Thanksgiving Day Hmmm Hmmm GOOD!!!

Well Thanksgiving Day went really well.  I did most of the cooking the day before.  I put my turkey on at bedtime Wednesday night and it was ready when I got up Thursday morning.  I put the dressing together and put it in the refrigerator to cook Thursday.  I also fixed the Green Bean casserole and Jana fixed her favorite Broccoli and Cheese recipe ready to cook on Thursday.  I made  Pecan Pie(I gave away the Karo Pecan Pie)from a recipe similar to Jana's grandmother's and Miriam's Apple cake which is her Birthday cake.  This year her birthday and Thanksgiving were the same day.  Mother several years ago fixed a Fresh Apple Cake at Thanksgiving and Miriam loved it.  From then on Mom made the cake for Miriam's birthday.  Mom gave me the recipe before she died.  So when I make it I think of Mom and how she always loved the holidays.  I also fixed Dream Blueberry Salad which is a congealed salad that is a favorite of my Family.  Vicky my sister in law brought homemade rolls to finish out the meal.  Oh and I fixed peas and butter beans for those in my family that don't really like casseroles.  We had a great day.

Thanksgiving Menu:
Turkey and Cornbread Dressing
Green Bean Casserole
Broccoli and Cheese Casserole
Candied Sweet Potatoes
Peas and Butter Beans(No recipe for them but everybody knows how to cook them).
Dream Blueberry Salad
Vicky's Rolls(you will have to talk to her to get her recipe)
Fresh Apple Cake
Texas Pecan Pie
Chocolate Cream Pie(For Richard -- his birthday was the next day)

Turkey
I thawed my turkey in refrigerator for 4 days.  Then took out the giblets and refrigerate.  I stuff the inside of the turkey with cut up apples and onions.  Rub between the skin and meat with butter/margarine.  Put in large roasting pan.  Cover with Aluminum foil and put in oven preheated to 325 degrees and cook according to size chart on Turkey.  (Usually 20 minutes per lbs.) Remove the foil the last hour to have a golden brown turkey.

Cornbread Dressing - This is not what I do best but I think I have finally found the correct combination.  It is not mother's recipe but it is a good recipe.  I cooked cornbread at every meal the week before and saved the leftovers.

Cornbread
1 pkg. of Stuffing mix
2 medium Onion chopped finely
1 bunch of Celery chopped finely
4 raw eggs
1 can of cream mushroom soup
1 can of cream chicken soup
broth from Cooked turkey

Crumble the bread into a fine crumb. Mix stuffing mix with crumbs.  Depending on what you like you may want to add some sage here.  I don't like a strong sage taste so I don't add any.  The stuffing mix has both sage and poultry seasoning in it and that seasons the mix.  Boil the chopped onion and celery in chicken broth until tender.  (I boiled the giblets and removed them and added the onion and celery to broth)Mix cooked onion and celery with bread crumbs.  Stir in the soups and raw eggs.  Last add broth until the crumb mix is moist but not soupy.  I think this is why I am not great at making dressing because I don't measure.  I usually measure everything.  Pour into a casserole dish and bake about 30 minutes.

Green Bean Casserole

2 cans of French style Green Beans
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup of milk
1 can of French fried Onion Rings

Mix together Green Beans, mushrooms soup, and milk.  Pour into a casserole dish. Heat for 30 minutes in a preheated oven for 350 degrees.  Pour can of onion rings over top of Green beans and heat for 10 minutes. ( I mixed up green beans, soup and milk and place in refrigerator the day before and did the baking the Thanksgiving day).

Jana's Broccoli Casserole

1 Pkg. of frozen chopped Broccoli
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1 8 oz pkg of shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 pkg of French Fried Onion Rings

Cook frozen broccoli until done.  Drain off liquid.  Add soup and mix thoroughly.  Add cheese and mix well.  Pour into a casserole dish.  Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees in oven.  Sprinkle French fried onion rings on top of dish and return to oven for 10 minutes.

Candied Sweet Potato
6 medium Sweet Potato(or 2 lbs)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
3 Tbsp of butter/margarine
3 Tbsp of water
1/2 tsp salt

Scrub sweet potatos. Do not peel.  Place in sauce pan and cover with water.  Heat to boiling.  Reduce heat to low.  Cover and simmer 20 to 25 minutes or until tender.  Drain off water and cool slightly.  Slip off skins.  Cut into 1/2 inch slices.

Heat remaining ingredients in 10 inch skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly until smooth and bubbly.  Add potatoes.  Gently stir until glaze is hot and sticky.

