It occurred to us this past Thanksgiving that we have not saved many of our go-to recipes…and it would be a huge bummer if the original links ever went away! Plus we have tweaked many of these to our own tastes. This is an awesome stuffing we originally got from Epicurious, and turned it into both vegetarian and gluten free.
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Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
Any time these appear on a cookie tray, I have to restrain myself from eating all of them. So I decided to go ahead and make them myself this year – definitely will be a regular addition in the cookie tins. This is from Joy of Baking.
Mint Chocolate Cookies
This may be one of my favorite cookies I’ve ever done – but I love all things mint. Definitely a popular one in this year’s cookie tins.
Cherry Chocolate Blossoms
Another new cookie in this year’s holiday cookie extravaganza, this one was cute and went over well. A twist on peanut butter blossoms.
Holiday M&M Bars
One of the cookies for our yearly holiday cookie tins – as much as I am not a fan of chocolate, I really liked this one. Simple and makes a lot, too.
Grilled Leg of Lamb
We always make enough for for an army on Easter, and we were very excited to actually host it this year! We decided to do somethings besides ham, since that’s not everyone’s thing, and a leg of lamb sounded great. The problem for us is that our oven is not that big – a ham and sides and we’re done. This was perfect as it was meant for the grill. We really enjoyed it, and it was not only easy, but surprisingly quick to cook! We got this from an old Gourmet magazine. Only changes made were that we did not use the skewers described in the recipe, and we marinated overnight.
Peppermint Mocha Cookies
These were the definite winners for the Christmas cookies, IMO. Really excellent, and I am no fan of chocolate. I messed up the first batch by not soaking the espresso granules, and they were still great, but they were exceptional when done correctly. Definitely one to make next year.
Cranberry Sauce
Cranberry sauce is shockingly easy to make from scratch, and this is my general go-to for it. You will have to adjust orange/sugar/etc. to your taste and as you cook – for example, I find the sugar just right on this as someone who doesn’t have a sweet tooth, but you might like more! This is an easy one to make ahead…one less thing on your plate for the day of.
Sourdough Sausage Stuffing
This is my absolute favorite stuffing recipe, and I don’t know why I’m just now getting around to posting it…I make it every year! Probably pretty much my favorite thing at the Thanksgiving table. This is a Cooking Light recipe from eons ago, and the only thing I ever changed about it was to use all chicken stock instead of half stock/half water. Well, and to change up the sausage…hot Italian is awesome with this, but so are various herb sausages…you really can’t go wrong. I will say to be careful of the moisture level – it’s very dependent on how large a loaf of bread you use, etc. I usually find I only need 2 cups, but you can go up to 3…I also like a slightly crisper stuffing. Can’t say enough good things about this one!
Scalloped Potatoes
I have to admit that in three holiday meals this year, I’ve made scalloped potatoes every. Single. Time. I just love them. Especially given that I’m not the world’s biggest fan of spuds, this is a winner. This is a Cooking Light recipe I got years ago. I’ve always made it as-written, and am always happy with it.