Recently, I did a “Best Thing I Ate at Thanksgiving” post and shared several recipes, but they were in the comments and got a little lost. I’ll repost those below as well.

SWEET POTATO DELIGHT

Ingredients:  3 C. sweet potatoes, cooked, peeled, mashed (about 3-4 medium)
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
1 T Vanilla
2/3 C butter
1/2 C. milk

Topping: 1/3 C. flour
1/3 C butter
1 C brown sugar
1 C chopped pecans

Mix sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs vanilla, milk & 2/3 C. butter. Pour in greased casserole dish.

Mix in small bowl:  brown sugar, flour, 1/3 c butter, & nuts.  Pour over sweet potato mixture.  Do not mix in.

Bake at 350º F. for 30 min.   Top will be crunchy.  Stir crunchy crust into the soft potatoes and serve.  (Add marshmallows to top and brown for 5 min. if desired.)

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Karo Syrup’s original Pecan Pie recipe is here: http://www.karosyrup.com/recipe_details.asp?id=485

My Granny’s version: Southern Pecan Pie

3 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 C. Dark Karo syrup
3/4 C. clear Karo syrup
2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/8 tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla
3 Tbsp flour
1-1/2 C. whole pecans
1 unbaked 8″ pie shell
Combine eggs, molasses, syrups, melted butter, salt and vanilla in mixing bowl. In a small bowl, make a paste of a small amount of the liquid mixture and flour; stir into remaining mixture. Add pecans. Stir. Turn into unbaked pastry shell. Bake at 325º F for 1 hour or until firm.

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My chocolate version comes from the recipes included with Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate bars. I can’t find a link to the one I have. This one adds coconut, but the one I use doesn’t.

The one I use doesn’t.

CHOCOLATE PECAN PIE

1 pkg (4 oz) BAKER’S® GERMAN’S® Sweet Chocolate
2 Tbsp butter
1 C. corn syrup (I use Karo)
1/3 C sugar
3 eggs 1 tsp vanilla
1-1/2 C pecan halves
1 unbaked 9″ pie shell Whipped topping (optional)

Heat oven to 350º F Microwave chocolate and butter in large microwavable bowl at HIGH 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Mix in corn syrup, sugar, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Stir in pecans. Pour into pie shell. Bake 55 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Garnish with whipped topping and additional pecan halves, if desired. 8 servings.

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If anyone is in the mood to make cookies, like Samantha Storm was, check out the link to her name and you’ll find the recipes for Pumpkin Whoopie Pies Cookies, and Cooky Cookies. Also in the comments, were links for
PEPPERMINT MELTAWAY COOKIES (via me)
an Australian favourite – ANZAC biscuits (from a regular, Mary Preston)
Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies (via C.E. Hart)
Fruitcake Cookies (via Pam Asberry)

Pumpkin Cookies (from Sandra Elzie)
2/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 ¼ cup sugar (1/2 brown, ½ white)
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 1/2 cups fours
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp each cinnamon, nutmeg & ginger
¾ cup raisins or nuts….optional

1) Mix everything together and bake 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes. 2)Frost or glaze with just conf sugar and milk  (depending how sweet you like your cookies)

When cooled, they can be frozen in zip-lock bags.  They thaw to taste like you just baked them.  (I usually double the recipe…some for now & some to freeze)

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Marilyn Baron also posted a recipe for Sinfully Sweet Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookies that sound…well, sinful!

Maxine Davis shared her recipe for Buttermilk Pie and my, is it as tasty as it is EASY!

Bryonna Nobles shared her Nana’s recipes for Broccoli-Rice Casserole, Sweet Potato Casserole, Cold Oven Pound Cake and Banana Pudding. Now if that’s not a bunch of yummy, I don’t know what is.

But that’s not all.

Kimberly Brock shared her recipe for Damascus’ Pumpkin Spice Pound Cake
and Linsey Lanier shared her recipe’s for Hubby’s Guilt-Induced Make Up Appetizer and French Onion Dip made with Greek yogurt.

Since we’re talking food and recipes, I would be remiss if I didn’t let everyone know that we PFHT ladies have a cookbook available which can be seen on our books page near the bottom. If you’re interested in purchasing one, e-mail us using the CONTACT form in our menu header.

In addition, Marilyn Baron has a terrific recipe for  Pasta Passionata Alla Carbonara  in Passionate Cooks: Free Recipes From Today’s Hottest Romance Authors. Follow the link to download the book for FREE!

