Holidays time are times to feast.

Here are a few goodies that will be on the plates at our house during the '09 Christmas season. Many of these have been on our list for you for a few years. Some have been updated and there are some tasty additions.

A number of these recipes are from Grandma Hampton's recipe boxes. Unfortunately, we lost Grandma Hampton in May of '05 at age 99. Everybody who ever went to her house left with the feeling that food is what life is all about. Many times I went to her house and found a full spread of food waiting when I was not hungry and had plans to go someplace in a hurry, like fishing or scuba diving. I finally convinced her that all I wanted to eat upon arrival was a PB&J sandwich. I never did convince her that a PB&J didn't come with a salad, mashed potatoes/gravy, at least two other vegetables, ice cream, and cookies, cake, pie (or all three).

Hope you enjoy the recipes, have the best holiday season ever, and enjoy a great 2010!

Grandma Hampton's Oatmeal Raisin Walnut Cookies

These are the best oatmeal cookies you will ever eat! One of the secret is in the soaking of the raisins! (Or if you don't like raisins, leave the dang things out!) Original recipe makes 6 dozen.

Ingredients

• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 1 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup chopped walnuts
• ½ cup black walnuts

1. Combine eggs, vanilla and raisins in a small bowl; cover and let stand for about 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. In a large bowl, cream the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together. Sift together the flour, cinnamon, and baking soda; stir into the creamed mixture. Then stir in the raisin mixture, rolled oats, and nuts.
4. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto an unprepared cookie sheet. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, or until lightly browned

Yummy (Vegetable Beef) Soup

I've been making this forever and probably do it differently every time. Even my Mother thinks this is about the best veggie soup made (and I was just trying to copy hers).

Ingredients

• 3-4 lb Chuck Roast (bone in preferred)
• 2/3 Head Cabbage (medium size)
• 1 sm pkg Carrots
• 1 lg pkg Frozen Corn
• 4 lg Red Potatoes (leave out if freezing the soup)
• 4 lg White Onions 1 lg Can V8 Juice
• Beef Flavored Stock (to taste)
• Chicken Flavored Stock (to taste)
• 1 head Celery including leaves
• 2 med cans Whole Cooked Tomatoes
• Water as needed
• Other spices as desired.

1. Cut roast into 1 inch cubes. (Do not remove fat as it provides a lot of the end flavor.) Brown in Dutch oven on stove top (high heat), slightly salted. When browned, cover about half way with water, put lid on Dutch oven and continue to cook on medium heat.
2. Chop Cabbage into 1 inch squares.
3. Chop carrots into 1/4 inch slices.
4. Chop potatoes into ½ inch cubes.
5. Chop celery into 1/4 inch slices. Chop leaves into small pieces
6. Chop onions into 1-1/2 inch pieces.
7. Place cabbage, carrots, potatoes, celery, onions in large stock pot. Add frozen corn. Add canned tomatoes and juice. Cut each tomato into 4 pieces.
8. Add V8 juice.
9. Place stock pot on burner on high heat and bring to a boil.
10. When pot of boiling, transfer beef to the pot, stir in until well mixed. Reduce heat to low.
11. Add water to barely cover the vegetables.
12. Add beef and chicken stock to taste.
13. Continue to cook until all ingredients are done and the whole house smells great.

Notes:
1. I do not know how many servings this makes but it is bunches. If you plan to freeze a portion of this for later use, do not use the potatoes as they do not freeze well and will be pure mush when thawed. Potatoes may be cooked separately and added to those servings that will be consumed before freezing.
2. When buying the celery, pick the head with the most leaves.
3. Stock flavorings: I prefer granular over cubes. There are many really good brands on the market. I am not really fond of Wylers.

Tom’s Fresh Green Beans

It's not original with me or that other guy who says it a lot: PORK FAT RULES! You get plenty of it in these green beans. Once you have had them done this way, there will be no other way!

Ingredients

• 2-3 lbs fresh green beans
• 1 lb bacon, chopped in 1 ½ inch pieces
• 1 small white, sweet yellow or Vidalia onion, chopped
• 2 patties butter
• Chicken broth as needed to cover green beans
• Salt & pepper to taste

1. Snap and clean the green beans. 2. In a large pot, cook the bacon to lightly done, not crispy. Cook the chopped onion during the last few minutes of cooking the bacon. 3. Leave the onions, bacon and bacon grease in the pot and add the butter. 4. Add the green beans and enough chicken broth to cover the pot’s ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until the beans are done.

