~ A Christmas Story Dinner ~

I've been fixing this dinner for a long time; my now teenage boys have come to expect the month of December. It's the meal the Parker's are seen eating just prior to the 'old man' getting his major award and after Ralphie's fight. The only thing I changed, is the purple cabbage - we don't care for it, so I use green cabbage - actually, I buy the shredded cabbage or cole slaw mix in the bag because it has carrots in it, and I like the sweetness (and convenience.) I also serve a platter of cornbread with mine. Remember, I cook for a family of six, five of them men so this meal could be a bigger one than you need; either reduce the quantities by half or this could be a 'cook once eat twice' meal.

I hope everyone enjoys this as much as my family - and of course, it's best served while watching 'A Christmas Story.'

Meatloaf Smeatloaf

3 lbs ground beef

1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs (if making fresh breadcrumbs, that's 5 slices of bread)

2 eggs slightly beaten

1/4 grated onion

1 small clove minced garlic

1 tsp Kitchen Bouquet

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp black pepper

2 tsp sloppy joe sauce (can reserved for topping)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In large bowl, mix eggs, onion, garlic, Kitchen Bouquet, salt, black pepper, and sloppy joe sauce. Give it a quick mix; add ground beef and breadcrumbs, mix gently until everything is incorporated - be careful not to over mix, or your meatloaf will not have a moist texture. (It's very fra-gee-lay...) In the meantime, mix 2 tbsp brown sugar into the rest of the sloppy joe sauce, reserve for topping.

Form mixture into 2 even loaves, place in oven proof roasting dish. Top each loaf with a few tablespoons of sauce, and put in the oven for 45 minutes, remove from oven and add a little more sauce if desired. Bake until internal temperature is 165, or about 1 hour and 15 minutes. (every oven is different, so check periodically for best results.) Heat the sauce on the stove for about 5 minutes, until hot. Serve on the side.

Mashed Potatoes

10 peeled potatoes, cut into chunks (I use russet potatoes)

10 cups cold water

1 1/2 sticks of butter or margarine

2/3 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

In a large pan over high heat, bring potatoes & water to a rolling boil; after 15 minutes, check for tenderness, a knife should go right through without them being mushy. If not, you may need to add 5 more minutes to cooking time. When potatoes are tender, strain and return to dry pan. In the meantime, heat milk and butter until butter is melted. Add milk and butter to potatoes, part at a time, whip with mixer or potato masher, whatever is best for you. Don't beat them too long, you don't want them to be like glue (save the glue to repair your major award...)

Sauteed Cabbage

1 lb bag cole slaw mix or 1/2 large head cabbage, shredded

2 tsp butter

1 tsp kosher salt

Pepper to taste

In a hot skillet, melt the butter over medium high heat - add the cabbage and using tongs or a spoon and a fork saute the cabbage until covered in melted butter and hot but still crisp, this happens quickly - usually just about 5 minutes. Cover and keep warm until the rest of the meal is done.

This dinner is best served with a plate of white bread, a plate of dill pickles and tall glasses of ice cold milk.

From my family to yours, I wish you all the happiness in the world, and may all your wishes - like Ralphie's - come true.

Eggnog Pound Cake

My sister sent me 2 pieces of this cake tonight and it was positively delicious! It would be great to take to an office pot luck or family gathering. And it's not hard to make, doesn't cost a lot and takes minutes to prepare so you can still have time to enjoy your holiday. It's from the Southern Living magazine.

Eggnog Pound Cake

1 package pound cake mix (16 oz package)
1 1/4 cups eggnog
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 5 inch loaf pan (I'd use real butter, you get a great texture.)

Beat all ingredients together on low speed: Increase to medium speed and beat for 2 minutes. Pour into greased pan. Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean. Cool in a pan on a wire rack, about 10 minutes, remove the bread from the pan and continue to cool on wire rack. Slices clean in about an hour (but I bet it would taste sinfully good while still warm.)

Nothing says holiday like eggnog! And make sure you take a copy of this recipe, because anybody who eats it will want to know how you made it!

