Saturday, October 06, 2007

I apologize in advance for the tardiness of this posting! (This SHOULD have been posted yesterday, as Overwhelmed! very clearly posted on her blog... yesterday was a crazy day in the library, followed by a crazy dinner out with the fam, and finished up with an "enjoyable" grocery shopping trip with the entire fam through Wal-Mart and Sam's Club).  For those of you are questioning what exactly I'm referring to about Overwhelmed!, go here. You'll be SOOOOO glad you did!

So! The following recipes are ones that are special to my family, and ones that we enjoy during the holiday season(s), and I think I'll post them in order that they COULD appear during a holiday meal...




Chicken and Corn Chowder

*  This recipe comes from EPCOT Center, in Orlando, Florida.  My parents still live in Florida, and while I was growing up there, we would visit Disney World and its sister park, EPCOT, every so often.  I have always liked to collect cookbooks, and on one trip, I happened to pick up a cookbook that features recipes from different restaurants throughout Walt Disney World, EPCOT Center, Disneyland in California, and the various hotels that are on Disney property.

  1. 1/2 cup margarine or butter
  2. 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
  3. 6 tablespoons flour
  4. 4 chicken bouillon cubes
  5. 2 1/2 cups hot water
  6. 1 1/2 cups cubed cooked potatoes
  7. 1 can (16 or 17 ounces) whole kernel corn, undrained
  8. 3 cups hot milk
  9. 1 teaspoon sugar
  10. 1/4 teaspoon white pepper (if you have it; if not, black works just fine!)
  11. 2 chicken breasts, poached, cooled, and chopped
Heat butter in a large saucepot and cook onion until it's tender but not brown.  Add flour; cook and stir for 5 minutes over low heat.  Do not brown.  Add bouillon cubes and hot water, stirring with a whisk to fully mix together.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  This will become thick, almost like a condensed soup straight from the can. Add remaining ingredients and bring to the boiling point.

Southern Cornbread Dressing

*  This isn't really a recipe; it's basically a mistake that worked really well, and one that continues to this day, at least in my family.  (My husband, who was born in New York, raised on (shudder) white bread STUFFING (BIG difference, ya'll, and those of you who are from the South can totally understand from whence I come with this, I do believe) will eat ONLY this dressing during Thanksgiving and Christmastime, and will pass on by his mother's WHITE BREAD STUFFING.  Go figure!

  1. 3 boxes JIFFY Cornbread Muffin mix (MUST BE JIFFY, NO EXCEPTIONS!)
  2. 3 eggs
  3. 1 cup milk
  4. 3-4 ribs celery, chopped fine to medium, depending on your relationship with celery
  5. 1-2 onions, chopped fine to medium, depending on your relationship with onions
  6. 1-2 boxes/cans (the big ones) of Swanson chicken broth
  7. Poultry seasoning or sage, again, depending on your relationship with these spices
  8. Black pepper, to your taste
To begin this process, prepare your cornbread.  I generally will use my 13x9 baking pan to bake it all off together, since it's going to be crumbled up anyway.  The boxes will tell you how to do it, but you will only be combining all of your eggs, the cornbread mix, and your cup of milk.  Mix together well, and bake at 350 for about 35 minutes, or until browned up nicely on top.

After your cornbread is baked, you will then cut/crumble it up into a really large bowl, combining it with your chopped onion and celery, and the poultry seasoning, sage, and black pepper TO YOUR TASTE.  Once all of this is combined well, start adding the chicken broth.  You will want to stir it together, making sure to have all your ingredients incorporated well.  I don't have an exact measurement of how much chicken broth to use, because it's all according to your eye.  If the mixture looks wet, soggy, and kind of sitting in a puddle, that's exactly what you want.  Once it looks that way, put it back into the SAME PAN you baked your cornbread in to begin with.  You will put this back into the same oven that you started with, and let it bake back together, probably around 45 minutes to an hour.  If it starts browning up on the top and edges quicker than 45 minutes, pull it out.


Hello Dollies

*  I'm sure that everyone has had this recipe in their boxes/envelopes/photo albums somewhere, because it goes by so many names. (Seven layer cookies, magic cookie bars, etcetera).  But these are special to me because my Nanny LOVED these cookies, and before she passed away last year with Alzheimer's, my mama would make these for her around Christmastime.  

  1. 1 stick butter or margarine
  2. Graham cracker crumbs
  3. 1/2 bag butterscotch chips
  4. 1/2 bag semisweet chocolate chips
  5. 3/4 cup chopped pecans
  6. 3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut
  7. 1/2 to 3/4 bag of mini marshmallows
  8. 1 can Eagle brand sweetened condensed milk
To begin, melt your stick of butter in a 13x9 baking dish in a 350 degree oven.  After the entire stick has melted, but not browned, sprinkle in enough graham cracker crumbs to entirely cover up the melted butter.  Sprinkle on the rest of your ingredients, order doesn't matter, but finish the entire deal with your marshmallows, topped off with the sweetened condensed milk.
This will go back into the 350 degree oven for approximately 10-12 minutes, long enough to brown up the sweetened condensed milk, and puff up the marshmallows.  BEWARE!  These are STICKY, GOOEY, SWEET BEYOND BELIEF, but OH SO GOOD!!!!!!

7 comments:

Tami said...

Your recipes sound great. I am planning on making cornbread stuffing for the first time this Thanksgiving.

Terri said...

I'm totally with you on the cornbread dressing. My husband usually makes it at our holiday meals and he uses Jiffy mix in his, too.

Deb @ Sugarfused said...

I'm so glad to find the Hello Dollies recipe...they are sooooo good!

Melissa said...

ALL of these sound DELICIOUS! I've copied down everyone, and I plan on trying them all this fall. Thanks for sharing!

Vickie said...

You are a southern married to a yankee living in the north and I am a yankee married to a southern living in the south. lol Since I grew up in the north I never had cornbread stuffing until well after I moved to the south. I have never made it but I am going to try your recipe. Thanks for sharing!

His Doorkeeper said...

I'm so happy to hear someone else call these "magic bars" by the name of Hello Dollies because that's what we always called them growing up! They are so rich but soooo good!

Nan said...

Thanks for the recipes. Stop by for my chicken velvet soup.
Nan