Time to pull out the faded and stained old handwritten recipes or notes, favorite cookbooks, and share with friends who really want to offer our best dishes to family and friends for Christmas. This time of year I especially try to remember the two women who taught me to cook, and to love cooking. My husband’s paternal grandmother, and his mother taught me with encouragement, kindness, joy and pride in the making of simple meals for big families. They taught me how to make good, nourishing meals from simple, cheap ingredients. They taught me to cook with love. I was a really slow student, but fortunately God gave me such good teachers that even I learned to cook well. Eventually.
Please share old family favorites, new discoveries, and memories, of course. I especially love it when we get recipes from different parts of the country, and our international readers. Zurich Mike, where are you? Being, as we say here in the South, of a certain age, I am steeped in old Southern recipes and cooking methods, but I have loved getting new ideas and recipes from our readers in Texas and Louisiana who do meals with boldness and heat, our coastal friends who share the best seafood recipes, our Northern friends who give us so many good stew and roast and vegetables recipes. Midwesterners just seem to do such a great job with family meals and especially winter vegetables, and no telling what you might get from out west and the West Coast, but the ideas and recipes are always wonderful.
Has your Christmas dinner always been old family favorites, the traditional holiday meal, or something unique to your family? Ours has kind of been both. We still serve the favorite ham and breads and desserts, but we’ve changed things, especially the sides, and added some delicious smoked roasts or a lamb shoulder.
When my kids were young we always tried to go to Midnight Mass, and afterwards we came home, opened presents, and then, in the wee hours of Christmas morning, had ham and eggs, biscuits and gravy. Although we had Christmas dinner with family the next day, our family’s breakfast was what cemented in my sons’ minds as our traditional Christmas meal. When grandchildren came along and it was time for us to let that go, my daughters in law and I fought a real battle against the men who really, really did not want to give that up, but it was not possible to drag babies to Midnight Mass and our house in the middle of the night.
So many wonderful things get shared among family and friends when breaking bread together. Memories are made that become lifelong treasures, the laughter, love, and especially in our wild family, the loud stories, kids yelling with joy and excitement (and sometimes anger too!) are just as important as the foods we share. We strive to make each year the best, most wonderful, happy Christmas ever.
This is a recipe that my brother brought home from his home economics class about 40 years ago.
Easy for kids to make and very tasty.
Only his included a simple icing topping to put on them after they come out of the oven which is:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Milk or water to get to the consistency that you would like… runny icing to thick icing
any flavoring you would like such as:
orange
vanilla
almond
1/2 teaspoonish or to taste.
Those were our popular ones after he got the recipe.
(he still can’t cook either)
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/84289/resurrection-rolls/
Oh, I suggest using a cupcake pan instead of a baking sheet, easier cleanup and keeps the yummy goodness on the bottom of the roll and crisps up nicely for some extra umami.
“his home economics class”
I was just telling young folks they use to teach kids how to cook in school. They didn’t believe it.😂
We made Chicken Cordon Bleu in class! It was awesome! They do not teach cooking or balancing a checkbook anymore – essential life skills. As a matter of fact, the class was required for graduation.
I went to school in South Texas and recall learning to make flour tortillas and tamales in Home Making class.
I was 6 years behind him in school (middle brother), Home Economics was an elective that I could have taken, by that time in high school my oldest brother was already planning on setting me up in Buffet type restaurant (Duffs like) in our brand new Marsh supermarket / Kmart strip mall.
That plan never happened back then but I have been in the restaurant business since “forced” retirement in 2009.
Moved in 2011 to someplace that I found that I didn’t have fits of allergies (Rockies) and opened that restaurant that my brother wanted when I was 18. (Non Buffet tho)
I definitely work more hours now than I EVER did before. I can always sell it to someone else when I can’t handle the hours / stress / government intrusion anymore.
I love your life story 😍
My granddaughter in Pennsylvania takes a culinary class in school. The difference is that it’s voluntary rather than compulsory. I remember learning to make green bean casserole and cream puffs.
I will be having Christmas dinner with my Lisa and her family. They are Polish Catholics as are most people in this town. Naturally we will be having pierogies and kapusta and kielbasa along with turkey, mashed, etc. And if you eat Polish it’s impertaive that you have a taste for cabbage. They also observe the Polish tradition of the oplatek (she pronounces it pwah-tek), a wafer embossed with a manger scence. The oldest member of the family begins by breaking off a piece and then handing it around until everyone has a piece. Before eating it everyone expresses Christmas wishes of peace and God’s blessing. After dinner, pumpkin pie. I’ve been given one job and I’m ramping up production
May the borscht be with you!
And with you as well
are you making krushchiki? My Babci’s were light as feather, so delicious! I miss her! Enjoy your wonderful Polish meal!
c’mon now. bring on the flaki and czarnina.
I’ll have to ask her about krushchiki. Lisa always remembers her babci (and her dziadziu) with fondness and love as someone who never had an unkind word for anyone. Lisa actually has a pierogie maker, the only person I’ve ever known who has one
Will, you bring back childhood memories of Christmas with my polish Grammy….always cabbage and pierogies and lots of love. Thank you for the trip back to wonderful days.
You’re welcome. You should move here, everyone has a ski at the end of their name. Polish food was a bit of a learning curve for me. I’m of Irish descent. So..potatoes 🙂
We do the oplatek, too. However, we have the oldest start breaking the wafer with the youngest in my family. My youngest daughter *loves* this tradition lol.
My polish/Czech on his mother’s side, husband has hereditary hemachromatosis; too much iron. It’s a serious condition which has only one solution: he has to have his Ferratin (iron) tested frequently and then his blood taken out. (You would think giving healthy iron rich blood a good donation thing but not really. It’s taken out and disposed of in cancer part of hospital.)
Anyway! My point is that cabbage helps reduce his iron! A hereditary disease is helped by eating a food that’s indigenous to the people who suffer from it.
Every major family meal is a reason for different cabbage dish.
God bless Poland. God bless the Polish people!
Thank you for this post and for the Christmas Treats post.
Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy, Prosperous New Year to all !!
I messed up the schedule for the kids’ treat post. It’ll be back on Friday.
It’s all good! thanks again
We appreciate the whole team at CTH and all that y’all do
Can’t wait for this!
Our family’s Christmas Dinner is always the same! Any attempt to do anything different is met with dismay! That being said, our Christmas Day feast starts at late breakfast of Eggs Benedict, fresh fruit, and Mimosas. Then, for the actual dinner, the menu is: Prime Rib Roast, Mashed Potatoes, Yorkshire Pudding, Gravy, Green Beans, German Red Cabbage and Horseradish Sauce (for the meat). We also have several red wines available…(Bordeaux is a favorite.) Dessert is either Chocolate Mousse or Amaretto Cake.
I also am flanked by folks who watch me make my very famous GRAVY… which my Mama taught me to do many, many years ago. Everyone wants to know how to do it, yet they always make ME make it, while they watch. They have also coined a phrase for my gravy: Meat Ice Cream! HA!
Once I prep and put the Prime Rib Roast in the oven, the GUYS take over watching over it. Some people want their meat rare to medium rare, others like it more medium. If I let them watch the roast…it frees me up to drink more mimosas!!
Enjoy your Christmas, everyone!!
Sounds wonderful! I wouldn’t change a thing. Our family had a tradition of Prime Rib Roast, Yorkshire Pudding, and mashed potatoes as well. I have usually continued that tradtion.
What is your gravy recipe PatriotGal? We’ll keep it secret.
You know how to live. I want our Christmas Prime Rib right now, It’ll be tough waiting till Christmas.
Our Christmas morning begins with a breakfast of fried quail, creamed gravy, and William Sonoma croissants(remembering to let them rise over night). The Christmas dinner itself annually revolves from crown pork roast or suckling pig or Christmas goose or this year’s prime rib roast with menu so similar to yours. The breakfast is the only time of year my grandchildren are exposed to creamed gravy 🙂 Merry Christmas to all!
Everyone wants to know how to do it, yet they always make ME make it, while they watch.
haha, if you lived near me I would want you to come to my house for Thanksgiving! We would invite over all the stragglers that didn’t have family around. But I hated making gravy because everything is happening right at that moment. So I would always convince someone who could make gravy to “help me”.
Nearly identical to our annual Christmas dinner!
However, I have to include my Swedish Great Grandmother’s spritz cookies … with plenty of almond extract. Break out the cookie press.
Norwegians know better than to ruin a perfectly good spritz with almond extract 🙂
“Any attempt…”
lol…every few years a relative will change it up…
“I tried something different this year, I put raisins and coconut in, whatcha think?”
“I thought there was something new about it…can you pass the salad…” 😛
Nobody touches the prime rib. 🙂
PG: I have been making gravy by “feel” for decades, although pie crust is my Achille’s Heel! I just can’t get the hand of it. I follow the “Joy of Cooking” recipe for Giblet Gravy; I use the stock for my gravy and stuffing. It is a big hit every year.
The secret to great pie crust is White Lily all-purpose flour. Crisco pie crust recipe.
Reposting from 2018. The cranberry rotisserie pork loin recipe also works well with leg of lamb, but keep an eye on the temperature and the surface condition of the meat. It can turn black and gooey if you aren’t careful, but don’t worry – it still tastes great. This is particularly a problem if you are doing pork loin and leg of lamb on the same spit – the lamb will be done before the pork, generally.
This year, I am doing cranberry lamb and a giant smoked brisket. Nothing Christmas-y about the brisket, just a conventional rub recipe.