Dream Blueberry Salad

1 3 oz. Lemon Jello
1 cup boiling water
1 1 lb can of Blueberry Pie Filling
2 Tbsp of Lemon juice
1/2 cup of Sour cream
1 Tbsp of sugar

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water.  Set aside to cool.  Stir in pie filling and lemon juice.  Chill until partially set.  Spoon half into a 9 in. square dish.  Chill til set. (Keep remaining gelatin at room temperature) Combine sour cream and sugar.  Spread evenly over the gelatin.  Pour remaining gelatin over the set gelatin.  Chill 4 to 5 hours or overnight till firm.  Cut into squares and serve on lettuce leaf.

Fresh Apple Cake
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups finely chopped, peeled baking apples
1/2 c chopped pecans
1 tsp. lemon peel
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups of canola or vegetable oil
2 large eggs
Cream Cheese Frosting
Coarsely chopped pecans.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour three 9 inch cake pans.  Sift together flour, baking soad and salt.  In a small bowl, combine apples, nuts, and lemon peel.  In a large bowl. combine the sugar, oil and eggs.  Beat well with a spoon.  Add the mixture to dry ingredients; beat until smooth.  Add the apple mixture; stir untll well combined.  Batter will be thick. Spread evenly into prepared pans.  Bake 30 to 40 minutes or untl the tops spring back to the touch.  Cool in pans on rack for 10 minutes.  remove from pand and cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 8 oz Cream cheese at room temperature
1 Tbsp of butter/ margarine
1 tsp vanilla
1 pound of confectioner's sugar

Beat cream cheese, butter and vanilla in a medium bowl until light and creamy.  Add confectioner's sugar.  Beat until spreading consistency.  Spread between cake layers and on top.  Press coarsely ground pecans on top of frosting.

Texas Pecan Pie
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup dark corn syrup
3 eggs
1 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped Pecans
1 pastry crust

In a large bowl, whick the sugar, flour, corn syrups, eggs, vinegar and vanilla until smooth.  Stir in pecans.  Pour into pastry shell.  Cover edges with foil.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.  Remove foil: bake 25 to 30 minutes or until knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  cool on a wire rack.  

Chocolate Cream Pie

1 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 square of unsweetened chocolate(or 3 Tbsp of cocoa and 1 Tsp of butter/margarine)
2 cups milk
3 slightly beaten egg yolks
2 Tbsp butter/margarine
1 tsp. vanilla
1 9 in baked pie crust
In saucepan combine sugar, flour, salt and cocoa(or chopped chocolate square).  Gradually stir in milk.  Cook and stir over medium heat till bubbly.  Cook and stir 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir small amount hot mixture into yolks.  Immediately stir into rest of hot mixture.  Cook 2 more minutes add butter and stir until melted.  Pour into a baked pie crust.  Beat egg whites adding 2 tbsp per egg white.  Beat until stiff peak form.  Spread over the chocolate mixture.  Bake in oven 12 minutes or until brown.  

Cooking While Watching the Game.

Well everyone has gone to the MSU vs Ark Game so I am home cooking.  My son will be coming in tonight after the game.  Hoping he will be happy and not sad.  I love my Bulldogs but on even given day they can give it away or take it away.  You just never know.

I made pies and sausage balls(Jana's request) today.  I also made two cakes.  One is a Princess cake for my little Princess that is coming to see me and a caramel birthday cake for my Brand's birthday.  Laurel asked Meemaw to make a pink cake so I made strawberry cake in a doll pan.  I will ice it with strawberry icing and decorate it with yellow and green.  The doll has brown hair like my little princess.  Hope she likes it.  Brand asked for a cake like I fixed for Sandy's birthday.  So Caramel it is.  The cakes are made and cooling.  Later I will decorate.

Sausage Balls
1 lb. sausage
1 lb. cheddar cheese shredded
3 cups Bisquick

Mix sausage and cheese.  Mix in Bisquick.  Preheat oven at 375 degree. Shape into balls and bake for 15 to 18 minutes.

Sweet Potato Pie
1 unbaked (9 in) Pie Crust
2 cups cooked and mashed sweet Potatoes
2 Tbsp of butter, softened(or margarine)
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon(I used pumpkin spices)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together mashed sweet potatoes, butter or margarine and eggs.  In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, flour, and salt.  Mix in spices if desired.  Add to sweet potato mixture and stir well.
Mix together Buttermilk and baking soda.  Add to sweet potato mixture and stir well.  Mix in vanilla.  Pour filling into an unbaked crust.  Bake in preheated oven for 70 minutes until set in center.

