What is Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner without the side dishes? In my opinion, the sides make the meal! In this diary, I have shared a number of the dishes we make on the holidays--I tend to switch up the side dishes and desserts from year to year, although there are a few things--like pumpkin pie or deviled eggs, that the family wants every holiday meal no matter what.
I would love to have time to make a holiday meal one day in which everything is made from scratch, using mostly fresh ingredients--but this is a time consuming affair that can realistically take a couple of days of prep before Thanksgiving or Christmas if you are cooking for a large crowd. Like many people these days, I normally work an insane number of hours every week, plus have a number of other major obligations. I have found that except for certain special dishes, most of the people I cook for don't care if many of them are made from scratch or not--they just care whether or not it tastes good. So I freely use things like canned vegetables or fruits. I do think pie crusts and rolls, however, are best made from scratch--a frozen pie crust just isn't the same as a homemade one for your pumpkin pie, nor can store bought dinner rolls match yeasty goodness of freshly made homemade bread.
I didn't include any desserts in this diary-- holiday desserts are a whole other animal that I may tackle in the future.
Here are a few recipes we rotate through from year to year.
Oyster Stuffing
Most of the time, I just make regular sage stuffing for the holidays, but once in a while, I will pull out my recipe for oyster stuffing and make a pan on the side for those who want something a little different. Note that the recipe calls for 8 cups of bread cubes--depending on the brand you buy, the bag could weigh anywhere from 12 oz. to 16 oz. A 16 oz. bag has 8 cups.
1 stick butter
1-1/2 cups celery
1-1/2 ups chopped onion
8 cups herb seasoned bread cubes (16 oz.)
3 (8 oz.) cans oysters, liquid reserved
2 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp.poultry seasoning
1 tsp. sage
1 can chicken broth
In a medium skillet, cook the celery and onion in butter till onions are translucent. In a large bowl, combine bread cubes and dry seasonings. Add oysters, eggs, and chicken broth. Then stir in celery mixture. Add enough oyster juice to make stuffing the desired consistency--if you like it more dry, use less,or use more if you like your stuffing moist. Turn into a buttered 2 quart baking dish. Bake, uncovered, about 45 minutes to an hour, at 350 degrees or till done.
Giblet Gravy
My grandparents used to make this kind of gravy, and sometimes, depending on who is going to be coming over, I will make this too. Many people these days just throw away that little bag inside the turkey that has the neck and giblets--and oftentimes, I just cook it, chop it up, strip the meat from the neck, and give my pooties a little holiday treat.
turkey giblets
5 cups water
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup flour
2-1/2 cups turkey drippings
1/2 cup evaporated milk
salt and pepper
During the day while the turkey is baking, simmer the giblets until neck meat is tender. Remove from water and allow to cool, then chop it all up very fine. Remove meat from neck, and also chop this finely. Set aside in a bowl until ready to use. Do not discard cooking water until gravy is finished. Once the turkey is done, scoop out 2-1/2 cups of drippings. If you have time, put the drippings in the freezer to make some of the fat raise to the top so you can skim it off. When ready to prepare, add butter and flour together in a small saucepan. Cook the roux until browned. Add the turkey drippings. (If you don't have enough drippings, use the water you cooked the giblets in, or use some chicken broth.) Cook and stir until thickened. Then add evaporated milk an heat through. Stir in giblets and then transfer to a serving dish.
Appalachian Slaw
This recipe was handed down to me by my mom. Back home in Eastern KY, everybody just calls this "slaw." It's sort of a cross between salad and coleslaw. Sometimes, I put ranch dressing and bacon bits in it instead of the mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar dressing the old fashioned version calls for.
6 cups shredded cabbage
4 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 small cucumber, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp. vinegar
2 tbsp. sugar
Combine all ingredients. Cover and chill overnight or at least a few hours before serving.
Apple Salad
While the kids in our family tend to like the ambrosia type fruit salads that have marshmallows and cool whip in them, a lot of us adults prefer something a little less sugary and dessert-like. Here's the version of apple salad I make most commonly on Thanksgiving--
4 Granny Smith apples, cored and diced (don't peel)
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup walnuts
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup (or a little more) mayonnaise
In a medium bowl with a lid, toss apples and lemon juice to coat. Add rest of ingredients and combine. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Stir before serving.
Deviled Eggs
I don't know why my family loves these so much, but they want me to make them for every holiday, including Easter and 4th of July. There are as many deviled egg recipes out there as there are individual cooks, but this is the way I make mine.
12 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced in half lengthwise
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tbsp. sweet pickle relish
Salt and pepper to taste
Paprika for garnish
Carefully scoop the yellow out of each egg and put in a small bowl. Arrange egg halves on serving platter or dish. Using a fork, mash up the egg yellows, then add mayo, sweet pickle relish, salt and pepper to taste. Garnish with paprika. Cover and refrigerate until serving time.
5 Bean Casserole
This recipe came from a woman I used to know from Minnesota back when I was in my early twenties. You can fix this in the crock pot if you like, or bake it in a regular casserole dish in the oven if need be. But my favorite way to make this dish is to put it in an ancient old cast iron dutch oven I have. The only time I use it is when I am making baked beans. I wish I had a fireplace or a wood stove to cook these over.
1 (15 oz.) can pinto beans, drained
1 (15 oz.) can navy beans, drained
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained
1 (15 oz.) can kidney beans, drained
1 (15 oz.) can butter beans, drained
1/2 cup diced cooked ham
4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
Combine all ingredients, and place in the cooking vessel of your choice. If making in the crock pot, start them first thing in the morning, and cook them on low heat for 4 hours, then put them on the "keep warm" setting till the rest of the meal is done. If making in a casserole dish or dutch oven, cook at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or till done.