Original post:
Upright Electric Smoker Turkey
I’ve used this for turkeys between 11 and 16 pounds, in an electric smoker. I use a ceramic stand instead of an actual beer can or a steel wireframe stand. I have become convinced that the extra thermal mass of the ceramic stand vastly increases the cooking time for the thighs. If you’ve never smoked a turkey before, don’t let Christmas be your first try. I did three practice turkeys before I was comfortable doing this for a big family meal.
Check that your turkey will fit in your smoker. Mine is a 40″ MES. A 30″ would fit any of the birds I’ve smoked, but if you’ve got a monster turkey, or a differently shaped smoker, make sure it will fit standing up.
Spices:
2 TBSP thyme
1 TBSP sage
2 tsp oregano
2 tsp sweet hungarian paprika
2 tsp coarse salt (kosher)
1.5 tsp freshly cracked pepper
1 tsp turbinado sugar
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp garlic powder
** This is just a ratio, it isn’t enough to do a bird. Double it for a turkey of about 10 to 12 pounds, you’ll want triple for a turkey more than about 14 pounds.
Mix the ingredients, set aside.
Pre-heat your smoker to 225 and take all racks out except the bottom. If you’ve measured, you may have enough room to cook some sides alongside or above the turkey – never below it. You’ll probably still want the racks out when you put the turkey in, just to make life easier for yourself.
Rinse your thawed turkey inside and out. Remove the neck and organs. Pat the turkey dry everywhere (inside and out).
Sprinkle some of the spice mixture in the abdominal cavity and roll the turkey over a few times to spread it around.
Lay the turkey flat on a large prep surface. Spray the skin all over with cooking spray (pam, etc). Sprinkle the spices generously all over the skin. Flip the turkey over, spray and sprinkle on the other side. Get into all of the nooks and crannies.
To preserve domestic tranquility, wrap a small, rimmed baking pan in aluminum foil. Place the ceramic stand in the middle of the pan. Fill the stand about 2/3 of the way with some liquid. I usually use apple cider, but beer or wine should be fine, or a different fruit juice. Broth or stock should work too, or even water.
Lift the turkey onto the stand, seat firmly. You may need to adjust the tail and legs to keep it sitting properly. Tuck the wingtips up behind the shoulders.
Your hands will have cleared some of the spices, so re-coat those spots by flinging some of the spice mixture at them.
Very carefully carry the turkey to the pre-heated smoker. Get some help, ideally someone wearing a rubber glove who can stabilize the top end if needed.
The dirty secret of smoking a turkey is that it is done when it is done, and it doesn’t care when you want it to be done. I start 12 to 13 hours before meal time for a 14 to 16 pound bird, which is always plenty of time, sometimes it is done 3 hours early, other times only about an hour early.
I use a wireless digital thermometer in the thigh to monitor temperature. I turn the smoker off when it hits 180 degrees. Get help carrying it back into the house – a silicone oven mitt is great for this. Then I tent it in foil for about a half hour, then I carve. If we are still long before meal time, I put the meat in a roaster pan in the oven to keep warm, with a little broth in the bottom to keep it moist.
The juice in the pan is fine for making pan gravy, but there probably won’t be enough unless you supplement it with some broth. I use a baster to harvest as much as I can before I remove the pan from the smoker. Even with someone helping stabilize the top of the bird while I carry it, I worry about spilling the juice. There will be leftover liquid in the ceramic stand too. It will probably be too sweet to use for gravy. It makes very sweet gravy, and most people don’t like sweet gravy.
I carve using this technique:
I didn’t like dark meat at all until I watched this video and learned how to remove, debone and slice the thighs properly.
I didn’t keep notes when I developed this, but I think the spice recipe is mostly derived from this recipe: https://mrecipes.com/smoker/poultry/turkey-sweet-potatoes/
The cooking technique is a fusion of ideas found on various youtube videos from people who I affectionately refer to as “fat rednecks” – they make the best grilling and smoking videos, by far.
I have the offset box for my smoker, sold as a “cold smoker attachment”. I load it full with pecan wood chips before starting, and it usually runs out by the time I wake up the next day, when I add a little more. If you are feeding manually, you may want to stay up an hour after starting so that you can add a second scoop before bedtime, and you’ll probably want to add another scoop every hour after you wake up. I haven’t over-smoked or under-smoked a turkey yet, so I don’t think it is particularly sensitive.
Rotisserie Cranberry Pork Loin
2/3 cup DRY cranberries
1/3 cup sugar (I use turbinado, but granulated sugar is fine)
1/4 cup dry onion flakes
2 TBSP coarse salt (kosher)
2 tsp grocery store “poultry seasoning”
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
zest from an orange
olive oil
1 whole pork loin – not tenderloin
First, measure your grill and rotisserie to find out the biggest piece of meat you can fit. Trim the narrow end of your pork loin if it is too long to fit, and unless you’ve got a monster grill, it’ll be too long when you buy it.
You mix the rub in a blender. Because of this, you need the cranberries to be DRY. I buy two bags of craisins which are “dried” cranberries, and I run them in my dehydrator for about 5 days. They still seem soft when you take them out of the dehydrator at that point, but after letting them cool, they clink almost like marbles. If they are too wet, they’ll make a gooey mess in the blender.
Mix all of the dry ingredients in a blender, pulse until the cranberry flakes are smallish, and the mixture is somewhat uniform.
The night before, rub your loin with olive oil, zest the orange and rub that on. Then sprinkle with the rub. Wrap in plastic wrap (2 layers to be safe) and rest in the fridge over night.
In the morning, load it on your rotisserie rod with forks, thread a thermometer probe through the bushing, balance the assembly, and start it up. Plan on about 20 minutes per pound and be ready to check it often and adjust the heat as needed to make hit your target temperature at the right time. I cook to 170.
You want to cook it as low and slow as you can, but don’t be too concerned if it burns a bit. High winds blew out my grill once, and I didn’t notice for ~15-20 minutes. I had to crank it up to high to get food on the table before cannibalism set in, and parts of it ended up singed and blackened. I was worried that it was ruined, but it was the best tasting cranberry pork loin I had ever made. We ended up fighting over the crispy black bits.
Original recipe derived from this page: https://www.foodiewithfamily.com/cranberry-dry-rub/
By the way, I am in Minnesota. If I can grill for Christmas in the snow, you can grill for Christmas wherever you are.
Thank you so much for the video. It certainly gave me some great pointers. I am actually looking forward to carving my next turkey or chicken. Merry Christmas,
Smoked and fried turkeys for may years switched to spatchcock turkey a couple years back — crowd pleaser.
I’ve been meaning to try that. I just don’t think I can do it for Christmas. My girlfriend loves the way I do ham (recipe below), but I had to stop doing it because my oven is too busy.
One of the biggest problems that I have when making these big meals is the number of things that need to be cooked, and matching those to available cooking devices. The rule of thumb I use is that anything that can be moved out of the oven or off of the stove, should be. That means potatoes in the instant pot, stuffing in the crock pot, meat in the smoker and on the grill, etc.
That frees up the oven for baking bread, cookies, pies etc and for reheating.
Oh – that reminds me:
Stuffing in the Crock Pot
I do this in a casserole-style crock pot. Other shapes will probably work, more or less.
2 boxes of Stove Top stuffing
3 cups chicken broth
1 can cream of celery soup
2 large eggs
whisk broth, soup, eggs together
spray or butter your crock
dump both boxes of stuffing in
pour the liquid over the top
stir a bit to ensure that all stuffing is wetted and seasonings are mixed in
cover, cook on high for 4 hours
Honey/Brown Sugar Ham
glaze is a mix of honey and brown sugar in a 1:1 ratio. Start with 1 cup of each, but expect that you’ll need more. If you need to thin it, use red wine or apple cider – use very little, if any.
Place ham in pan, flat side down. Add a half cup of wine, cider or water to the bottom of the pan
Brush the glaze on, completely cover the surface.
Bake at 275 to 350. Lower is better, but you may need to turn it up to reach your target temp on time.
Every 20 minutes, pull it out and re-apply glaze.
Tent with foil if the glaze starts to burn
If you make gravy from the pan drippings, it will be super sweet, and some people won’t like it, so have a backup gravy ready.
This recipe is super simple, but tedious. You will be shackled to your oven all morning. By noon, you will be sick of carrying that timer around.
Sounds yummy!
That sounds really good.
MN-CarryPermitHolder
To bring a little bit of Texas to your Christmas. Put a whole seasoned brisket on top rack of smoker so that its drippings fall down on the Turkey below it on on the lower rack. This will keep your turkey moist, browned and wonderful flavor.
My husband did this to peas and it has become a necessity for Thanksgiving and Christmas for may family. It makes a wonderful pairing with mashed potatoes as the spicy oil seeps and mixes. This is not too hot– just flavorful.
Spicy Peas (serves 8-12)
olive oil to coat the pan.
2 med onions cut in half and sliced very thinly
1.5 inch ginger, peeled, sliced thin, chopped
Spice mix: 1tsp of the following cumin, coriander, cardamom, turmeric; 1/4 tsp cinnamon, pepper; 1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne
1.5-2 lbs package frozen peas (baby peas preferred but not necessary)
Salt to taste
water as necessary
In the olive oil saute the onions until translucent and soft. Add the ginger, stir additional few minutes. Add the spice mix, stir well. Add the frozen peas and maybe 1/4 c of water. Add about 2 tsp salt and more if necessary. Cook on low until peas soft, 20-more minutes on low. Turn off heat and let sit until ready to serve.
