Anylou, any chance you'd share your mac and cheese recipe?

I'm known for the guacamole and must bring it to Thanksgiving always. It makes me laugh. The secret is #1 start with good avocadoes, which is hard for many people but dead easy here in SoCal, where they're grown. The other is moisture control. A lot of people put way too much liquid in. Oh, and for those who don't know, the molcajete is for making a show in a restaurant. The proper way to make it is in a mixing bowl with a fork (or tined "masher" if making a large amount at once). Don't over mash or over mix. There shouldn't be hard lumps of avocado, but it should have texture. The last thing you want is smooth, because that's when it starts to weep. But mine (learned from mom) is a bottles and jars thing. Avocadoes, limes (juice), onion powder and garlic powder (for intensity of flavor and moisture control), S&P and thick salsa picante including the veg. Stir in a proportionate amount of chopped tomato which has been allowed to drain, but with the seeds. Done. People rave and devour and rave some more. I mean, I like it better than any other I've tasted too, but it's no big deal. :)

I also make the borekes, which my mother learned from one of her friends, who learned it from her grandmother or something. Someone's grandmother said that the proper way to make filo was to boil a king sized bed sheet and spread it on the floor, make a large grapefruit sized ball of flour and water, put it in the center of the sheet, and keep pulling until it's the size of the sheet with no wrinkles or tears. The ingredients label on the old boughten brand was "flour, water and skill". The filo I can buy from the guy who became an engineer and applied that to making a machine to do it (Fillo Factory) is too thick, but it's lovely and people don't complain. These borekes are all cheese and oil and carbs, however, and people still want them but don't eat as many. Amylou, you'd love them. :) There's no recipe however. With the state of things, I can't afford the "right" cheese, so got some measly little cuts and will attempt to make a small amount, since they were requested for Thanksgiving.

People also get round at the eyes and breathless at the mention of lasagna, both meat and pumpkin, but they're not things I do for "go" very often. Other people make just as good lasagnas, IMHO, but it takes a long time to do it right. They also love the Coke brisket, which is an old make with packets recipe (other than the Coke (old Jewish-American recipe using the packets to get a lot of kosher flavor in fast), I can do it from scratch, but that's a lot of work and no better than just using the the jars).

Mac and cheese, dinner rolls, coconut chess pie are the ones always requested.

plllog, sure I will try. I am bad at recipes but here we go:

1 pound elbow macaroni, boiled in salted water

1 stick butter

1/2 or so of flour, enough to make a loose roux

1 quart heavy cream

American cheese, not the individually wrapped ones, get the good stuff. I actually like great value deluxe for this. You'll need 15 to 17, this is mainly for texture

8 cups of grated cheese of your choice, I use sharp cheddar and sometime Monterey jack added to it The only thing I implore is that whatever cheese you use....GRATE IT YOURSELF. The pre grated stuff is tossed with something to keep it from sticking together and it throws everything off.

Some finely minced onion and garlic, not a ton just enough to get the hint of flavor, do it to taste.

Seasoning of your choice, I use either Lawrys or Cajun, sometimes just garlic and onion powder and the TINIEST bit of mustard powder. The TINIEST.

Melt the butter, sweat the onion and garlic, add the seasonings of your choice, then the flour to make a roux. Whisk in the cream and when it starts to thicken, add the American cheese and mix until melted. Then add 4 cup of the shredded cheese you chose. Add the pasta and mix well. Layer your mac and cheese with the remaining 4 cups of shredded cheese. Pasta, cheese, Pasta cheese. Bake at 375 until the top is brown and bubbly.

My friends and family always ask me to bring a tossed salad. I can't screw it up and I don't make the typical tomato/cucumber/iceberg lettuce salad so they never know what they're getting.

My kids (and now the grands) always want me to make my corn casserole for Thanksgiving. I have taken this to other dinners and people love it.

I make a killer appetizer everyone goes for because its different. Its a carmelized onion and tomato tart with feta cheese. Super easy, just takes a little time to properly carmelize the onions.

And a broccoli salad that seems to be popular whenever I make it.

Potato salad. Various kinds of cookies. My husband loved my fried chicken....and I would rather eat my own fried chicken than any of the take out place's. Also I have received many compliments on my fried oysters and shrimp gumbo.

