Pecan Pie
— Gail Betla, contributing designer
Ingredients:
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3/4 cup karo syrup
- 1/3 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/4 cup butter (melted)
- 3 tbsp. heavy cream
- 1 cup pecans
- 1 premade box crust (fresh not frozen)
Directions:
- Beat 3 eggs, add brown sugar, karo syrup, salt, vanilla, melted butter, Mix. Stir in heavy cream and pecans.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, reduce to 350 degrees for 30 minutes (until jelled and golden brown).
Fruity Turkey Stuffing
—Don Butler, editor in chief
Like most stuffing recipes, this is easy to customize and modify with ingredients your family enjoys.
Ingredients:
- 1 bag stuffing (cubes)
- 1 lb. pork sausage
- 1 quart orange juice
- 8 oz. crushed pineapple
- 1 apple, cored, peeled and minced
- 2-3 oz. bag of real bacon bits
- ½ stick butter
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tbsp. poultry seasoning
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
Directions:
- Fry sausage in saucepan on stovetop until done. Separately, fry the bacon bits until done (7-10 minutes over medium low heat).
- Melt butter.
- Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl and stir until moist. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Bake leftover stuffing in covered casserole pans at 325 degrees for 45-65 minutes or until done to taste.
Notes:
- We usually make the stuffing the night before and refrigerate until we’re ready to stuff the turkey.
- Fit what you can inside the turkey (leaving some room at the top for better baking) and add a piece of foil over the exposed stuffing so it doesn’t burn or get too crisp.
- When basting the turkey, remove the foil and baste the stuffing as well.
- We’ve also augmented the stuffing cubes with leftover rye, wheat, white or other bread heels mixed in.
- We cook the leftover stuffing at the same time as the turkey. If you need oven space for potatoes and other items at the end, bake the stuffing first, remove early and let sit.
Sweet Potato Casserole
—Terry Schuster, Home & Garden editor
Ingredients and Directions:
- 6 cups of sweet potatoes (2 extra large cans)
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs beaten
- 2 tsp. vanilla
- 2/3 cup milk
Mix together. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 glass dish.
Topping ingredients:
- Melted 1/3 cup butter
- 1 cup brown sugar ½ cup flour
- 1 cup chopped pecans
Directions:
- Mix topping ingredients together and lightly spread over the potato mixture.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
Sheet Pan Roasted Root Vegetables with Rosemary
This is one of my favorite go-to recipes when I’m hosting. I wash and scrub the carrots and keep the skin on; same for potatoes.
—Stephanie Bennett, publisher
Ingredients:
- 2-3 large carrots, washed and scrubbed
- 2 parsnips
- Bag of baby potatoes or a mix of fingerlings
- chopped 1 sweet potato
- 2 beets
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- Fresh rosemary, chopped and mixed with veggies
- A few cranks of sea salt
- peppercorn mills
Directions:
- On a large baking sheet, combine all veggies. Separate beets a bit from other vegetables so they don’t bleed.
- Drizzle olive oil, sea salt and pepper over veggies.
- Save a couple of sprigs of rosemary presentation when serving.
- Bake for 25 minutes at 425. Check on veggies at the 15-minute mark and toss again.
Grandmother Sunny’s Mud Hen Bars
— Adria Willenson, contributing designer
Sunny Willenson, our family’s late grandmother, made this wonderful recipe.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 whole egg plus 2 eggs, separated
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup miniature marshmallows
- 1 cup brown sugar
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9x13inch baking pan with butter or nonstick spray.
- In a large bowl, beat together the butter, granulated sugar, vanilla and 1 whole egg and 2 egg yolks with an electric mixer until creamy and smooth.
- Add flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix until incorporated. Spread batter into prepared pan.
- Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top of the batter, followed by the mini marshmallows.
- In a large clean bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer on high until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes. Gently fold in the brown sugar until smooth.
- Spread egg white-brown sugar on top of marshmallow layer and bake for 45 minutes. Serves 24.