The following recipes and holiday memories help put these readers in the holiday mood. They have been shared with the hopes that they do the same for you.
Apple Crisp
6 apples (I prefer Honeycrisp)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
Core and slice apples (with or without peel)
Place sliced apples in buttered 9×9 baking dish.
In a medium mixing bowl cut butter into sugar, cinnamon and flour.
Crumble mixture on top of apples.
Bake at 375 degrees for 45-60 minutes.
This recipe was recently given to me by my daughter. I have made it several times and it is delicious with vanilla ice-cream on top.
Submitted by Dot Patterson
Hickory Corner
Dot’s Chicken Casserole
3 cups of chopped cooked chicken breast (can use a deli-rotisserie chicken)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup thinly slice celery
One 5 ounce can of diced water chestnuts, drained
Crushed Ritz crackers OR corn flakes for topping
In a large mixing bowl, mix the first six ingredients together and transfer to a 9×13 greased pan.
Top with the crackers and bake 350 degrees for approximately 45-60 minutes.
I have made this recipe many times over the years. It is easy and quick to make, especially if using a rotisserie chicken. This casserole is great comfort food and will make you feel better!
Submitted by Dot Patterson
Hickory Corner
Coconut Cake with Divinity Icing
Cake:
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Crisco
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 egg whites
One fresh coconut that has been grated.
Save the coconut milk and stir a small amount into the grated coconut. What remains may be used to pour onto the cake.
Grease and flour cake pan. Sift flour and dry ingredients. Do not beat egg whites. Add the rest of the ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. When the cake comes out of the oven, punch holes in it with a wooden spoon and add one small can of cream of coconut and, if you have extra, coconut milk from the fresh coconut.
Icing:
3 cups sugar
1 Tablespoon corn starch
1/2 cup white Karo syrup
1/2 cup water
2 egg whites, beaten until stiff peaks form
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Mix first four ingredients and boil to a hard ball stage. Pour mixture over beaten egg whites and beat to a good frosting consistency. Prolonged beating will cause the icing to harden. Pour over cake. Sprinkle coconut on top and refrigerate. We usually serve this with boiled custard.
This recipe belonged to my grandmother, Bertha Bland Meadows, and it may have been her mother’s before that. I always loved it when I was small, so I usually make it every Thanksgiving. Our son, Jared, has lived in Lubbock, Texas, and now Denver, Colo., and, every Thanksgiving, he and his wife have friends over, and he makes this cake also. The first year that they were married, part of their wedding presents, including a nice stand mixer, were still at his in-laws and had not yet been brought to them, Jared and his wife, Christi, took turns using a whisk to get this cake made.
Submitted by Nancy Canada
Chicken and Dressing
1 hen/large fryer
10” skillet of Martha White crib neck / 6-8 cups
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 can Campbell’s Cream of Chicken soup
4 eggs
1 Tablespoon poultry seasoning
1 Tablespoon sage
Salt and pepper to taste
2 or 3 cups chicken stock, add water if needed
Buy a hen or larger fryer. Put in crock pot with two or three cups of water and cook on low (I do mine overnight). You should have a good amount of broth when it is done. Drain this off your chicken and save for dressing.
Cook a 10” skillet of corn bread (Martha White) (I cook mine the night before, wrap in foil and put in refrigerator overnight – it crumbles better.) To make a lot, you’ll need six-eight cups of crumbled cornbread, so make a thick skillet.
Crumble this up real fine and put in a big bowl. Add one medium onion chopped fine, one can cream chicken soup, four eggs, one Tbsp poultry seasoning, one tsp sage, some salt but taste before, black pepper (then add the broth from the chicken – probably two or three cups or enough to make it thin like cornbread, if you don’t have enough broth you can add water. I mix all this with my hands. Pat in baking dish and bake until it sets (about 30 minutes at 400 degrees).
This recipe was Jerry’s mother’s, and has been in their family for over 100 years.
Submitted by Jerry Elder
Columbia
Pecan Sandies
1 stick butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup self-rising flour
1/2 cup chopped nuts
powdered sugar
Cream butter and sugar. Add water and vanilla. Stir. Add flour and nuts. Stir. Roll into balls.
Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes.
Cool slightly and roll in powdered sugar.
Submitted by Patsy Nobles Jones
Peanut Brittle
1 cup peanuts
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Combine peanuts, sugar, corn syrup and salt in a two-quart microwavable dish and microwave on high for eight minutes, stirring half way through. Add butter and vanilla, and microwave for two minutes longer. Quickly stir in baking soda until it is light and foamy. Spread onto a buttered baking sheet.
Times may need to be adjusted for newer/more powerful microwaves.
Submitted by Holly Roeder
Peanut Butter Fudge
1/2 pound Velveeta cheese
3/4 cup butter
2 pounds powdered sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 cup peanut butter
Melt cheese and butter together, stirring well.
Add sugar, vanilla and peanut butter, stirring and kneading until combined and you can see no white from the sugar.
Spread in greased pan and refrigerate to set.
Submitted by Holly Roeder
