A Redbird Christmas

by Fannie Flagg

  YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

  Mildred’s Heavenly Hash

  1 can fruit cocktail

  1 can crushed pineapple

  1½ cups chopped pecans

  1 small container sour cream

  shredded coconut

  maraschino cherries

  Drain fruit cocktail and crushed pineapple. Mix together fruit cocktail, crushed pineapple, pecans, and sour cream. Sprinkle coconut on top, then place cherries arranged on top. Refrigerate.

  Amelia Martinez’s Beef Nachos

  1 pound ground chuck

  1 large onion, chopped

  1 package taco seasoning mix plus water

  1 package deli nacho chips

  1 package shredded cheddar cheese

  1 package shredded mozzarella cheese

  1 jar sliced jalapeño peppers

  1 jar salsa sauce (thick and chunky)

  Brown ground chuck and onion until done. Drain off excess grease. Add taco seasoning mix and water. Cook slowly for 10 to 15 minutes. Place nacho chips on cookie sheet that has been sprayed with Pam. Place ground beef mixture by spoonfuls on top of each nacho; alternate cheeses on top of beef and add a slice of jalapeño pepper. Place in 350° oven for about 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Warm salsa sauce and serve with nachos as a side dish.

  Potluck Vegetable Casserole

  1 can french-cut green beans, drained

  1 can whole-kernel corn, drained

  ½ cup diced bell peppers

  ½ cup diced onion

  ½ cup diced celery

  ½ cup sour cream

  1 can condensed cream of celery soup

  1 package slivered almonds

  dash of salt and pepper

  1 cup cracker crumbs

  Mix all ingredients in buttered casserole dish. Top with cracker crumbs. Bake at 350° for 45 to 50 minutes.

  Mildred’s Key Lime Pie

  4 eggs, separated

  1⁄3 cup fresh key lime juice

  1 can Eagle Brand condensed milk

  1 9-inch graham cracker crust

  Mix egg yolks and lime juice together. Add condensed milk. Beat 1 egg white stiff and fold into the egg-and-lime-juice mixture. Beat 3 remaining egg whites and gradually add sugar and cream of tartar. Pour in graham cracker crust and bake at 350° until egg whites are golden brown.

  Betty Kitchen’s Christmas Ambrosia

  12 large seedless oranges, peeled and sectioned

  1 pound frozen sweetened coconut, thawed

  ½ cup sugar

  Cut orange sections in half; combine with coconut and sugar in large bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

  YIELD: 10–12 SERVINGS

  Polka Dots’ Secret-Weapon Tomato Aspic

  3 envelopes unflavored gelatin

  1 46-ounce can tomato juice

  2 tablespoons grated onion

  2 tablespoons sugar

  1 tablespoon lemon juice

  ½ teaspoon salt

  1 cup finely minced celery

  1 cup finely minced green pepper (optional)

  lettuce leaves and mayonnaise

  Sprinkle gelatin over 1 1⁄2 cups tomato juice. Let stand 1 minute; then cook mixture over medium heat until gelatin dissolves, stirring frequently. Stir in onion, sugar, lemon juice, salt, and remaining tomato juice. Chill until consistency of unbeaten egg white. Fold in celery, and green pepper if desired; spoon into oiled 6-cup ring mold. Cover and chill until firm. Serve on lettuce leaves, topped with mayonnaise.

  YIELD: 10–12 SERVINGS

  Happy New Year Black-eyed Peas

  2 cups dried black-eyed peas

  6 cups boiling water

  1½ ounces salt pork, a small ham hock, or 4–5 slices bacon

  water

  1 teaspoon salt

  Place peas in a large bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Let stand 2 hours. Rinse salt pork; cut an X in top of cube, cutting to, but not through, rind. Combine salt pork, fresh water, and salt in a Dutch oven. Drain peas and add. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 to 2 hours or until tender, adding more water if necessary to keep beans barely covered.