We have decided to order pizza for Christmas this year.
Hopefully, I can go into hiding and do the same!
I work part time delivering food from a Chinese restaurant. Yes, we’re open on Christmas. You would not believe how many folks are calling asking if we’re open…..Fa La La La La….
Several of My friends who are Jewish have made Chinese food on Christmas tradition!
We have wonderful Jewish friends who always visit and celebrate the holidays with us!
Fa ra ra ra rah … ra ra ra rah
🤣
Usually went to a Chinese Buffet on Christmas Day.
Last year it was closed due to the Chinese Flu. 😉
Hoping they do Christmas this year. It was actually quite amazing the spread they put on for a couple bucks more. The place was always packed.
We have bought shrimp rolls from our local Chinese restaurant on Christmas!
We used to go to the Chinese Buffet on Christmas Eves… FA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RAAAAAAAAAA!
There is nothing like a good old turkey, perogi,cabbage roll pizza.
Lasagna for us if our health foodie would only eat cheese….
I like to make cannoli on New Years Day but it is a great Christmas dish as well.
I make small, thin swedish pancakes to use as a tube for the filler, but you can use large(manicotti) tube noodles instead.
You put the pancakes in a baking dish, fill each with ricotta cheese, spinach,parsley (with a beaten egg and milk to desired consistency),and roll them up.
The marinara sauce is simple. Diced tomatoes,one stick of butter and one onion, garlic and spices, and simmer till it becomes sauce.
Line the filled pancakes up, cover with sauce and parmesan and bake. When you make this with the pancake tubes it is a more delicate dish than with the pasta tubes, but very good both ways.
The pictures that go with these food posts are always so thoughtfully chosen.
I never much cared for cooking, but there is something about making something that my grandmother used to make, that is nearly sacred to me.
ROADSIDE POTATOES
DO NOT be deceived by the simplicity of this recipe. It has been in the family for at least sixty years and whenever we have a gathering everyone wants to know who is doing the Roadside Potatoes. When you have them you will see why. Every one of my 44 first cousins has it…all their kids have it..all their in-laws have it and on and on.
Ingredients:
· 24 ounces* frozen hash browns…MUST be SHREDDED…thawed
· 3 cups half and half
· Stick of butter
· Tsp salt
· 1 cup grated parmesan
* Or 30 ounces frozen…depends which ones you find…either is OK
Place thawed potatoes in baking dish
Gently heat half and half with butter until butter is melted add salt
Pour over potatoes
Sprinkle cheese on top
Bake 325 degrees until top is completely golden brown…about an hour
Roadside potatoes sounds almost like scalloped potatoes but shredded instead. Very good! I’ll have to try it.
Sounds great, love hash browns. I might cheat with my dehydrated hash browns. 10 minute soak.
To make from scratch for immediate use, peel, shred with box grater, soak in cold water for 10 minutes, drain.
I soak to make them extra crispy for breakfast, but may not be necessary with your Roadside Potatoes.
Thank you for the gift!
Now you have me debating, I had found a looks good hash brown casserole, now this, ah decisions decisions!
That sounds like a delicious recipe that can be used for brunch too!
I need a recommendation. I want to try a good ready-made eggnog not from the dairy section. Help me narrow it down. I have no experience with any of them.
Buds eggnog is very good. If it is sold out I usually buy the Safeway store brand and no one is disappointed. I bet there is a good recipe for eggnog online if you really want to make it up special.
I prefer easy to special. At least this time. My family dairy made a really good dairy eggnog, so I know that one. I want to try a more traditional one.
There is nothing else for you to do but start sampling…especially if you have a fmily recipe to compare . Start early!
Try the liquor store, they have a variety.
Once I had homemade eggnog I cannot go back to store bought, just can’t do it. Fresh homemade eggnog is the BEST. You can even make it by the glass if you choose.
This may not be helpful since I live in central North Carolina, but Homeland Creamery in Julian, NC, has the best egg nog ever. A splash of Crown Royal tops it off!
Christmas Eve is not complete without our version of Oyster Stew. It’s simpler than many I’ve seen in cookbooks.
Not only enjoyed on Christmas Eve but we loved it Christmas morning too. I remember being a kid and I couldn’t wait to get up and have a bowl of stew with fresh baked and heavily buttered white bread.
The quantity is based on proportion.
Oyster Stew
1 jar oysters
Use the jar to fill twice with whole milk
For each jar, use half a stick of unsalted butter
We typically do 4 jars of oysters, which means 8 jarfuls of milk and 2 sticks of butter.
If the oysters are large, cut in half and put into a small sauce pan. Once you’ve added the oysters to the sauce pan, add the appropriate amount of butter.
In a large pot, put the milk. Heat the milk gently and add a bit of salt and pepper. While the milk is heating, cook the oysters and butter over med/med high heat.
As the oysters cook and the butter melts, transfer small amounts of the juice into the milk.
Previous generations of my family said that you shouldn’t use a metal spoon in the milk to keep the milk from curdling. I have a handy wooden spoon that has been in the family for three generations, lol.
The oysters are done when they begin to curl on the edges. The milk will likely be close to temp now. Slowly add the oysters to the milk. You’ll know the oysters are done if they float.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve with stew crackers, fresh baked white bread or both!
I would use a bit of cream in addition to whole milk, but I come from a dairy family and that is what we do.
Thats great. I’ll have to try it. I’ve been getting by with Oysters, Mik, and pepper. Time for some butter!
Butter makes everything better! 😉
Christmas Eve was always oyster stew for my family too. We were never allowed to eat leftovers Christmas morning because any leftovers were reserved for scalloped oysters to accompany Christmas dinner. Put leftovers in a buttered glass casserole dish, stir in coarsely crushed saltines until thick. Dot with plenty of butter and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.
I still make oyster stew every year but now our extended family has German chicken and noodle soup with butterballs (budeglace) and either chili or vegetable soup too. Everything but the oyster stew stays warm in crock pots while we attend Christmas Eve services.
I could never get to the bottom of how our family started with oyster stew. It’s not like oysters were all that easy to find in Iowa a hundred years ago.
The scalloped oysters sound delicious. One year we couldn’t get stew crackers, ironically I think it was when Carter was president. I filled my bowl with crushed saltines then ladled in the stew. It was delicious.
Your chicken soup with noodles and butterballs sounds fantastic.
I believe cannned oysters were readily available and considered a big treat in the midwest in the 19th century, I’ve read about them in the Little House and several other books.
Thanks Marguerite! It’s been so long since I read those books that I had forgotten. 🙂
This is wonderful. I grew up on the coast of NC and this sounds so much like the way we made it. Winter is when oysters are best. We only ate oysters when the month had an R in it.
My dad always said that (I grew up inNC too). I still don’t like to eat oysters in months with no R!
And your posts are “always wonderful”! Much appreciated!!
Merry Christmas and God bless!!! Menagerie
I usually cook a turkey for Thanksgiving and a ham for Christmas. This year will probably be ham again, unless I get requests for encore turkey. I may try the spicy peas recipe and roadside potatoes posted above as well. Does anyone have a nice cornbread recipe? Or I may do a cornbread stuffing.
I will also have cranberry sauce,coleslaw … maybe some apple cider to drink. Wine or whiskey for adults who like to celebrate. Then pumpkin pie without too much sugar in it and whipped cream, also not too sweet.
There is usually so much going on at Christmas, especially if there are small children around and I have found ham a very easy and delicious meat to prepare, that pleases everyone.
Baked ham, potato salad, deviled eggs and various other southern dishes for us.
This recipe. Try to get While Lily self rising corn meal if at all possible. Use only buttermilk, and never put sugar in your cornbread. This is the good ole southern cornbread we have with most meals, and it is excellent to make dressing.
https://www.whitelily.com/recipes/white-lily-southern-cornbread-4920/
Menagerie, do you happen to have recipe for fried cornbread patties? My grandmama always made them. She never used recipes and I’ve tried endlessly to recreate hers with no luck. And I agree with you, never put sugar in cornbread…it ain’t fittin, just ain’t fittin 😉
Ha! You made me laugh. I used to make fried cornbread in the early days, when my oven was not working for awhile. Then I used the same recipe, with a little less buttermilk. If I were making them today I’d put in some finely chopped green onion, one more egg, and something to ad a zing spice wise, keeping the mixture thick. You could also use a little creamed corn and sour cream in the mixture, or canned shoepeg corn. Be careful of canned creamed corn though, it’s pretty sweet.
I once had a couple of sales guys from New York to call on me at our Kentucky factory. They wanted to take us out to lunch so we went to the local meat and three. They forgot to bring cash and the m&3 did not take cards. We paid and they had to pay us back. That was just the first embarrassment. I was in line first and ordered pork chop, pinto beans, mashed potatoes and mac and cheese with a hoecake. The two sales guys said they would have what I was having.
We got to the table and he held up the hoecake and asked what it was. Fried cornbread we said. He said he had never seen flat cornbread. He took a bite of the pintos and asked about them. He said he had never eaten pintos before. Anyone that knows knows that pintos are not something that can be “tolerated” by the gastronomical systems of some people. We warned them about the possible effects. They called the next day and said the effects hit full force on the flight back to New York.
Thank you Menagerie. I’ll try adding 1 more egg & less buttermilk. Just may be the ticket. The chopped green onion sounds good even though my grandmama didn’t use them. Will try that once I get the consistency right. I’m determined to get it right one day even though I know I’ll never get cornbread as good as hers. Even my mama struggled and always said, “it’s not as good a mama used to make”. Wished I had payed closer attention to more of her cooking back in the day. She was the best cook I ever knew.
