Common Cuisine |

These are mashed potatoes, Southern Style, and sized for a crowd!

• 5 pounds potatoes
• ½ cup butter (1 stick)
• 8 oz cream cheese (1 pkg)
• ½ cup half-and-half
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• seasoned salt

Peel potatoes (if desired) and cut into chunks or slices. Place in large pot, then fill it with water to 1″ above tops of potatoes. Turn on high heat until water comes to boil. Cook on medium high heat until potatoes are soft when poked with a fork. Drain out water.

Using a mixer, add in butter, cream cheese and half-and-half. Add onion powder, garlic powder, and seasoned salt to taste.

Makes a lot of potatoes!

Actually, my Nana and my mom have both confessed to me they don’t really have a recipe for stuffing. They just put in a little of this and a little of that. It’s comforting to know I come by it honestly.

Anyway, this is Nana’s best estimate for how she would have made the walnut stuffing I remember from childhood, loosely based on the favorite cookbook she has referred to for 62 years, the Woman’s Home Companion Cook Book.

Submitted by Dorothy Goodnough

• 1 ½ cups butter (3 sticks)
• ½ cup finely chopped onion
• ½ cup chopped celery (optional)
• 1 lg loaf 2-day old bread, cut into ½” cubes
• 1 Tbsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 1 ½ tsp poultry seasoning (or about ½ tsp each thyme, marjoram, sage, and savory)
• 1 to 2 cups walnut pieces (or almonds, brazil nuts, chestnuts, pecans, or pine nuts)
• 1 to 2 cups water, milk, cream, or chicken broth (optional)

Melt butter in skillet or pot large enough to hold all the bread. Add onions and celery, if using, and saute until tender. Stir in walnuts and toast for a few minutes.

Add bread cubes and seasoning. Heat until butter is completely absorbed and cubes are toasted, stirring constantly. If stuffing is more dry and crumbly than you like, add a little liquid at a time until it is the way you like it.

Note: When I make this recipe for Thanksgiving, I will use hearty whole grain bread plus a couple tablespoons of wheat germ, probably substitute extra light olive oil for at least a third of the butter, and use chicken broth for the liquid (I love moist stuffing).

This is another family dish that brings back fond memories of large holiday gatherings when I was a child.

• 1-2 eggs
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup (or cream of chicken or onion, or cheddar cheese)
• ½ cup milk
• Large bag frozen chopped broccoli
• 2-4 cups bread cubes (or garlic croutons)
• 1-2 cups shredded cheese (any kind you like)
• ½ small onion, diced

In small bowl, mix egg, soup, and enough milk to make the soup mixture thin enough to pour.

Gently fold together broccoli, bread, cheese, and onion, and place in large baking dish. Pour soup mixture over top. Bake 40 minutes until the top is browned.

Serves 6-8.

Oven roasting brings out the full flavor of vegetables. You can use a variety of winter vegetables, including sweet potatoes, parsnips, or whole peeled garlic cloves.

• 2 large potatoes
• 2 large carrots
• 1 red pepper
• 1 large zucchini
• ½ head cauliflower
• 8 oz package fresh mushrooms
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp Italian Seasoning or Oregano
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Scrub potatoes and carrots. Wash all vegetables. Cut potatoes into 1″ chunks. Cut carrots into 2″ chunks. Cut red pepper and zucchini into ½” x 2″ chunks. Cut cauliflower into small flowerets. Cut mushrooms in half.

Place vegetables into large mixing bowl and toss with oil and garlic bits. Sprinkle with Italian Seasoning, salt and pepper.

Spread vegetables in 1″ deep cookie sheet. Bake 45 minutes, stirring twice, until golden brown and a little crispy.

Serves 8.

Homemade applesauce is easy, and does not even require a recipe.

To make a lot:
Core and quarter as many apples as you can fit into the biggest pot you have. Skins are ok. Put about ½ cup water in the bottom of the pot. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for about half an hour, until the apples get soft. Then put apples into a food processor or blender in batches until they are all pureed. Sprinkle a little cinnamon, a little less of nutmeg, and then add a couple tablespoons or so of sugar if you think it needs it, to taste. Eat up!

To make a little:
Core and quarter several apples (4 to 8). Core and quarter, don’t peel. Put a little water in the bottom of a medium sized pot. Cover and cook on medium-low for about half an hour, until soft. Puree, add spices as above, and serve warm or chilled.

To make it pink:
After pureeing, put applesauce back into the pot and bring to a simmer. Stir in a handful of cinnamon “red-hots” candy pieces. Simmer and stir until candy dissolves into applesauce. No other flavoring needed. Serve warm.

To make it exotic:
When adding spices, stir in about a half-teaspoon of vanilla.

To keep it from getting brown:
Crush a chewable vitamin C tablet, dissolve it in a tablespoon of hot water, and stir it into the sauce.