Comfort Food

Chicken Cheese Casserole

2 Chicken Breasts , cooked & diced
Brocolli, Cauliflower & Carrots, about 4 cups (steamed)

Sauce:
8 oz. Velveeta Cheese
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
Big Scoop of Sour Cream
1 cube of Margarine


Combine into 9x13 casserole pan. Bake @ 350 for 1/2 hour. Serve over rice.


**We love this. It's so easy & I usually already have all the stuff in the pantry. I use whatever veggies I have in the freezer. 1111

Shrimp Dip
Kim Lambert


1 Block of Cream Cheese
1 Container of Sour Cheese
1 Can Broken Shrimp, (chopped)
Onion, grated (to taste)
Garlic Salt, (just a pinch or so)

Combine & enjoy with Ruffles potato chips!


**This is one of our favorites!! I know it's not the most precise recipe, but it is so so good! We serve it at most family get togethers now! Yumm!!


English Toffee
Aunt Jan


3/4 Cup Butter (NOT margarine)
1 Cup Sugar
1 1/4 tsp Salt
5 Tbls. Water
1 1/2 Cups Slivered Almonds
2 1/2 Milk Chocolate Hershey Bars

Melt butter, add sugar, salt & water. Stir until sugar dissolves. Cook to hard crack stage, or until 310* on Candy Thermometer. Stir Constantly. Srinkle 1/2 of the nuts in bottom of a greased 8x8. Pour in toffee mixture & put chocolate bars on top, spread around when melted & sprinkle with the rest of almonds. Do not double this recipe!

** Scott's Aunt Jan makes this & we all LOVE it! I've never actually tried making it myself until tonight. & actually Scott made it. It's still setting up, but it looks great!! Enjoy!!

Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes
Alyson Markham


1 Package of Cream Cheese
1/2 Cup Sour Cream
1/4 Cup Butter
1 Envelope Ranch Salad Dressing Mix
1 tsp. dried Parsley Flakes
6 Cups warm Mashed Potatoes


In a bowl combine the cream cheese, sour cream, butter, salad dressing mix & parsley. Stir in Potatoes. Transfer to a slow cooker to keep warm. Cover & cook on low for 2 - 4 hours.


*I LOVED these! I did them for Thanksgiving!! However for Thanksiving I did not use the Ranch mix. These were so fabulous, it was so so nice to have the potatoes done (& insanely creamy & yummy) & just warming in the crockpot. It's always so hectic to get the potatoes done the last few minutes so they are still warm. This was SO great!! & yummmmm! They were a huge hit!!

Traditional Treats!

The Best Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
Kate Alger

3/4 Cup Butter
3/4 Cup Sugar
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 Cups Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
3 Cups Oats
2 Cups Butterscotch Chips

Cream butter, sugars, & eggs. Add Dry ingredients.
Bake 8-10 minutes @ 375


Home Made Oreos
Jenny Humes

1 1/2 Cups Oil
4 Eggs
2 Boxes Devils Food Cake Mix

Mix together & roll into balls. Bake @ 350 for 8-9 minutes.

Filling:
8 oz. Cream Cheese
1/2 Cube Margarine
3 Cups Powdered Sugar

Mix together & put in between two cookies to make oreos! YUM!!

**You can also be lazy & use cream cheese pre made frosting! So easy!! Yum!!

EZ Chocolate Balls
Mel Judd
1 - 8 oz pkg. Cool Whip - room temp
1 - 6 oz. Cream Cheese - room temp
1 lb. Chocolate Bars

Melt chocolate in double boiler-(do not cook, just heat slowly)
Beat in Cream Cheese & Cool Whip. Drop by spoonfuls into really finely bledded Vanilla Wafers (about 30 or so) Set on wax paper to set up.
Store in Fridge

EASY Pumpkin Cookies
Lyndsey Russell

1 Spice Cake Mix
1 Yellow Cake Mix
1 Large can of Pumpkin Pie Filling
1 Bag of Milk Chocolate Chips
1/2 Bag of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Mix all together & Bake for 15 minutes @ 350.

Yum!!