Nana & Papa

So the holidays are upon us.  Always a busy time of the year.  I won’t say especially for me but I have a lot of family to shop for and cook for plus my writing and stuff for Georgia Romance Writers and getting ready for a whole new year.

Thanksgiving is a particularly emotional time for me.  You see, a couple of years ago, she died very unexpectedly on November 16, 2010.   One week before Thanksgiving of that year.  The thing is, what made it even harder, was that Thanksgiving was her favorite holiday.

Every year, our family would rent a Church hall and all of Nana’s brothers and sisters and all their kids and grandkids would come and we’d have this huge Thanksgiving potluck.  All together.  We’d have like three hams, five turkeys and more deviled eggs then you’ve ever seen under one roof.

My brother-in-law often jokes that he loves our Thanksgiving because he feels all these old Southern women are having a deviled egg competition, seeing which of us can make them better.  He very much enjoys going around and sampling them all.

When she died, I felt cold.  I was very close to my Nana, she was the very last grandparent I had.  I didn’t want to go to Thanksgiving dinner that year, knowing her brother would mention her death, knowing I’d look on that table and see none of her dishes.  It was going to be too hard and the very thought made it so I couldn’t breath.

It was my sister who told me I had to go.  This was Nana’s favorite holiday and she’d be so disappointed in me if I stayed home.

Nana’s recipe box went to me when she died.  No one argued, I don’t think it occurred to them to.  She taught me how to cook.  In everyone’s mind, the recipe box was mine.

I dug through that box of yellowed, handwritten index cards and I pulled out every single one that she cooked to take to Thanksgiving dinner.  I called my sister and I told her “I need you to come over Wednesday.  I need you to help me make Thanksgiving dinner.  I can’t do this by myself.”

Now my sister did not grow up cooking like I did.  Its a fairly recent development but she does a good job.  While the idea of cooking Thanksgiving dinner terrified her, she did make the 40 minute drive down to do just that.

We made all of Nana’s recipes right there in Nana’s kitchen.  My sister brought her girls and I taught them how to crack eggs in a bowl just like Nana had taught me.  That helped some.  Passing on the knowledge Nana gave me to the next generation, knowing that one day I’d teach my kids and my grandkids as she taught me.

I won’t say it wasn’t a completely stress-free event.  There were tears and yelling (honestly, can a bunch of women try and cook Thanksgiving dinner and not yell?  Come on now, you know better).

When we carried Nana’s casseroles into that church hall on Thanksgiving day, it was a hard.  But surrounded by family on Nana’s favorite holiday, breathing became a little easier.  I can’t tell you how many cousins came by to say they never thought they’d see her Broccoli-Cheese Casserole again.

Holidays are important.  We not only celebrate that holiday but the memories it has created within us over the years and we remember the people who are no longer here.

Nana when she was younger

So in honor of Nana, I’d like to give you the recipes she cooked every single Thanksgiving.  I hope you’ll let them grace your table. While I do not promise that they’ll be good for you, they’re definitely delicious and a tradition in my family.  It would not be Thanksgiving without them

I will also share with you two of her most famous deserts and some stories behind them.  I hope you’ll enjoy.  And please, come back and leave comments if you try even one of these recipes.  Let me know what you think, how your family liked them.  Thanksgiving is still hard to face without her but I do so with her recipe box in hand.  And so it would mean the world to me if you share your experiences with her recipes as well.

Broccoli-Cheese Casserole

1 large box frozen broccoli
1 bag Boil-in-Bag rice  (either brown or white)
2 eggs
1 large jar Cheese Whiz
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup -or- Broccoli Cheese Soup

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.  In a large pot, bring water with a dash of salt to boil.  Add broccoli and cook according to package directions.  While broccoli is boiling, mix all other ingredients except rice in a large bowl.  Pour drained broccoli into mixture reserving broccoli liquid to cook rice.  Bring liquid to a boil and add rice.  Boil rice for fifteen minutes.  Add rice to mixture.  (That hot broccoli and rice will melt the Cheese Whiz).  Pour into greased casserole dish and bake for 30-45 minutes until firm.  Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Casserole

2 eggs, well-beaten
1 cup sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 cups cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup milk
1 cup coconut

For Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup coconut

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.  Mix all ingredients for casserole well.  Nana mixed hers with a mixer.  Pour into a large baking dish sprayed with cooking spray (easier to clean).  Mix together the ingredients for topping before spooning it over the sweet potatoes and spreading evenly.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.