I make my savory (not sweet) cornbread in a cast iron skillet. Have to put the fat (usually crisco) in the skillet in a hot oven for about 7-8 minutes (not quite smoking). Then I pour the hot fat into my cornbread batter and stir and pour it back into the skillet. Have to hear it sizzle both times. Then back into the oven to bake. Not exactly fried cornbread but you get a nice brown crust all around.
Thank you Menagerie! I will do it. Just what I was looking for as something special.
My mother (in Arkansas) talked about “Yankee cornbread” with sugar in it. “Yankee” was almost a curse when my mother said it and I didn’t try sugar in cornbread until I was grown and on my own… but the Yankees had a really good idea there. Not for dressing, though. Thank you for this thread!
My husband says my cornbread isn’t sweet enough – he’s an upstate SC native, and I’m a yankee!
Thanks to all at Conservative Treehouse and a very Merry Christmas
Yes! White Lily is the best! Cooked in my Iron skillet that was my Grandma’s. I use their flour for biscuits as well.
I use whatever cornbread recipe is handy but!
I soak the cornmeal in warm milk for about a half an hour (it’ll soak it up) and after making the batter, pour it into a hot greased cast iron skillet for crispy edges and soft, moist cornbread.
Thank you Pepper!
Cornbread in cast iron skillet.
1&1/2 cups self rising cornmeal
1/2 cup self rising flour
2 eggs beaten
1 tbsp lard
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp butter
1 & 1/2 cups milk or buttermilk
Coat skillet with lard then add oil and butter.
Place skillet in preheated 425 oven for approximately 5 minutes but not long enough to burn the butter.
Pour the oil into the other mixed ingredients stir and immediately pour back into skillet and bake 27 minutes or until browned well on top.
*pour the hot oil/lard/butter into the other ingredients
Christmas is almost always feast of the 7 fishes. Traditionally done on Christmas Eve but we do it Christmas Day. While we can’t always find 7 fishes, we do our best. This year is no different except way more expensive. I applaud those able to have prime rib. Way beyond our finances but we do prefer the 7 fishes. It really doesn’t matter as long as everyone gets enough to eat and has a great time with family.
Do scallops and shrimp count? Our usual Christmas dinner is bay scallops, boiled shrimp and grilled salmon. This year we are planning one before Christmas meal of farm raised catfish.
They sure do count! We do Lobster Fra Diavolo (hey, I didn’t name it) and stuffed clams. This year, though, the kid says she wants Oysters Bienville instead of the clams.
I make seafood risotto…….to die for if I do say so myself 😉
Not exactly healthy but my dad made this every year and I loved it! (Although we “kids” didn’t get the rum in ours, obviously)
Homemade Hot Buttered Rum Mix
1# Dark Brown Sugar
1/2# butter, softened
1 pint vanilla ice cream
Combine all ingredients until well blended. Store in fridge. Mix 1 Tbsp of mix with 1 oz of rum – add 8 oz hot water and top with a sprinkle of nutmeg.
When my Mom was in her later years, I took over the job of Christmas dinner. Being in New England, I made lazy man’s lobster and roasted asparagus and she made loaded twice baked potatoes…along with a bottle of champagne those dinners were memorable. Dessert was an ice cream cake from the local Friendly’s restaurant…they’re all closed now. I also used to make Glogg but have switched to Boilo….I follow “Helga’s Pennsylvania Cooking” on Youtube and follow her recipe but substituting Wild Turkey 101 for the Four Queens Whiskey because its not available where I live. It hits the spot on a cold winter day.
I’m making Gluhwein this year.
Glogg…two dots over the “o”….is Swedish. Here’s the recipe given to me by friends with that heritage:
1 bottle brandy
2 bottles port wine….I use tawny port not ruby
1/2 cup sugar
24 whole cloves
12 cardamom seeds crushed or slit open
3 sticks cinnamon
1 cup raisins
1 cup unsalted almonds
warm on low about 2 hours….do not boil. I use a crock pot on low. I have a big mesh ball that I put the seeds in or you can use cheese cloth. Make sure raisins and almonds are included in every serving.
Menagerie, could you post your “recipe”? I love Glühwein, as we always had it at NY Eve when I was a child in Germany. I have tried various combinations (usually red wine, apple juice and spices) and even mixes – nothing is even close.
Look for Helen’ Own Gluhwein mulled wine spice mix. The spices come pre packaged in this. I have not used it yet, but I bought it because so many reviews said it was the only Gluhwein they’d ever had that tasted like what they had in Germany.
you can get non alcoholic glogg in a bottle from ikea
Mmmmm Friendly’s Ice Cream. Brings back a lot of memories of workin at the local A&P next door to Friendly’s.
I like this nice change of pace when using leftover turkey: turkey Reuben sandwiches. Heat two slices of dark rye bread, one with mayo and drained saurkraut on top, the other with bbq sauce (or homemade ketchup) and turkey slices on top. Run both under the broiler until hot, then clap them together. A slice of Swiss cheese under the saurkraut is a nice addition. Merry Christmas to to all the treepers from Kanada !
Rye bread is yummy but my favorite is pumpernickel. Of course a Rueben calls for rye, but I like to do culinary experiments.
Do you make your own Mrs. Jones? I’m on the hunt for tried and true of both kinds of bread.
My Italian grandmother always made tortellini in brodo……turkey bones cooked with celery, onion, and carrots, salt & a few whole peppercorn. Cook the heck out of it, let it cool, strain it so you have a nice clear broth. I like to refrigerate it so you can scrape off the fat that rises to the top. Next day, heat it up & dump in some home made tortellini.
A steaming bowl of this on a cold winter day will make you feel like you’ve died & gone to heaven.
Peanut Butter Buckeyes
3-3/4 cups powered sugar
1-1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
12 oz pkg semi sweet chocolate chips
1 tbs shortening
In bowl mix powdered sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla and salt in large bowl with mixer on medium speed until blended. Shape into 1-inch balls. Chill until firm.
Microwave chocolate chips with shortening until melted and smooth.
Line tray with parchment paper, using toothpick dip balls into chocolate covering 3/4 then chill until firm
My grandmother taught me to make these, although we called them “peanut butter balls”.
Buckeyes are my weakness! I cannot go to Cracker Barrel without buying them.
I make a sugar free version of buckeyes that are so good, you can’t tell they are sugar free. I use Choczero milk chocolate chips and Monk zero powdered sweetener. It is my go to treat!
Here is my easy fruit dip:
1 jar marshmallow crème
1 8oz block of cream cheese
Put both ingredients into a food processor and hit the button until the dip is smooth
Place in pretty dipping bowl on festive platter
Surround with fresh strawberries and Kiwis to capture the holiday colors, or use with fruit of choice.
this sounds like a great version of old Ambrosia- – the “cream” being poured over orange slices and shredded coconut
Marshmallow Snowman for top of Hot Chocolate
1 bag large marshmallows
1 bag pretzel sticks
1 bag of candy corn
1 bag of mini chocolate chips
No cooking required
Pin together 3 marshmallows using pretzel sticks
Break two pretzel sticks in half, place two halves in bottom marshmallow for legs and one half on each side of center marshmallow for arms.
Place candy corn in center of too marshmallow for nose
Use mini chocolate chips for eyes mouth and buttons.
Haven’t figured out how to add a photo, these are so cute and easy
We started with this easy green bean casserole recipe from AllRecipes. The AllRecipes version has over 1000 reviews and a solid 5 out of 5 rating. The recipe tolerates tweaks and approximate amounts nicely, but it’s easy and good as written. Each time we make it, it is different. It’s better if you mix it and heat it up a day ahead, then refrigerate.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/18379/best-green-bean-casserole/
Our tweaks:
Substitute an equivalent amount of frozen green beans. Boil for 3 minutes, cool in cold water, drain and dry.
Saute some chopped onion and minced fresh garlic. Add to the mix. We use about a cup of onions and 4 cloves of garlic. If you saute well, it’s pretty tame. We’ve also added some sauteed chopped celery, which was fine.
Use whatever cream soup you have. If you’re making a somewhat larger amount, stretch the soup with some sour cream.
Mix in some (real) bacon bits if you’ve got ’em.
Merry Christmas all.
My better half has developed another few small “hacks” on that recipe that our family all loves.
She uses Cream of Celery Soup, and Half-and-half instead of milk.
She uses about 1/3 of the can of Frenchs (used to use Durkee) Crispy Fried Onions in the casserole before cooking. Then she adds another 1/3 of the can on top when you cook it per the original recipe. The last 1/3 she saves until the casserole is done. Just before serving, she browns that last 1/3 can of fried onions in a non-stick frypan without any oil or butter for about 2 minutes (you have to stay with it – it can burn quickly if left untended) until they’re darker golden brown, then quickly transfers them to and spreads them over the top of the casserole and press them in a bit before serving.
That sounds right up our alley, since we have to fiddle with every recipe. We’ll try your version this Christmas.
Merry Christmas to you.
Merry Christmas 1530.
PS – My wife wants more stories like Lucy and her Babies. That one was good although it ended rather abruptly. 😸
Well, please tell her I’m honored. It did end abruptly. I guess I didn’t see myself crafting a story, so much as just describing a few incidents that were on my mind about a pet we loved. But I suppose if a person is going to publicly write something that *looks* like a story, they ought to make it a proper one, out of consideration for the audience, and not just let it fade away suddenly.
