THE EATBEAT: Sacred Heart brings out new cookbook in time for holidays

If your gravy is lumpy, use a blender or food processor or simply strain it. If that last-minute rush of putting the Thanksgiving meal on the table drives you crazy, make your mashed potatoes ahead of time.

These are tips I found by thumbing through the new Sacred Heart Family Recipes cookbook. It gives some instructions on how to fold napkins for the dinner table. And it gives quick fixes for things that go wrong in the kitchen.

This is the day when most kitchens are getting geared up for the biggest dinner of the year. It's cookbook time. No matter how many cookbooks there are on the shelf, there is always room for a new one. The Sacred Heart book has 370 pages of recipes. It is well-organized and well-edited by Morris Press Cookbooks of Kearney, Neb.

The books are being sold at Sacred Heart for $15 or $20 if mailed. Along with an index of recipes, there also is an alphabetical listing of names of contributors to the cookbook and the pages where their recipes appear.

There are, for instance, recipes from Bill Straw, who has distinguished himself as a tailgater. Cleo Zeller has a recipe for Golden Hour Halibut, which may or may not be the real recipe used by the late Mrs. Oliver in the Golden Hour Cafe, once a popular place on North Fourth Street. Gerrie Chapa has contributed several Spanish-American recipes. And there are good recipes from Diane Pagnac, who used to make wedding cakes and is head cook at Sacred Heart School.

This week, I am foregoing a trip to a restaurant. When it comes right down to it, some of the best food is found in your house and mine -- especially on Thanksgiving.

Instead, I am passing on a few fairly basic recipes from Sacred Heart cookbook.

Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes/b>

5-pound bag potatoes, peeled, boiled and drained

1 8-ounce package softened cream cheese

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup evaporated skim milk

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon onion salt

1 teaspoon Lawry's season salt

Beat cream cheese. Add butter. Add potatoes. Mash together by hand then put in mixer with evaporated skim milk, pepper, onion and Lawry's season salt. Put in casserole. Top with butter. Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees or 45 minutes if refrigerated. These can be frozen.

-- Jenny Hovde/b>

Oven Stuffing/b>

2/3 cup butter

¾ cup chopped onion

1 cup finely chopped celery

18 slices torn bread

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon poultry seasoning

1 1/3 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 can cream of chicken soup

1½ cups water

Microwave butter, onion and celery for 5 to 7 minutes. Mix bread and spices with butter, onion and celery mixture. Heat soup and water in microwave. Add soup and water to bread mixture. Bake 1 hour at 325 degrees in 2½ quart roaster.

-- Caryl Mack/b>

Pecan Pie/b>

¾ cup chopped pecans

3 tablespoons bourbon

¼ cup melted butter

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

½ cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

¼ teaspoon salt

¾ cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Soak the pecans in the bourbon. Set aside in a mixing bowl, beat melted butter, sugar and eggs until fluffy. Blend in syrup, vanilla and salt. Stir in chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Pour mixture into a 9-inch pie crust. Sprinkle bourbon-soaked pecans over top of filling.

-- Tina Thompson/b>

Waldorf Apple Salad/b>

2 cups diced apples

1 cup celery, cut fine

½ cup chopped walnuts

¼ cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon lemon juice

Dash of salt

½ cup Cool Whip

Blend ¼ cup mayonnaise with 1 tablespoon sugar and ½ teaspoon lemon juice and dash of salt. Fold in ½ cup Cool Whip. Mix all with apple, celery and walnuts. Refrigerate.

-- Veronica (Hussey) Bulger

Reach Hagerty at mhagerty@gra.midco.net or call (701) 772-1055.