I'm not the only good cook in my family, but my desserts and my potato salad are consistently above average :-)

Cheesecake. New York style. I am asked to bring one to every gathering. Raspberry or thimble berry swirl. Chocolate marble. Black forest.

Thanks, Amylou! That's a fine recipe, as recipes go. For the borekes, Mother said "about two inches of gruyere" and similar things. I've done okay with the filling, but I can't explain it in actual words. :) Knowing what you think special days food is like, and that people want your M&C, I knew you'd have a good one. Last time I tried making M&C, I got lost in the middle and it came out more like my pasta with marsala cheese sauce, which is awesome stuff, but not M&C. I promise I don't and won't use packed cheese shreds! My way of cheating is using the FP. :) I have an awesome FP (though I usually grate by hand if it's not a lot to save washing water).

I think people should post recipes for their famous dishes. I'm especially interested in Outsideplaying's Tomato Tart and corn casserole. Amy you cook the macaroni before combining and baking, right?
Requests for my food kind of depend on the group I am with. I socialize with different groups that have different tastes. For holidays and the group I usually get together with, the thing they expect is Michael Chiarello's Winter Panzanella
I always am the salad or appetizer person. I never make desserts for some reason; maybe the others I socialize with prefer to make desserts. I
've also made this for years and years and it's always a hit. At Christmas, I make a sundried tomato layer, too: https://www.astray.com/recipes/?show=Layered+cheese+torta+with+pesto

Yes, boiled in salted water before mixing in.

Cheese grits. And peanut butter cookies.

My family's favorites are Pea Salad, Potato Salad, and Apple Pie.

When I was baking for the co-op, my best sellers were Oatmeal Cookies, Oatmeal Bread, and Sourdough bread.

Rusty

Lemon red potato salad.

Desserts mostly, since I used to bake professionally.

Sesame noodles.

I am asked to make my lemon bars for every family gathering. I make them so often I am completely bored with them but I'm not sure they'd even let me in if I didn't bring them :-) For holiday dinners - always a family potluck - I am expected to supply mashed yams with goat cheese (sounds weird but really, really good) and English trifle for Christmas dessert.

When my stepdaughter comes to visit, she insists on tuna casserole (!!??) and those dang lemon bars!

Meatloaf

Zucchini bread

Chuckwagon beans

Chili

Glenda's Pineapple/cheddar cheese casserole. (my brother Kevin and I can eat the whole thing 😂)

One or two of several Chinese dishes are always on the request list when my son or other relatives visit. I have to admit that I make the best Hot and Sour soup I've ever had and the recipe I use for Crab Rangoon is fantastic...it actually has crab in it!

My home made Horseradish also gets rave reviews from everyone I share it with. I happen to be making the first batch of the fall today. I just got done washing the roots and now it's time to peel and cube. I still have another bed to dig up this afternoon. It's a lot of work but well worth it to me.

When I worked, IT @ the bank, everyone used to drool over my homemade lunches, leftovers. Story: There was a BIG potluck on MY shift, we had 3 shifts....all were friends. The other crews got mad they didn't get leftovers. :0( It never occurred to me to make double and leave a cheesecake. People were really upset!

1) Cheesecake

2) Green chili

3) Chocolate chip cookies

My best -

Chili

Grilling (anything)

Breakfasts (all egg dishes, pancakes, French toast, + side meats)

Sandwiches

Potato salad, chicken and rice or spinach and artichoke dip warm. And delved eggs.

My apple pie cake ( made in a spring form pan) is always a crowd pleaser.

Also, a cheesecake recipe from my older sister, using a food processor. Extremely light and fluffy.

I make potato salad like my Mom was famous for, carrying on the tradition. She also had a famous cucumber salad, sort of like tsatsiki but with sour cream and minus the mint, but that's a summer thing. Recently, I've started making macaroni salad as a way to use my home made relish, and that's becoming popular and "signature" because it's my home made relish, although any relish would work . . . I also make mulled spiced wine, which I guess not that many people make so people always rave about it when I serve it at parties.

