The Simple Life at Home

Overwhelmed with Joy is hosting a mega-blogger cooking event in preparation for the upcoming holiday season. There are tons of great recipes there - from soup to nuts.

I'm a little late getting this post in as the carnival began on Friday, but hopefully, you'll like these recipes enough not to mind my tardiness!

Lace Roll-Up Cookies

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup finely chopped nuts (your preference)
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix flour and nuts. In medium saucepan, heat corn syrup, shortening and brown sugar to boiling over medium heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and gradually stir into flour-nut mixture.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls about 3 inches apart onto lightly greased baking sheet. Bake only 8 or 9 cookies at one time. Bake about 5 minutes, cool 3 minutes before removing from baking sheet. While still warm, carefully roll cookie into cylindrical shapes - a wooden spoon handle works well. If the cookie hardens before you get it rolled, return it to the oven for just a moment.

Great-Grandma Edward's Pumpkin Pie

• 2 deep dish pie shells
• 30 oz. canned pumpkin
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 heaping tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. ginger
• 1/2 tsp. allspice
• 1 heaping tsp. cinnamon
• 2 cans evaporated milk
• 7 Tbsp. cold water

Mix all ingredients, except the shells of course. Put mixture into pie shells and place on cookie sheet. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Turn oven down to 350 and bake for another 60-70 minutes. Remove when a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Homestyle Turkey

• 12 lb. turkey, rinsed and patted dry
• 6 Tbsp. butter
• 4 cups warm water
• 3 Tbsp. chicken bouillon
• 2 Tbsp. dried parsley
• 2 Tbsp. minced onions
• 2 Tbsp. seasoning salt

Rub butter under skin on each side of turkey breast. Combine water, bouillon, parsley and onions and pour mixture over turkey. Sprinkle with seasoning salt. Bake at 350 degrees for 3 1/2 hours. Be sure to check internal temperature with a meat thermometer.

Sausage, Apple and Cranberry Stuffing

• 1 1/2 cup cubed wheat bread
• 3 3/4 cup cubed white bread
• 1 lb. Jimmy Dean sausage
• 1 cup diced onion
• 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 2 1/2 tsp. sage
• 1 1/2 tsp. rosemary
• 1/2 tsp. thyme
• 1 apple, cored and chopped
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 cup turkey (or chicken) stock
• 1/4 cup butter

Place cubed bread in a baking tray and bake at 350 degrees, turning often until browned. Meanwhile, cook sausage and onions until cooked through. Add celery and herbs to sausage mixture. Cook an additional 2 minutes. Add sausage mixture to bread. Add apples and cranberries; toss well. Drizzle stock and butter over stuffing. Toss well and allow to cool. Use as you like, baked alone in the oven or stuffed in your bird.

Enjoy!