Beagles’ Family Traditions

Lisa’s Secret Family Recipe Pecan Pie

Lisa’s grandmother, Miss Annie, as she was affectionately known, was famous in the small town where she lived for her extraordinary cooking skills. While many of her recipes found their way to the First Baptist cookbook, she carefully guarded her pecan pie recipe. Miss Annie’s generosity exceeded her finances, but not her ingenuity. She gave pecan pies as gifts, harvesting the nuts from two pecan trees which prominently stood in her yard. These pies became a town-wide coveted gift and the pies given during the holidays numbered in the dozens.

Lisa was raised by her grandmother, and starting as a pre-teen, Lisa assisted her grandmother. Lisa carefully observed Miss Annie’s special techniques and the ingredients used. Decades later when Miss Annie’s Health prevented her from fulfilling this longstanding tradition, Lisa baked the pies to carry on this longstanding tradition. At 96, on her Hospice bed, Miss Annie gave Lisa the syrup and butter stained 3” x 5” recipe card, officially passing the tradition to Lisa.

Lisa proudly honors her grandmother by sharing not only the best pecan pie anywhere, but also the loving memories of the hours Lisa and Miss Annie cooked, laughed, and loved. Today, Lisa and her girls, Sarah-Beth and Racheal-Ann, share in the pie cooking and the Miss Annie story telling.

Steve’s Seafood Recipes

Steve began cooking as a necessity. While working his way through college, he discovered that he could cook a better meal than he could afford to buy. Cooking for dates and friends turned into a real job, cooking for a fraternity house, lunch and dinner for 40 brothers each day. After graduating from Georgia Tech, Steve accepted an engineering position 40 miles south of Miami, FL, at the edge of the Florida Everglades. Steve became an avid fisherman, thanks to the hospitality of the longtime Floridians who shared their best fishing spots and their best seafood recipes.

Miami boasts a wonderful blend of Cuban and Jamaican home cooking cuisine, as well as some of the South’s finest seafood restaurants. Steve isn’t ashamed to admit that the seafood he serves is a blend between his friend’s Caribbean family recipes and some of the best Miami and Florida Keys seafood restaurants’ dishes. Steve’s fishing stories are almost as big as a Doe’s porterhouse. But his best stories are about the rich culture and severe weather he experienced in South Florida.

Doe’s Eat Place of Ridgeland’s Family Story

Steve and Lisa Beagles were excited when Mayor Gene Magee introduced them to Doe III and Charles Jr., grandsons of Dominick Signa who established Doe’s Eat Place in Greenville in 1941. Steve and Lisa desired most to operate a business in a family environment, where customers and staff are all treated like family. No staff member leaves work for home without giving “Mama” a hug. And, Lisa wants every guest to feel as comfortable as when folks eat at her kitchen table.

Doe’s Eat Place of Ridgeland is blessed to have Craig Cathey, as a charter family member.  Craig has more than 30 years of experience in the food industry. Craig's family values are the key ingredient that transforms the staff and guests into family.

The family tradition roots of the Ridgeland Doe’s are already extending. Sarah-Beth and Rachael-Ann regularly work up front greeting guests.

Steve and Lisa invite everyone to find a favorite spot around Mama Lisa’s kitchen table.