Holiday side dishes

With Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner, I want to share some holiday side recipes. Hopefully they will work with your turkey or ham for one of your holiday dinners.

Cornbread Dressing
4-1/2 c. cornbread, crumbled or 2 7-oz. pkgs. of yellow cornbread mix
16-oz. pkg. of herb stuffing mix
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 c. celery, chopped
1 Tbsp. rubbed sage
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 cans cream of mushroom soup
2 14-oz. cans chicken broth
4 eggs
2 Tbsp. butter, cubed

Stir together cornbread crumbs, stuffing mix, onion, celery, sage, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Combine soup, broth and eggs in another large bowl. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix well. Pour into a 5-1/2 to 6 quart lightly greased slow cooker. Dot with butter. Cook in the slow cooker on low for 4 hours or until cooked through and set. It should have the texture and firmness of bread pudding.

The dressing can be mixed a day ahead, chilled and cooked the next day. The chilled mix will take a little longer to cook.

Horseradish Green Beans
1/4 c. butter
1 large onion, sliced
2 tsp. garlic, chopped
1 lb. green beans
1 c. mayonnaise
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1 Tbsp. prepared horseradish
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1-1/2 tsp. parsley flakes or 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1 lemon, juiced
Salt and pepper, to taste
5 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

Melt butter in a large pan. Add onions and garlic and cook until translucent. Add green beans and sauté until tender.

Separately, combine mayonnaise, eggs, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, celery salt, parsley and lemon juice in a large bowl. Add green beans and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Garnish with bacon and serve.

Honeybun Cake
For the cake:
1 box yellow cake mix
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. vegetable oil
4 eggs
8 oz. sour cream
For the filling:
1 c. light brown sugar
1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 c. finely chopped pecans
1/3 c. honey
For the icing:
2 c. powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. Vanilla extract
3-6 Tbsp. milk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a 9×13-inch pan with non-stick cooking spray and line with parchment paper.

Mix cake mix, flour, oil, egg and sour cream in a mixing bowl and beat on low to combine, stop and scrape down the sides and then beat on medium for two minutes. Spread half of the batter in pan.

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, pecans and honey in a medium bowl. Sprinkle half of the mixture over the cake batter. Pour remaining batter over the filling. Then scatter the rest of the filling over the top. Use a knife to swirl the batter. Bake for 40 minutes.

Add vanilla extract to powdered sugar. Whisk in milk starting with 3 Tbsp. Continue to dribble in milk while whisking until icing can be slowly poured onto the cake. Do not exceed 6 Tbsp. of milk or icing will be too thin. Pour icing over warm cake.