Message from the Dean

Elizabeth Freeman
Long’s Human Resource Services
MCOB Executive Advisory Council

My mom makes crab meat stuffed potato. We only have it at Christmas and it is divine with beef tenderloin—we use fresh local jumbo lump crabmeat. 

Alan Alexander
Helmsing Leach Attorneys at Law
MCOB Executive Advisory Council

What do we make for Christmas dinner? RESERVATIONS! We have had standing reservations for dinner at the same restaurant following Christmas Eve communion for over twenty years. I suspect if in-person dining is not an option this year, we will find a way to arrange take-out.

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Siew Andrew Hii
Mitchell Ambassador

My uncle makes the best peanut butter fudge. He refuses to give the recipe to anyone (even his wife!). I’m worried that it will cease to exist when he passes, but it is an extremely special dessert made once a year for Christmas.

Dr. Khandokar Istiak
Assistant Professor of Economics

Homemade coconut cake. It’s my favorite because it tastes great.

Holly Chapman
American Equity Underwriters
MCOB Executive Advisory Council

Old fashioned hard chocolate fudge. It reminds me of home as a child. My mom makes it (I can too but it’s not the same).

Don Keeler
Austal USA
MCOB Executive Advisory Council

For the PG crowd it is Christmas morning cinnamon rolls. For the adults it is Rum Chata and coffee.

Bruce McCrory
Nations Roof LLC
MCOB Executive Advisory Council

Christmas Morning is monkey bread and bacon. The monkey bread is made by my wife--everyone in the family loves monkey bread. My son-in-law, grandson and I take care of the bacon!

G. Tashbin
Coordinator of Technology, Mitchell College of Business

Turkey and giblet dressing with a side of cranberry sauce.  It reminds me of the holiday season and is delicious. My wife, Stephanie makes it.

Hailey Kerstiens
Mitchell Scholar

My favorite holiday food is my mom’s Christmas cookies. She uses my grandma’s recipe and we all make them together as a family tradition.

Courtney Williams
Mitchell Ambassador

My mom’s chicken and dumplings. It’s a warm and delicious dish that my mom makes only a few times a year.  It’s my favorite holiday food and I always go back for seconds.

Dr. Ermanno Affuso 
Associate Professor and Fulbright Scholar

Pizza Fritta. Southern Italians believe that frying dough during the holiday season brings good luck (I guess that is just another excuse to have more pizza). My grandmother, mother, sister, and aunts all make Pizza Fritta on Immaculate Conception Day, Christmas Eve, and New Year's Eve. It is also available during the entire holiday season from street vendors in Southern Italy. You never go wrong with dough, tomato, mozzarella, basil, and olive oil.

Wiley Blankenship
Coastal Alabama Partnership
MCOB Executive Advisory Council

Shrimp and gouda cheese grits topped with tasso gravy with Mimosas and Bloody Marys. 

Dr. Kelly Woodford
Associate Dean, Mitchell College of Business

My grandmother’s French bread dressing. It brings back memories of the whole extended family getting together at my grandparent’s home on Fowl River where even the wharf would be decorated for Christmas. My mother makes it.

Allen Carroll
Wilkins Miller LLC
MCOB Executive Advisory Council

My favorite holiday food is turkey and dressing. Why? Because it is good.  My wife makes it using my mom’s old recipe.

Sam Penque
Mitchell Scholar

Linguine with anchovies.  It is made by mom and is my favorite because we eat it every Christmas Eve.

Kate Luce
Mississippi Export Railroad
MCOB Executive Advisory Council

Luce Mints from Three George’s—they remind me of my late grandmother Margaret, who suggested that the proprietor double dip his chocolate covered mints—I am eating one as I type.

Dr. Russ Hardin
Professor of Accounting

Potato candy is my favorite Christmas food. I make it myself. My mom made it for me every Christmas as long as she lived.

Dr. Carol Vann
Associate Professor of Accounting

My favorite Christmas morning breakfast is Eggs Sardou and mimosas. My son Zack makes it. My favorite childhood memory is that my mom kept a Tupperware container full of iced sugar cookies all through December.

Tim Smith
Smith Dukes & Buckalew LLP
MCOB Executive Advisory Council

Sweet potato casserole. It’s not only delicious but can be justified as semi-healthy. My wife uses her mother’s recipe.

Lorna Gurley
Mitchell Scholar

My favorite holiday food is the gumbo that my aunt makes every Christmas Eve. It is my favorite because it is not necessarily a traditional holiday food but a comfort food for me that we do not eat too often.

 

John Bassett
MCOB Executive Advisory Council

Toffee from Toni’s Toffee in Austin Tx. A once a year treat, it is soooo good!

Dr. Don Mosley
Executive Director, Melton Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Cornbread dressing and gravy, asparagus casserole, and coconut cake. My grandmother and aunts made these dishes every Christmas; it's what I grew up with. It has been passed down so now I make it for the family.

Melissa Morrissette
LLB&B Real Estate
MCOB Executive Advisory Council

Delicious Bourbon Milk Punch with Fresh Nutmeg!  Why? It heralds the arrival of Christmas morning! My husband makes it!  

Grace Brown
Mitchell Scholar

For Christmas breakfast my dad and I make a breakfast casserole with hash browns, eggs, cheese, bacon, and ham. It's become a tradition the past couple of years. 

Richard H. Weavil 
The Weavil Company LLC
MCOB Executive Advisory Council

Once a year we have Oyster Dressing made by my wife Lane. For some reason it tastes better after and with an Old Fashioned.

Bill Stejskal
SMS Holdings, Inc
MCOB Executive Advisory Council

Assorted chocolates made by See’s Candies because they remind me of my childhood. But, mostly because I heard that they are good for you and I am all about staying healthy.

 

Lila Brasili
Mitchell Scholar

My favorite holiday food is made by my mom on Christmas morning. She makes a cheese grits and sausage casserole that is to die for!  It is my favorite because we eat it all together on Christmas morning while we open presents.

Frank Southall
Ruby Tuesdays (retired)
MCOB Executive Advisory Council

Back in high school, a friend’s mom gave me some of the divinity she made as part of her family’s Christmas traditions. I liked it so much that, 45 years later and eight hours away, she still finds a way to send some to me and my family. 

Dr. Reid Cummings
Director, Center for Real Estate and Economic Development

After way too much turkey on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, our family turns to beef on Christmas Night: Steak Diane, served with garlic-roasted green beans, scalloped potatoes, a fresh green salad, and French bread. I cook the beef, my wife and daughter handle the rest.

Allen Ladd
Thames Batré Insurance
MCOB Executive Advisory Council

Milk Punch – a bourbon vanilla ice milk shake with nutmeg on top. Who wouldn’t like that?  Made by my father, Russell Ladd.

Bill Sisson
Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce
MCOB Executive Council

Opera Rolls—which is a toffee, pecan, and butterscotch concoction that puts one into a complete sugar coma. They just scream “festive”, and good knows, that you can only handle their richness once a year.

Jay Alexander
Bright Star Capital
MCOB Executive Advisory Council

Dressing and cherry cream cheese pie made by my mother because it is delicious and made from the heart.