By popular request (mine) the Treehouse is  initiating a recipe swap for the holidays this year. I hope you will be generous with those cherished secret family recipes you wait all year to savor. Please be sociable and share. We would love to have everything from the gourmet and difficult to prepare to the simple and fast to enjoy, and it would be wonderful if you would take a moment and think of regional specialties from your part of the country. I know I would love to have some yankee stuffing this year, and I am hoping you Texas Treepers will throw some wonderful southwest favorites at us. Standard holiday fare, alternatives with flair, or just a family favorite, toss the recipe up for us, and if you have time, share a little history with us. Whose recipe, why your family loves it, give us a little picture of your special holiday times. 
I will start us off with a special favorite in my family, Derby Pie. There are several recipes, but this is my favorite. It’s a little touchy to bake, as all ovens heat a little differently, so the time can be off. If you cook it a little too long, it is like a giant chocolate chip cookie. Done just right, it has a wonderful gooey layer over the chocolate.
1 stick butter
1 package chocolate chips
1/2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
2 eggs well beaten
1 tsp vanilla, or Kentucky bourbon for purists
1/2 cup nuts
Line deep dish pie crust with chocolate chips. Melt butter, mix flour and sugar. Add eggs, butter, vanilla and nuts. Pour into pie shell and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. This pie must cool thoroughly before serving. Great with cool whip or ice cream.
I am hoping G8rmom will post the link for the turkey recipe she uses.  I tried it last year and it was the most wonderful turkey I have ever tasted. I very reluctantly decided I wanted to try it, because I have used a no fail recipe from my aunt for years, and never failed to have a wonderful moist turkey, and it was a super easy recipe. I am a convert to brining now. Yatz also posted a link last year for her turkey, and I am thinking of trying it out too.
For your enjoyment, here’s something to set the mood.