Christmas

I was really looking forward to cooking on Christmas this year. We decided on turkey, but since we just made turkey on Thanksgiving, I had planned on making different sides and getting creative with my potatoes. However by Christmas I was feeling so worn out from the pneumonia that I had to let everyone else do the work. THANK YOU so much mom, dad, Jim, Stacy, and Jon for all of your help prepping, cooking, and cleaning up!!

Our menu - turkey fresh from Haring Brothers Farm, Jon's stuffing - a family recipe, roasted asparagus, my dad's mashed potatoes, corn, cranberry sauce, and creamed onions.

The creamed onions were the one thing that I made from start to finish. My father-in-law has to have them with a turkey dinner -

• I boiled frozen mini white onions for 5 minutes, drained them, and put them in a serving dish.
• In the meantime I made a cream sauce by melting 2 tbsp butter in a pan, then adding 1 tbsp white flour to make a roux. Once thickened, I added 1 cup of heavy cream, a pinch of salt, a pinch of nutmeg, and a pinch of parsley for color. I whisked everything until it came to a heavy simmer, then poured the sauce over the onions.

Dessert is my dad's domain. He is THE baker in the family. On Christmas Eve he made a fabulous pumpkin cheesecake, and on Christmas he brought Jon's favorite, an apple pie. How beautiful is this?

Here is his recipe:

Ingredients

• 8 cups of Granny Smith Apples (sliced or chunks) -- he uses a Pampered Chef Apple slicer to make uniform slices
• 3/4 Cups of granulated sugar
• 3 Tbsp tapioca
• 1 Tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 Tsp ground ginger
• 1 Package of Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust (2) or make your own

Directions

• Mix the apples, tapioca, sugar, cinnamon and ginger in a large bowl until all the fruit is coated
• Sprinkle a small amount of flour on the bottom of your pie plate; place 1 crust in the plate (the flour prevents sticking)
• Pour all of the ingredients into the shell.
• Place 4-6 pats of butter on top of the apples (about 1/4 inch thick).
• Place the second pie crust over the apples and crimp the edges. With a fork, poke holes in the crust.
• Bake at 425 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until crust is golden brown and fruit is bubbling.
  Tip: Use a pie shield for the entire baking time to protect the rim of the crust from burning OR cover the perimeter of the shell with aluminum foil removing after 20-25 minutes.
• Remove from oven and place on a rack to cool.
  

This pie is SOOOO good! It doesn't even need ice cream on top!

Since I didn't even get around to taking any other food pictures, here are a few random Christmas pictures -

My sister and I made a few flower arrangements for our table

Daisy Mae sitting by the tree

Merry Christmas!!!