Pecan Pie( Recipe comes from the Karo syrup bottle)
1 cup of dark Karo Syrup
3 eggs
1 cup of sugar
2 Tbsp of melted margarine
1 tsp of vanilla
1 to 11/2 cups of pecan halves(or chopped pecans--which ever you prefer.)
1 unbaked pie shell

Stir together Karo, eggs, sugar, margarine and vanilla.  Mix in pecans.  Pour into a pie shell.  Bake in oven for 70 minutes. Check on crust after 45 minutes if getting too brown cover with aluminum foil and finish baking.  Cool for two hours before slicing.

Easy Caramel Icing
1/2 cup butter/margarine
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup milk
1-3/4 to 2 cups of Confectioner's sugar

Melt butter in saucepan.  Add brown sugar. Boil over low heat 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Cool to lukewarm.  Gradually add confectioner's sugar.  Beat until thick enough to spread.  Note: if icing becomes to stiff add a little hot water.

I hope you will try some of these recipes.  I love making them.  Have a good holiday.

Thanksgiving Recipes

OK today I am going to start sharing recipes that will be for the week of Thanksgiving.  I have family coming in so I want to fix foods that they like during the holidays.  Today I prepared fudge, peanut butter pinwheels, and orange coconut balls.

Fantasy Fudge
(This recipe comes from the Marshmallow Creme Jar)

1 cup sugar
3/4 cup margarine
1 (5 oz.)can of evaporated milk or 2/3 cup
1 (12 oz.)Pkg of Semi-Sweet Chocolate or Milk Chocolate pieces
1 (7 oz.) jar of Marshmallow Creme
1 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp of vanilla

Line 9 in. square pan with foil.  Bring sugar, butter and milk to a full rolling boil in a large sauce pan on medium heat, stirring constantly.  Boil 4 minutes or until 234 degrees on candy thermometer, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and add chocolate and marshmallow creme; stir until melted.  Stir in nuts and vanilla.  Pour into a pan and cool.  Be sure you don't try to fix this on a day when it is raining or threatening rain.  High humidity will make this candy sticky.

Melba's Peanut Butter Pinwheels
(This recipe was from my mother in law.  Bobby's family always had this at Christmas)

1 egg white
1 box of confectioner's sugar
peanut butter smooth

Mix sugar with egg white until a dough forms.  Roll out.  Spread the peanut butter over the egg white dough. Roll up and slice.  Keep refrigerated

Orange Coconut Balls
(This recipe was my Mom's.  Our family loved these.

1 pkg of vanilla wafers
1 can of frozen OJ concentrate, thawed
1 can of coconut

Crush vanilla wafers.  Mix vanilla wafers and coconut.  Then mix thawed OJ with the wafers and coconut mixture.  Roll into balls.  Roll in powdered sugar.  These get better with age.  Keep cool.

I hope you will try these recipes and keep checking back to see what other recipes I will be posting for the next couple of days.

Quick and Easy Lasagna

Well I have been so busy that I have not written in my blog in several weeks.  Things are slowing down so we can get ready for the Holiday rush.  I will be posting some of my favorite holiday recipes so I hope you will keep checking and see of the recipes that I love.

A couple of months ago I served Lasagna to the Pilot Club using leftover spaghetti sauce from a fundraiser we had.  After the meeting several requested the recipe.  My husband hates cottage cheese or ricotta cheese.  So I changed the recipe to fit our taste.  I hope you will enjoy using this easy recipe.

Quick and Easy Lasagna

16 oz. Lasagna noodles

1 lb. hamburger meat(can use 1/2 sausage and 1/2 beef)
1 1/2 minced garlic

1/2 cup chopped onion
1 jar of spaghetti(or you can use 2 cups of your homemade spaghetti sauce)
1/2 tsp salt

Black pepper to taste
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

2 cups Mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

2 beaten large eggs

Cook Lasagna according to pkg directions. Or you can use uncooked noodles this makes it quicker. In a large pot saute meat, garlic and onions. Drain off fat. Add spaghetti sauce, salt and pepper. Bring meat sauce to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cheeses with the beaten eggs. Mix until smooth. To build lasagna layer 4 strips of noodles lengthwise in the bottom of a greased 9 X 13 pan. Spread on 1/3 meat sauce and then 1/3 cheese mixture. Repeat layering process twice. Bake lasagna, covered in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes(if uncooked noodles cook an extra 15 minutes--45 minutes total). Remove cover and bake for another 10 minutes. Let stand at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.