Holiday Recipes

It's a week until Thanksgiving, and usually I would be cooking up a storm, or at least doing some prep work for the day's eating, but this year we've decided to take a camping trip down to one of our favorite places - Savannah, Georgia - and I will be letting someone else do the cooking this year! We'll be eating out at a restaurant somewhere in Savannah.



We were there three years ago for Thanksgiving and had our big meal at Uncle Bubba's Oyster House - a restaurant owned by Paula Deen and her brother, Bubba. The food was incredible and the weather was great so we ate at a table out on the deck overlooking the marsh - it was so beautiful! But this year, with money tight and their prices WAAAYYYYY too high for our pocketbook, ($31 p/p) we'll be finding somewhere less expensive.



Anyway, in honor of the holiday, I thought I would share a couple of my favorite holiday recipes with you. First is a recipe I got from a lady I worked with years ago, Aunt Fanny's Cabin Squash Casserole - it is soooooo good!

Aunt Fanny's Cabin Squash Casserole

1. In large pot, boil 3 pounds chopped yellow squash with a little salt until tender.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Drain squash, and put in a large bowl with 1 egg.
4. Mash up squash with the egg.
5. Add: 1/2 stick butter or margarine, 1 Tablespoon sugar, 1/2 +/- (to taste) chopped onions, dash black pepper, 1/2 cup bread crumbs
6. Mix all ingredients well.
7. Place in 2 quart casserole dish (I use 9 x 13).
8. Sprinkle top with another 1/2 cup bread crumbs and drizzzle with another 1/2 stick melted butter or margarine.
9. Bake at 350 degrees about 45 minutes or until bubbly in center.

This is such an easy recipe, and can be made a day ahead up to the baking and refrigerated until you are ready to bake it the next day.

Recipe number two is my all time favorite holiday dish, and brings back bunches of great memories! My Dad's Mother (Cliffie Bell Cook Forrester) always made this for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and always put it into the same bowl - a pink depression glass footed bowl. I never got the recipe from her, and regretted it so much, but after many failures I finally got it right. After she passed away a few years ago I was able to get her bowl, and now I always make the cranberry salad in that bowl for our Thanksgivng and Christmas meals. Here's a picture of the bowl - without the salad.

And here's the recipe:

Mama Cliffie's Congealed Cranberry Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 small packages jello - can be cherry, black cherry, strawberry - basically any RED jello - although I prefer black cherry
• 1 1/4 cups boiling water
• 1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
• 1 1/4 cups cold water
• 2/3 to 1 cup orange sections, in chunks (you can use mandarins cut up, but I prefer fresh oranges.
• ½ to 2/3 cup diced apple, peeled
• 2/3 cup chopped toasted nuts (pecans or english walnuts work well)

1. Mix the jello and boiling water and stir to dissolve.
2. Add the can of cranberry sauce while warm and stir to dissolve sauce.
3. Add cold water, stir well and put into fridge.
4. When the jello is 'set' or beginning to firm up a bit, add the fruit and nuts and stir well.
5. Pour into a mold or pretty bowl and return to fridge and continue chilling until firm.

This will keep a couple of days in the fridge, so it's easy to make ahead of time.

I hope you try these, and I hope you enjoy them. If you do try them, please leave me a post and let me know how they turned out for you and your family. Everyone have a very blessed, and THANKFUL holiday! I am grateful for YOU! Blessings, Becky