Catt's Homemade Dill Dip

I know this is a retro recipe, and I know you can buy it - but it's so much better if you make it yourself. And if you can't find the round bread to use, then use a bowl and surround the dip with crisp vegetables, and cubes of good crusty bread. The original recipe called for a spice, Beau-Monde; some can't find that in their area and I hate buying one spice for one thing. In this day and age, it's too expensive. So I've made an appropriate change.

Catt's Dill Dip

1 cup mayonnaise (use a good brand)
1 cup sour cream
2 Tablespoons dried minced onion
1 tablespoon parsley
1 teaspoon dill weed
1/2 teaspoon celery salt

Whisk together all ingredients. Let sit overnight, so the flavors can marry. Serve in a hollowed round loaf of pumpernickel bread, or in a green pepper and a red pepper, which have been hollowed out also. Can also serve with crackers and vegetables even though I have to tell you, the best thing to dip in this is bread cubes. I just take a loaf of french bread and cut it into bite sized cubes. Yummy!

Do you remember making No-Bake Cookies / Wheat Fudge?

This is the first thing I ever made - I think it was in elementary school, and I don't know why it was called Wheat Fudge. What I do know, is you can buy them made by Lofthouse, $3.99 for 8 cookies. Yikes. You can make triple that amount by making them homemade, at a fraction of the cost.

No Bake Cookies / Wheat Fudge

2 cups sugar
1 stick margarine (I use the margarine that's 80% vegetable oil from Kroger)
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup milk
3 cups quick oats
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

In heave saucepan, combine sugar, margarine, cocoa, and milk. Stir and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly and boiling for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and quickly fold in peanut butter and vanilla. Next add the oats, stirring rapidly. Work quickly dropping by spoonfuls onto wax or parchment paper.

Cool & enjoy!

Great gift item too for the holidays! Put them in a nice serving tin, plastic containers or holiday boxes. I've been getting mine at the dollar store - or my local Big Lots has nice holiday cello bags, a 20 ct. package for $1.50. I wrap mine individually in the holiday plastic wrap then put them in the serving container that's lined with tissue paper. They stack nicely in the cello bags, but they should all be the same size. I drop mine by tablespoons so they look alike but still have that rustic, homemade look.

Fudge ... The Queen-Mother of Dirty Words

For so many of us, Fudge is something either you make well, or you never attempt it since the day you wasted all of your ingredients and made chocolate water. I've had fudge taste like ocean water sand, made fudge that looked and tasted good but never went past the flood water consistency (therefore, I gave lots of 'hot fudge sauce' that year.) Batch after batch, I tried and each and every time - regardless of how it tasted, you could either drink it or use it to fill in the potholes of your driveway. I'm pretty sure during the wind storm we had here in September of 2008, our home was the only one on the block whose roof stayed firmly intact; it was the great fudge of 1996 my husband used to glue those suckers down.

All that changed in 1996. It was the year I lost my mom, and that Christmas I thought I would try one last time to make the fudge she was so famous for. Now my mom had long given up the fudge made by my grandmother; I remember when they made the old time fudge, you had to beat it until it lost its gloss. If that's the fudge you remember, then these recipes are not for you. This is a creamy fudge, like pure silk. And it was December of 1996 that I finally got it right. It may have helped that I used my mother's pan; it's a heavy, turquoise Club Aluminum pan my father actually bought her before I was born. And she had one wooden spoon that was used only for fudge. Her recipe, she has timed exactly right so she never used a candy thermometer or dropped some in cold water to get to the soft ball stage. I remember standing at the stove and knowing this was my last chance to get it right. I followed her recipe, used a timer so I wouldn't have to guess at anything. When I poured that fudge into the buttered pan and realized it was actually going to turn into fudge, well I knew it was the combination of her pan, her spoon, her recipe and most of all, with one taste of that fudge I could actually close my eyes and remember as a child how it felt to be with her again - if only for a second.

As I got better at making fudge, I started playing around with flavors. I now make at least four flavors each year; Chocolate and Peanut Butter which are pretty standard at the holidays. But I have two flavors, Snickerdoodle White Fudge and Orange-Walnut White Fudge I've made on my own and they are just as popular as the traditional.


