Ham Cream Cheese Ball

2 - 8oz. packs of cream cheese softened

1 - canned ham

1 - small can of chopped black olives

1 - bag of Cheddar Cheese (8oz bag?)

Chop up the ham. Mix all of the ingredients well. You can put it in a container or you can wrap it up in some saran wrap and mold it into the shape of a ball. Put it in the refrigerator to set. Take out and unwrap and put on a plate and serve with crackers or chips. :)

Everyone seems to love a good TURNIP PUFF. I usually make mine with rutabaga.

Pineapple
Casserole

1
20 oz can pineapple chunks, drain, and reserve juice
3 Tbsp flour
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1
cup grated cheddar cheese (grate your own) Pre grated cheese doesn't melt
1/2 cup crushed Ritz crackers **I always use
saltines

Preheat
oven to 350

Combine
flour, sugar and 3 Tbsp pineapple juice. Stir in cheese and pineapple. Spoon
into greased casserole dish. Mix crackers with butter, and add to top of
mixture.
Bake 25 minutes or until
bubbly.

Glenda, I make your pineapple casserole for Easter. It goes great with ham.

Cranberry Jezebel

12 oz bag fresh or frozen cranberries
1 c. fresh squeezed orange juice
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c brown sugar

2 Tablespoons horseradish

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

Wash and pick over the berries. Put juice and sugars in saucepan (large enough to prevent boil over) and bring to a boil, add berries and return to a boil, cook on medium for 10 minutes from the time it returns to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cool to lukewarm then stir in horseradish and Dijon mustard. Refrigerate for at least a few hours or better yet overnight.

--Adaptation of original that appeared in Cooking Light. I stumbled onto it by way of LindaC on the Cooking forum here.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

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Filling:

4 8oz blocks cream cheese

18 oz can pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/4 tsp cloves

1.5 cups white sugar

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

blend w/ mixer until smooth

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crust:

1 pkg graham crackers/rolled in plastic bag w/ rolling pin until fine crumbs

1 Tbl sugar

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

Blend in separate bowl

Press crust into the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking pan or spring form pan. Pour blended cheese mixture over crust. Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes @ 350, reduce to 300, bake another 20 minutes. poke w/ toothpick to test if done. Cool overnight before serving. Top w/ whipped cream. (note: a hazelnut crust is a good alternative)

Spinach Madeleine

2 pkgs. frozen chopped spinach

4 tablespoons butter

¼ cup chopped onion

¼ cup chopped celery

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons flour

½ cup half and half

½ cup vegetable liquor (the liquid reserved from cooking the spinach)

4 ounces Velveeta Jalapeño or Pepper Jack Cheese, cubed into small pieces

½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

coarse salt to taste

breadcrumbs or Panko

Cook spinach according to package directions. Drain and reserve liquor.

Melt butter in heavy skillet over medium heat. Add onions and celery and cook until soft. Add garlic for 30 seconds then add flour, stirring until blended and smooth. Add liquid slowly, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. When thick, add cheese and seasonings. Stir until melted.

Combine with cooked spinach and place in a casserole dish. (I use a glass pie pan or a similar shallow dish.) Top with breadcrumbs; cover and refrigerate overnight.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until bubbling hot.

Original: https://jlbrriverroadrecipes.com/2015/08/07/spinach-madeleine/

Ready to bake:

Reservations, I hope. Just not worth the effort for two of us and I don’t even like turkey!

The nieces and nephews love these,so they're a must.

Olive bread

1 cup mayo

2 cups mozzarella cheese

4 oz can chopped black olives

1/2 cup (or more) of chopped green olives

1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated

Oregano and black pepper to taste(I love oregano so i put a lot in)

Mix together and refrigerate overnight. ( Not STRICTLY necessary)

Spread mixture generously onto slices of baguette,( you can really pile a lot on it)bake at 375 until bread is crispy and topping is bubbly. Mmmmmm.

Everything in the recipe is really to taste so you can add more or less olives,spices, etc. Sometimes I'll put some seeded and diced Roma tomatoes in too. But the kiddies prefer it without,so I usually dont.

I make Thanksgiving every year for local family and friends. Most of my recipes are from the Pioneer Woman, with some from Annie's Eats and Ina Garten! I always cook enough for 50 but we usually have about 6, lol. I can't help myself. My very first year hosting (I was VERY excited!), I made 9 different pies and cakes for 7 people and my husband still teases me about it! These are some of my favorites.

Traditional Dishes: Mashed potatoes, stuffing, whiskey glazed carrots (big hit), butternut squash puree, sweet potatoes (one savory, one sweet), some kind of roasted Brussels sprouts, green bean casserole, cognac gravy, honey yeast rolls.

Dessert: Caramel apple cheesecake pie (always rave reviews for this one), pumpkin cream pie, chocolate peanut butter tart.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes - PW

Stuffing - PW

Whisky-Glazed Carrots - PW

Butternut Squash Puree - PW

Soul Sweet Potatoes - PW

Sweet Potatoes with Sage Butter Crumbs - AE

Roasted Brussels Sprouts - PW

Green Bean Casserole - AE

Cognac Gravy - IG

Honey Yeast Rolls - AE

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Pie - AE

Pumpkin Cream Pie - PW

Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart - AB

I like roasted Brussels sprouts.

