Sweet Potato Casserole

The holiday cooking begins!  You have to love a recipe that can be made ahead, frozen, baked and served when needed.  Having some menu items ready to go takes a ton of stress off the day of cooking.  This recipe has been made by my family for years, I originally thought my dad's mother started it so when I asked her for the recipe she gave it to me but then told me she got it from my Aunt on my mom's side.  Aunt Ann originally from Arizona but a long time resident of Pennsylvania introduced this recipe to the family and it was an instant hit.  There are many versions out there, I'm sure many people have tweaked it over the years as I also have made minor changes.  You can't go wrong with anything under this topping!  This is my most requested recipe from friends.

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 c sweet potato cooked and mashed 

1/2 c sugar (I totally omit this and cannot tell the difference)

1/2 c butter

1/3 c milk

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

Mix this all together in a large bowl with a hand mixer till just blended.  Pour into casserole dish and top with topping below.

topping:

1 c brown sugar

1/2 c flour

1/3 c butter

mix with a fork or pastry blender

stir in 1 c pecans

Top casserole dish with pecan mixture and bake at 350° for 30 min or till heated through with the topping bubbly.

If you choose to make this ahead make it completely then cover it tightly with aluminum foil or lid if your dish has one and freeze.  Take out the night before you need it to defrost in the fridge.  If you are short on fridge space put it in an ice chest in the garage so that it is cool but not freezing. 

Another tip for less stress in the kitchen during this busy cooking season is to make a little extra for your dinner when you are cooking ahead to put things in the freezer.  Roast a turkey breast or cutlets, if you've made your stuffing/dressing and sweet potato ahead you can have a mini Thanksgiving meal.  Also if I am doing a ton of cooking in one day or my fridge is full for the big day the night before is a good time to order that pizza!

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The handwritten recipe from my grandmother.

Spiced Nuts

These are great to set out before dinner, you can munch on a few and not get to full on appetizers.  They offer a little healthier option for munchies.








Spiced Nuts

Pecans
Walnuts
2 T brown sugar
1 egg white--you can mix in a little water
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

Spread on cookie sheet to toast.

Toss it all together, spread on cookie sheet and toast in 350° oven for 10-15 min.  Watch closely when they start to turn golden in color they'll go to burnt pretty quick.



You can add other spices if you prefer sweet or savory.

Suggestions:
Old Bay
Curry
Chipotle
Italian Seasoning

Cinnamon
Pumpkin Pie spice

Granola

Granola is a standard for me, I tweeked and tweeked until I got it to this recipe.  You really can't go wrong adding or removing anything from the lineup but this is the combination that I enjoy.   Adding or substituting other dried fruits, nuts, raisins will give it your special flavor.  Having tried different products but I came back to Old Fashioned Quaker Oats and  Ocean Spray Craisins, the other items I usually buy in bulk from a couple different local stores in our neighborhood.  You definitely want to use good quality products to get the best flavor.


Rolled Oats (this is the base so I use about 3 cups)
unsweetened coconut
sunflower seeds
almonds (sliced)
walnuts (chopped as finely as you like)
pecans  (chopped)
pumpkin seeds
wheat germ
ground flax
cinnamon
canola oil
honey or Blue Agave syrup


Mix in large bowl I don't measure just keep adding probably about 1/2-3/4 cups for everything after the oats.  Mix it well, then drizzle oil & honey over mixture stir again, drizzle both again & stir again.  Some clumping is good and you can squeeze mixture if you want more clumping.  Spread onto foil lined baking sheet and toast in oven at 300 for about 20 minutes don't over toast, I usually set timer for 10 min and stir mixture up a bit.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with following ingredients:
(I add these after toasting because the soy nuts get to crunchy and the cranberries get tough)


soy nuts
dried cranberries


Let mixture cool completely and store in air tight container.  I like to label the ziploc with the date since there are so many nuts in this mixture but rarely does this last long enough to go bad.  I enjoy it with milk on it and a cup of Darjeeling tea.  Mixing it with yogurt, sprinkle on ice cream or just straight like a trail mix are also ways we enjoy it.