Catt's Chocolate Fudge

3 cups sugar (I use only Domino's)
1 1/2 sticks butter (I use salted butter, or Kroger brand 80% vegetable oil margarine)
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 package (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme
2 teaspoons pure vanilla


Grease 1 13x9 pan, or 2 8 oz square pans.

Basic instructions for all fudge:
Stir together sugar, butter and milk in a heavy saucepan (mine is 3 qts) over a medium heat. Bring to a full boil, and boil for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and add the marshmallow cream, mixing until blended (make sure you work sort of quickly at this stage; you aren't in a race but you shouldn't stop.) Add the chocolate chips, mix until melted then add the vanilla - remember, work quickly. Pour into greased pan. Let it cool at room temperature about 2 hours, then cut into small squares. I've started putting parchment paper on the bottom of the pan (I just ever so slightly grease the parchment paper) that makes it easy to pop out of the pan, and gives you a cleaner cut since there is no lifting each piece from the pan with a spatula.

If you want 'male fudge' then add 1 cups finely chopped walnuts after adding the chocolate.


Catt's Peanut Butter Fudge

3 cups sugar (again, I use Domino's)
1 1/2 sticks butter (I use unsalted butter for the PB fudge or the 80% vegetable oil margarine)
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 package Reese's Peanut Butter Chips (10oz bag)
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme
2 tsp. vanilla

Follow the basic instructions above, substituting peanut butter chips instead of chocolate chips.



Catt's Snickerdoodle Fudge

3 cups sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter (I use salted butter or the 80% vegetable oil margarine)
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 (12 oz) package white chocolate chips (I use Nestle white chocolate chips)
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp pure almond extract
Red or green sugar or Cinnamon Sugar (optional)


Follow basic instructions above, substituting white chips for chocolate chips; blend both extracts and add last. When you pour into pan while fudge it still hot, sprinkle the top of the fudge with colored sugar, or cinnamon sugar. Tastes like a snickerdoodle cookie!



Catt's Orange Walnut White Fudge


3 cups sugar (I use Domino's)
1 1/2 sticks butter (I use unsalted butter for this recipe, or the 80% vegetable margarine)
2/3 cups evaporated milk
12 oz white chocolate chips (I use Nestle)
1 jar (7 oz) marshmallow creme
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange
3/4 cup chopped walnuts


Use basic instructions above, substituting white chocolate chips for chocolate chips; after adding extracts, quickly stir in zest and walnuts.


I hope this will become a holiday tradition for you and your family, as it has mine!

Baking tips!

People tell me all the time how my cookies, fudge and other desserts always look like a picture. I have no secrets - I'm not into crafting nor do I have anything special in my kitchen, I'm just a regular po-dunk mom. I do, however, think there are some tips & tricks anyone can do.

• Use a good, name brand flour & sugar - I prefer Domino's in the yellow plastic container and either Pillsbury, Gold Medal or White Lily all purpose flour . Does it cost more? Not enough to notice in your overall food bill, and if you are spending your time over the stove, you might as well cook with the best.
• Throw away those old spices! All of my spices are current, and I usually order from Penzeys; they are small containers so I know they are just a few months old. I grate whole nutmeg because I like the good clean taste.
• Good pure vanilla extract and pure almond extract are a must; I use both in my grandmother's pound cake recipe and I wouldn't risk my ingredients like eggs, sugar and flour to be enhanced with an imitation extract.
• My cookware is heavy quality; some are Club, belonging to my mother from back in the day; some are pieces I've saved for and bought individually. My cookie sheets are either food service baking sheets or the air-bake cookie sheets, but I line all of my cookie sheets with parchment paper - it makes a big difference if the bottom of the cookies are as pretty as the top. You'll notice a better texture all around.
• Wooden spoons keep my cookware from being scratched; I was lucky enough to find a bundle of Amish-made wooden spoons.
• Clean fresh eggs - they are just a must. And for cookies, I let the eggs come to room temperature.
• Butter, margarine or shortening; I like unsalted butter, a good margarine that's 80% vegetable oil (Kroger has a good brand - it says "Better for Baking" on the package.) And Crisco shortening is the only thing I buy. You can't beat it.

