The Christmas season is upon us, and it has many great traditions involved. No matter how you and your family may celebrate, one part of Christmas that we all love is the food. Whether it’s turkey, cranberry sauce or sugar cookies, there’s something for everyone at a Christmas dinner. Try out a few of our staff’s family favorite recipes this season!

Mrs. Meuth’s Party Chicken

Mrs. Meuth loves this very simple recipe that her family calls “Party Chicken.” What you’ll need is one package of Buddig Beef, butter, 5-6 large chicken breasts, salt, pepper, bacon, a can of cream of chicken soup and a medium can of sour cream. She said to take the package of beef and layer it on the bottom of a greased 9×13 pan. Then you take the thawed chicken breasts, cut them into thirds, and lay them over the beef. The next step is to season the chicken with salt and pepper. Then slowly pour the can of cream of chicken soup into a separate container with the sour cream and mix them together. Lay the bacon on over the chicken and beef and then top it off with the cream of chicken and sour cream mixture. You’ll start cooking this at 275 degrees for 50 minutes, and then turn the temperature up to 300 degrees for 50 minutes. Make sure you don’t cover it! Mrs. Meuth says it tastes delicious on top of rice. Her family loves it!

Mrs. Playle’s Apple & Orange Cider

Mrs. Playle loves to make what she calls Hot Spiced Apple & Orange Cider. This wonderful combination of flavors is an easy recipe. All you need is 1 cup of water, ½ cup of sugar, 2 three inch cinnamon sticks, 4 whole AllSpice, ½ teaspoon of ground ginger, 2 cups of orange juice and ¼ cup of lemon juice. The first step is to bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Be sure to stir constantly and boil for three minutes. Then you want to add the cinnamon, AllSpice and ginger. Reduce the heat and stir occasionally for ten minutes. Pour the mixture through a wire mesh strainer into a Dutch Oven. Then add cider and juices. Lastly, warm the drink, and serve to your friends and family.

Mrs. Murphy’s Twice Baked Potatoes

Mrs. Murphy said her Twice Baked Potatoes are delicious and great to make ahead of time when preparing for company. You will need 2 medium baking potatoes, 2 tbsp of butter (softened), 1 tbsp of 2% milk, ¼ tsp of salt, 3 oz of cream cheese (cubed), 2 tbsp of sour cream and cheddar cheese. Pierce the potatoes and bake them at 375 degrees for one hour until tender. When they’ve cooled down enough to touch, slice the top off of each potato. Scoop out the insides, leaving a shell. In a small bowl, mash the potato with the butter, milk and salt. Stir in the cream cheese and spoon them into the potato shells. Top it off with cheddar cheese. Place these on a baking sheet and cook them uncovered at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until they are heated through and the cheese is melted.

Mrs. Garrett’s Cheddar Ranch Potatoes

As she has told us on the Thanksgiving edition of the broadcast, Mrs. Garrett loves to make her Cheddar Ranch Potatoes. And once I heard about it, I knew I had to try it. And I can 100% say that this recipe is one you will want to keep around for a long, long time. All you need are 8-10 cans of whole potatoes, 1 large bag of shredded sharp cheddar cheese, 1 large bottle of ranch dressing and 1 lb of cooked and crumbled bacon. In a tin foil pan, drain and smash the potatoes with a fork. In another 10×13 tin foiled pan, layer the potatoes, sharp cheddar, ranch and bacon. Repeat the layering process until all ingredients are gone. Then bake at 350 degrees for around 45 minutes or until bubbly.

I don’t know about you, but to me it sounds like the staff here at St. Dominic could have the greatest pot-luck ever. Make sure to try all of these delicious recipes and let us and the staff members know what you think! Be sure to make enough for whomever you’re celebrating the holiday season with; I’m sure they wouldn’t want to miss out.