We also made Dressing, of course, but that has no recipe.  We just sort of throw things together.  But those are two things we always make for Thanksgiving.  We even leave a small portion of the Sweet Potato Casserole without topping because my Uncle Steven doesn’t like nuts.

Now, for those dessert recipes I promised you.

Cold Oven Pound Cake

Nana & Papa

This was probably one of Nana’s favorite recipes.  She always had the ingredients to make one of her ‘cold oven’ pound cakes on hand.  She would often add different flavors to the cake such as chocolate chips, coconut and other things.  The recipe has been used so often that the card is distorted by drops and splashes of this and that, causing the ink to smear though one can still read it.

One of my favorite stories is one that she and mom told me often.  I was two years old and it was Christmas Eve.  I got to open one gift on Christmas Eve and mom tells me I had opened up some dolls and was playing with them.  As I played, Papa, who was not a very ceremonial man, got up out of his recliner and said “So we’re giving gifts?  Alright.”

Papa then proceeded to go downstairs to his office in the basement and bring back out a large box in a K-Mart bag – the box wasn’t even wrapped – and sat it in front of Nana.  I looked up from my dolls and said, “Oh Nana, you got a mixer! Let’s go bake a cake.”  I dropped my dolls and toddled off into the kitchen, Nana at my heels and we did, indeed, bake that impromptu cake with her new Sunbeam mixer.  Her Cold Oven Pound Cake.

3 cups sugar
1 cup Crisco
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons Self-Rising Flour
6 large eggs
1/2 pint (1 cup) whipped cream
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

Sift flour 3 times.  Mix sugar and Crisco together.  Mix eggs one at a time into mixture.  Alternate flour and whipped cream.  Add vanilla.  Cook at 300 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes in tube pan.  Do not preheat oven.

Old Fashion Banana Pudding

This Banana pudding recipe is very special to Nana.  It was taught to her by her sister, Coriene.  Aunt Riene told me the day of Nana’s funeral that when Nana was younger, whenever Aunt Riene would come to visit, Nana would go out and buy all the things Aunt Riene would need to make this pudding until one day Aunt Riene said “Paula, I’m going to teach you how to make this so that you don’t have to wait for me every time you want it.” 

Aunt Riene laughed and told me that Nana’s reply was “Oh no!  I can’t separate eggs.”  But Aunt Riene was true to her word.  She sat there in the kitchen and just instructed Nana on how to make this banana pudding.  In the end, Nana told Aunt Riene that “If you ever have kids, you’ll have them cooking by the time they’re two!”  Well, Aunt Riene wasn’t the only one, Nana.  I was two when we were cooking those Cold Oven Pound Cakes.

3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsps flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks
2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
Nilla Wafers
6 very ripe bananas, sliced

Mix together all ingredients but vanilla wafers.  Cook on stove top until pudding thickens.  About 5 minutes.  Take vanilla wafers and line the bottom and sides of baking dish.  Pour in pudding mixture.  Float more wafers in pudding if desired.  Top with meringue.

Preheat oven at 425 and bake about 5 minutes.

(Please Note that while Nana wrote 5 minutes, it took more like 10 to 15 minutes in each place.  So you just need to watch it.)

Meringue for Banana Pudding

3 egg whites
1/4 cup sugar

Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry.  Add ¼ cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.  Bake at 425 degrees about 5 minutes.

In Loving Memory of
Paula Ray Cox
“Nana”
August 13, 1944 – November 16, 2010

Paula Cox was a loving wife, mother and grandmother.  She was married to William Toby “Papa” Cox (May 17, 1937 – January 13, 2000), whom she reunited with again November 16, 2010.  This post and these recipes are dedicated to her loving memory.  For she may be gone from our sights but she will always be there in our hearts.

Hello, I’m Bryonna Nobles, the newest member of the Petit Fours and Hot Tamales Blog Group.  To say I’m a little nervous, this being my first post and all, is an understatement.

I honestly had no idea what I would talk about today.  Not until I was at work and one of the ladies there told me about how she’d made a cookbook.  Her daughter had been asking her for years to take all the recipes in her head and make a cookbook of them.  So two years ago, she did, giving it to her daughter for Christmas.

As she described how her daughter began to cry, tears came to my own eyes.  I know exactly how her daughter felt.