With the economy being what it is today, many people are going to make homemade gifts - I've been using the tips above for years, and I have people who ask to be on my gift list. And believe me, if I can do it, anyone can do it!

My Mom's Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Don't buy them at the mall - make your own at home for a fraction of the cost. I wrap them individually with parchment paper, a nice tiny bow in the middle then stacked in a festive Christmas basket. I'm not creative at all - so if I can pull it off, you can too! You can bake them smaller though, by using a tablespoon instead of a 1/4 measuring cup.

My Mom's Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies

3/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 12 oz package chocolate chips (I use Nestle mini semi sweet chocolate chips - I prefer the even small distribution of chocolate, plus they remain creamy in the cookie.)

Cream butter and shortening, gradually adding sugars, and beating well at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well. Sift flour, soda, and salt, then and add to creamed mixture, mixing well but not over mixing. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop dough by 1/4 cup onto greased cookie sheet. Lightly press down. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 - 17 minutes until light brown.

I sometimes sprinkle mine with vanilla sugar - I love the crunch on top!

My Mom Martha's Breakfast Casserole

This recipe never gets old; make it the night before, bake it off the morning before you put your turkey into the oven. It's so satisfying!

Martha's Breakfast Casserole

12 slices white bread (for a clean cut appearance, you can trim the crusts)
1/4 cup butter softened
1 lb. roll sausage, browned and drained
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I occasionally use 3 cups)
4 eggs
3 cups of milk

Spread softened butter on bread. Lay 6 slices butter side up in a greased casserole dish, I use a 9x13. Sprinkle half the sausage and half the cheese. Repeat layers. Whisk eggs and milk together, and pour over layers, making sure everything is saturated. Cover and chill overnight. Bake the next morning at 350 degrees for 45 - 50 minutes or until brown and bubbly.

Cutting right to the controversy:

I know this is a source of much controversy; but I'm taking the plunge and I'll handle the fall out:

Brine or no brine?

A Thanksgiving Timeline

Sunday

Buy your turkey. Depending on how many people you are having, you can choose your size. You should allow 1.5 persons per pound of turkey. This will allow for leftovers. Remember, you need a covered roaster or cooking bag. And sometimes, it is better to roast 2 small turkeys, as opposed to one large one. Unless there is someone who likes dark meat, a turkey breast is fine. If you are buying a fresh turkey, do not buy it until Tuesday. Tonight, put the turkey in the refrigerator to thaw. Finalize your menu. Make any last trips to the grocery to avoid the rush. While you can certainly start preparing some of your food now and freeze, there is no doubt food is better done the day of.

Monday

Make my Mom's Cranberry Conserve, and store in a covered container until Thursday.

Martha's Cranberry Conserve

4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 Tbsp grated orange peel
2 oranges, peeled sliced and quartered
1 cup raisins1
1/4 cups water
1 cup chopped pecans
2 1/2 cups sugar

In large saucepan, combine cranberries, orange peel, oranges, raisins, and water. Simmer until cranberries are soft (this takes about 20 minutes, until they split). Add pecans and sugar, stir well, and simmer 10-15 minutes, stirring often. Cool, then spoon into containers and chill. Stays good for about 2 weeks.

Tuesday

Make the cornbread for the dressing, or start drying your bread cubes. Make a mental inventory of what dishes you plan to use, and make sure you will have enough ice, drinks, Today you can also make any cakes or pound cakes you plan to serve. Have someone come over and help you clean the house.

Wednesday

You can make several dishes today. Such as:
Macaroni and cheese
Hashbrown casserole*
Green Bean casserole
Whipped sweet potatoes with marshmallow topping*
Baked Beans
Pumpkin Pie*
Apple Cake*
Dumplings (just cut and place in refrigerator until you need them)
You can also chop the onions and celery for the dressing.