I’ll have to think about whether recreational writing is in the cards. As I channel my highschool English teachers, the message is, “Don’t quit your day job.”
Christmas best to you and your family!
My husband makes this dish as well- yummy- recently, he started using Italian green beans. Even better. Merry Christmas, All,
Because so many in our family have food allergies, and after years of experimenting, we’ve decided to stick with Cornish Game Hens, each stuffed with a piece of lemon, lime and tangerine.(the citrus keeps the inside meats of all poultry moist..even Turkey and Chicken), twice baked potatoes, roasted veggies,(celery chunks, halved mushrooms, carrots chunks, Brussel sprouts and chunks of butternut squash). I combine olive oil, melted butter, salt pepper , onion powders and garlic powder, stir 1/2 of the mixture over the veggies, coating well, and use the rest for basting the
Meat. Roast both @325 for 1 hour (or more, depending on the size of the hens), stirring the veggies half way through.
Daughter brings tossed salad, husband serves assorted wines, and I have iced tea for the non-inbibers.
Dessert is going to be chocolate mousse cake, and home-made, 151 proof Kaluah aperitif that I made 3 months ago. It’s been “aging”.😉
Thanks, I cook Cornish Hens also, didn’t know about the citrus…will definitely try that this year. I think I will do the roasted vegies, too…I eat all of those regularly. I will cook this whole meal, I think except for dessert…lactose intolerant…I think I will make Apple Crisp instead. And, I am cooking for one…me!! I like a nice meal.
I forgot to add, I will be sipping on Chardonnay while cooking. If you want to try a very good Chardannay usually on sale for around 10 or 11 dollars, it’s Menage a Trois Gold Chardonnay….very nice…I also have some unfiltered Sake which is heavenly with chocolate: Sho Chiku Bai Nigori silky smooth…quite potent, just sip in small sake cup.
Unfiltered Junmai Nigori can be way too sweet. Try the Sayuri brand, it’s much dryer than Sho Chiku Bai. I got two bottles of that in the “drinks fridge”. And, never use of them tiny cups, seriously, with sake we use the 6 oz size filled 2/3rds. Life is too short for them small sake cups.. We got lots of them small cups, mostly for show. I can’t think we’ve used them much. (NEVER warm a good sake -that’s so Benihana… pfffft ).
Also, if you’re gonna go for the Chardonnay, Costco has a very good price on Jadot’s Pouilly Fuisse. Which won’t need much chilling at all. I normally keep a couple of bottles in the fridge in the garage.
Of course, if you really need to go Japanese… heck, forget the sake… go for a good shochu on ONE ice cube. I prefer the ones made from barley, they got the deepest taste.
Then, grab that sushi knife and slice that tofu, cucumbers and the sashimi! BANZAI!
Come to think about it… we’re having a very, very early Christmas dinner tonight with take out Okinawan… I think I’ll open up a bottle of Awamori. 😉
Hi thanks for the heads up on Jadot! Haven’t been able to get it easily in Pennsylvania…. Not sure if Costcos here sell alcohol? Darn. So close.
I do cornish hens in my sous vide nowadays:
Butterfly the hens. Rub them with olive oil and sea salt. Put them in the bag, add a couple of springs of rosemary and a slice of orange on either side. Cloves if you wish. Seal the bag.
In the sous vide at 165F for 3 hours max.
Roast under the broiler for five minutes max until they get brown. Note: Use a disposable aluminum tray, makes cleaning a snap.
Make a gravy with the drippings.
Cut up the hens into big chunks, I use a big Chinese cleaver, lay on a platter, pour a bit of gravy on top and set the rest alongside.
Guaranteed to be moist and cooked (not bloody at all).
It’s also easy, you can even prepare the hens a month, or more, in advance and freeze them. Pop them in the sous vide at 3PM ( we eat around 6PM or so).
Maybe give them the 151 proof Kaluah aperitif first, then they won’t know (or care) if they’re allergic to anything else….. 😁
Both hens and veggies sounds great!
Oreo Ornaments
1 pkg Oreo Cookies
1 pkg vanilla CandQuik
1 bag miniature recees peanut butter cups
Assorted candies/ sprinkles
Line counter with parchment paper
Melt CandiQuik in microwave
Place on parchment paper and add mini recees pb cup to top immediately
Decorate as desired
We usually have prime rib on Christmas Eve, but the other dishes vary except for this one. An easy and very delicious potato recipe:
Robinson Barr Potatoes (potato gratin)
A fancy version of scalloped potatoes.
Some people add grated nutmeg, or thyme, to this dish, but it is great just as it is. You can make more layers, but will need more of everything, and a longer baking time. The first time I served this dish to my daughter’s mother-in-law, she retrieved the baking dish and scraped every last speck of potatoes out of it. It really is that good! I never have leftovers.
After reading that, my mouth is watering!
Sounds fantastic..
Darn. Just noticed I have to wipe the drool off my keyboard……
I made this at Thanksgiving. It sounds almost identical, and we all loved it too.
https://www.flourishingfoodie.com/blog/2019/11/13/crispy-parmesan-and-gruyere-potato-gratin
Years ago, I made scalloped potatoes with the leftover Christmas Ham in a casserole dish.
That’s really good too. For my regular scalloped potatoes I use condensed milk and onions (no cheese). Less expensive but still delicious dish.
Last time we had Christmas in Hawai’i… our dinner, right by the beach, was a few pounds of tuna sashimi (from Costco, no less), white rice, coleslaw ‘japanee’ style, hawai’ian style macaroni salad, a range of japanese pickled veggies and seaweeds and some great Kona beer. With chopsticks, naturally.
For New Year’s we had moco loco for all.
Oh, the perfect “Mai Tai”: Put ice cubes on a tall glass, fill it up with half spiced, half dark Bacardi, put a spear of pineapple ( optional… ), swirl and drink!
As usual, what we eat always depends on where we are. In the Islands it was always a lanai BBQ affair; in SoCal I’ve BBQ’d huge roasts, big turkeys and lots of birds but eat indoors; in the Puget Sound you want to cook and eat indoors, in the Old Country it was always roasted meats indoors.
This will be the first Christmas without my mom, so we’ll see. Since I will be strictly “homeless”, living as a guest, my only contribution will be the liquor I’ll truck from California (much less $$$) and a bunch of good cigars.
Thoughts and prayers for you. Christmas firsts are tough. I still miss my mom through entire season; she shopped and planned in ways that would make Macarthur pale. ;).
Look out for a stray coin or feather; loved ones leave them for us after they are gone.
Thanks, will do.
I thought I was over it.
I’m not.
It’s been 9 months.
I’ll have to man it out.
Our house, and my sister’s, are filled with her stuff. Everywhere.
Huge hug Tony♡
A nice piece of grilled wild salmon here for Christmas with baked potatoes, peas and corn, a little wine, and chocolates for dessert.
We have done similar for years except we also grill some bay scallops and have an appetizer of boiled and chilled shrimp.
Large family from all over. Many favorite dishes for Christmas dinner. We vary from traditional to Mexican over the years. Whatever we have the two dishes requested most are my dressing that I have been making for over 60 years and Strawberry Pretzel Salad. The salad is simple to make. The recipe is all over the Internet so it is easy to find. Merry Christmas to all and special blessings for the CTH crew.
Would be interested in reading about your Mexican Christmas dinner recipes …
Typical Mexican food, enchiladas with green chili or red sauce, tamales, Spanish rice and of course the red beans fixed many ways. Mexican cheesecake,
pecan pie and a ton of other desserts that always showup.
Sounds delish. Churros for dessert? My wife’s favorite….
Churros with thick Spanish chocolate and whipped cream.
We made a batch on Thanksgiving… served them with great cream Jerez (sherry to the gringos).
Exactly!! 😜😋
And I know about Jerez …
Jerez de la Frontera.
We have 3 bottles of Pedro Ximenez Sherry in our wine rack right now. And a partially consumed open one in the refrigerator.
Tastes like sweet dates & raisins…
My wife’s grandparents owned and operated a Spanish restaurant in Fells Point in Baltimore City for several decades. She brought many of their excellent gastronomical traditions into our marriage.
I’m a lucky guy!
I was astonished when my Mexican friends told me they used their free work Thanksgiving turkey for tamales! I still laugh at my surprise and then I get hungry…;)
Tried making tamales from scratch once. Sister in law and I were going to make enough for both of our families to have several meals for the winter. We worked all day long and had tamales for two meals. We now make sure to find the ladies that know what they are doing for our Christmas tama!es.
I lived in Guadalajara, Mexico from ’71 through ’74. My favorite Christmas dessert was the strawberry tamales. Since leaving in ’74 I have never had the pleasure of eating them again.
Tamales.
Eons ago, fresh from travelling half across the World, my mom and I bought a can of tamales.. warmed them up ( no microwaves then ) and started to eat them.
It was horrendous… who would eat that fibrous thing?
We tossed them away… Crazy Americans, Crazy Mexicans.
Years later we found out you weren’t supposed to eat the corn husks.
Oh well.
😉
My family had a similar experience the first time we tried artichokes.
Dad asked my mom how much she paid for them, found out they were dirt cheap and promptly dumped his into the garbage bin. Ahh, memories.
They became a family favorite once we knew how to eat them.
When you love the turkey, dressing, gravy and cranberry sauce but are just making for two here’s a great way to do it:
Spray a Loaf panwith butter flavored non-stick spray.
Pack prepared (you favorite way) stuffing accross the pan.
