Stuffing:

• Fritos Cornbread Stuffing

• Laura Bush’s Corn Bread Dressing

Sweet Potatoes & Veggies:

• Holiday Sweet Potatoes

• Easy Sweet Potato Casserole
• Holiday Vegetable Casserole
  

Salads:

• Mother’s Holiday Fruit Salad
• Raw Cranberry Salad

Desserts, Muffins, & Breads:

• Cherry-Banana Bread (Low-fat)
• Chocolate Chip Pie (Awesome!)
• Company’s Coming Cookies
• Crustless Pumpkin Pie
• Eggless Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies - Cookie Dough Safe to Eat!
• Frito Candy
• Harvest Pumpkin Muffins
• Holiday Pineapple Nut Bread
• Oreo Truffles
• Pecan Pie Muffins
• Pillsbury Turkey Sugar Cookies
  
• Pineapple Delight
• Sopapilla Cheesecake

Pie Crusts:

• Graham Cracker Pie Crust
• “Mix in the Plate” Pie Crust

• Never Fail Pie Crust (Make ahead of time)

Appetizers:

• Cheese Ball

• Cheese Log
• Blackeye Pea Salsa
• Olive Garden’s Artichoke-Spinach Dip
• Mixed Nuts with Rosemary & Shallots (serve warm)
• Rolled Chicken and Asparagus
• Sausage Cheese Balls
• Sausage Rolls
• Southwest “Cheesecake” Dip

• Texas Stuffed Jalapenos

Ideas for left-over turkey:

• Brown Rice, Turkey, & Broccoli in Mushroom Sauce
• Campbell’s Country Turkey Casserole

This is a delicious mix of vegetables:

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cans asparagus
• 2 cans peas
• 1 8-ounce can water chestnuts
• 1 4-ounce can mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tablespoons minced onion
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• Buttered bread crumbs OR Chinese noodles

Layer 1 can asparagus, 1 can peas, 1/2 of the water chestnuts, 1/2 of the mushrooms, 1 tablespoon onion, and 1/2 cup cheese.  Add 1/2 of the soup.  Repeat layers.  Top with bread crumbs or noodles.  Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

It’s fun to make Pillsbury Turkey Sugar Cookies for a fun project with the kids. Use icing for the “glue.” Glue 6-8 pieces of Candy Corn along the top edge of the cookie.  Glue 2 M&Ms in the middle of the cookie for the eyes. Use a small tube of icing to form the beak underneath the eyes (a small v-shape).  Make turkey feet at the bottom of the cookie.

Do you remember years ago when items in the store had price stickers on them?  The clerk at the check-out counter had to find the price sticker on each item and ring it up on the cash register.  Sometimes that took forever.  Now, a barcode scanner makes check-out so much easier and faster. Gone are the days of price stickers and even worse, getting to the check-out counter with an item that had lost its price sticker.

Val says, “Here’s this week’s questions. We’re in the middle of a Noreaster and I have hot comfort foods on my mind.”

1. Chicken soup. Regular or creamy?

Both.  Regular is healthier, though.  Creamy would definitely be a comfort food.
2. Do you have a stew recipe?

I used to, but haven’t made it in ages.  I would probably go to AllRecipes.com to find a recipe.
3. What’s your favorite hot comfort food?

Mashed potatoes with gravy.  Also, fried okra.
4. Do you like chicken fried steak?

Yes, but rarely have it.   I prefer chicken fried chicken.

I had this in the teacher’s lounge where I was subbing recently.  Very tasty!   This recipe can be baked and then kept warm in a crock pot to serve:

INGREDIENTS:

• 5 cups mixed nuts (I would choose walnuts, almonds, pecans, and  cashews)
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 small shallots, thinly sliced into rings
• 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place nuts in single layers on two jelly roll pans.  Bake until nuts are golden, about 8-10 minutes.  Halfway through baking, rotate the pans.  After baking, pour nuts into large bowl.

Heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add shallots and garlic.  Cook for 4-5 minutes.  Drain on paper towels.

Melt butter and pour over nuts.  Add rosemary, cayenne pepper, brown sugar, and salt.  Stir well.  Add crispy garlic and shallots.  Serve warm.

(If needed, reheat nuts for 10 minutes at 300 degrees.)

Wow!  It’s already time to start doing Christmas shopping.  I’ve done a little, but usually I’ve done half of it by this time of year.   Now…what to get people!  Would they like Kipling luggage, something for the kitchen, or what exactly would they like?  Hmmm, I’m going to have to do some thinking here, and better yet, somehow find out what they would really like.  That helps a lot!

These sound so good plus they have healthy ingredients:  pumpkin, dates, walnuts, and spices.  A perfect muffin to serve guests for breakfast during the holidays:

INGREDIENTS:

• 2/3 cup milk
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup dates, chopped
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Beat milk, pumpkin, and egg.  Add spices, salt, dates, and nuts.  Mix flour, sugar, and baking powder together.  Blend pumpkin mixture into flour mixture.  Fold in melted butter.  Pour into muffin tins.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Makes 12 muffins.

The holidays are so fun when the kids come home!  It’s nice to have time to relax from the busy work and school schedules and enjoy being together.  We might play some video games on the Wii or maybe some of our favorite board games.   Watching all three parts of the Lord of the Rings is definitely on our list.

We’re already planning to do some Christmas shopping on Black Friday after Thanksgiving which means getting up soooo early.  Our daughter got me hooked on that, and so this year our son (who will be home from college) wants to go and even my husband plans to go, too.   It’s fun shopping with those you love, doing something totally crazy and different like shopping at 5 AM, and finding those terrific bargains.   Then we’ll probably go eat breakfast at I-Hop, where I have a really good coupon, and then go home and crash!   After that, we plan to set up the Christmas tree.  Makes for nice family memories!

Here’s a special bread to serve during the holidays:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 19-ounce can crushed pineapple - do not drain
• 1/2 cup nuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup raisins

Cream together butter and sugar.  Add eggs.  Beat until fluffy.  Add dry ingredients alternately with pineapple.  Stir in raisins and nuts.  Pour mixture into loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.