Spicy Pomegranate Cranberry Sauce

Cranberry sauce made with fresh cranberries, citrus, cayenne and pomegranate juice.

When I was growing up we'd be halfway through the holiday meal when I'd pipe up and say, "Hey, where's the cranberry sauce?" 

Invariably, the little can of sliced up jellied cranberry sauce with ridges always seemed to be forgotten.

I'm pretty sure that I'm the only one who really missed it, but I just love to eat cranberry sauce along with a bite of turkey or ham, and it's just not the same without it really.

Apple pie made with mixed apples and mango jam or apple jelly and pictured here with a drizzle of caramel sauce.

Old Fashioned Apple Pie

This recipe is for a very basic, old fashioned apple pie, using 3 pounds of mixed apples for a nice depth of flavor, and the addition of a bit of jam or jelly as a nice little extra flavor burst. A brush of the bowl juices across the top and we've got another great recipe for the apple recipe collection!

A classic holiday casserole made with broccoli and cheese, and a few bonus veggies, topped with buttery crackers.

Broccoli and Cheese Casserole

Ahhhh.... broccoli and cheese casserole! Another one of those dishes that for us lovers of broccoli, is expected to grace the tables of several major holidays and usually does.

Lots of ways to make this - one of the most classic and well known versions back in the day, involved a little roll of garlic cheese. And then suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, Kraft just discontinued the garlic cheese roll, without even giving an acceptable substitute! I really don't understand why they don't bring it back. Folks would be thrilled!

Kraft Garlic Cheese Roll Substitute

Oh the lament across the net a few years back when Kraft decided to discontinue the garlic cheese roll! Didn't Kraft realize that while it may not have been a big seller throughout the year, thousands upon thousands of cooks across the country used that roll of garlic cheese to make their holiday broccoli cheese casserole, spinach casserole, garlic cheese biscuits, cheese balls, stove-top garlic cheese grits, and baked cheese grits, who knows what else?!

Well, I was not a user of the famous cheese roll, but in researching this topic for my readers, I ran across a tidbit that said a grocery store manager was told by the folks at Kraft, that the squirt cheese product called Easy Cheese Roasted Garlic Cheddar flavor, was actually the same exact product contained in the roll, 1 can equal to 1 roll.

A few little twists on the old classic, this green bean casserole, includes freshly sauteed onion, sliced almonds, and a buttery crumb topping.

Green Bean Casserole with Crumb Topping

Green bean casserole is just about as traditional as you can get for the holidays, and I don't care how much folks try to knock it, it's another one of those dishes that are expected down South at both Thanksgiving and Christmas.

For me, it's not the holidays without it!

It's made most often in the classic way that has been around forever ... with our famous red and white can of southern béchamel - better known as Campbell's Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup!

Corn spoon bread goes by a number of names, but it's basically a souffle made of cornmeal, corn, sour cream, milk, eggs and butter. A wonderful side dish for any holiday.

Corn Spoon Bread

Corn Spoon Bread, is an old fashioned dish that has been around since the establishment of the colonies, and goes by many names these days - Corn Casserole, Corn Pudding, Corn Spoon Bread, to name a few - though all of those actually started out as completely separate recipes. Pretty much they all now represent a single dish similar to this one.

Traditional Southern Sweet Potato Casserole

Classic old-fashioned souffled sweet potato casserole topped with gooey marshmallows, pecan praline topping - or both!

Sweet Potato Casserole

I don't know what it is about sweet potatoes fluffed up souffle like and topped with gooey marshmallows, but we sure love this dish down here in The Deep South and it is a rare Southern table that is not graced with it on Thanksgiving or Christmas, or both.

A cosmopolitan adult cocktail made with citrus vodka, triple sec, pomegranate juice, cranberry juice and lime.

Pomegranate Cosmopolitan

Here's our next adult beverage in the Weekend Cocktail series - The Pomegranate Cosmopolitan

Looking at that blood red, makes me think this would've been a great cocktail for Halloween weekend. Oh well, it'll have to wait till next year!

A wonderful side dish combining seasonal butternut squash with sweet potato and a praline topping, perfect for the holidays.

Praline Butternut Squash and Sweet Potato Casserole

Try adding this combination of sweet potatoes with butternut squash to your holiday menu.

We have a pretty short window of availability for any kind of winter squash in the south, and butternut barely gets a passing glance in the grocery stores here. Given that, it isn't a squash that I have experimented with much.

One thing I did find, however, was that I was not too wild about it at all in any kind of soup form, which seems one of the most common ways it is presented.

Chocolate and Pecan Dixie Pie

A classic southern pie, made with chocolate and pecans and affectionately known in the south as Dixie Pie is sure to please!

Dixie Pie

This is another one of those classic southern pies that's been around forever - and one that everybody has a slightly different version of; some use corn syrup making it similar to pecan pie, some use more eggs and make it more of a custard pie. Some use coconut, or raisins, or walnuts, or some combination of any or all of the above! And some, well, they add a nip of bourbon too.