#COOKING WITH CLORIS--SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE #RECIPE

Sweet potatoes are not just for Thanksgiving. This casserole will be a hit at a New Year’s Day open house or a Superbowl party. Or any other time.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:

5-6 large sweet potatoes

1-1/2 cups brown sugar

1-1/2 sticks softened butter

1-1/2 teas. vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1 cup chopped pecans

1-1/2 cups dried cranberries

maple syrup (the real kind)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Scrub potatoes and boil or bake until tender. Allow to cool. Peel and mash.

Stir in 3/4 cup brown sugar, butter, vanilla, milk, and eggs, mixing well. Pour into greased 9” x 13” casserole dish.

Mix remaining brown sugar, nuts, cranberries, and butter together. Spread evenly over potato mixture. Drizzle with maple syrup.

Bake for approximately 30 minutes (until topping has browned.)

COOKING WITH CLORIS -- TURKEY POT PIE

Many people traditionally have open house parties on New Year’s Day. A staple of these events is a buffet which includes a turkey. If you’re like most of us, you bought too big a bird and now have turkey leftovers up the wazoo -- even after pressing doggie bags on your departing guests. Cloris is here today with a quick and easy solution to the too much turkey leftovers dilemma. -- AP

TURKEY POT PIE
(serves 4)
Ingredients:
2 deep dish frozen pastry shells
2 cups cubed cooked turkey
9 oz. package frozen boil-in-bag mixed vegetables in teriyaki sauce, thawed
6 frozen asparagus stalks, thawed
4 oz. can mushroom stems and pieces
1 small onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 can turkey gravy

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Chop onion. Sauté in olive oil until golden brown. Set aside.

Cut asparagus into 1” pieces. Mix together turkey, mixed vegetables, asparagus, and onion. Pour into pie crust. Pour gravy over mixture.

Cover pie with second pie crust. Crimp edges. Poke holes in to crust.

Bake 40-50 minutes until crust turns golden brown.

Note: This recipe can also be made from scratch by replacing the frozen pie crust with pie crust you make yourself and using fresh vegetables instead of canned and frozen. If you go the made-from-scratch route, you’ll want to add some seasoning. Garlic, paprika, and celery salt would work well, or try soy or teriyaki sauce.

Well, I certainly didn’t have a New Year’s Day party this year, given dead louse of a spouse left me penniless and up the wazoo in debt (read ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN to learn why), but this sounds like a great dinner to use up chicken leftovers as well. Thanks, Cloris!

What about you, readers? Do you have any special ways you like to use up leftovers? Let’s hear from you. Post a comment to be entered in the drawing for a book from our Book Club Friday guest author this week. -- AP