Cherry Coke Salad

Ingredients

• 1 can sweet dark cherries (lg 330)
• 1 pk cherry jello 3 oz size
• 1 pk strawberry jello 3 oz size
• 1 pk 8 oz cream cheese
• 10 oz. coke
• 1 sm can crushed pineapple

1. Boil juice from cherries, dissolve jello in juice, cool.
2. Blend cream cheese with small amount of the jello mixture.
3. Pour coke into rest of jello mixture
4. Blend cheese mixture with coke stuff
5. Add cherries and drained pineapple
6. Mold and chill

Dean's Grilled Lemon Chuck Roast

I've been making this for just about as long as I have owned a good grill. (I am a total believer in Weber Charcoal grills.)

Ingredients
1 3-4 Lb. Chuck Roast, Bone in - Minimum 2 1/2" Thick

Marinade
• 1 Cup Cooking Oil
• 1 Cup Lemon Juice
• 1 T Sugar
• 3 T Oregano
• 2 T Black Pepper
• 1 T Worcestershire
• 6 Green Onions, Chopped
• 8 Cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped

Combine all marinade ingredients and mix vigorously for several minutes. Place roast in container. Pour marinade over roast and let it do it's thing, covered, for a minimum of 6 hours. Turn frequently. (I prefer to marinade the roast refrigerated for at least 24 hours.) Start charcoal fire. Place roast on grill 4" - 6" from fire. Grill 20-25 minutes on each side using direct heat for medium rare roast. Turn every 15 minutes. Heat leftover marinade and use as a sauce.

Note: I prefer to ask a butcher to cut a roast 4" thick. It will cost more, weigh 5-6 lbs., need more marinade, take longer to cook and feed more people unless you pig-out on it like I do and eat it all!!!

Grandma Hampton's Hershey Almond Bar Pie

Fat chance you are going to find those 5¢ Hershey Almond Bars.

Ingredients

• 6 - 5¢ Hershey Almond Bars
• 20 large marshmallows
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 pint heavy cream
• 1 pie shell

1. Use double boiler or place a pan in a larger pan of hot (not boiling) water on stove. Melt marshmallows in the milk.
2. Unwrap candy bars and with a sharp knife, cut the nuts in half or smaller pieces. Place all in milk mixture and stir until chocolate is dissolved. Cool until thickened but not set.
3. Whip cream and vanilla and fold in the chocolate mixture. Pour into a baked and cooled pie shell or crumb crust. (A few crumbs may be used on the top.)
Note: Cool Whip or Dream Whip may be used instead of the cream.

Toads in the Hole

I've always been a Yorkshire Pudding lover. this British dish comes pretty close to being a Yorkshire Pudding with sausage. Great for Christmas breakfast!! (Beat the dickens out of those eggs!). Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) package pork sausage links
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. Brown sausage in a large skillet; drain and place sausage in a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. In a small bowl beat eggs; add flour, water and milk and beat all together. Let sit 5 minutes.
4. Pour mixture over sausage and bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until top is browned and crusty

GARLIC CROUTONS

Love these with Caesar salad. If you would like to cut down on the salt, use granulated garlic instead of garlic salt.

Ingredients

• 6 Cups dried bread cubes
• 1.25 sticks butter
• 2.5 tsp garlic salt
• 1 Tspn Chopped garlic cloves
• 0.5 tsp coarse ground black pepper
• 1 tsp oregano

1. Melt butter. Add all but bread cubes & mix well.
2. Put bread cubes in large bowl. Dribble liquid mixture over bread cubes a few spoonfuls at a time, then, stir. Continue until all liquid is used.
3. Place moistened bread cubes on cookie sheet (single layer).
4. Bake at 350 deg F until golden brown (about 7 minutes).

Apple Crisp - Another Grandma Hampton show stopper!!

