Boston Market Sweet Potato Casserole - This is a classic that just can’t be missed.  Canned Sweet Potatoes are used as the base of this heart warming dish. 

Piccadiilly Cafeteria Carrot Souffle - This dish always amazes folks, it really is carrots.  Carrots are make into this sweet carrot pudding.  You can make this dish ahead of time and reheat when you are ready to serve.  You might want to make two of these, as I have never had left overs when I have made this dish.

Pecan Pie - You really don’t have to buy pies.  You can make your own at home.  This is my Grandmother’s recipe for pecan pie.  She has been making these for over 50 years.  This rich and nutty pie is very easy to make.  Does making a pie crust intimidate you?  You can buy a good quality frozen pie crust and bake this pie up.

I sincerely hope that each one of you has a happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your day spent with friends and family. 

Stephanie

Large family gatherings when I was growing up meant being simply stuffed when you left.  No good hostess in my family would want you to leave without being full, completely full, full with barely enough room to breathe.   It would be bad manners to have a guest leave with them being hungry.  I carried this on into my life.  My last cocktail party a couple of dishes that were made didn’t even get served.  They didn’t get served because there was too much food.  With that being said here are a few of my family favorites that I have recently made.

Fried Corn Meal Mush – I know, you are thinking that sounds gross.  I am sure many of us saw this on the ‘Little Rascals’.  Now my favorite part of this dish is the crispy outside that you get when you pan fry the corn meal mush.  You can add left over meat, sauteed onions to this to add a little flavor.

Copper Penny Salad – This is a sweet and savory carrot salad.  Some people think eating carrots brings you good luck, or even good eyesight.  This is an inexpensive salad to make, you can make this ahead of time so when it comes to serving you aren’t in a rush.  This salad tastes better on the second day.

Spiced Apple Cake- The fall means fresh apples are coming into season. I can’t think of anything more tasty than some freshly pressed apple cider. Growing up in the Midwest meant during the fall we had apples in many different forms, apple pie, apple cider, fried apples, and yes, apple cake. Here is my grandmother’s recipe for her spiced apple cake.

Family recipes are extra special. They are the recipes we are familiar with, and the ones that we know. Sometimes tasting something like we used to have can trigger many happy memories. Here are a few of my family’s recipes that help to trigger special memories for me.

I also purchased some yellow onions, and some inexpensive spices in bulk at the spice store across from Canino’s.  So for less than 25 dollars I was totally armed with everything I needed to make spaghetti sauce.  I did have to run out and buy some new lids.  But that entire purchase was about 4 dollars.  So, 29 dollars had me going to make lots of spaghetti sauce.  There are these preparatory steps in canning.  The things people don’t tell you about.  You need to get all of your jars together, wash, and sanitize them.  Get your lids and rings in hot water as well.  For me locating everything takes awhile.  Today it took much longer, as my hallway closet shelves came out of alignment and things went crashing down.  This added another good hour to this canning project, but I was a determined woman at this point.

I lugged my tomatoes upstairs.  Washed the tomatoes, and began to locate all of the pots I would need.  The canner, obviously, the pot to immerse the tomatoes into to get their skins off, a pot to put the chopped tomatoes into, and then a pot to put the tomato skins into.  This is a messy proposition.  I used the recipe from the presto canning site, it is the one I used last year, and it turned out well.

SPAGHETTI SAUCE WITHOUT MEAT

• 30 pounds tomatoes
• 1 cup chopped onions
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup chopped celery or green pepper
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced (optional)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 4 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoon oregano
• 4 tablespoon minced parsley
• 2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 cup brown sugar

Yield: About 9 pints

Procedure:Caution: Do not increase the proportion of onions, peppers, or mushrooms. Wash tomatoes and dip in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds or until skins split. Dip in cold water and slip off skins. Remove cores and quarter tomatoes. Boil 20 minutes, uncovered, in large saucepan. Put through food mill or sieve. Sauté onions, garlic, celery or peppers, and mushrooms (if desired) in vegetable oil until tender. Combine sautéed vegetables, tomatoes, salt, oregano, parsley, black pepper and sugar. Bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered, until thick enough for serving. At this time the initial volume will have been reduced by nearly one-half. Stir frequently to avoid burning. Fill jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Adjust lids.

Dial Gauge Canner—Process at 11 pounds pressure – Pints 20 minutes and Quarts 25 minutes. For processing above 2,000 feet altitude, see chart for recommended pounds of pressure.

Weighted Gauge Canner—Process at 10 pounds pressure – Pints 20 minutes and Quarts 25 minutes. For processing above 1,000 feet altitude, see chart for recommended pounds of pressure.

They make this sound easy, I have a smaller galley kitchen, so that means washing the tomatoes then putting them into the boxes that they came out of, scoring them, pulling out the ones out of hot water,  dunking other tomatoes into boiling water, then going over to the sink, peeling tomatoes and then chopping them up, and starting this process over again.  This honestly takes awhile.  You do get a moment to rest when the sauce is boiling away.  That also means lining up your jars, and getting them ready.

I made two batches, starting around 1 pm, and finishing around 8 pm.  I got 29 quarts out of this project, putting my cost at about a dollar a quart if we don’t add my labor.  My kitchen will still take some cleaning, sauce overboiled briefly, tomatoes spalsh when you peel them, and water drips when tomatoes are in transit.   

Right now my arms are sore, my skin on my hands feels like it has been through a wonderful skin peel.  I am sure I won’t do this at least for a little while.  Or at least until I come up with another great deal at the farmers market.

