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Patricia Covey Edwards was known by several names — Patti to BYU football fans who loved her and her Hall of Fame husband LaVell, Pat to her family and Patti Lou to the people in her hometown of Big Piney, Wyoming.
She also was known to feed anyone who stopped by the Edwards home after a BYU game — the crowd larger and larger over the years — and I have wanted to share with you a couple of the nice food-related touches her family shared at her funeral a couple of weeks ago.
You might want to use one or two of them yourself.
So let me take you inside the lobby of the church where the funeral was held. There, on a couple of tables loaded down with amazing photos and notes and awards, were several items about food and the role it played in the way she cared for her family.
I only mentioned one in my story: The basket full of Hershey’s chocolate bars with almonds. Each was wrapped in a blue ribbon and a note told those who attended the funeral to take one to remember how LaVell brought one to Patti after every road game. She saved them for the moments she missed him most.
Here are two that didn’t make the story that you might like to use. They were shared in handouts copied in Patti’s handwriting.
The 1980 Miracle Bowl cake
If you don’t know the story, BYU was losing 45-25 to SMU with 3:50 left in the 1980 Holiday Bowl. The Cougars shocked everyone by scoring two quick touchdowns before winning the game on a Hail Mary touchdown pass that traveled about 60 yards.
The College Football Hall of Fame’s website says the incredible win “marked a turning point in BYU’s national perception,” giving the team “a high-flying reputation” that led to “a cult following nationally” and to ESPN including it in the network’s first live broadcast of a college football game.
Patti Edwards rejoiced along with the rest of Cougar Nation, but she was conflicted.
“I wrote a note to my friend, Cindy Meyer (wife of the SMU coach) and told her I was glad BYU won, but that I felt deeply for her.”
Meyer wrote back to say that friendship is more important than football.
“To prove the point she sent me her favorite recipe,” Patti Edwards wrote.
It became “Pat Edwards’s favorite chocolate chip cake,” according to the handout at the funeral. With the family’s permission, I’m sharing the recipe here:
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1 small chocolate instant pudding mix
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup oil
- 3/4 cup water
- 4 eggs
- 1 package of chocolate chips
- 8 ounces of sour cream
Game-day stew
“For nearly 30 years, Patti made Game-day Stew for every BYU football home game,” another handout stated. “The stew was a Saturday staple, taking about the length of a football game to cook in the oven.”
During the funeral, speakers said that in the early years, the stew fed the family all week. As the extended family grew and she invited others over, the stew lasted the day.
Eventually, so many people came over to the house after games that she would sometimes send one of her children to Heaps — now Brick Oven — to grab a couple of pizzas because there were more people than stew.
“She loved traditions and small acts that became foundational to our family,” the handout stated. “This recipe has been shared, made and enjoyed 100s of times and we are honored to share it with you today.”
- 1.5 pounds stew beef
- 5 potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 3 cups carrots, cubed
- 2 cans cream of mushroom soup
- 1 package Lipton onion soup mix
- 2 cups water
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
Sear meat on all sides. In an oven-safe Dutch oven or crock pot, add potatoes, carrots, mushroom soup, onion soup mix, water and pepper. Mix well and cover. Bake at 300 degrees for two-to-three hours or at 250 degrees for six hours.
“Pat suggests making this before leaving for the game and you’ll have a great meal when you get home.”
Thanks, Patti.
I consider it one of my favorite honors as a journalist that I was able to cover and write about both Patti’s funeral and LaVell’s funeral, nine years apart.
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