I quarter the sprouts (they need to be small so they can cook thoroughly at high heat without burning). Drizzle lightly with olive oil, mixing the sprouts with a spatula. And sprinkle with salt and roast at 425 until the outer leaves a a bit crisp.

"Cranberry stuff that you make" as it's so lovingly refered to:

12 oz bag fresh cranberries

1 orange, zest and juice

1 granny Smith apple

1 Fuji apple

1 pear

1 cup dried cranberries

1 cup dried sweet cherries

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

(I'm estimating amounts on everything ,except for the cranberries)

Dump in pot and cook 20 min. Refrigerate overnight.

The only problem with this is it never quite "jellies" I wonder if I mix a little pectin or gelatin in if it would help. Or what if I mixed a can of the cranberry stuff in? Anyway,it's good and I don't like cranberries. I added the cherries because they are my favorite fruit,and everyone likes it.

I make pumpkin chiffon pie every year. It's not tgiving for me without it.

I do xmas and easter, not tgiving, but for those holidays, I usually make cauliflower polonaise: toast 1/2 c. dry unflavored breadcrumbs in 3 tbs butter. Saute 1 tbs chopped shallots in 4 tbs butter. Then add 2 chopped hard cooked eggs and 1/4 c chopped parsley and the toasted bread crumbs and heat through. Sprinkle mix on top of cooked cauliflower and salt and pepper to taste.

I love rutabaga and like this casserole:

2 lbs rutabaga, peeled, cubed and boiled

2 eggs beaten

1/4 c bread crumbs

1/4 c half n half

2 Tbs sugar

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 Tbs butter

Mash rutabaga and mix in everything but butter. Put in sprayed casserole and dot with butter. Bake at 350 for 45-50 min until lightly browned on top.

Pumpkin Chiffon here too. I use Mamie Eisenhower's recipe. My family is not fond of the custard style.

sweet potatoes. hardest part is the prep. tougher to peel thatn white potatoes for mashed. and DO NOT try to run the peels down your disposal... unless you enjoy a clogged sink!

My recipe has not specific measurements. peeled sweet potatoes (enough for about 12-15) in big chunks, tossed in stick of melted butter. covered with foil and into oven for maybe half hour, till just starting to get a little soft. for sweet... brown sugar or REAL maple syrup. generous grinds of black pepper and glug of hot sauce... just enough to make you go... what IS that?? then continue cooking till gooey and candy-like.

Any dish that some picky eater or new guest loves. Find out ahead if there is a situation like this. Make the dish they love and watch them glow.

oranges stuffed with sweet potatoes and topped with miniature marshmellows

My mother used to make those and I absolutely loved them. She never had a recipe but they were delicious! Have so missed enjoying them.

A few years ago we went to my wife's sister's place for Thanksgiving. Her husband teaches 2nd grade, and in the previous one of the class assignments was to write a Thanksgiving recipe. He had some of the recipes they made up for us to read, and they were hilarious. One that I remember was:

Sweet potatoes

1 pound of potatoes

1 pound of sugar

Peel potatoes and cook them. Add sugar and Mash

There were also many recipes for making turkey, poorly. Like:

Take one 97 pound turkey, roast in oven at 800 deg for 15 minutes.

Don't try this at home.

It is very fun to see the variety. We head to DD#2 this year so we are doing a lot of talking of menus. She is only 21 just started a new job, can't come to us so we are going to her. ANY WHOOOO I was telling her how many families make multiple dishes of the same "food group" but we pretty much stick to the basics one each and call it good. My recipes are sooo basic only my MIL's mashed potato casserole is even close to fancy and I suspect it is nothing new to everyone else. Potatoes/cream cheese/garlic/cream/chives/butter/salt. We love it and it can be made ahead, frozen and heated that day. Thanks for sharing.

A must have is pecan pie. Wouldn't be complete without it.

Bob's Fiery Sweet Potatoes
Time: About 40 minutes

5 pounds sweet potatoes
2 carrots (sliced thin)
1 Tbsp oil
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon Thai Kitchen red curry paste
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon salt.

1. Peel and cube potatoes, place in large pot of water, and bring to a boil.

2. In a small frying pan heat oil over medium high heat, and add
carrots, and cook and stir until they are lightly browned and starting
to caramelize.

3. Reduce heat to low, add curry paste, and half the butter. Stir. Add the coconut milk and half the brown sugar. Stir.

4. Drain potatoes, lightly mash them and place in baking dish, then stir in the carrot/coconut milk mixture.

5. You can either serve it at this point or heat it further in the
oven as follows: heat oven to 425 degrees. Cover potatoes with foil and
bake for 20 minutes. Uncover potatoes, dot with remaining butter and
sugar and broil until brown and crusty on top, checking often to prevent
scorching.