If I am trying to impress, I will sometimes make a bundt cake. I could do some desserts, but my crowd just doesn't like to eat sweets so it has limited me . . . ironically, my Dad with the sweet tooth prefers store bought stuff. He has my home made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in a plastic container sitting untouched, next to the Oreoes that he is eating constantly. One recipe that I make that everyone usually really likes is cherry cranberry crumble, with dried, fresh and frozen fruit. It's somewhat unusual.

I also make really good applesauce that I can and give as gifts. I can it in the small jars so it doesn't go bad like the larger store bought ones tend to do at our house.

My vegetarian specialty is rice and beans or pasta and beans, but that only impresses certain people . . .

I'm "famous" for my muffins too, but just because that's something that I will often bring as gifts or take over to someone's house at times of stress like death in the family or illness or as a hostess gift if we are going somewhere. Easy to serve and easy to transport. I save plastic deli containers for just that purpose.

Dark chocolate brownies, various cakes, homemade breads and rolls, and chocolate crinkle cookies. I actually don't care much for the chocolate cookies, since they're soft, not crispy and are fussy to make, but others just rave over them and expect them for the holidays.

Also pies: pecan/nut & apple/pear/raisin.

I used to be tasked with making the pies - because I am good at pie crusts; I follow my mother's recipe for tart apple pie, but my spicing for pumpkin pie was too strong for my sister & her family (they preferred canned pie mix). Now my cranberry-walnut tart is the preferred pie for Christmas and T-giving for my very small family dinners.

For work potlucks I had either fresh salsa or marinated vegetable salad often requested (both recipes from former co-workers); or my herb quiche for a breakfast potluck.

My husband loved my meatloaf and also my Cincinnati-style chili, so those were not infrequent requests from him.

My mother used to make fabulous hot olive& cheese appetizers, but I never got the recipe, so I would love to see Amylou's recipe for her olive bread bites. I would like to see the corn casserole recipe, too!

raee, my family loves these cheese and olive appetizers, which have always been known to us as baked martinis. Super easy, freeze well and just require a bit of a warm up before serving.

Baked Martinis

2 c shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (do NOT use pre-shredded - doesn't melt properly)

1 1//4 c AP flour

1/2 c butter, very soft

dash of cayenne or to taste

Mix altogether with hands to form a soft dough. Shape a generous teaspoon of dough around a drained and dry pimento-stuffed olive (recipe calls for 48 small...I prefer medium to large). Chill for at least an hour then bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Like potato chips - you can't eat just one!!

PEPPERONI BREAD

ITALIAN MEATBALLS

CHICKEN KEBOB

My potato salad is the best I've ever had, BUT I have to credit my mother-in-law and the Silver Palate girls for it.

If you asked DH he would say lasagna, spaghetti sauce, coleslaw (with horseradish dressing), split pea soup, marinade for grilled lamb, lemon bars. potato salad and this very tasty cheese dip...

12 ounces cream cheese, room temp.

2 jars (5-oz. each) Kraft Old English Cheese Spread

2 or 3 green onions, chopped (to taste)

1 or 2 cans (4-oz. each) diced green chiles, drained

Melt cream cheese and Old English in microwave. Stir well and mix in green onion and chiles. Zap in microwave another 30-40 seconds. Stir well and serve warm with tortilla chips.

BTW, I've made the dip for years, and the Kraft Old English used to be 59 cents a jar. Now it's close to $5...crazy! You can make less of the dip with just 8 oz. cream cheese and one jar of the Old English.

ETA - Totally forgot fudge. DH still says it's the reason he married me. :-)

I am considered a good cook. I have a great herbed smoked turkey, a fancy chocolate torte I do at Christmas, Lobster Bisque, Paella. People would request my home made Ketchup which I would toss in when I sent jams. It is a richer darker spicier ketchup.

fudge pie

smoked turkey

pineapple casserole

Pies (specifically the pastry - which is nothing special ingredients-wise but apparently pastry is like witchcraft to my family.)

Cranberry/Orange sauce

Home-canned salsa

Special Occasion cakes

Beef Barbacoa

Pulled Pork

Mac and Cheese

New Orleans style BBQ shrimp (the recipe is from Drago's - anyone could make them!)

