Christmas of Dreams Blog Party Day 4

Day 4 of Christmas of Dreams Blog Party is here. For those of you just arriving hello and welcome. Remember that you can participate in the fun at any time. Come and join us over at Momdot. Let me explain again what the party is all about. Each day (except for weekends) you answer a Holiday Question. Then you get to go to other participating blogs and comment on their answers. Others will visit you and we all become friends. Hopefully in the process you can meet a new friend and even win some great prizes. Click on the Day 4 button to join in. So onto Day 4 question.

Day 4

What is your favorite Holiday recipe?

Describe your Holiday table.

What is your biggest Holiday cooking disaster?

Sponsors: Day Four Blog Party Question is Brought to you by Bottlewise and Glow Mama
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HipposToes, Run DMT

I love the Holidays because of all the yummy foods and smells around the house. It all starts at Thanksgiving with my dad's great Thanksgiving feast and then onto JBody's mom's Thanksgiving dinner on the friday after.

Thanksgiving wouldn't be thanksgiving with out Dad's Thanksgiving Jello. This is something I have grown up with from my first Thanksgiving up and we are still enjoying it today. Not everyone likes it. The first year JBody had it he actually didn't know what the whole hype was. It took him until the next year to actually decide that he liked it.

Thanksgiving Jello
Large Cool Whips
1 Large box of Jell-O (we perfer orange)
2 cups cold (made the night before)
Canned Mandarine oranges about 4-5 cans (drained, reserved)

Slowly add jello mix to the cool whip (you are going to be adding according to your taste preferenc). This takes a lot of whisking. Tilt your bowl to help you make the mixtures really fluffy. When the mixture is airy and fluffy add the cold rice and the mandarine oranges. Add a little juice in case the Jell-O gets hard. Let Jell-O set before serving. Decorate top with extra mandarine oranges.

Sorry the recipe is so vague. My dad does this all out of memory and by throwing it together.

JBody's Mom makes my favorite sweet potatoe bake

Sweet Potatoe Bake
3 cups cold mashed sweet potatoes (if you want to get technical they are really yams)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
TOPPING:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp cold butter

Beat sweet potatoes, sugar, milk, butter, eggs, salt and vanilla until smooth. Place in greased 2-qt baking dish. Combine brown sugar, pecans, and flour; cut in butter until crumble. Sprinkle over potato mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 325 degrees for 45-50 min. or until golden brown.
Lil' E has a nut allergy so when I make this for the kids, we don't add the pecans to topping.
For New Years Eve we have a big get together at my in laws. We eat a bunch of finger foods and play games. Every year J Body and I bring Fruit Soup. We love this stuff.

Fruit Soup
4 cups water
1 cup sugar
¾ cup minute tapioca
2 (12 oz) frozen orange juice
5 cups water
4 bananas-sliced
4 small packages strawberries- slice strawberries
8 oranges- section and slice oranges (you can just use drained mandarines if you want)
4 (16 oz) cans peaches with juice-cut into bite size pieces

Add 4 cups water, sugar, and tapioca to a very large pot. Cook on med heat until tapioca has thickened and is translucent. Remove from heat. Add orange juice and fruit. Refrigerate and serve.

If I were to describe our Holiday table to you it would probalby sound alot like yours. Alot of food, family, and friends. At my parents house there is the large table that the adults sit at with most of the food on it. Another table for the teens, and a smaller table for the little grandkids. At my in laws there is a table with food and the children, a bar with food and the older children and then the rest of us sit on the couches and floor.

This is a picture of Lil E's first Thanksgiving. This is at my parents house you can kind of see all the food and the extra tables. I think this year we only had 2 tables. It has since moved to the three I was telling you about earlier.

As for disasters well I don't think we have ever had any disasters in the kitchen during the holidays. I do remember one year my mom added way too much milk to the mashed potatoes and we still talk about it today.