What's Cookin'? Christmas 2009

As you may know, my husband loves to cook. Loves it. He honestly missed his calling -- he could've, should've -- been a chef. Since weather is so unpredictable in December, it's understandable that people don't typically make the trip from the Twin Cities out to Appleton for Christmas here. We (Ok, *I*) decided that it would be nice to make a big Christmas meal at home. We invited some friends from our church to join us for Christmas Eve eve dinner (ie December 23) but it didn't work with their schedules. So at the last minute (like, yesterday) Todd suggested that we email our friends Jim & Monica to see if they were free. Jim is Todd's former roommate, he was in our wedding and we've been to their house just about every summer for a cookout. It was long overdue for us to have them over at our house.

In case you're stuck for ideas on something to new or different to cook, here is what we were cookin' up for Christmas meal this year...

1 Turkey breast (just under 8 lbs) -- 325F for 3 hours. 2 cans of Chicken Broth used to baste. It was covered with aluminum foil. The most MOIST Turkey I've ever had.

Refrigerated Mashed Potatoes - 5 lbs of red potatoes, peeled all of them except for about 4. Slice to 1/2 inch pieces. Boil in salted water until tender. Drain water. Add enough milk to mash. Place in greased baking dish. Cut 3 oz of Cream Cheese into 1/2 - 1 inch pieces. Mix into warm mashed potatoes. Add 1/2 cup of Sour Cream and mix through. Cut 2 T. of butter/marg into 4 pieces and place on top of potatoes. Sprinkle top with Paprika. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour if not longer (up to overnight). Bake for 30-40 minutes at 350F.

Sweet Potato casserole - 4 or 5 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch slices. Place in greased 8 x 8 casserole pan. (I microwave them with some water for about 10 minutes). Add about 1-2 T. of Orange Juice concentrate. Sprinkle with 1-2 tsp Brown Sugar. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Remove and mashed as much as possible. Cover with mini marshmallows and allow time for them to melt on top (can place in warm oven for a while to help them melt if needed).

Stuffing - we used Sage stuffing from Stove Top. I didn't eat any of it but Jim and Monica loved it.

Orange-Cranberry Relish. This is so easy and one of my favorites. 1 orange (cut into 8 sections, keep the peel on). 1 bag of fresh cranberries. 3/4 cup of white sugar. Mini marshmallows. Using a meat grinder (I have the attachment for a Kitchen Aid mixer), place the orange sections through the grinder, followed by the cranberries. Mix in the sugar. Refrigerate and top with marshmallows just before serving.

Croissants - Pillsbury Croissants from a can. Easy but good treat.

Cran-Apple Pie Tart - Peel, core and slice 4-6 Granny Smith Apples. Place in bowl and add 1/2 c sugar, 1 & 1/2 T. flour, 1/2 t cinnamon, 3T lemon juice and orange zest for 1/2 a large orange (or 1 whole small orange -- I used the zest from part of the orange that I put in the orange-cranberry relish). 1/4 - 1/3 cup of cranberries (more or less, to your preference). 1 t vanilla extract. (I used 1/2 t. of vanilla extract and 1/2 t. of almond extract just because I had them both). Mix everything in a bowl. Heat 4 T (1/2 stick) of butter or margarine in a pan over medium heat. Place the apple mixture into the pan and cook over medium for about 10 minutes. On a jellyroll pan, place the pie crust. Spread the apple mixture on the crust, to about 2 inches of the edge. Fold the edges up and around the mixture (there will be about 3-5 inch circle in the middle). Bake in 350F for 30-40 minutes. So easy, so yummy!