cheese on it.

Now was that a recipe that you created, or one that they asked you to make?

It's one that they had asked me to make.

So how does that work? How did you set menus when you cooked at the Tri-Delta house?

The boss lady, she always done that. She picked out a menu for the whole week and we just looked over the whole – the menu for each day and made sure we knew how to do it. And if we didn't, she'd find out for us.

Is the menu created with the idea of creating healthy well-balanced meals, or what the girls like, or how is that done? Do you know?

She basically she just done the kind of diet that they wanted, how they want they food cooked, she basically went from that.

Do you think that your style of cooking at the Tri-Delta house was in any way different from restaurant cooking?

Yes m'am.

How was it different?

Because restaurants they have they own recipes on how they cook they food and they have different ovens. But basically we have to just maintain however oven we had…we had to just basically do it ourselves. Figure out if it was best to go on top of the stove or best to go in the oven.

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So what was your typical day like?

Oh. It was good. I mean, I was there all day. You know, we got an hour off in the morning and we got an hour off at lunch.

Now what time did you get there in the morning?

6:30.

Oh. That's early.

[Laughter]. Oh, I know. But I loved it though.

So how long did you stay there, in all?

26 years.

And how did you make the decision to leave?

Well, I just got a better offer and working at the hospital I always was a curious person on how they feed all the patients, how they feed the employees, and people coming in and out from the outside. I always wanted to know how they do that. 'Cause I had been in there a couple of times when I had my babies, and I was just curious. How did they get all these trays and everything to everybody? So I got a chance to experience all of that.

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So, when you cooked at the Tri-Delta house, did you cook things from scratch then, or did you order in frozen foods?

We mostly ordered frozen foods.

Really? For the whole 26 years that you were there?

Mostly everything was frozen.

Now chicken spaghetti was a favorite. What other things did y'all cook for them?

We cooked roast beef. Um, everything else was like frozen – like lasagna and French fries, stuff like that. It was frozen. We just had to cook it.

Did y'all ever – or did you often – make exceptions for students who had special diets, or were watching their weight?

No, no. When cooking our food we know basically not to cook it unless they would eat it. And then, when we came up under Miss Baker, she came in there with new food…different diets…all kinda little strange noodles that you don't add the sauce and stuff to it. You just put them on the sideline. Now that was a big change when she came in. We had to learn to do that.

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Now what were some of your favorite memories of cooking at the Tri-Delta house? Are there students you particularly remember? Or crazy events? Rush week?

Oh, Rush Week be real wild!

Tell me about that.

We out there early and be trying to…you know a lotta times they had these food [inaudible] with what they wanna eat before they go to bed. You know we had to be there to make sure we get it prepared for them and have it ready for when they get through with their last rush. So…

What was that like? What special needs did the girls have then?

It sometimes…they needed Subways, sandwiches and stuff. Different subs. They'll have their catering and they'll bring it there. Sometimes they'll bring in pizza. WE made some of these pizzas but then they'll order them out. And then down through the years…they may have a pancake supper. I'll go and do that for them. They'll have pancakes and sausage. Maybe 300-500 people. It was wonderful.

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So you do you keep in touch with any of the girls. Do you remember any of them?

No. I seen several down at the hospital.

Oh, okay.

You know, in and out down in there and I remember their faces. But no m'am, I don't see any other than those.

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Now did you get to know staffs from other houses on campus?

Oh, yes m'am. If we need to borrow something we usually go to other houses. Cause I worked at Delta Gamma before it got burned down.

Oh, really. So is that – did you work at Delta Gamma before you worked at the Tri-Delta house?

After.

Oh, after. Okay. So you went from Tri-Delta to Delta Gamma to the hospital?

No. [Laughter] I worked for Tri-Delta. And I left there after maybe about ten, twelve years. I went to Delta Gamma and stayed there maybe about three or four years and the house caught on fire. Then I got back – just came back to Tri-Delta. I got my job back there.
Okay. What made you decide to move from the Tri-Delta house to the Delta Gamma house?
I don't know. Just try new experiences.

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Now you mentioned that your son worked with you for a little while? How did he get involved? And what did he do?

He came out there and he helped wash the dishes in the evenings once he got out of school like about 1 or 2. He'll come in and stay and just clean up. He'll wash the supper dishes, put them up. Then after we leave and everything he'll mop the kitchen and lock up the place.

So your mother worked there and your son has worked there. Do you have other family members who have worked on campus, in kitchens?

Oh, yes m'am. I've got two other sisters who work there. One of them works at…Kappa Gamma.

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Um, do you have a fondness for the Tri-Deltas. I mean, do you ever drive by the house and miss them, or--

I drive by there sometimes. My friend and I we be riding on the campus and we come through there and just look. But I hadn't never been back out there yet….But I want to, though.

To download the entire transcript in PDF form, please click here.