Saturday, December 6, 2014

December 5th - Favorite Christmas Food

Not a big fan of turkey, but we still enjoy a good turkey at Thanksgiving.  Sometimes we include ham to supplement the meats for our large family - this year we had 18 for Thanksgiving dinner!  My son-in-law LOVES to cook and made the best-ever turkey this year; I normally just eat the white meat, but tasted the dark meat - OMG!!  The flavor of that turkey was amazing!!  It was his best yet - in the almost 10 years since he's been a part of our family!

Sometimes we change things up a bit for our Christmas dinner...we have had Chicken Casserole (a family favorite) or even Lasagna (my son's favorite; we HAVE to serve that whenever he is in town).  Since my son and his family were here for Thanksgiving instead of Christmas this year, I am not sure what we will end up having for our dinner.

But here are some family favorites:

A new favorite:

Corn Casserole


I came across this recipe not too long ago when looking for something to take to a covered dish dinner - don't you just love those dinners?!  I love trying new things and finding those special dishes you know certain people will bring!  Since we love cornbread, this dish fit right in with our family.  Not only did it look good, it tasted good, too; and it's easy to make, which makes it even better!  I used a can of the fiesta whole kernel corn once and that gives it an unexpected "kick" to the dish!

1 (15 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (15 oz) can cream-style corn
1 (8 oz) package Jiffy corn muffin mix
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese or your favorite

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all ingredients, minus the cheese, together and pour into a greased baking dish.  After the casserole has baked for 45 minutes, or is set in the middle and golden brown, sprinkle with cheddar cheese and put it back in the oven.  Let the cheese melt, take the casserole out and enjoy this ridiculously buttery dish.

(For our large family that gathered around the tables at Thanksgiving, I doubled the recipe and made a big dish of it - everyone loved it!)



An Old Favorite:

Sweet Potato Casserole


This old favorite goes well with turkey or ham!

2 cups mashed sweet potatoes
1 stick melted butter
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tbs cinnamon
1stp vanilla
¼ tsp salt
Mini Marshmallows

Mix all ingredients together except marshmallows.  Pour in baking dish and bake at 350 for 1 hour.  Put marshmallows on top and continue to bake for a few more minutes.


A Family "Secret"

Banana Pudding


What better (and healthy?) dessert than good ole banana pudding!  This recipe comes from my husband's mother - passed down to his sisters and shared with the family.  You can be sure this dessert will be on the table at any of the London Family gatherings!

2 large or 4 small boxes instant pudding mix
3 cups whole milk
1 small container sour cream
1 8 or 12 oz. cool whip
1 box vanilla wafers
Bananas

Mix instant pudding and mix with mixer until thick; blend in sour cream, then cool whip.  Layer wafers, bananas and creamy mixture, ending with creamy mixture on top.


So, I think I am ready to sit down and eat a delicious Christmas dinner!  How about you?!  What will you be making this year?  Can't wait to read all about those holiday meals!



Linking up December 1 - 25


16 comments:

  1. Yum!!! That sweet potato casserole is how I remember my grandma making it. Still my fave sweet potato casserole. Love the marshmallows. I think I've made that corn casserole myself once upon a time.

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    1. My youngest daughter started us back on the sweet potato casserole; we make is several times a year, not just the holidays! It IS an older recipe...thanks for reading and sharing!

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  2. I make a Spoon Cornbread, similar to yours but no cheese. It is always a hit at church fellowship meals!

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    1. I think almost anything home made for a church covered-dish dinner would be a hit!! I love those "dinner on the ground" kind of carry in dinners! We did that this year for our Thanksgiving dinner at church; usually they do the turkey, etc. but this year they did ham and we brought in all the sides and desserts...ate too much, as always!

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  3. Corn casserole has always been a huge favorite at our house, although we make it year-round! Thank you for sharing these delicious-look recipes with us!

    Anastasia Rose
    walk-in-the-rain-with-me.blogspot.com

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    1. Oh we make that corn casserole a lot too! Glad you stopped by to drool over the recipes! Thanks for reading & commenting!

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  4. Oh my, my mouth is watering....I love all of the recipes.....and will be trying them out over the Christmas period....[will probably need some 'translation' of the ingredients for the banana pudding: if Google doesn't offer a helping hand I'll be back with questions! (I LOVE to cook and LOVE trying new recipes!)]

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    1. Great! Just let me know what translations you need and I'll help you out. I don't LOVE to cook but I do LOVE trying new recipes. It IS just two of us, so I save the casseroles, etc. for special occasions and church events - the food goes further; but we aren't eating on it forever!! Thanks for reading and commenting...

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  5. These all look delicious! Glad you had a good Thanksgiving/Christmas day. :)

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    1. Thanks, Tobi! It WAS a great Thanksgiving/Christmas - can't wait for our Christmas with the 5 grands that are in town...need to finish shopping and then get everything wrapped. Not sure what our menu will be for Christmas...Appreciate your reading and commenting!

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  6. This food looks really good. I've had a corn casserole like that and always wondered how it was made, so I'm looking forward to trying it someday. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thanks for reading and commenting, Leah! The corn casserole isn't a new one; I saw it on Facebook (or somewhere) and decided to try it...and my family loves it! It's really easy to make...sometimes it needs to stay in longer than the recipen calls for; but when it's set in the middle,it's time to put the cheese on top and melt it - then enjoy!!

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  7. That banana pudding sounds wonderful and easy, which is my first criteria for any dessert. I may just have to try this for Christmas!

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    1. Let me know how you like it if you do try it! We all LOVE it; in fact, banana pudding is my husband's favorite!

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  8. I was looking through my pinterest recipes looking for ideas for Thanksgiving dinner and came across a pin for your banana pudding. I made it a couple years ago at Christmas and it was a big hit, so I'm thinking of making it this year for Thanksgiving.

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    1. Awesome!! That banana pudding is a family recipe from my husband's mother! We LOVE it at the family gatherings. Thanks for seeing this and reminding me; I think I may re-pin this and also re-post it, with Thanksgiving this week, and Christmas just around the corner!!

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