Celebrate upcoming holidays with cookies, casseroles

smcclanahan

We have lots of celebrating in our family this week. Today is my dad's birthday and tomorrow our daughter, Lexie, turns 8 years old. How we anxiously awaited the arrival of the new baby -- who everyone just knew would be a boy. When she was born it was a big surprise. My how time has flown by. In seeing her accomplishments now I realize we must cherish every minute.

Judie Herbst of Cape Girardeau recently went looking for her mother's cinnamon roll recipe and much to her surprise she found it in an old recipe box. The recipe was handwritten by her mother and folded up very neatly, just as though she knew that Judie would be looking for it one day. Judie was so happy to have this recipe she wanted to share it with you.

Mom's Oatmeal Pecan Rolls

1 package yeast or 1 cake

1/4 cup warm water

1/2 cup Crisco shortening

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup scalded milk

4 to 4 1/2 cups sifted flour

2 eggs

1 cup rolled oats

Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water. Combine shortening, sugar and salt in large bowl and add scalded milk. Stir until shortening melts and cools to lukewarm. Beat in 1 cup of the flour and the eggs. Add softened yeast and oats. Blend. Stir in enough extra flour to make a soft dough. Turn out on floured surface and form into ball. Place in greased bowl. Brush lightly with melted butter. Cover with towel. Let rise in warm place until double, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch down and turn out on floured surface. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Divide in halves or thirds. Roll to form a rectangle about 1/4- to 3/8-inch thick. Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with brown or white granulated sugar, chopped pecans and a dash of cinnamon. Roll as for jelly roll. Cut in slices about 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick, using a string under and brought together and crossed over the top. Cover the bottom of a cake pan with melted butter, brown sugar and pecan pieces. Place rolls, cut side down in pans and let rise again until light, about 45 to 60 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees, about 25 minutes, and invert onto a tray.

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My sister makes excellent sugar cookies and I always mimic them for Valentine's Day for the children to take to school. I thought you might like to try her recipe.

Barb's Sugar Cookies

1 cup shortening

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 tablespoons cream

4 cups flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream together the shortening and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add cream, then flour, sifted with baking powder and salt. Mix well. Add vanilla. Chill dough about an hour or even overnight. Roll dough out small amounts at a time and cut into desired shapes. Bake in 400 degree oven for about 5 to 8 minutes, depending on the size of the cutters used. Watch to make sure there is no brown. When the cookies puff up high, you can take them out of the oven and let them rest on the cookie sheet a few minutes until set before removing. Decorate them as desired using colored sugars before baking, or after cooled using frosting and desired sugars or sprinkles.

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My friend Jo Leadbetter asked me for a broccoli casserole recipe and I always use Grace Hoover's recipe that appeared in our church cookbook several years ago. Jo enjoyed it so much she has given the recipe to many of her friends. Now I have shared another one of my favorite lima bean casserole recipes with her. Here are both recipes for you to try.

Corn-Broccoli Casserole

1 box Chicken-In-A-Biskit crackers

1/2- to 3//4-stick margarine

1 can whole kernel corn

1 can cream-style corn

1 small can shoe-peg corn

1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli, partially thawed

Crush crackers in a plastic bag and add melted margarine, working together to coat crackers; set aside. Drain the whole kernel corn and combine with cream-style corn. Add the partially thawed broccoli. Add half of the cracker mixture and mix. Place in a sprayed casserole dish. Cover with the remaining cracker mixture. Bake about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Lima Bean and Broccoli Casserole

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 teaspoon curry powder

2 cups Crispix or Rice Chex cereal

1 (10-ounce) package frozen lima beans

1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cream of celery soup

Paprika

Melt butter in a small pan or skillet; add curry powder and cereal. Stir over low heat about 5 minutes to coat the cereal well. Cook the vegetables separately. Combine lima beans with the two soups, undiluted, and add 1 cup of the cereal mixture. Stir in the broccoli. Place in a buttered 2-quart baking dish. Top with remaining cereal mixture. You may sprinkle with paprika, if desired. Bake at 350 degrees, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Yields about 8 servings.

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When we are so busy on Saturday with basketball games and other family activities, I am always looking for something I can fix in the crock pot or oven and not have to worry about it. This is one of our favorites because Scott loves pork fixed just about any way.

Pot Roasted Pork for Crock Pot

1 (4- to 5-pound) pork roast

Salt and pepper

1 clove garlic, slivered

2 medium onions, sliced

2 bay leaves

1 whole clove

1/2 cup hot water

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Rub pork roast with salt and pepper. Make tiny slits in meat and insert slivers of garlic. Place roast in broiler pan and broil 15 to 20 minutes to remove excess fat. Put 1 sliced onion in bottom of crock pot. Add browned pork roast and remaining onion and other ingredients. Cover and cook on high 5 to 6 hours. Remove to meat platter; thicken gravy if desired.

I hope each of you have a wonderful Valentine's Day and get to spend it with someone you love, even if that means on the telephone to children or grandchildren. So, until next time, happy birthday Lexie and happy cooking.

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at smcclanahan@semissourian.com or by mail at P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63701. Recipes published have not been kitchen-tested by the Southeast Missourian staff.