Give-Thanks-Giving: Favorite Holiday Recipes

Good food isn’t a requirement for good holiday celebrations…

Okay, yeah, it IS pretty important, isn’t it? You can enjoy your family time without it, but a delicious menu makes it even better!

I’m guessing we all have our favorite holiday “staple” recipe. That one that “it just wouldn’t be Thanksgiving” without. My husband is pretty simple. As long as he has turkey, mashed potatoes and dressing he is happy. I like a little more to my Thanksgiving meal than bread and meat.

It should be obvious by my expanding waist line that dessert is included in my list!

It should come as no surprise that my great-grandmother’s cherry pie recipe is one of mine (and my family’s) favorites. And what a thought to think that this recipe has been in our family for so many generations!

Of course – they didn’t leave out all the calories and sugar either! And while I am all. for. making healthy versions for some foods, there are some things that just need to stay the same. Like my Nannie Dot’s cherry pie. Just sayin.’

This is one of my mom’s favorites too I’ll admit, it’s 2nd or 3rd on my list – my Nannie’s pecan pie is number one. Hands down. No contest. And though I *could* share that recipe with you, the cherry pie is the one that my mom requested for her birthday instead of a cake. The one that we made and took pictures of. =)

So without further ado, I present to you, the best cherry pie you have ever put in your mouth:

Nannie Dot’s Cherry Pie

1 cup sugar
2 heaping T flour
1 can red tart pitted cherries
2 crusts

1. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the liquid from the cherries with the sugar and the flour, set aside.
2. Pour the cherries into the bottom pie crust; pour the liquid mixture over the cherries until covered (you may not use it all).
3. Cover with a top crust, vented, or a lattice crust if you prefer.
4. Bake @ 400 for 10 min, then 325 for 30 minutes (or until the top crust is golden brown.)
5. Let cool til warm before eating so the filling can gel a little. Cut, serve, enjoy!

Of course, eating it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream is a MUST!

I took these two pictures the next morning after the pie was well-cooled. You can see this isn’t the kind of pie that is going to fall apart on your plate. It also isn’t artificially dyed red with tons of food coloring or over-the-top sweet with too much sugar, since you used the tart cherries instead of the cherry pie filling. The difference between the two is amazing, trust me!

My Nannie Dot (Dorothy) also had a pie crust recipe, and an ice cream maker. And we often made ice cream in the summer but sometimes during the holidays, too, to eat with all our warm pies. Is it just me or do the simpler, traditional recipes of the past just taste so much better??

You know what?? – Hubby has challenged me to make a holiday recipe book of my family’s best recipes handed down over the generations. He doesn’t think I will finish it, that’s what it is. My family has okay’d me using the recipes though, so I’ll just have to show HIM, huh?! I’m actually a lot farther on it than what he thinks.  *snicker*

Another recipe that has been in my family since my childhood (I don’t know how long) is our Christmas Cocoa.

I don’t know why it’s called CHRISTMAS cocoa – we make it at the first sign of cold weather and keep it in the pantry all winter long. This recipe was actually my FIRST blog post at my previous blog and it moved over here when I merged my blogs at Classic Housewife. You can find that recipe here.

What’s your recipe (or recipes) that you just can’t live without this holiday season?

Won’t you share with us? Add your posts to the linky below and let us all “give” our best recipe posts a little linky love, and “give” each other some good and new recipes to try at home this year. Who knows? You could discover your new “must have” recipe that your grandchildren will be talking about generations from now. If you’d like to link up more than one recipe post, that is fine – the more the merrier! Add a link back here at the bottom and don’t forget to grab the button!

This post is a part of my Give-Thanks-Giving Bloggiversary! Check it out.