1 3/4 C. flour
2/3 C. sugar 
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup mashed ripe banana (2 to 3 medium bananas)
1/3 C. softened butter
2 Tbsp. milk
2 eggs
1/4 C. chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large mixer bowl combine 1 cup of the flour, the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add mashed banana; softened butter, and milk.  Beat with an electric mixer on low speed till blended, then on high speed for 2 minutes.  Add eggs and remaining flour, beat till blended.  Stir in nuts.

Pour batter into a greased 8×4x2-inch loaf pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.  Remove from pan; cool thoroughly on a wire rack.  Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

2 (32 oz. or 4-16 oz. cans) cartons Chicken Broth
2 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes sliced thin
1 yellow onion, sliced thin
1 qt. heavy cream
1 C. shredded Swiss cheese
½ C. Parmesan cheese
1/4 C. real bacon bits
2 Tbsp. green onions, diced

Pour chicken broth into a pot, and put in sliced potatoes and onions.  Cook on medium heat for about 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for approximately 20 minutes.

1 chocolate cake mix of your choice
1 large box of cook & serve chocolate pudding
2 cups milk
1 12oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a 3qt. sauce pan over medium-low heat mix milk & pudding until thick – add in cake mix & mix well. Pour into a 9×13 pan (I prefer stoneware). Pour semi-sweet chocolate chips over mixture & bake at 350 for approximately 20 minutes. Cake will be shiney & will pull away from sides of pan.

2 C. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. grated orange peel
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ C. butter
1 egg
½ C. orange juice
½ C. raisins
½ C. chopped walnuts

Combine ingredients in order given. Stir with a wooden spoon until well mixed. Put on a greased cookie sheet. Drop by tablespoon 2 inches apart. Bake 30 minutes at 375 degrees.

2 eggs slightly beaten
1 (16 oz.) can solid pack pumpkin pie
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
2 ½ Tbsp. sugar twin brown sugar
½ tsp. ground cloves
1 can evaporated milk

Mix well and pour into a 9 inch pie shell. Bake in 425 degree oven for 10 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake 30 minutes or until knife inserted into the center of the pie filling comes out clean.

1 ½ C. brown sugar
½ C. shortening
1 ½ C. rhubarb
1 tsp. baking soda
1 C. buttermilk
2 C. flour
1 tsp. vanilla

Stir all ingredients together. Place in a 9×13 inch pan that has been greased and floured. Sprinkle mixture of ½ C. sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon over top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Batter
1 ½ C. brown sugar
2/3 C. vegetable oil
1 egg
1 C. buttermilk
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ½ C. flour
1 ½ C. finely diced rhubarb
½ C. chopped nuts

Topping
½ C. sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. melted butter

Combine brown sugar and vegetable oil. Stir in egg and buttermilk with the vanilla. Add sifted dry ingredients. Stir in rhubarb and nuts. Pour into two well-greased loaf pans. Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle on top. Bake at 325 degrees about 40 minutes. Do not over bake. Remove from pans after two or three minutes and cool on rack.

1 ½ C. brown sugar
2/3 C. vegetable oil
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
1 C. buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 ½ C. diced Rhubarb
2 ½ C. unsifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ C. chopped nuts

Mix ingredients in order given. Divide dough and put into two greased and floured loaf pans. Bake in 350 degree oven for 40 minutes.

2/3 C. butter
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 C. buttermilk
1 C. coarsely chopped pecans
½ C. firmly packed brown sugar
½ tsp. ground cinnamon

Cream butter; gradually add 1 cup sugar and ½ cup brown sugar, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder, soda, salt, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix well after each addition.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 13×9 baking pan. Combine pecans, ½ cup brown sugar and ½ tsp cinnamon; stir well, and sprinkle over batter. Cover and chill 8 to 10 hours or overnight. Uncover batter, and let come to room temperature. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

1 can mandarin oranges
1 (10 oz.) jar Maraschino Cherries drained or you can use fresh strawberries (2/3 C.)
1 (1 lb. 4 oz.) can pineapple chunks (no sugar added juice)
2 bananas
1 package vanilla sugar free cook and serve pudding mix

Drain pineapple saving juice.  Drain cherries and oranges throwing away juice.  Mix pineapple and pudding mix.  Cook until very thick.  Cool; add the fruit by alternating oranges, pineapple chunks, cherries or strawberries, and bananas into the pudding mix.  Refrigerate for several hours.  You can make this the day before.

1 lb. Hamburger
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (14 oz.) can tomato soup
1 (14 oz.) can chili beans in chili sauce (Ranch Style Beans work well too!)
1 (10.5 oz.) beef broth
1 Tbsp. Chili powder (or more if you like)
Salt and Pepper according to your taste

Place hamburger and onion in frying pan and cook until done.  Drain grease off.  Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Simmer for about 10 to 12 minutes before serving.

6 large eggs, hard cooked
1 1/2 tsp. fresh lime juice, or more to taste
1 tsp. honey
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 Tbsp. minced fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1/4 C. mayonnaise

Shell the eggs, cut them in half lengthwise, and put the egg yolks in a small bowl. Set the whites aside. Add all of the remaining ingredients except the mayonnaise to the yolks, mashing well with a fork. Be sure the honey is well distributed. Stir in the mayonnaise and taste for lime and salt.
Spoon the mixture into the egg whites, cover, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Let come to room temperature before serving.