Add seasoned turkey pieces of your choice and add a bit of paprika on top.
Bake 350′ for an hour and use meat thermometer to reach safe internal temp for the turkey.
I put a Stouffers Spinach Souffle in at thesame time.
Make your favorite gravy and cranberry sauce to serve with it.
(I use canned gravy and sauce.)
Reading all these recipes makes me hungry!
We’ll be having our usual. Two hams, one smoked the other baked with a side pineapple topping fixed with brown sugar & raisins, steamed shrimp, fried oysters, sweet potatoes w/marshmallows, asparagus, 7 layer salad, and homemade dinner rolls. For desert, chocolate cake with whipped cream icing toped off with fresh strawberries, apple pie w/caramel sauce, blueberry cheesecake filo cups and Christmas cookies, if any are left lol.
I never mastered the art of making these – but as the name implies – they are Heavenly
My Gram (mom’s mom) made them for Christmas
Gram’s Angel Wings (Chrusciki is the Polish name for them)
12 beaten egg yolks
1 jigger whiskey or brandy
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp vanilla
confectioners sugar
mix together all ingredients (except confectioners sugar)
stir well and knead until it blisters 20 to 30 minutes
roll as thin as possible
cut in 1 inch x 3 inch strips
cut slit in center and pull end through
fry in deep fat till golden brown 360′ farenheit
drain on paper towel. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar
makes 3-4 dozen
Believe me – they didn’t last very long after they cooled enough to eat
This brings back happy memories.
Thank you!
I ‘ll have to make them for my kids.
My grandmother and my aunt made these for Christmas. In Slovenian they are called Flancati.
This sounds like what my Slovenian mother made but it had a different name….can’t remember …something like puhana (?) was phonetic spelling) ..but really good. I had forgotten about it. Did your grandmother make potica for Easter?
i wish there was a bakery in our area that would make them
sigh
living on memories
Steaks and lobster here, but the side will be a gratin of thin sliced turnips in a cream and cheese sauce. Sides can be limited when KETO! Desert will be a KETO choc brownie with whipped cream! I highly recommend Choczero vanilla syrup. Thick and luscious for whipping into your cream, or for drizzling!
Try some quinoa, lots of green salad, a few olives and tomatoes and cucumbers.
Believe it or not, but a tradition in our family for Christmas Eve open house, is baked spaghetti and we are not Italian, lol. Old family way of doing the spaghetti and it has been passed down from my German Nana.
Cook as much spaghetti as you think you will need. I usually do a pound and a half.
Chop up a green pepper and an onion, again to taste and amount you like. Sauté them in butter until just turning brown.
Fry at least a pound-2 pounds of ground beef-I like to use half ground sirloin and half ground beef with more fat content- as sirloin can be a bit dry.
Use a 9×13 baking dish or pan. Coat the bottom with your favorite spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese around.
Then begin layering in the cooked spaghetti, some more sauce, shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheese, more Parmesan and the meat and veggies. Put in as much as you like of each ingredient! . This is kind of a free form type of recipe so it’s to your taste! Top layer should be the spaghetti. Then sauce on top of that. Don’t be shy about using the sauce in the layers of the ingredients. Cover with aluminum foil.
You can refrigerate it and then heat it through later or put it in a 350 oven right away. Cook about and hour- you’re basically just heating the already cooked ingredients so they blend together and get nice and hot. If refrigerated it might take a bit longer.
15 minutes or so before it’s finished heating, put a nice layer of shredded CHEDDAR cheese over the top-we like a sharp or extra sharp cheddar-as much as you like. Our family loves a nice thick layer of cheese that is melted well and just starting to brown a little around the edges.
Serve with a dish of warmed up, extra sauce because the pasta soaks up a lot of sauce while cooking and people like to add some when they eat it. We add garlic bread and a good green salad to go with it. We also always have a baked ham, polish sausage-both fresh and smoked-and loads of other side dishes. Sometimes we have hot roast beef sandwiches available too. People bring their favorites dishes to share!
Cannot wait to enjoy the meal again on Christmas Eve with friends and family! Merry Christmas to all!
THAT, is an awesome idea.
You could also replace the ground beef with fish, meatballs, shredded chicken.
I’m gonna steal this and make them and freeze them for four or so weekday dinners for my wife and I.
Normally, I’ll cook a whole, 1lb, of spaghetti and then break them up in batches and use them in many ways: olive oil with Reggiano, red sauce, alfredo sauce, pesto, etc…. one lb, in a ziplock bag, will make about three meals and last over a week in the fridge.
But your setup is an additional way and even less work at cooking time. Pull out from freezer at 3PM for dinner at 7PM.
For Christmas Eve dinner I will be making Taco Soup in my insta pot along with ham and cheese sliders. YUM
For Christmas Dinner, I will be serving
Ham, Turkey, dressing, collards, rice with mushrooms, broccoli casserole, green bean casserole, baked mac n cheese, deviled eggs and mixed Ford Hooks and Baby Lima Beans.
How to Make Gravy
aw Paul Kelly!
…. his lyrics straightup induce homesickness! Was he ever a Psych student?
anyway….. Christmas food is the thing…. and that means…. 3 days of LEFTOVERS and eating food/booze left by friends as a gift!
And its hot at Christmas downunder… so there you are around the 27th looking in the frigidaire for something cold like Streets Blue Ribbon or a slice of pav ….and what do you see? A bowl of cold rice pudding.
Cold. Rice. Pudding. Super creamy. Almost as thick on the spoon as ice cream… and what to top it with?
Nothing around -its all gone 2 days back with the visitors…. so you look around and make a find a life saving bottle. You shake it and.. you mix it in…. and it turns out to be the best accidental dessert EVER in the history of mankind. You cracked a gifted bottle of Baileys Irish Cream and mixed it in…. It. Is. The. Best.
This post is making me feel cozy! Thank you! I’ll have to try some of these recipes out!
Baked up our Dutch “windmill” cookies this afternoon – a spiced roll-out cookie which makes my house smell delicious with cardamon, cinnamon, nutmeg, etc! We have my mom’s cutouts and doing these each year makes me nostalgic.
Tomorrow baking “banket” – a Dutch pastry with almond paste. Giving these out as gifts (if it turns out this year!) For Christmas dinner doing up either a ham or roast beef, funeral potatoes, my sinful Brussel sprouts, and, I think, a chocolate pie.
Much to be thankful for despite our dear country being a mess and a very hard year we’ve personally had. God is so very good. : )
We usually have prime rib but I figured it would be too expensive this year. The store ads came yesterday and Safeway has it for $5.47/lb. if I use a digital coupon. I don’t know why you have to add digital coupons to the store card when that card is supposed to get you the special prices. There are only 8 of us, so that price fits the budget.
I’d convinced myself that we weren’t having prime rib and was happily planning to make Tamati Waka Nene. He was a Maori chief but his name is also the name of a delicious oyster loaf, sometimes known as The Peacemaker (as was the chief). I got the recipe about 50 years ago from The Galloping Gourmet (Graham Kerr) cooking show. I would have needed a 2nd main course because only 3 of us like oysters, but I figured Cornish game hens. Oh well, prime rib it is . . . but I’m still going to make the Tamati, maybe on New Year Day.
Guys in the family begged for baked potatoes and green beans for the sides but I’ll do asparagus too ($1.47/lb., digital coupon). Round out the menu with glazed pearl onions, homemade rolls, relish tray and they always insist on the famous Bacardi rum cake. Variety of cheeses, sausages, crackers and the cranberry jalapeno relish over cream cheese for appetizers.
There are 10-12 different cookies I’m making this year, also mini sweet rolls, cherry kuchen, fudge, peanut brittle, toffee, caramels, divinity, spiced nuts, probably something else I can’t think of right now.
I know it’s a lot of food but 2 relatives come in from out of state and they bring empty suitcases to take food home. I made and froze burritos and cabbage burgers for them too.
Wow, when do you do all that baking! How far ahead do you start?
Sorry for the late reply, I went back to baking after dinner last night. I usually start right after Thanksgiving, do various cookie doughs, get them in the freezers, then as I go along I make more and refrigerate. Takes some planning. I chop all the nuts I need at once in the food processor, put the proper amounts in zip lock bags, label and refrigerate, plan to bake similar cookies on the same day, store them in airtight containers. I use every shortcut possible!
I’ve been doing this a long time, have a home based cake and catering business. Right now (5:00 am here) I have a chocolate cake in the oven for a birthday order. I also have orders from businesses and others for cookie trays, candy trays and pastries. I’ll be decorating sugar cookie cutouts today (baked them last night). Some are miniature and I’ll use those to decorate the birthday cake. Some will go on cookie trays for tomorrow’s orders, along with others I made before and stored and some I’ll bake today and early tomorrow.
Planning and list making are key, as well as keeping records from previous years. I use a master shopping list too, buy stuff on sale (best sales on baking stuff is around Thanksgiving) and keep records of what I’ve purchased and used.
Menagerie, thank you and all of the SD team here at CTH. This really is a refuge from the insanity.
This is a special recipe I copied and tweaked from somewhere long ago and it seems long but that’s because of the details I added to be able to make the exact same way every Christmas Eve. It’s fun to make with family and we like to deliver a few to special neighbors on Christmas Eve. Pour the glaze for them into a ziplock bag with baking instructions written on the bag with a sharpie. It’s guaranteed to get the teens out of bed on Christmas morning. Merry Christmas!
