After her grandmother died several years ago, Queen picked up the torch and began making Nanny’s White Christmas Pie herself. “It keeps me connected to my grandparents and keeps those family ties going strong,” she says. “That means a great deal to me and to my family when we eat it.”
When she first started making the pie, though, it was just for the family dinner table. “At first I didn’t deliver any, but before long I started getting requests from friends and family and coworkers,” she says. “Last year, I made six of them. I don’t make nearly as many as my nanny and granddad did, and I haven’t dressed up as Mrs. Claus yet, but who knows?”
As grand-prize winner in Ohio Cooperative Living’s Holiday Favorites 2021 reader recipe contest, Queen received an Ohio-made KitchenAid stand mixer. Runners-up Marlene Franklin of Kelleys Island and Debbie Atchley of Cecil each received a copy of The Complete Holiday Cookbook.
MARLENE FRANKLIN always wondered why cranberry sauce was ever-present on her family’s holiday dinner table when she was growing up. “No one ever ate it except for Uncle Pat,” says Franklin, who lives on Kelleys Island and is a member of Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative.
Even so, Franklin says she was determined to keep it a part of the meal when she started hosting for the holidays — “It was tradition,” she says — and tried numerous variations over the ensuing years.
Finally, she came across a recipe that she adapted into her Cranberry-Jalapeño Cream Cheese Dip, which has become a family favorite rather than an afterthought. “When I found this recipe about 10 years ago, I think I nailed it,” she says. “It is so tasty, and my family and guests cannot get enough of it. I am always asked for the recipe.”
DEBBIE ATCHLEY reckons there would be a family revolt if she were to ever skip baking her Oat Dinner Rolls for the holidays.
“It would cause an uproar, to say the least,” says Atchley, a member of Paulding Putnam Electric Cooperative who lives in Cecil. “They hold the honor of being the longest-running request from my family for our holiday gatherings.”
As an added bonus: Extra rolls make delicious slider buns for any leftover ham or turkey sandwiches. “They take a little extra effort, but they are oh so worth it,” she says.