Catt's Hashbrown Casserole

1 - 2 lb bag frozen southern style hashbrown potatoes, thawed (I use cubed but you can use shredded if you prefer)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream1 stick butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (I use sharp, but use your own tastes)
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup (about 1 "row") crushed Ritz crackers

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a casserole dish, a 7x11 works well, or a deep round dish. In a large mixing bowl, combine soup, sour cream, margarine, milk, cheese and onion, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper. Mix (I use a wooden spoon) stirring until creamy. Fold in potatoes until incorporated, making sure not to over mix so the potatoes will hold their shape. Pour into greased dish, top with crushed crackers and a few sprinkles of pepper (optional, I like the smell of the pepper) and bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. *For extra richness, mix the cracker crumbs with 1/2 stick melted butter thoroughly before topping the casserole. It gives the top a nice crunchy but still soft texture.

Catt's Sweet Potatoes

I start out with a large can of sweet potatoes. I boil them until they are hot, and then drain the liquid. In a large bowl, add the sweet potatoes, and a generous amount of butter, at least 1/2 a stick (or more if you prefer.) Add 1/4 cup of packed brown sugar and just a pinch of salt (it brings out the flavor of the potatoes.) As you whip the potatoes, start adding some heavy cream, until they are the consistency you prefer (we like ours firm.) Pour into a greased casserole dish, and top with marshmallows. Bake in a 400-degree oven, just until marshmallows are slightly brown. Serve. Very simple and delicious.

Last year I added Egg Nog instead of heavy cream - they were heavenly!

*You can use fresh sweet potatoes, just bake off 4 - 5 sweet potatoes until soft - peel, dice and proceed. Skip ahead to adding the ingredients and whipping.

This next method is very close to my heart. My mother made these as a newlywed, and she often told me my dad was so impressed. You prepare the potatoes, adding the butter, brown sugar but no milk. They need to be stiff. You take the potato mixture, and form it around a large marshmallow. Roll those in coarsely crushed cornflakes that's been tossed with melted butter, and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees, for just about 5 minutes or so. Watch carefully, because if you overcook, the marshmallow will disappear.

Catt's Pumpkin Pie

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pie filling)
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
½ teaspoon salt2 large eggs, plus 2 yolks
1-cup evaporated milk
1 can sweetened condensed milk
9 inch pie shell, baked

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In heavy saucepan, heat pumpkin, salt and pumpkin spice to blend, just a few minutes. Add both milks - cook until heated through. Whisk eggs and yolks with a mixer. With the mixer running, add pumpkin, a spoonful at a time at first until you bring the eggs to temperature - then add the rest. Adding the filling too quickly will cause the eggs to cook. Mix until you have a silky texture. Pour warm filling into pre baked pie shell. Bake until set - a knife inserted in the middle will come out clean. Cool an hour, and serve with whipped cream.

My Mamaw's Apple Cake

1 cup cooking oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups self-rising flour
1-teaspoon vanilla
3 cups chopped apples
1-cup nuts
½ cup raisins
1-teaspoon cinnamon
1-teaspoon nutmeg

Combine oil, sugar and eggs. Beat well. Add flour and beat well. Add remaining ingredients and blend well with spoon or spatula. Turn batter into a greased and floured 13x9 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes. Don't forget the trick of tossing the raisins and nuts with a tiny bit of flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom of your cake!

Thursday

This is the big day!

8:00 am

Place turkey in covered roaster or cooking bag, with 2 cups of water. Be sure to salt and pepper the turkey inside and out. For a brown skin, rub generously with real butter. Place in 300-degree oven with lid on. The last 45 minutes, increase oven temperature to 350 degrees, remove the lid or cut open your bag. This will allow a beautiful roasted turkey. At this temperature, you are looking at 3-5 hours for a 12-pound, so you will have to adjust your time. While the turkey is sitting waiting for the side dishes to cook, cover it to retain heat.

While your turkey is baking:

Set your table. Get the side dishes you made the day before and let them come to room temperature. Wash your dishes as you go along. Start your green beans. Add onion, bacon and chicken bullion or base, simmer for 45 minutes. Set to the side, and warm them up before serving.

For the dressing: Break up the bread and/or cornbread for the dressing, Sauté onion and celery gently on low heat until transparent. Add to dressing. Sprinkle with ground sage, I use 1 teaspoon, we like sage but it gets overpowering sometimes. Using the stock from the turkey, get the cubes moist. In a separate bowl, whisk 2 eggs with a little milk. Fold into dressing. Turn dressing into well greased casserole dish (here is a trick for a crisp bottom - let the casserole dish sit in the oven with 2 tablespoons butter until melted. Pour dressing into dish.) Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

You can now bake the sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese or baked beans along with the dressing. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees if baking more than one thing.

