Here's an idea I came up with for Christmas and I think you're gonna love it.  My mother always hosts our family's Christmas Eve celebration and I always do all the cooking at her house.  But, this year, because of my vacation, I didn't have a lot of time to plan my menu.  As a matter of fact, the morning of December 23rd, I still hadn't planned it.  LOL!  And I hadn't shopped for my Dirty Santa gifts either.  So I went to Ollie's, stumbled across the cookbooks and Ka-Pow!  The light bulb went off.  I was going to theme my menu around a cookbook.  And I did!  Southern Living's Country Music's Greatest Eats presented by CMT!

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Here's what I decided to do.  I flipped through the cookbook and chose recipes from it to cook for my family, then I picked up a copy of the cookbook for everyone in attendance on Christmas Eve.  And, if you've ever been to Ollie's, you know they have amazing prices on books.  Greatest Eats was just $3.99 a copy and I saved an additional 25% off!

So, here are some highlights of what I made from the book . . .

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A pot roast recipe from Amy Grant.  And by the way, that photo is not the finished product.  The third roast was searing in a Dutch oven and plopped down in the middle and then it was topped with veggies, red wine and more.  It was the most delicious roast I have ever eaten.  Truly!  The family raved.

I also made Randy Travis' Rosemary-Garlic Mashed Potatoes, a Corn Casserole from Rascal Flatts folk, a Pizza Casserole from Jay Demarcus' wife, a Sara Evans recipe for Missouri Dirt Cake and Pumpkin Bars from Grandma Alice's Pumpkin Bars from Sara Darling.  Plus, for starters, I made this . . .

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A Fresh Fruit Salad (with toasted pecans) from the Oak Ridge Boys!

Every single thing I made from the cookbook was a hit!  And, everyone loved getting a copy of the book so they could try the recipes (and others) for themselves at home.

I highly recommend this approach to holiday parties!  Find an awesome cookbook that inspires you, choose recipes from it, serve 'em up and let your guests leave with copies of the book!

My family loved it.  And I think yours will too.

By the way, if you'd like to check out the Southern Living Greatest Eats: Showstopping Recipes and Riff's from Country's Biggest Stars presented by CMT, CLICK HERE!

 

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