Overnight Cinnamon Rolls
Makes 12 Rolls
Dough
1 T active dry yeast
1/2 C warm water (105°F)
4 1/2 C all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp salt
1 stick soft butter
Filling
1 stick soft butter
3/4 C packed brown sugar
1 T cinnamon
Glaze
1 C powdered sugar
2 T butter, melted
2 T milk or cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
In a mixing bowl, combine the yeast and water and allow to proof for a few minutes. Whisk in 1/2 C of the flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm spot for about 30 minutes until light and bubbly.
Add the eggs, sugar, butter, and remaining 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture. Fit the mixer with the dough hook and knead on medium speed until smooth 10-12 minutes. Add a bit more flour to reduce stickiness if needed. Lightly oil a large bowl and turn dough into it. Cover with plastic wrap, set in a warm spot (80F) and let rise until doubled, about 2 hours.
While dough is rising, prepare filling. Take 2 T of the stick of butter and set aside. Beat remaining butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together until combined and slightly fluffy, about 1 minute.
Butter a 9×13 baking dish (a disposable foil pan works great too). Transfer the dough to a floured work surface. Roll out into a rectangle about 15×10 in. Spread filling onto the dough, right to the edges. Beginning with the long side, roll the dough into a log, pinching the seam closed. Use a loop of dental floss (need I say unflavored?) to cut the dough into 1-1/4” rolls. Place cut sides up in baking dish. Melt the reserved 2 T butter and brush on top of rolls. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the fridge overnight.
The next morning remove from refrigerator and let rise until half again as high, about 1 hour. While rising, mix glaze ingredients until combined. Preheat the oven to 350. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Spread the glaze over warm rolls and serve.
Yum! This reminds me of my great-grandmother’s recipe. So darned good.
Btw, the dough part is what my family used for dinner rolls too.
My mouth is watering just reading the recipe.
You just gave me the idea to go look at my wife’s mother’s worn but loved Joy of Baking cookbook, and that’s it almost to a ‘T’! I have tweaked a few times in 20+ years… I don’t use milk powder, and the rising times are longer because our house is cooler… grandma’s recipes are the best!
Venison tenderloin, lobster tail, whole roasted tiny potatoes, asparagus. My husband loves cream pies, just can’t decide which one. Any recommendations. Easy please.
Banana cream pie with vanilla wafer crust.
I made this a couple of times at Christmas when my boys were younger and they loved it. I added shredded coconut to the recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/15545/millionaire-pie/
This is super easy but doesn’t have the traditional separate base layer topped by whipped cream, though you could add whipped cream on top.
Pineapple Cream Pie
1 prepared 9″ graham cracker crust
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8oz) can crushed pineapple, undrained
1/4 C. lemon juice
1 (8oz) container Cool Whip, thawed
Mix condensed milk, pineapple and lemon juice. Fold in Cool Whip and pour into crust. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.
grasshopper pie- a creme de menthe and creme de cacao flavored chiffon filling in a chocolate cookie crust- find on line
This is an old Swedish recipe that has long been a Christmas tradition for us:
5 lbs flour less approximately 2 1/4 cups
4 T melted shortening
1 pkg dry yeast, softened in 1/4 cup warm (not hot) water
2 heaping cups of sugar
1 full quart of warm water
1 cup Molasses (my grandmother swore by Aunt Dinah’s Molasses but don’t think it’s made anymore. It was a heavier Molasses)
Pour sugar into quart of warm water, add softened yeast, melted shortening and Molasses. Stir ingredients together.
Add flour a little at a time until dough barely sticks to your fingers or hands. It should look a little shiny. Will only be able to mix manually as it thickens. Heavy and sticky to work with!!! Place in big bowl ( I rub inside of bowl with a little oil), cover, and let rise about 4 hours. Should be pretty much doubled in size.
Punch down and knead on floured surface (I use counter top) until slick looking and should no longer stick to fingers. Cut into 4 pieces and place in 4 greased loaf pans. Let rise again 3 – 4 hours.
Bake at 300 degrees for approximately one hour.
Melt butter on bread for a real treat.
Out of fashion broccoli casserole. Somewhere in my travels I read the term fashionable food, I remember the Jello-O fade growing up, and fondue, each generation having their specialities. I know “cream of soups” are made fun of in today’s health conscience world, but to me they sure beat getting an extra pan dirty to make a roux. Campbell’s cheddar cheese soup beats Velveeta as a cheese base for Mac~n~Cheese any day of the week.
Anyway, as a kid this is the only way I would eat broccoli. It is a competitor of green bean casserole.
Broccoli Casserole
1/2 cup mayo
2 packages chopped broccoli cooked, and drained
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 egg
1/2 cup minced onion
Croutons or bread crumbs
Grated sharp cheese
Beat egg, add mayo and rest of ingredients.
Put mixture in 2 qt buttered casserole dish
Sprinkle w/croutons or bread crumbs
Sprinkle grated cheese on top of crumbs
Bake 350* for 30-40 minutes, til bubbly and lightly browned.
Loved this.
What a great idea.
Thanks
These guys are great, festive and fun, but not for the young’uns.
Bourbon Cherries
1 16 oz jar maraschino cherries w/stems
1 cup bourbon, cheap is fine
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, or dark chocolate chips
1 tab shaved paraffin wax, or coconut oil
Drain cherry juice from jar. Place cherries in a bowl or airtight container. Pour bourbon over cherries until they are covered. Refrigerate over night.
Drain bourbon from cherries. Pat cherries dry w/a paper towel.
Melt chocolate chips, paraffin (or coconut oil) in microwave at 15-30 second intervals, stirring each time. Chocolate is ready when it is completely smooth.
Holding the stem of one cherry at a time, dip in chocolate. Using a spoon to help cover cherries w/chocolate. Transfer the chocolate covered cherries to parchment lined baking sheet to cool. Refrigerate for one hour so chocolate will set.
Must know! What do you do with the drained bourbon????
Decorate a glass of ginger ale w/it. Can’t let it go to waste. LOL!
I combined one of my great-grandmothers’ recipes with an ancient Roman recipe, added my own touch, and came up with a great glazed carrot dish.
Boil serving-sized carrots or pieces in salted water until done. In another pan cook butter, sugar and/or honey, salt to taste, pepper, and powdered ginger to taste until the water boils off and it forms a syrup.
Drain the carrots dry and toss with the syrup. Serve very hot, otherwise the glaze will get watery.
Enjoy. John
I’ve made a similar dish that also had dried cranberries with the carrots. Very tasty.
Here’s a really good recipe for Christmas breakfast. Not only is it delicious, it is easy to prepare the night before. Take out and bake Christmas morning, serve with thick cut bacon or some ham, and you have a special breakfast. Do use French bread for best results, and don’t be afraid to make the blueberry syrup, it is quite easy.
https://www.chef-in-training.com/overnight-blueberry-french-toast/
I’ve wanted to make this for a long time, but I can’t take the whining, pouting and sulking (grown men, mind you) whenever I suggest something other than Pain Perdu for Christmas morning. I also have to make Sausage Egg casserole and miniature sweet rolls.
Me, I hit the Bailey’s. Why, oh why doesn’t Jack make a cream liquor?! Experimentation may be necessary.
When Bailey’s got stupid on pricing about 10 years or more ago, I started using this one at about half the cost and it is every bit as good – but I skip the almond extract, personal preference. And yes, JD whiskey is what I use too. Just combine everything but the whiskey (might cause the cream to curdle if added early) in a blender, give it a pulse or two then pour in the whiskey and pulse a few more times to mix thoroughly. Don’t over do it or you will make butter 🙂 . It keeps for a couple of months in the refrigerator, maybe longer but that has never happened in my house.
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/23534/original-irish-cream/
Thank you, I’ve used that recipe in the past, glad to know it works well with Jack!
I agree on Bailey’s being too expensive, and I actually switched to St. Brendan’s several years ago, but we still just say “Bailey’s” since everyone is familiar with that reference.
Daniels is sort of an Irish name and also there’s the Apostle, so it’s all good, lol.
I made that recipe one year as gifts for a couple of people. I put it in nice jars I found at one of the Dollar type stores and attached an ornament to the jar. Everyone seemed to like it. I enjoyed taste tasting it to make sure it was good enough to give as a present.
Buffalo Trace makes a bourbon cream liquor.
This is a treat I like to make as a gift for my family, especially around Christmas Eve, so that they have something special for breakfast. It is really easy to make and looks just like the picture, no special skills needed. Several years ago I even had my four and six year old grandchildren making their own pastries. I reduced the size of it for them, and helped assembling the layers, but they were exciting to do the twists themselves.
I love the filling recipe, but you can use Nutella, your own favorite preserves or other favorite.
https://www.tastesoflizzyt.com/maple-nut-cinnamon-twists/
Our Christmas traditions include lots of feasting…after the gifts shopping comes the food shopping! I am of Lithuanian descent so there is kielbasa, babka (kugelis), cabbage casserole, rye bread and red cabbage horseradish. That’s generally on the 23rd. The 24th is a simpler meal since it’s a fairly hectic day with people coming and going but it includes liquor and deserts! On the 25th, there is brunch followed by a dinner of Prime Rib (served medium rare and it has taken me many years of practice to get it just right), whipped potato casserole, asparagus, croissants, Christmas tossed salad with homemade dressing and more desert.