None of the recipes are original except the cranberry/orange sauce and I guess I have tweeked the Betty Crocker Mac and Cheese enough that it is mine now.

I can never go to a family dinner without bringing meatballs, either Spicy Meatballs or Swedish Meatballs. People also love my lasagna and my baking is generally enjoyed too. Grand Marnier chocolate torte, lemon squares, raspberry cream cheese cake and peach upside down cake are some favorites.

Grand Marnier chocolate torte? Would love a recipe for this!

raee- the olive bread is very easy

Mix 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

a cup or so of mayo

a small can of chopped black olives (ithink its 4 oz?)

some finely chopped up green olives, about the same amount as the black, I use a couple handfuls out of the jar and chop them very small.

LOTS of dried oregano Like a quarter of a cup. you can use how much or how little you like, we like things heavily flavored.

Garlic (I cheat and use the preminced stuff in the bottle or jar it works better in this because you do not cook them long and it is already semi cooked in he bottle/jar) I use a lot, like 2 tablespoons. adjust to your taste. If i want to use fresh garlic cloves i use 4 or 5 and just grate it in with a microplane. But the squeeze bottle is easier. Used the minced or chopped, not the paste.

Anyway, mix it all together. You are supposed to let it sit overnight in the fridge (sealed very well, all that garlic you know...)but it works okay if you do it last minute too. I do tend to make it the night before just to save time on the day of.

Take this delicious mush and spoon/spread it generously on slices of good baguette or a really good Italian bread, (you can do that the night before too and just keep them in the fridge, it works fine)and bake at 375 or 400 until bubbly on top and crispy at the bottom, not long at all. Make a lot. It goes fast.

Here is a picture of a small batch I made my sister for her birthday last month. She would rather have this than cake. Anyway, this is obviously pre-bake. I made them the night before, stashed them in the fridge and she cooked them at her house.

Oooh I forgot Cincinnati style chili and shredded beef. I don't make either one that often due to my family wanting the more traditional style chili and me not being a big beef fan. My shredded beef recipe comes from CF/Opkikid (I think that was how she spelled it). I used to make that for workshops and student functions because I could make it ahead, and transport and then rewarm it in the crockpot at college workshop locations, didn't need an oven or stove to serve it.

I used to make and impressive tri level brownies recipe with an oatmeal base, cakey brownie with walnuts and then a fudgy topping. They were a pain as you had to make each layer separately. So good though. I forgot another cake I make that has been popular due to being somewhat unusual around here--pig pickin' cake which is like and orange pineapple chiffon cake and can be done with a box mix so is relatively easy, but doesn't necessarily have the boxed taste . . .

Quiche is a great dish to bring to a function or send to a friend's house for comfort. So many ways to jazz it up. Can be served warm or room temp. too.

amylou, my mom used to make that spread for bread and everyone love it. I can't recall for sure, but I think she also mixed some softened butter with the mayo. I also remember some chopped green onion in the mix. I'd forgotten how good it is!

I've seen lots of variations of it. They all sound so good to me!

I'm the family "cook", so usually dinners are at my house. What my "specialty" is depends on the family member.

Most people like my home canned salsa, so that's usually a staple. Elery's side of the family thinks I'm a wizard at fudge and cookies, and they always want tenderloin. I'm not sure if it's because it's good the way I cook it or because it's tenderloin. (grin)

My family wants bread. I make dinner rolls using Grandma's old recipe, and no family dinner is the same without them. They will accept Sol's Honey Rolls as a substitute. I used to make a bread similar to yours, amylou, but it was a whole loaf of Italian split lengthwise and then spread with the topping and baked. My oldest daughter loved the stuff, then was diagnosed as celiac. I ought to try a gluten free loaf, maybe the topping would make up for the second rate bread...

Annie

Appetizer: My Mom's Spinach Balls with Spicy Mustard Sauce. And I figured out how to make it vegan bc my vegan son loves them.

If there are vegetarians or vegans at the event: Either a vegetable pot pie with a fancy lattice-top, or a vegetable Wellington that I made up by curating what I though was yummiest from about 5 other recipes. It's got lots of delicious ingredients that are layered between sheets of phyllo dough and looks beautiful with you slice it.

