There are few of my recipes, send me yours!

Why don’t we take a break and forget about our pain, bad weather and the moods of the nature and think about holidays? Let’s imagine we are all sitting around my kitchen table in the morning, drinking coffee or herbal tea and discussing some of our favorite holiday recipes. Although it is raining outside, it is warm and nice in the kitchen, you can smell cinnamon and flowers in the air, the dog is lying at our feet and we’re having good time, as friends do. Another year is behind us, this is enough to have fun.
When I think of my holidays, I think of tasty food in the first place, don’t you? There is no Christmas without a smell of seasons. I remember my mother getting out her special book with holiday recipes, roasting big roast over on open fire. Yes! I’m old but not as old as dinosaurs. I even remember my kindergarten teacher sharing recipes with my mother and then we had the treats for the holidays.
When I think about tradition, my memories are in the aromas’ veil. We didn’t have turkey every time as my mother didn’t like it but instead she used to make a large, moist ham with brown sugar or mustard over it. She would make a turkey on some occasions but then she always cooked it breast down so all those juices would flow down and make the dry white meat more moist. She always stuffed the turkey with her own homemade cornbread, as do I. There were also plenty of baked beans. Mom first put them in water overnight and then into the oven in the morning with bacon, brown sugar and other spices. Apart from that we always had sweet yams, fresh yeast rolls and a homemade strawberry jam plus her favorite homemade garlic dill pickles or green tomato pickles. I can’t forget a large bowl of mashed potatoes with melting butter in the middle.
I come form the South as my taste in cooking in eating does. I’ve tried many of the traditional recipes over the years, like the famous green bean casserole. I now put some fresh bean sprouts and a can of sliced chestnuts to it. I also add a cup of dried cranberries to the traditional pecan pie. The pie is sweet but the cranberries give it a bit bitter taste. Delicious. I found it difficult to choose only two recipes to share with you and perhaps I will add some more later on, but now, I am going to post my oldest favorite Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese icing and my newest discovery, roasted root vegetables. I got the cake recipe from a cook at a camp I went to in the mountains of California. Everyone who tried the cake over the years says it is the best carrot cake they’ve ever tried. The roast vegetables recipe was found in my favorite food magazine, A Taste of the South. So, here they are.
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Icing
3 eggs
2 cup sugar
1 ½  cup vegetable oil
2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)
2 cup grated carrots
1 small can of pineapple with juice
4 oz. coconut (small flakes)
Stir eggs and sugar until creamy, add the oil little by little. Pass the dry ingredients through a sieve, mix until rather smooth, then add the rest. Bake in a cake form or in two round pans for about 40-45 min. in a 350 degree oven. Test the middle to be sure it is ready. Put your favorite icing on the top or use mine:
Cream Cheese Icing:
1 large (8 oz) package cream cheese or Neufchatel
1 bar of butter or margarine
1 tsp. real vanilla
1 box powdered sugar
Mix all until smooth.
Roasted Root Vegetables
8 carrots, peeled, in slices of about ½ inch thick
4 parsnips, peeled and in slices of  ½ inch thick
1 rutabaga, peeled and in dice of ½ inch thick
1 (10 oz.) bag pearl onions, peeled
¼ cup olive oil
2 tblsps. chopped fresh thyme
½ tsp. ground black pepper
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
The oven should be about 450 degrees. Put aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Put the sliced and diced vegs into a plastic bag, add all the other spices, close the bag and shake it to coat the vegs in spices. Open the bag, put the vegs onto the baking sheet and bake for an hour, stir after half an hour. They are very tasty and browned. You can even have them the next day, cold or heated. They let go their natural sugars during the baking and the oil gives them a beautiful color.
Hope you make use of my recipes and enjoy. I think you will share some of your favorite recipes during this peaceful time.

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