Holiday Favorites on This Blog

I've put up some recipes recently that are holiday favorites, but there are already quite a few on this blog. Here's a short list of some our holiday favorites:

Cream of Turkey and Wild Rice Soup

Sweet Potato Souffle

Cranberry Apple Casserole

Cranberry Apple Pie

Pecan Pie

Cornbread Dressing

Rolls

Perfect Pie Crust

My mother-in-law makes pies and pie crusts all the time; she makes up three crusts at a time and freezes them in the pie plates so they're ready when she needs them. This is a terrific tip to know about when holiday baking season descends. Here's her recipe:

3 1/2 c. Wondra flour

1 3/4 t. salt

1 1/3 c. shortening

10 T. or so COLD water

Sift flour and salt together. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening until pieces are pea-sized. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time, working water in with a fork, only until dough is moistened (you don't want it wet and you may not need all the water). Divide dough in thirds and roll out crusts. You can use the scraps from the first two crusts to add into the ball for the third--this is especially helpful if you have one pie plate that's slightly bigger than the others. Or, you can line a muffin tin with scraps and have some mini tart shells.

Makes 3 pie crusts.

Cranberry Apple Pie

My family makes a cranberry-apple "casserole" (which is practically dessert), and my husband's family makes this similar cranberry apple pie. The pie is sweeter because it's supposed to be dessert, but otherwise the only real difference is that one is in a crust and one isn't. Take your pick! Someday, I'll combine the topping from the casserole with the pie filling and overload on sugary harvest goodness.

• pie crust (unbaked)
• 1 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1 t. apple pie spice (or 1/2 t. cinnamon, 1/4 t. cloves, 1/4 t. ginger)
• 4 c. tart apple slices
• 2 c. cranberries
• 2 T. butter
• Crumb Topping (see below)

Stir together sugar, flour, spices. Alternate layers of apples, cranberries, and sugar mixture, beginning and ending with apples. Dot with butter. Sprinkle crumb topping on. Bake at 375 for 40-50 minutes (you might need to cover with foil to prevent over browning).

Crumb Topping:

• 1/2 c. flour
• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 3 T. butter

Mix together using pastry blender or fingers until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.