My Nana passed away unexpectedly in November of 2010.  While we readied for her funeral, my aunt handed me her recipe box.  This old fashioned wood one that had definitely seen better days.  As I opened up the box I knew so well from baking with my grandmother, I fingered through the stained index cards, picking one out every now and again.  I’d smile at the memories and I’d cry knowing we’d never have that time together again.

Nana taught me all I know about cooking.  I remember as though it were yesterday, dragging my little footstool up to the counter, cracking eggs into a saucer and watching her pick out the shell bits that inevitably joined the egg whites in the bowl before she pitched the contents into her Sunbeam mixer.

These are memories I shall always cherish.  Missing her like crazy, the day after her funeral I drug out her recipe box and I took out each card, one by one, and I typed them up on my computer.  It took me nearly a week, typing obsessively, but I wrote out each and every recipe into a cookbook.

That Christmas, I gave everyone in my family a copy of Cooking with Nana, some cried but all appreciated it.  No one wanted to lose those recipes we’d all grown up with.

What’s more, every time I came across a recipe that held a special memory, I wrote out that memory, sharing it with my family.  They, in turn, shared their memories with me and we spent Christmas with Nana, even if she wasn’t with us.

One such memory involved Nana’s favorite pound cake.  When I was a child, we always got to open one gift on Christmas Eve.  I was 2 and my mother gave me a set of dolls.  Papa, never a ceremonial man, just stood up, saying, “We’re giving out Christmas presents?  Alright.”  He then proceeded to go down into the basement where his office was.

A few minutes later, he returned with a large, unwrapped box still in its K-mart bag.

Before she even got it open, my two year old self looked up and said, “Oh Nana!  You got a mixer.  Let’s go bake a cake!”  My dolls forgotten on the floor, I toddled off into her kitchen.  And we did bake that impromptu pound cake.

I told my Aunt Reen, Nana’s older sister, this story at Nana’s funeral.  This made her laugh.  She said, “You know, its funny, Paula (Nana) always said that it’d be me having my kids cookin’ at 2.”  She then told me a story about my grandmother, I never knew.

Nana’s favorite desert is banana pudding.  Real, old fashioned banana pudding.  Not that box stuff.

Having been raised by her older sister, my Aunt Reen, she was very upset when Reen got married and moved away from the farm.  Whenever Reen would come to visit, Nana would have everything she needed for Aunt Reen to make Banana Pudding.

Well one day, Reen called to tell Nana she was coming to visit.  ”Good, I have all the stuff so you can make me banana pudding,” Nana had said.  I’m guessing she was about eight years old at this time.

Aunt Reen replied, “Paula, I’m not going to make you banana pudding today.  I’m going to teach you how to make it so you don’t always have to wait for my visitin’.”

“I can’t do that!” Nana exclaimed.  ”I can’t separate eggs!”  As though this was the most impossible task ever set before her in her life.

But Aunt Reen was true to her word.  When she got to the house, she sat at the kitchen table and talked Nana through the steps of making Banana Pudding.  It came out perfectly.

“Reen,” Nana said as she sat down to her plate of pudding.  ”You’re goin’ to have your kids cookin’ by the time they’re 2!”

Isn’t it amazing how one little thing like a recipe, a certain food, even the smell of a certain meal can bring up so many memories?  And these are just a couple of mine.

What about you?  What foods bring certain memories to mind?  I’d love you to share them.

Oh, and in honor of my grandmother, allow me to share with you, her Pound Cake and her Banana Pudding Recipe.  I hope you enjoy them.

Nana’s Pound Cake

3 cups sugar
1 cup Crisco
3 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
6 large eggs
1/2 pint whipped cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Sift flour 3 times.  Mix sugar and Crisco together.  Mix eggs one at a time into mixture.  Alternate flour and whipped cream.  Add vanilla.  Cook at 300 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes in tube pan.  Do not preheat oven.

Nana’s Favorite Banana Pudding

3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Vanilla Wafers
6 ripe bananas, sliced

Directions:

Mix together all ingredients but vanilla wafers.  Cook on stove top until pudding thickens.  About 5 minutes.  Take vanilla wafers and line the bottom and sides of baking dish.  Pour in pudding mixture.  Float more wafers in pudding if desired.  Top with meringue.

Preheat oven at 425 and bake about 5 minutes.

Meringue for Banana Pudding

3 egg whites
¼ cup sugar

Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry.  Add ¼ cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.  Bake at 425 degrees about 5 minutes.