The Tennessee Farm Bureau runs deep in Kathy Stockton Williams’ blood.

“My family became members when it first started in Fentress County,” Williams says. Her mother, the late Lela Stockton, canvassed the county looking for farmers to sign up for Farm Bureau insurance and was one of the “lady directors.” Her father, the late Harold Stockton, was Fentress County Farm Bureau president for many years, as was her late brother, Edwin. Her sister Elizabeth Smith’s recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Bread, published in the Tennessee Farm Bureau Women’s Country Classics II, was highlighted in this magazine, and now Williams’ recipe for Judith’s Butter Brickle Bread is the latest reminder of the Stockton heritage.

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When the Farm Bureau Women spawned the idea of a cookbook, “My mother kept on to us until we submitted one or two recipes,” Williams says. “She probably submitted two or three. She wanted Fentress County to be represented.”

Williams and her siblings grew up in a small community also named Stockton. Obviously, cooking was another family tradition, although Williams doesn’t cook as much since she lost her husband, Joe, in 2000. Her sister still cooks up a storm, though. “I tell her, ‘When you got something cooked, call me,’” Williams says.

But Williams does make Judith’s Butter Brickle Bread about once a month. The recipe was named for an old high school friend who shared it with her. “I like the taste of it,” Williams says. “It’s so easy.”

In fact, easy does it is Williams’ motto when it comes to cooking for herself. She prefers vegetable meals, although when the occasion arises, she will cook hearty for family, which includes sons Joey, Jonathan and Jeffrey.

She also shares the bread at potlucks and church meals and gives it to shut-ins and friends at Christmas. People have requested it, she says. “So I do know that bread is very tasty.”