For a casserole: Turkey tetrazzini with Sherry cream sauce.

For desserts: My Grandmother's Norwegian Apple Cake, and my Mom's Lemon Blueberry cake with cream cheese frosting.

Grand Marnier Chocolate Torte

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

3 large eggs

1 tbsp vanilla

2 cups buttermilk

1/2 can frozen orange juice concentrate, about 3/4 cup

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 envelope powdered gelatin, about 1 tbsp

Shredded or grated orange zest of 2 oranges

1/2 cup orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier

4 cups 35% cream

3/4 cup sifted icing sugar

(Rest of recipe follows)

Edited to correct typos.

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 9-inch round cake pans with shortening or coat with cooking spray. Line bottoms with parchment paper and grease again. Measure flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a medium-size bowl. Stir with a fork until well blended and no lumps of cocoa remain.

In large mixing bowl, beat butter using an electric mixer on medium-high speed until very creamy. Gradually add 1 cup granulated sugar and 3/4 cup brown sugar, beating until light and fluffy, at least 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Add vanilla until blended.

Turn mixer to low and beat in 1/3 of flour mixture, then half of buttermilk, beating only until mixed after each addition. Beat in another third of flour mixture, then remaining buttermilk, ending with remaining flour mixture. Beat only until evenly blended. Overbeating at this point will toughen cake.

Divide batter evenly between pans, then bang pans on counter several times to remove air bubbles. Bake in center of 350F oven until center of cake springs back when lightly touched and sides of cake start to pull away from pan, from 30 to 35 minutes. Let cakes cool in pans set on a rack for 10 minutes, then turn out. Remove parchment paper, then cool cakes thoroughly on racks. When ready to assemble cake, slice each in half horizontally to make 4 layers.

To make filling, combine frozen concentrate, 3/4 cup sugar and gelatin in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar and gelatin are dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in orange zest and 1/4 cup liqueur. Press a sheet of waxed paper into surface of orange mixture and refrigerate just until it no longer feels warm to the touch, about 20 minutes.

Whip cream in a large mixing bowl until soft peaks will form. Gradually beat in icing sugar until combined. Fold in liqueur mixture until evenly blended and no white streaks of whipping cream remain.

To assemble, place a layer of cake, cut side up, on a serving plate. Brush with about 1 tbsp liqueur. Spoon a scant fifth of filling onto middle of layer, then gently spread almost to edge. Top with a cake layer, brush with 1 tbsp liqueur, then spread with a fifth of filling. Repeat until all layers have been added. Use remaining filling to frost top and sides of cake. Refrigerate immediately for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, so flavors blend. For best flavor, bring cake to room temperature before serving. Leftover cake will keep well, loosely covered, in the refrigerator for about 2 days.

Nekotish, I have visions of a Colonial garbed woman being burnt at the stake because her pie crust was flaky... :D

AJCN I can definitely see why you would be famous for those luscious dishes!! I love the idea of vegetarian crusted stuff but just don't have the patience to make it and no one in my circle would appreciate it. I am overdue however, for making a meat pot pie for hubs, it's a favorite of his. Only him . . .

Those cakes sound fantastic. I make a similar apple cake. I would love the blueberry cake, but hubs doesn't like lemon . . . I guess I could always use orange juice . . .

Amylou and GardenGal, thank you for the recipes!!

I love green olives with cheddar cheese.... I will make both of these this season, just for me LOL!

I always made the potato salad - after mom quit making it. but since I moved away from my hometown many decades ago i don't know what they do for that. i mostly quit making it and found my tastes have changed. lately i found some premade at a local store deli is a good base for me to use - the potatoes are in it, then i add to it with HB eggs, more onion, chopped red pepper, poblano, blk olives, some mustard, seasoning and I'm happy with it. makes it easy 'to make' for me now. It used to take a lot of time and a lot of chopping!

my fudge and brownies. i don't make those anymore either.

@AJCN The vegetable Wellington recipe, please!

Thanks to all the people who gave out recipes!

Stacy yours is the first one I am trying.! DH is a lover of this kind of cake. Plus tis close enough to the season. :-).