The Holidays are coming!!

The Holidays have arrived. With that comes parties and get togethers, with family or friends, or new/old acquaintances, or even people you are meeting for the first time.
What are some dishes you might take to a pot luck get together? What are some dishes you might make for your family Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or New Years dinner? Any old and tired recipes you want to steer clear of?
There are also traditions in families. Do you always have your holiday dinner with the same people at the same place? Do you travel? Do you host? Do you do anything special for your holidays?

My family celebrates Christmas. Here are some of our traditions:
1. We always have some sort of Advent calendar (Advent doesn't always start at the beginning of December. This year it started the Sunday following Thanksgiving!). This year, we have an interactive calendar. We have had a different activity every day. We've made Christmas chains where the inside of each loop has a tradition written on it. We've made a pine cone tree, and we've gotten things together to donate.
2. We eat tamales for Christmas Eve dinner.
3. We open one gift Christmas Eve, and it's always pajamas.
4. We watch "Holiday Inn" with Bing Crosby.
5. We read (usually) some form of Night Before Christmas (typically the Cajun version).
6. Christmas morning, all the kids have to wait to come down until the adults are ready.
7. Everyone opens their stockings together, the presents are handed one by one by "Santa". (One of the kids wears a Santa hat to pass them out.
8. We have coffee cake for breakfast in between stockings and gifts.

Some things my little family does for New Years:
1. For dinner New Years Eve, we go all out. Buy steak, lobster and have shrimp cocktail.
2. We stay up until midnight and have a toast with champagne.
3. We burn a green candle all the next day (on the 1st).
4. We eat at least one black eyed pea.

I'll post again soon, some ideas for pot lucks and family dinners!

Chex Mix

Every Thanksgiving and sometimes at Christmas, I make my "famous" chex mix. I used to send it to my husband while he was overseas with every care package (twice monthly) too. He loves it, as does the rest of my family. I make it a little different than the recipe on the box...spicy, and it's super delish. In fact, I'm making a batch right now to take with us to Thanksgiving. It smells so good. :)

Ingredients:
3 cups corn chex
3 cups wheat chex
3 cups rice chex
1 cup cheese squares
1 cup peanuts (if you like them)
1 cup pretzel sticks (again, if you like them)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon season salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 cup butter
1/2 Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup chipotle tabasco sauce
1/4 cholula hot sauce

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 250F.
2. Combine chex, cheese squares, peanuts, and pretzels in a large bowl.
3. Melt butter.
4. Add garlic powder, season salt, onion powder to butter, and stir.
5. Add Worcestershire sauce, tabasco and cholula to butter and stir.
6. Drizzle over chex mixture, making sure it's all coated.
7. Spread evenly onto 2 cookie sheets.
8. Bake in oven for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.

Sweet Potato Souffle

I know everyone has their traditions on Thanksgiving, everyone has their own way to make sweet potatoes. This is how my family does it, and has been since I can remember. We don't use marshmallows, like so many other families. This is seriously the best thing ever. It's like a dessert, so deliciously delicious!

Sweet Potato Souffle

Ingredients
3 cups sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
4 Tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

-topping-
1/3 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 cup chopped nuts, optional

Directions
1. Mix together potatoes, sugar, eggs, 4T butter, and vanilla.
2. Put in a 9x13 baking dish.
3. Combine brown sugar and flour.
4. Mix with melted butter.
5. Sprinkle on top of potatoes.
6. Bake 30 minutes at 350F.

Fudgy Pecan Pie

Not only do we make pecan pie at Thanksgiving, we also make fudgy pecan pie. This one we started only about 8 years ago. It's so delicious, we keep making it!

Fudgy Pecan Pie

Ingredients
3/4 cup sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup hot water
2 eggs, well beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups pecan pieces
1 unbaked pie shell, 9"

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In medium saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate and butter.
3. Stir in condensed milk, hot water, and eggs. Mix well. Remove from heat.
4. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into pastry shell.
5. Bake 40-45 minutes or until center is set.
6. Chill 3 hours.