Autumn Cheesecake
Andrea Sumers


Ingredients:
1 Cup Graham Cracker Crumbs
1/2 Cup Pecans, finely chopped
3 Tbls. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Butter, unsalted & melted

2 (8 oz.) pkg. Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 Cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract

4 Cups Apples - peeled, cored & thinly sliced
1/3 Cup Sugar
1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Pecans, chopped

Directions:
1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 Cup finely chopped pecans, 3 Tbls. sugar, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon & melted butter; press into bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
2.) In a large bowl, combine cream cheese & 1/2 Cup sugar. Mix at medium speed until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in vanilla; pour filling into the baked crust.
3.) In a small bowl, stir together 1/3 Cup sugar & 1/2 tsp. cinnamon. Toss the cinnamon-sugar with the apples to coat. Spoon apple mixture over cream cheese layer & sprinkle with 1/4 Cup chopped pecans.
4.) Bake in preheated oven for 60 - 70 minutes. With a knife loosen from rim of pan. Let cool, then remove the rim of pan. Chill before serving.

**Andrea got this recipe from allrecipes.com a few years ago. Her mom called & requested that she make this for Thanksgiving. It looks great!
Andrea is not a huge pecan fan & actually omitted them once, but decided she liked it better with them in!
Sounds yummy!!

Fresh Apple Cake
HotMama's House


Pare Apples & dice to make 4 Cups. Pour 2 Cups sugar over apples in large bowl & add 2 beaten eggs. Let stand for 1 hour.

Then add the following ingredients, mixing well:
1/2 Cup Oil
2 Cup Flour
2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Cinnamon
2 tsp. Vanilla
1 Cup Walnuts, chopped

Bake @ 350 for 45 minutes in greased & floured 13x9x2 inch pan.

It's even better served with Butter Sauce
1 Cube Butter (1/2 Cup)
1/2 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup cold water
1 heaping Tbls. Cornstarch

In a saucepan, melt butter, add sugar, mix together water & cornstarch, then add to butter/sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, boil 1 minute. Pour over each piece of Apple Cake as it is served.

Grandma's Stuffing
Rebecca Pierce


1 lb. Sausage, crumbled
1 Small Onion, chopped (about 1 Cup)
3-4 Stalks Celery, chopped (about 1 Cup)
8 or so, Baby Carrots, chopped (about 1 Cup)
1 Bag of Bread Cubes for stuffing
1 Can Cream Soup (I use mushroom)
1 Can Chicken Broth (more or less to desired moisture)
Poultry Seasoning, Salt, Pepper to taste.

Brown sausage, over medium heat, drain reserving 1 Tbls. drippings. In sausage drippings, saute onions, celery & carrot. When onion & celery are transparent, mix all ingredients in very large bowl. Put mixture in glass dish with lid, bake @ 350 for 45 minutes.

**This recipe is from Rebeccas Grandma. She has tweaked it a little over the years, but says this is what she looks forward to the most over the Holidays!


Grandpa Woody's Waffles
Aubrey Hales


1 Egg
1 Cup Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
2 Tbls. Butter or Margarine, melted
1 Cup Buttermilk
2 Tbls. Sugar

This recipe should make four waffles. Scoop proper amount onto waffle iron & cook.

**Aubrey sent me this from our Grandpa Woody. This was a tradition in their house & Grandpa always made them for Aubrey when she was little & would have sleepovers at Grandpa & Grandmas house! How fun! Thanks Aubs!


I'm sorry I didn't get these posted before Thanksgiving. Hopefully they will help ya out over the Christmas Holiday! Enjoy, they all look Fantastic!!!

Alger Thanksgiving Feast

I just thought I would share the few things that we do for Thanksgiving every year. I'm a stickler for tradition when it comes to food!

We of course do:
Turkey
Mashed Potatoes & Gravy
Stuffing
Cranberry Sauce


I also HAVE to have:

Gramma's Green Bean Casserole
(Not the Cream of Mushroom & Onion one)

2 Small Cans or
1 Large Handful of Fresh Mushrooms
1 Medium Onion, chopped
1/2 Cup Margarine
1/4 Cup Flour
1 lb. Jar of Cheese Whiz, or Velveeta
1/4 Cup Milk
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/8 tsp. Tobasco
2 Tbls. Soy Sauce
2 Pkgs. Frozen French Cut Green Beans
1 Can Sliced Water Chestnuts
1 oz. Almonds, slivered

Cook the Green Beans as directed on the pacakge & drain.
Make Sauce:
Saute Mushrooms & Onion in margarine, add Flour & cook until smooth. Add Cheese Whiz, Milk, Salt, Tobasco, & Soy Sauce to mixture. Mix in Green Beans & Water Chestnuts. Place in casserole dish & sprinkle Almonds over top.
Bake @ 350 for 20 minutes.

