This is a plain old baked turkey recipe.

1 big ol' gobbler

Margarine, softened

Garlic salt

Liquid smoke

Onions

Celery (with leaves)

Broiling bag

Mix margarine with garlic salt and liquid smoke. Rub between skin and meat of bird. Take out giblets (this is important, because if you leave them in, your family will make fun of you for the next 20 Thanksgivings, right Sherri?). Place onions and celery inside turkey. Cook inside broiling bag until done. We usually set the oven on 250º and bake it overnight.

Every person that has tried this loved it! It is great for parties and especially for the holidays. You can freeze this recipe up to a month.

1 package Hidden Valley Ranch™ (HVR) dressing mix (milk recipe)

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup mayonnaise

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

6 ounces cheddar cheese, grated fine

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Mix together HVR dressing mix with mayonnaise and milk. Blend in cream cheese. Next, gradually mix in cheddar cheese.

Place mixture in freezer for around 45 minutes. You want the mixture to thicken, not freeze. If you don't let it thicken, you'll end up with cheese "discs". This, I know, comes from experience.

Form mixture into either one big ball or 2 smaller ones. Roll the ball(s) in nuts and refrigerate.

Make this a day ahead to allow for all the flavors to combine. Use pineapple packed in its own juice, not heavy syrup -- you don't want this to be too sweet. This has a great flavor.

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 (8 1/2 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained

1 cup finely chopped pecans

1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1/4 cup finely chopped green pepper

2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

1 tablespoon seasoned salt

Gradually stir in pineapple, 1 cup finely chopped pecans, green pepper, onion, and salt to cream cheese. Chill well. Form into a ball and roll in the remaining coarsely chopped pecans. Chill until ready to serve.

3 eggs, separated

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup lemon juice (juice of 3 lemons or so)

1 tablespoon lemon zest (that's grated lemon rind for you rednecks out there), optional

9 tablespoons sugar

1/3 cup margarine

Mix together lemon juice, lemon zest, and Sweetened and Condensed milk. Beat in egg yolks. Pour into crust.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until frothy. Gradually beat in remaining 6 tablespoons of sugar. Beat until stiff and glossy. Cover pie with egg white mixture and bake around 20 minutes. Completely cool before serving.

Boy is this recipe ripe with history! When I was much younger (probably pre-teen), my Dad worked for T. V. A. (Tennessee Valley Authority). And every morning he had to leave the house way before dawn, to go to Tennessee and then catch a bus or something to get to Alabama to work. One unfortunate day, My Dad's lunch was stolen. Poor ol' Leo was sitting over on the tailgate of a pick up truck with his stomach rumbling. Well, he made up his mind that he was never going to go hungry in Alabama again. When he packed his lunch, he just about took all of the groceries Momma picked up the day before. He should have just hooked up a chain to the fridge and carried it with him. With that said, my sweet Meme used to make a great congealed salad (we called it "Green Stuff" at that time) that Daddy loved. Matter of fact, the entire family fancied it. One night, I made some Green Stuff and started to put it in the fridge when a little voice told me, "Heck no!" I know what would happen: Daddy would take the whole daggum thing in his lunch. So, I hid the salad under my bed. Sure enough, Daddy went looking for it the next morning when he was packing his groceries and he just couldn't figure our where it could be. Hee hee. Needless to say, the family enjoyed the "Concealed" Salad the next day.

1 1/2 cups water

1 (8 servings-sized) package lime or orange Gelatin

4 cups miniature marshmallows

1 cup chopped pecans

1 (8-ounce) carton Non-dairy whipped topping

12 ounces cottage cheese

1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple

Mix water, Gelatin, and marshmallows into a double boiler. On medium heat, stir constantly until the marshmallows are melted. Remove from heat and place into sink of ice water. When Gelatin mixture has cooled for about 5-10 minutes, add in rest of ingredients. Chill.

This is the slaw served in Cohutta.

Small head of cabbage, grated

1 carrot, grated

1 small bell pepper, chopped

Dehydrated onion flakes to taste

Parsley flakes

Tarragon vinegar

Garlic salt

Mayonnaise

Pinch of sugar

Mix together vegetables a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together remaining ingredients. Pour this mayonnaise mixture over the veggies. Season to taste and mix well. Refrigerate.