Ingredients

• 6 McIntosh apples, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup flour or fine graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1 pint vanilla ice cream

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a 9 by 12 baking dish, combine apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar.
3. In a small bowl, mix flour or graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and butter together using the tines of a fork and your fingers, working until even, small crumbles form. Sprinkle topping evenly over apples
4. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until apples are just tender and topping is golden brown.
5. Top dishes of apple crisp with small scoops of vanilla ice cream. YUM!

Dean's Corn In Red Peppers

Ingredients

• 1 red pepper each
• frozen corn
• cream cheese
• sour cream
• your favorite spices
• green pepper
• butter
• chopped green onions
• small amt of italian sausage, well browned.

1. Par boil red & green peppers, then set aside.
2. Nuke frozen corn & drain well.
3. Combine in large bowl, corn, cream cheese (softened), sour cream, butter, green onion, sausage, & spices.
4. Fill red peppers with corn mixture.
5. Slice the green peppers (3/4") & insert on top of mixture pointing outward to resemble leaves.

Notes: For mixture quantities, plan enough corn to fill peppers 2/3s full. Use enough cream cheese to completely coat the corn when melted. Then add 1/2 as much sour cream. Use 1 T butter for each 4 red peppers.

For variations, add a hot sauce, curry, oregano, garlic, smoked oysters, etc. (No greasy, grimy, gopher guts, please!)

Peppers could also be grilled over coals for added charbroiled flavor.

SUE'S OLIVE SALAD

Ingredients

• 2 Cans Black Pitted Olives
• 1 Can Green Pimento Stuffed Olives
• Oregano (at least 2 Tsp) Adjust to taste. (Use fresh if available but less.)
• 3 stocks celery, chopped
• Garlic (powder or salt) to taste (We use granulated from Sams.)
• Olive Oil - Enough to coat + 1/2 Cup
• 1 T Red wine vinegar

1. Combine all ingredients in large bowl. Mix well and chill for at least one hour before serving.

2. Add other ingredients as your creative taste suggests. (Nuts, pepperoni, ham, anchovy, etc.) No marshmallows, please! Add olive/celery to gin or vodka for a great maritni.

Bacon & Breadsticks

Ingredients

• 1 box Grissine Sesame Breadsticks
• 1 lb thin sliced bacon
• 8-ounce container grated Parmesan
• Garlic Granules to taste
• Hot Sauce as desired

Cottage Inn Cream of Mushroom Soup

(Cottage Inn - Eureka Springs, AR - Adapted to my prefs - Dean)

Ingredients

• 2 cups white wine
• 1 lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced thin
• 1 cups whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 0.5 tsp. black pepper
• 1 cubes chicken bouillon
• 1 cubes beef bouillon

• 2 Tbsp. butter
• 2 Tbsp. flour

1. Bring red and white wine to a rolling boil in a large pot. Add mushrooms, return to a boil, and poach for 3 minutes.
2. In another pot melt the butter, add flour and stir with a whip constantly over high heat for 2 minutes (this is the roux, the secret to the soup's thickening).
3. Remove from heat. Add the milk to the butter and flour, and keep stirring constantly for another 4 or 5 minutes.
4. Return to heat and cook over low flame, stirring, for 5 minutes until smooth and thickened.
5. Add this hot milk mixture to the hot wine and mushroom mixture and continue stirring over medium heat.
6. Add the bouillon cubes, white pepper, and heavy cream and stir until blended and very hot.
7. Don't boil the soup or it will separate. Serve hot with a little paprika sprinkled on top for color.

Stroud's Chicken Noodle Soup

Stroud's motto is "We Choke Our Own Chickens." It is the best place on Earth to eat fried chicken.

Ingredients

• Salt/pepper to taste
• 4qts water
• 2 chicken thighs
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 (12oz) pkg Reames egg noodles
• 2 T chicken soup base (bouillon cubes can be substituted)
• Pinch of oregano
• 1 stock celery, chopped
• 1 T onion
• 1 T chopped carrots

1. Bring water to boil. Drop in chicken breasts & thighs. Add soup base, oregano, salt & pepper to taste. Boil for 1 hour. Remove chicken pieces & set aside.
2. Add noodles, chopped celery, onions, & carrot. Bring to boil again & simmer 30 minutes.
3. De-bone chicken & dice meat. Add meat to stock & serve.

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