** I can't have Thanksgiving without this recipe! It's my all time favorite! Just be careful that it's not too hot before you add the flour, or it will separate funny. Add it slow, so it becomes creamy! So so so Good!!! I don't do the Water Chestnuts, I'm just not a huge fan. It's a total preferance thing, it doesn't affect the dish! Yum!!

Pretzel Jello

Crust:
2 2/3 Cup Pretzels, crushed
1 1/2 Sticks Margarine, softened
3 Tbls. Sugar

Mix & press into a 9x13 casserole pan. Bake @ 350 for 10 minutes. Let Cool.

Cream Cheese Filling:
1 - 8 oz. Package Cream Cheese
1 Cup Sugar
8 oz. Cool Whip

Cream together cheese & sugar. Fold in Cool Whip & spread over crust.

Jello:
2 small packages Raspberry Jello
2 - 8 oz. packages frozen Raspberries

Mix jello with 2 Cups boiling water. Add frozen raspberries to jello. Let thicken. When it starts to set up, pour over cream cheese mixture & refrigerate.

**My sister & I both always do this recipe for Thanksgiving! We love it! The only thing you have to be careful of, is to let the jello set up a little. If it's not starting to set up it will run down the sides under the pretzels & the pretzels get mushy. If it's TOO set up, it won't gel right with the rest. Just let it sit, til it's starting to set. Yum!!!! I just CAN'T go with out these two things on Thanksgiving. They are almost as important as the Turkey!!!


I just do the Turkey in an oven bag with onions in with it. We put a little stuffing in the bird, for flavor, but aren't huge on eating that stuffing.

I'm not hugely picky on stuffing. I've been known to just use Stove Top in a pinch. This year I'm just using a recipe I found in a magazine. It's just Pepperidge Farm Stuffing & Swanson Chicken Broth. I hope it's yummy!

For my Mashed Potatoes I just mix in cream cheese, butter & milk in with the potatoes. As far as Gravy I use the drippings from the Turkey & a turkey gravy mix to help out alittle. I thicken it with Corn Starch mixed with a little water. Not too fancy!

This year I'm trying a new roll recipe. I'm getting it from my sister in law & I don't have it yet. But you can do the dough ahead of time, bake the rolls the day before & just warm them up in the microwave for dinner. (I'm trying to do as much ahead of time as possible)

I am a HUGE believer in buying the pies. We have a bakery type sandwhich place here called Kneaders & they make my favorite pies. You just have to order them ahead of time. Fruit & Cream Pies!!

I am a total canned Cranberry Sauce lover. I like to put it on my leftover Turkey Sandwiches too!!

Yum, there you have it The Alger Family Thanksgiving Menu!

I would LOVE to hear all about how you do things at your house. Let me know! or email me at
katealger125@earthlink.net

MONSTER COOKIES!

Best Ever Monster Cookies
Kate Alger

6 Eggs
1 lb. Brown Sugar
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
2 Cups Sugar
1/2 lb. Butter
1 lb. Peanut Butter
4 tsp. Soda
9 Cups Oatmeal
1/2 lb. Milk Chocolate Chips
1/2 lb. Plain M & M's
1/4 to 1/2 Cup nuts, chopped (optional)

Cream butter, peanut butter, & sugar. Add eggs & vanilla; beat. Work oatmeal & soda in; stir in nuts, chocolate chips & M & M's. Dough will be stiff & requires a large bowl. Place ice cream scoops of dough on ungreased cookie sheets, flatten gently. Leave some room for spreading. Bake @ 340 - 350 for 9-12 minutes. Remove to cooling racks. Time varies due to oven temperature variations. Cookies will be 6-8 inches in diameter.

**My friend Kristy puts 2 Cups of Flour in too. You just have to try it. I put 1 Cup Flour in & cook one cookie & see how runny it is, & then add a little more until the batter looks good. I NEVER put nuts in. I'm not a nut in my cookie kind of gal. So they are optional & work just fine without!! Yum

These are my FAVORITE!!! & they make a TON so you can share with everyone!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE them & seriously they make a ridiculous amount so you can take them to LOTS of friends! (or just eat a TON, like me) Enjoy!!

I was trying to show you just how huge these are, I don't know that the picture does it justice! These are HUGE & so so yummy!!