FRANKLIN—Beverly Myers said she once asked her grandmother how to make biscuits and was told something like, “a handful of lard and a couple handfuls of flour.

“I said, “Now wait a minute grandma, you’ve got to do better than that.”

As it turned out, however, Myers does indeed cook like her grandmother. She rarely measures anything using the typical measuring device and almost never uses a cookbook.

“After a while, it just comes naturally,” Myers said.

The 50-year-old store manager, who grew up in Franklin, has been cooking for as long as she can remember.

She and her husband, Tom, have lived in their present location for 22 years and family and friends know all about her culinary skills.

“She is so generous,” said one friend, Karry Harrell. “If she hears about a neighbor or friend who is sick, she is the first one there with a cake or casserole.

“In fact, she helps out for as long as she is needed. I was in the hospital for about a week once and she made dinner for my family every night.”

Myers says she loves to cook for people who like to eat. “And I have a family that falls into that category,” she added with a grin.

She is referring, of course, to the family holiday dinners that she hosts, where she does all the cooking.

“The house is filed with people, but we all have a great time.”

As for her favorite dishes, Myers said she likes almost all kinds of food, but is partial to Italian cuisine.

“Tom and I went to Italy once to visit a niece and I just fell in love with the food.

“Tom, on the other hand, says he prefers Americanized Italian, if you know what I mean.”

Although Myers spends a lot of time in the kitchen, she still finds time to get involved in the community. She is treasurer of the Downtown Franklin Association and is co-chair with Pam Ellis of promotions for We Be Jammin.’

She also has catered a couple receptions for family members.

One of her favorite recipes, which she makes from memory for both family and friends, is salsa. For this she grows her own tomatoes and peppers but purchases the spices.

“I have tried to cook just about everything, I believe,” she said, “and most of the time I have good results.”

There is one thing she readily admits that she cannot cook, however. It is grandma’s biscuits.

“I don’t care how hard I try, they just don’t turn out the way hers did.”

Name: Beverly Myers

Age: 50

Occupation: Manager of City Paint and Supply

Favorite food: Pasta

Least favorite food: Liver

What is the first thing you remember cooking? Scrambled eggs when I was about 10

What has been your worst cooking experience? I once made my husband a blackberry cobbler and forgot one ingredient — sugar. During the time I was making it, someone called me on the phone, and I was sure I had done it, until he tasted it, of course.

One ingredient you can’t cook without: Salt. It adds flavor.

What is the most important thing you have learned about cooking? Always keep an eye on the pot. I once became distracted when I was cooking and the pot boiled over on the stove. Now, once you have to clean up a mess like that, you never do it again.

Who is the best cook you have ever known and why? My grandmother. She never measured any of her ingredients — well not like we would do it. She’d use a handful of this and a pinch of that, and everything she made was delicious. I learned a lot from her when I was growing up.

If you could eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? Pasta

Pepper Salsa ingredients

6 cups fresh tomatoes, (with seeds and skins removed, boiled and drained thoroughly)

6 to 8 Jalapeno peppers (all peppers seeded and finely chopped)

2 medium yellow peppers

4 to 5 red chili peppers

6 to 8 banana peppers

1 large chopped red onion

1 small can tomato paste

3 tbsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. black pepper

2 tbsp. margarita salt

½ tsp celery seed

1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro

½ tsp lemon pepper

2 limes, squeezed (use only juice)

½ cup vinegar

directions

Stir all ingredients together in Dutch oven or a big heavy pot.

Bring to boil on medium high heat. Boil for two or three minutes, stirring constantly.

Fill sterilized half pint jars, seal with sterilized lids and process for 30 minutes in bath canner.

Makes seven half pints.