Christmas Eve 2010

Every Christmas Eve is spent at Mamaw's in Drew with my Mom's side of the family. We meet up and visit, drink Mamaw's punch & eat her famous cheeseball, and then proceed to a family feast. The staples of the meal stay the same but in the past few years, we've tried incorporating different side dishes into the mix. After dinner comes....you guessed it, PRESENTS!

Here is a shot of the spread this year (Mom didn't want me to take a picture because we didn't use pretty serveware)


The feast menu:
Honeybaked Ham
Jezebel sauce (recipe featured last December)
Glenn's beef tenderloin with horseradish sauce
3 Green Salad with blue cheese, toasted pecans and dried cranberries
Gayla's Potatoes
Pineapple Casserole
Broccoli and Gruyere Gratin
Corn Pudding
Rolls

Here is my plate:

The 2 family recipes I want to share from this meal (and the cookbook) are below:

Gayla's Potato Casserole - This recipe is created by my "Aunt" Gayla Marley, but was submitted by my cousin Lesley Smith. She told me that they have had this at a many Christmas and Thanksgiving gatherings and that it's always a crowd pleaser. I would have to agree - this is delicious and a great alternative to ordinary mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:
5-7 big red potatoes
1 small carton cottage cheese
1 small carton sour cream
3/4 stick of butter
Milk
Garlic salt
Salt & Pepper

Peel the potatoes and cute them into chunks. Mash them with an electric mixer. Add salt, pepper, and garlic salt and a dash of milk. Add cottage cheese and sour cream. Mash it all again in the mixer. Grease a 9x13 casserole and put the potato mixture in. Melt the butter and pour it on top. Bake on 350 uncovered for 1 hour.

Corn Pudding - This recipe, submitted by Jan Burnett, might be easiest recipe in the world. Don't judge the ingredients!

Ingredients:
2 cans (16 ounce each) creamed corn
1 package (6 ounce) Jiffy corn muffin mix
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup margarine, melted

Mix all ingredients and pour into a greased 2 quart casserole dish. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Hope all of you had a Merry Christmas! Here's to more eating in 2011!