I have found this to be the absolute BEST way to make prime rib: Ingredients for rub: 3/4 c. flour, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper, 1 T paprika, 3 minced garlic cloves, a 3-4 lb rib roast (butcher told me to figure for a lb. per person so I generally go bigger as my family has grown) trimmed of fat, feather bone and ribs loosened and tied in place (butcher does this for me) Preheat oven to 325 degrees, Combine flour, salt pepper, paprika and garlic. Rub roast completely with the flour mixture. Place roast fat side up in a shallow roasting pan (rack not necessary since bones form a natural rack), insert meat thermometer into thickest part of the roast making sure tip does not touch bone. Very rare is 15-17 min./lb., Medium rare is 18-20 min/lb., Well done (why?) is 22-28 minutes/lb. When my meat is slightly under my desired doneness, I pull it out of the oven and let it set for 20-25 minutes. It will continue to cook. The trick is to pull it out slightly underdone to get it perfect. I have ruined many a beautiful cut of meat letting it cook too long. I pull it out when it is at the rare temp. and it will become perfectly medium rare. My homemade salad dressing is from my Mom and the recipe is from a former local steakhouse that has been long gone. It is so simple but gets raves every single time I make it. 2/3 c. sugar, 1/3 c. yellow mustard, 1/2 c. water, 1 T lemon juice, 2/3 tsp salt, a couple gloves of garlic chopped and 1/4 c. oil (add last) Mix all ingredients in a jar adding oil last. Shake and serve. I do not refrigerate because the oil coagulates. It is fine for a couple of weeks. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!!
I cook my prime rib at 250 degrees and have let the roast stay out for about 12 hours to reach near room temp in center. This is after 3-5 days of drying unwrapped in the fridge and pre-salting a couple of times. I cook it to temp not time with multiple probes (usually get med. rare on ends and rare to center). I sear at the the end by taking out of oven and going to 500 degrees then placing the roast back in for about 10-15 minutes or until I have the sear color I want. I use Herb de Provence and butter as the rub. Anyone wanting their meat more done can take their slice to an iron skillet! Serve with a good horseradish cream sauce.
Prime Rib is a fussy roast to cook, imo. After 30 years of making it, I still get nervous because the worst is overcooking it to well when it then tastes like chuck roast. YUCK. The flour rub gives the roast a really nice flavor and external texture. It is a very old recipe I got years ago from a no longer in business grocery store.
I use the reverse sear method too, perfect every time. I like that very little juice seeps out of the roast while cooking and that, when you take it out and tent with foil while raising the oven temp to sear it, that 30 minutes is the resting time, so when it comes out of the oven after 10-15 minutes at 500 you can cut and serve immediately, no need for additional resting.
The salting and resting the uncooked roast uncovered in the refrigerator causes a chemical reaction in which the salt draws the moisture out of the meat and, in time, grabs the seasonings and draws it back into the meat. If you salt just before cooking the chemical reaction will happen, except the juices will wind up at the bottom of the pan.
I see meat stations where, if someone wants a more well done prime, the slice is put on the flat top, gets a crust like an end piece. Back of house in restaurants if someone ordered it well done it was given a quick dip in the simmering pot of au jus or covered with lettuce leaves and run under the broiler.
This recipe is from a great lady that we once knew and I just love it. Not as sweet and a traditional Pecan Pie but rich and tasty. You can eve reduce slightly the sugar and syrup amounts in this recipe if you like.
Sour Cream Pecan PieOne 9 inch pastry shell
2 tsp all-purpose flour
1 cup dairy sour cream
2 eggs (three if not large eggs)
½ stick butter softened
¾ cup sugar (half white / half brown)
¾ cup karo (dark)
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt (optional but gives a great contrast for the rich sweet)
2 cups pecan halves (partial halves and partial crumbled)
Whipped cream – optional
Bake pastry shell at 350F for 7 minutes; set aside. Cream sugars and butter. In a small deep bowl combine remaining ingredients except nuts beat at medium speed until creamy. Stir in pecans to coat nuts. Pour into prepared pastry shell (baked for 7 minutes). Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes reduce to 375 for 35 min or until set. Cool. Garnish with whipped cream if wanted.
I love pecan pie and may have to try this!
Now for a good apple pie recipe. Again with sour cream….not just for potatoes!
As you slice the apples, put them in a bowl and toss them with a little lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. The acidity of the lemon juice or vinegar will help keep the apples from discoloring while you work and will intensify the apple flavor in the pie.
Ingredients
Filling:
· 1 cup sour cream
· 2/3 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 1/2 cup if you like your apple pies a little less sweet)
· 2 Tablespoons flour
· 1/4 teaspoon salt
· 1 teaspoon vanilla
· 1 egg
· 3 cups peeled, sliced tart apples (about 1 1/4 pounds of slices, cut 1/4-inch to a 1/2-inch thick)
· 1 Tbsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
· One 9″ unbaked pie shell, frozen or chilled in the freezer for at least 30 minutes (see sour cream pie crust recipe, use half a recipe)
Topping:
· 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
· 1/2 cup flour
· 1/4 cup butter (1/2 a stick), chilled, cut into cubes
· 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 Place the streusel topping ingredients in a medium bowl and mix with a fork or your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Chill in the refrigerator until the topping is needed half-way through the baking.
2 Preheat oven to 400°F with a rack in the middle and another rack below it. Place a large rimmed baking sheet on the lower rack to catch any of the drippings from the pie.
3 In a large bowl beat the sour cream, sugar, flour, salt, vanilla, and egg. I like to use a wooden spoon and beat by hand until smooth. Fold in the apples and stir until all of the apples are coated with the sour cream filling mixture.
4 Put the filling into a frozen pie shell. For the first stage of baking, bake the pie for 25 minutes at 400°F.
5 After the first 25 minutes, remove the pie from the oven and sprinkle the top with the brown sugar butter flour topping mixture. You may also want to put a pie protector or foil around the outer crust edges to keep them from getting too browned. Bake for another 20 minutes at 400°F.
6 Let the pie cool on a rack for one hour before cutting and serving.
Kids always asking for this recipe and the sour cream pecan recipe!
Sounds delicious. I have my Mom’s recipe for Swedish Apple Pie.
6 to 7 large Cortland, McIntosh or Rome Apples. 3/4 to 1 cup sugar
1 tsp. Sugar. 1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. Cinnamon. 1 cup sifted flour
1 and 1/2 sticks plus 1 T softened butter
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10” Pyrex pie dish with one teaspoon butter. Peal, core, and slice the apples into 1/4 inch wedges. Put apple slices into the pie dish and sprinkle with 1tsp. Sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon. Stir well. Melt 1 1/2 sticks butter and add 3/4 to 1 cup of sugar. Add egg, and sifted flour. Stir until smooth. Pour over sliced apples from the center of the dish. Bake for 1 hour. Good by itself but whipped cream with a little Grand Mariner, added before the cream is whipped is extra delicious.
We change things up for Christmas dinner—filet of beef, crown roast of pork, goose—but for Christmas Eve I always make tourtiere, French Canadian meat pie, for my French Canadian husband.
This year I found a recipe for original mincemeat pies—with meat—online and hope I will have time to make them. One of my Christmas presents is an antique Alsatian terrine mold, so I’m hoping that a terrine will be in the holiday mix. But we are currently battling Covid, so who knows how much I’ll get done.
Mother’s White Cornbread
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This traditional cornbread can be used in many ways, including being crumbled for turkey stuffing, sopped in a dish of white or red beans or black-eyed peas, or just split and stuffed with a pat of butter. Store loosely covered in foil on counter to avoid mold issues!
INGREDIENTS:
Vegetable oil
1-1/2 cup white cornmeal
scant 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. salt
2 level tsp. baking powder (* check expiration date – must not be old or bread won’t rise.)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 egg
1-1/2 c buttermilk, divided (1c + 1/2c)
DIRECTIONS:
Heat 6 tbsp of oil to medium heat in the bottom of a 10-inch iron skillet *(corresponds “Griswold No. 8” skillet)*
Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients in large bowl with large spoon. Press up toward sides and add 1 cup buttermilk in center. Stir in buttermilk, then beat in egg. Add 1/2-cup more buttermilk and beat until batter is consistency of pancake batter. Pour most of the oil from the skillet into the batter, leaving a tablespoon or so in the skillet. Stir oil into batter, and add batter to skillet.
Bake at 475 degrees for 20 minutes. It’s done when golden in middle and brown on edges and toothpick comes out clean. – gently remove from skillet onto foil and let cool
It has been most enjoyable reading everyone’s comments about their favorites and their traditional dinners.
I will prepare either a Tuxedo #2 Martini or a Sazerac before sauteing mushrooms and scallions in garlic olive oil finishing with finely chopped cilantro and sauteing scallops in sesame oil. Dessert will be a French ganache tart made with chocolate, cream, and butter. After dinner , Chambrod. Many blessings to be grateful for.
Tuxedo #2 Martini
Absinthe rinse
2 1/4 oz. Plymouth Gin
1/2 oz. Dolin Dry Vermouth
1/4 oz. maraschino liqueur
4 dashes orange bitters
orange twist and cherry (Luxardo or Amarino -no dyed cherries)
Rinse stem glass with Absinthe, pour out excess. In another glass, STIR gin, vermouth, maraschino and orange bitters for 30 seconds. Strain into chilled coupe glass.
Sazerac
2 1/2 oz Rye
1 sugar cube
2 dashes Peychaud Bitters
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Absinthe
Lemon Peel
Muddle sugar cube with Peychaud and Angostura bitters. Add large ice cube and Rye. Stir 30 seconds. Rinse a chilled glass with Absinthe, then strain contents of bitters and rye into chilled glass. Garnish with lemon twist.
Merry Christmas to all.