Mashed Potatoes: While the dressing is baking, peel potatoes and boil for 20 minutes - start your potatoes in cold water, and they will cook much better without turning to mush. Drain. Heat heavy whipping cream, salt, pepper and butter in a measuring cup: for 8 potatoes, use 3/4 stick margarine to about 1/2 cup whipping cream (you don't have to use cream, you can use milk.) Start mashing the potatoes using a masher or handheld mixer, adding the liquid slowly until they are the consistency you prefer. Place lid on potatoes to retain heat until ready to eat.

Dumplings: While potatoes are boiling, bring more stock to a simmer and add dumplings. Stir frequently but gently until dumplings sink. Cover until time to serve.

Dumpling method: I use 6 cups of stock (which I make by using chicken or turkey base) to one can of a 10 count buttermilk biscuits. Dredge each biscuit in flour lightly and roll out to a large circle about the size of a saucer; use a pizza cutter and slice each biscuit into strips, turn and cut again until you have squares. Drop the biscuits into the simmering stock one by one, and it will take about 15 minutes. Depending on the type of biscuits you use, it's not a bad idea to have a cup or two of hot stock just in case they start to get too thick. You can just add a little stock at a time until you have the balance you want. And as I said above, if you don't have enough stock from your turkey, you can always use chicken or turkey base, and they also have cartons of stock at the grocery usually in the soup aisle. Cutting your dumplings the night before, and covering with plastic wrap in the refrigerator takes a lot of stress out of your preparation on Thanksgiving Day.

Corn: If you are serving this, prepare it now.

Make Gravy

Remove dressing from oven when bubbly around the edges.
Place the rolls in the oven.
Carve turkey
Take food to the table.

Whew! Eat and enjoy, and let everyone else do the dishes!

Remember, if you are not concerned with bringing a whole turkey to the table, bake it all night using my upside down method. Makes the day less stressful.Take your turkey, just as you are going to bake it the day of. Place in the oven the night before, on 325 degrees. Let it bake all night, breast side down, in your covered roaster or oven bag. When you get up in the morning, increase the oven temperature to 350 and bake 45 minutes. At this point, is does not matter if you remove lid or not - you are not going to bring the whole bird to the table, but rather just lift the turkey from the bones - it is that tender. Strain the stock. Place the meat in a covered casserole dish and chill. An hour before dinner, remove the turkey. Pour boiling gravy made from the stock over the turkey, and serve. Baking your turkey breast side down all night will not make a presentable brown skinned turkey, but will make the best turkey you have ever eaten. Plus, your stock is right there - no waiting to make the dressing, dumplings, etc.Good luck! And remember everyone - it's important for you to set traditions for your family! These recipes are simple and easy to follow, which means you will have more time with the ones you love.

And for those of you who request it, my most popular recipe ever:

Catt's Pumpkin Dump Cake

1 (29 oz.) can pumpkin
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3 eggs
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup pecans (chopped)
1 cup butter or margarine (melted)

Beat together pumpkin, milk, sugar, pumpkinpie spice, cinnamon, and eggs. Pour into 9x12 greased baking dish. Sprinklethe dry cake mix evenly over the pumpkin mixture, and then sprinkle on pecans. Drizzle melted butter over the top. Bake at 350 for1 hour. Cool. Top with whipping cream, and enjoy!

Because it is so good and cheap to make...

Catt's No Peek Casserole

1 1/2 pounds beef, cut into bite sized pieces
1 can mushroom soup
1 package dry onion soup mix
1 can mushrooms (I subbed fresh mushrooms)
2/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 300°

Brown meat over high heat. Lower heat and add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Pour into lightly greased covered casserole dish and bake for 2 1/2 hours at 300°F.

No peeking!

Remove from oven and serve over hot noodles or buttered rice.

This is so good, and your house smells wonderful! Use the cheapest cuts of beef you can find.