2 cans of sweet potatoes

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup evaporated (Pet) milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup margarine

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350º. Mix all ingredients and pour into ungreased 2-quart casserole dish. Make Streusel Topping, and place on top of tater mixture. Bake 30 minutes or until center is set.

My sister Sherri gave me this recipe. Sherri turned into the Sweet Potato Police on Christmas 1996. She put this topping on her sweet potato casserole and took names of all the people who got a serving. (I think she was just insecure since she put too much butter in her topping and then tried to "dry it up" by adding additional flour. She ended up with a very hard pecan butter cookie on top of her casserole. Uh, yeah Sherri, it was good, yeah, OK.) Oh, don't worry, this recipe will not yield a hard cookie. Right Sherri?

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1/3 cup cold margarine

1 cup chopped pecans

Dash or two of ground cinnamon

In medium mixing bowl, combine sugar, cinnamon and flour; cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in nuts. When your pie has 10 minutes of baking time left, sprinkle this mixture on top of the pie and bake the remaining 10 minutes.

This is from Janeal in Washington!

1 package of Refrigerator Biscuits

1 jumbo Golden Delicious Apple

1 cup white sugar

1 cup water

1/2 cup melted butter

2 tablespoons Vanilla

Peel and core the apple, and cut into 8ths. Wrap the biscuit around the apple best you can. Place in a greased deep dish pan (Janeal used a quiche pan).

In a bowl put in the sugar, water, butter and vanilla. Stir together then pour over the biscuit wrapped apple. Sprinkle with nutmeg or cinnamon or allspice. Bake at 350º for 40 minutes.

From Donalyn's archives ...

1 box pistachio pudding

1 16 oz can crushed pineapple (with juice)

1 8 oz container Cool Whip

2 cups small marshmallows

Dissolve the pudding in the pineapple, stir in the Cool Whip, and fold in the marshmallows. Refrigerate for about half an hour.

1 box elbow macaroni

3 eggs

1 cup of milk

1 and 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 and 1/2 cup shredded Velveeta Cheese (you can buy this in a bag shredded)

1 teaspoon salt

Dash of pepper

1 teaspoon dried mustard

1 cup Ritz Cracker crumbs

1 stick of butter

Cook the macaroni according to the box directions. Beat eggs well, add milk and beat til well mixed; add salt pepper and dry mustard, beat through. Drain macaroni put back in pot, add 1/2 stick of the butter stir until melted. Pour in egg and milk mixture. Stir constantly while simmering on low heat until the liquid is hot add the cheese and mix well. Pour macaroni and cheese into a buttered casserole dish (I prefer a deep dish), top with the cracker crumbs. Cut remaining butter into small pieces and dot on top of cracker crumbs. Bake at a 350 oven for about 25 minutes. 

From Donalyn; you don't have to wear your coffee-colored hose when you make this!

1 large can crushed pineapple
1 can cherry pie filling
1 box yellow cake mix, either butter or pineapple-flavored (if they have it!)
1 cup chopped pecans
1 stick of butter, sliced into pats

Grease a baking dish (the oblong kind can't remember the size - Southern Angel Sez it's probably a 9x13-inch). Pour pineapple into bottom (with juice) spread evenly. Top with the cherry pie filling covering all the pineapple. Using your hand, pour the yellow cake mix (yes - the DRY cake mix) on top of the fruit mixture (cover all the fruit and use the WHOLE box). Top cake mix with pecans, and then top the whole thing with pats of butter making sure just about the whole top is covered. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes (or until bubbly and golden brown).

Don't worry about how the cake mix looks before you bake it. Once it cooks, it is like a cobbler. Try it warm topped with ice cream!

Lorri says to double the recipe for the holidays.

1 Pkg. Chopped Broccoli

1 Pkg. Chopped Spinach

1/2 Cup Mayonnaise

1 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup

1 Egg

Cook Spinach and Broccoli ... mix the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl ... add Spinach and Broccoli. Bake 350º for 40 minutes