If you missed Sarah’s post about her family heirloom recipes go check it out here. All her recipes sounded yummy and got me excited about the upcoming feast. How many Thanksgivings do you celebrate? We have two for our family and thankfully on different days. I know some people have two in one day and that just makes me hurt, haha. I know holidays can be so trying for families but I hope this year you can truly enjoy each other and bring a good dish to the table.

Appetizer

Debra’s Cheeseball: My mom is notorious for making this cheeseball to have out for munching. It’s a salty sweet dream with pineapple and pecans plus the savory cream cheese. I vividly remember eating it with Triscuits, but any cracker will do. My oldest brother loves this the most, but we all enjoy a bite and it is usually gone after a couple of days.

Pineapple Cheese Ball

• 8 oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
• 4 oz. crushed pineapple, drained
• 1 c finely chopped pecans
• 1/2 c finely chopped green pepper
• 1 TBSP chopped onion or onion flakes
• 1/4 tsp. seasoned salt
  • Place all ingredients into a bowl except 1/2 c pecans. Mix and mash, form into a ball. Roll ball in remaining 1/2 c pecans. Chill and serve with your favorite crackers.

Side Dish

Sweet Potato Casserole: This recipe is from my paternal Grandmother’s side. She made this every year and it is still my dad’s favorite. It truly has the best flavor but it tastes more like a dessert in my opinion. It even has cereal in it!

My mother’s roots are from the deep south in L.A. (lower Alabama that is). I remember going to her house for Thanksgiving and the food would literally cover the entire table and all of the kitchen counter space. Her little kitchen was popping with fried okra, fried chicken, and sometimes even fried squash or a catfish or brim if my Granddaddy had any stored in the freezer. She had everything from field peas to macaroni and cheese and anything in between. My mom and I were reminiscing about my grandmother the other day and how she would mutter and grumble to herself every year about her dressing. Some years it would be too soupy and other years too dry.

Did you hear me say dressing? Raise your hand if you know what cornbread dressing is? My husband’s family is from the North and dressing is a foreign term to them. They prefer a stuffing. I will say, his sister makes a mean stuffing and it is delicious. I do love both now.

Grandmama’s Cornbread Dressing

• 1 loaf cornbread crumbled (not sweet cornbread)
• 1/2 c butter, melted
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 celery stalk chopped
• 1/2 c fresh parsley
• 4 c chicken broth
• 2 large eggs beaten
• 1 tsp dried sage
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• salt to taste
  • Saute the onion and celery in the butter
  • Mix all the ingredients together
  • Bake at 350 deg. F until desired consistency (hence my grandmother’s conundrum yearly about it being too soupy or too dry.)

Sarah mentioned a cranberry relish in which I can say, I have never tried. As a child I liked cranberry sauce in any shape or form. I even loved it straight out of the Ocean Spray can with the lines imprinted on the jelly. My grandmother would slice it up in rounds and I would eat half the can. Now I prefer a whole berry cranberry sauce. This recipe has been making its way to the table year after year.

Cranberry Sauce

• 12 oz. bag of fresh cranberries
• 1/2 c honey or maple syrup
• 1/2 c water
• Zest of one orange
• optional add ins: 1/2 tsp cinnamon or 1/4 c orange juice
  • In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, honey or syrup, and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook stirring occasionally 5-10 min as the cranberries pop.
  • Remove from heat, stir in orange zest
  • Serve warm or refrigerate

Dessert

Pecan Pie: I have another version of pecan pie than Sarah. This recipe always makes two pies and is one that my dad’s mother has made for all of my memory. We too, do not have pumpkin pie. Pecan wins in my family. In my teen years when I had more time, I would try my hand with a pumpkin roll with a cream cheese filling. That is always a good fun option.

Grand Betty’s Pecan Pie (makes 2 pies)

• 5 eggs
• 1 c sugar
• 2 c Karo syrup
• 1 stick butter
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 c pecans
  • Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs 1 at a time. Add Karo syrup and vanilla. Pour into prepared pic crust. Put 1 c pecans on each pie. Bake at 325 deg F for 1 hour.

Cheers to all things Thanksgiving. May your pants be stretchy and your bellies empty. Most of all may your conversations be meaningful and full of grace. Gobble gobble!

XO,

Kimberly