Creamy Squash Casserole
At most holiday meals, we make either a sweet potato casserole, complete with the sticky sweet marshmallow topping, or a sweet butternut squash custard. This year, I want to try something different. I found a savory, not too sweet, butternut squash casserole that looks like it might be worth a try.
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup crushed saltines (about 8 crackers)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon butter, melted
Place squash in a saucepan and cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, then cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until very tender. Drain well and place in a large bowl and the
mash squash. In another bowl, combine the mayonnaise, onion, egg, sugar, salt and pepper, then add to the squash and mix well. Transfer to a greased 1 quart baking dish. Combine the cracker crumbs, cheese and butter and sprinkle over top. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until heated through and top is golden brown.
Christmas Corn Casserole
I made this recipe up on the fly while shopping in Save a Lot one Christmas Eve. I was looking for the ingredients I needed to make a similar corn casserole recipe, and none of the stores I had been to in my small town had fresh corn! I made this instead, and it turned out to be a quite a hit with even the pickiest kids in the family, so this is the way I have made it ever since.
2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
1 can cream style corn
1 (8 oz.) block of cream cheese, softened
1 (7 oz.) can diced green chilies
1 (4 oz.) jar diced pimientos, drained
Black pepper to taste
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs for topping
With an electric mixer, combine cream cheese and cream style corn. Then stir in all the rest of the ingredients except the bread crumbs. Turn into a well buttered 2 quart casserole dish or a 9 x 13 pan. Cover and bake at 350 degrees about 35 minutes or till heated through and bubbly. Uncover and stir to remove any lumps of cream cheese, then top with bread crumbs. Bake about 5-10 minutes more, or till golden brown.
Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
Several years ago, I discovered that the easiest, best way to make mashed potatoes for the holidays is to cook them in the slow cooker. They turn out delicious, and if they get done before the rest of the meal, you can just set it to the "keep warm setting" until ready to serve. It also eliminates the safety hazard of trying to drain a huge pot of boiling water while you have a gazillion people underfoot in the kitchen.
5 lbs. potatoes, peeled, washed, and cut into 1 inch cubes
3/4 cup water, or better yet, chicken broth
1/2 cup butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Enough milk to give the potatoes the consistency you want
Place potatoes and water (or broth) in a 4 quart slow cooker. Cook on high about 4-5 hours, or low 7-8 hours, giving them an occasional stir to keep them from sticking to the side of the slow cooker. When ready to mash, add in butter, and use a hand masher if you want them a little chunky, or an electric mixer if you want them smooth and fluffy. Once mashed, add enough milk to give it the consistency you want. Salt and pepper the taters as desired.
This recipe can be doctored up a bit as well--I sometimes like to use sour cream for part of the butter and evaporated milk instead of regular milk, since I often have some evaporated milk left over from another recipe anyway--and this gives the potatoes a good taste. If you want something more than just regular mashed potatoes, you can try adding some sour cream and onion dip. Or alternately you can turn it into loaded mashed potatoes using sour cream and bacon bits, and then just sprinkle cheddar cheese on top and let it sit till serving time.
2018 Cranberry Relish
This is another recipe born of last minute desperation, created as I walked through Kroger. You see, I have a habit of going out the day before a holiday to get fresh ingredients, because, well, I like fresh fruits and veggies to be fresh. Last year the bags of fresh cranberries had sold out, so I had to come up with a way to make a half-way decent cranberry relish. It turned out surprisingly well, and I am probably going to make it again this year.
2 (14 oz.) cans whole berry cranberry sauce
2 oranges, peeled and seeds removed
2 apples, peeled and cored
1 (3 oz.) box strawberry jello
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, if desired (I don't personally care for nuts in this, but other people in the family do)
Place 2 cans cranberry sauce, oranges, apples, and jello in a food processor and pulse a few times to chop everything up. Turn into a covered dish and stir in nuts, if using. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight.
Simple No-Knead Dinner Rolls
Here is an easy recipe for homemade dinner rolls that I got off a website I have long ago forgotten the name of. I like to make these the night before and put them in the fridge, and then bake them the next day. This follows the original recipe, which makes about a dozen, though I usually have to at least double it. These are really good served with the honey butter recipe I included below.
1 packet yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp. sugar, divided
4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cup lukewarm milk
3 tbsp.butter, melted and cooled
2 room temperature eggs, slightly beaten
In one bowl, combine the yeast, warm water, and 1 tbsp. sugar. Let stand about 7 or 8 minutes, or till frothy. In another bowl, stir together the flour, salt and the rest of the sugar. Make a little depression in the middle, and add the milk, butter, eggs and yeast mixture. Stir until combined and a soft, sticky dough has formed. Cover and put in a warm place (top of the fridge) to rise about an hour and a half or till doubled in size. Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray, punch down the dough, and then turn it onto a floured work surface. Sprinkle top with flour, then divide the dough into 12 balls and place in baking pan. Spray with cooking spray, or better yet, brush with a little melted butter. Cover with plastic wrap and either let it rise 30-45 minutes before baking, or place in the refrigerator to bake the next day, taking them out of the fridge and allowing to rise about 30-45 minutes before you will bake them. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, then bake 15-20 minutes or till golden brown. Brush tops with butter if desired.
Homemade Honey Butter
The rolls just aren't the same without some of this honey butter. I will often times eat a roll hot from the oven even before the dinner starts. It is super easy to make, but oh so good--
1/4 cup room temperature butter (not margarine)
1/3 cup room temperature honey
Whip together in a small bowl, adding a little more honey if you want a softer consistency. Then just cover and refrigerate until ready to use. I like to take this out of the fridge about 30 minutes before mealtime.
So, what are some of your family favorite recipes for the holidays?