  YIELD: 4–6 SERVINGS

  Sweet Potato Casserole

  3 to 4 cooked sweet potatoes

  1 cup sugar

  ½ teaspoon salt

  ½ teaspoon cinnamon

  ¼ teaspoon allspice

  dash of nutmeg

  2 eggs

  ¾ cup evaporated milk

  ¼ cup water

  ½ package marshmallows

  Topping:

  ¾ stick butter, melted

  1 cup crushed cornflakes

  1 cup brown sugar

  ½ cup pecans

  Combine potatoes, sugar, salt, spices, eggs, milk, and water; beat in electric mixer until smooth. Pour into greased casserole dish and bake at 375° for 30 to 35 minutes. Top with marshmallows and brown.

  Topping:

  Combine cornflakes and butter just until blended. Add brown sugar. Then add pecans. Continue to mix until large crumbs have formed. Sprinkle over sweet potato mixture. Cook 10 minutes longer. This dish can be made up to two days before using it. Refrigerate before baking.

  This recipe may also be used for Sweet Potato Pie. Pour into unbaked 9-inch pie shell and bake at 375° for about 25 minutes, or until brown.

  Corn Casserole

  1 large can cream-style corn

  1 can white niblet corn

  2 eggs beaten

  1 stick butter

  1 8½-ounce box Jiffy corn muffin mix

  8 ounces sour cream

  Mix all ingredients together well. Put in 9×13-inch buttered dish and bake at 350° for about 45 minutes, or until firm in the middle.

  Frances’s Macaroni and Cheese

  2 cups milk

  3 tablespoons margarine, melted

  2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

  ½ teaspoon salt

  ½ teaspoon pepper

  3 eggs, beaten

  5 cups cooked elbow macaroni

  2½ cups (10 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

  ¾ cup fresh bread crumbs (or cracker crumbs)

  Preheat oven to 350º. Combine first six ingredients in a bowl and beat until smooth, using a wire whisk. Layer half the cooked macaroni in the bottom of a greased 9-inch-square baking dish; sprinkle with 12⁄3 cups cheese and layer remaining macaroni on top. Pour milk mixture over macaroni; sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake covered, for 50 minutes; sprinkle with remaining cheese and continue baking 5 minutes longer or until set.

  YIELD: 6–8 SERVINGS

  Gingerbread

  (Patsy’s favorite)

  2¾ cups all-purpose flour

  1½ teaspoons baking soda

  ½ teaspoon salt

  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  1½ teaspoons ground ginger

  ¼ teaspoon ground cloves

  2⁄3 cup water

  1⁄3 cup shortening, melted

  1 cup molasses

  1 egg, beaten

  Preheat oven to 350º. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl; mix well. Combine water, shortening, molasses, and egg. Mix well, and stir into flour mixture. Pour batter into a greased 9-inch-square pan. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 350º, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm with Lemon Sauce (see page 224).

  YIELD: 6 SERVINGS

  Lemon Sauce

  ½ cup sugar

  1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour

  1 cup water

  3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

  pinch of salt

  2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces and softened

  Combine sugar and flour in a small saucepan; mix well. Stir in water, lemon juice, and salt until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly until sugar melts. Reduce heat and boil gently 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Serve warm or at room temperature.

  YIELD: 1 CUP

  Dottie Nivens’s
Kentucky Bourbon Pie

  1 cup sugar

  1 cup light corn syrup

  ½ cup butter or margarine

  4 eggs, lightly beaten

  ¼ cup bourbon

  1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  ¼ teaspoon salt

  1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

  1 cup pecan pieces

  1 unbaked pastry shell fitted into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate

  Preheat oven to 325º. Combine first three ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until butter melts and sugar dissolves. Cool slightly. Beat eggs, bourbon, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl; gradually add sugar mixture, beating well with a wire whisk. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans; pour into pastry shell. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until set. Serve warm or chilled.

  Floating Island

  2 eggs, separated

  2 cups scalded milk

  pinch of salt

  2 tablespoons granulated sugar

  1 teaspoon vanilla

  4 tablespoons powdered sugar

  Add well-beaten egg yolks to hot milk and mix well. Place in top part of double boiler and cook until liquid coats a spoon. Cook quickly and add salt and granulated sugar. Set aside.

  Beat egg whites until stiff.

  Add 4 tablespoons powdered sugar to egg whites, one at a time, beating after each addition.

  Pour custard into dessert dishes and top each with egg whites.

  Southern-Style Pecan Pie

  1 cup sugar

  2 eggs, beaten well

  6 tablespoons butter

  ¼ cup milk

  1 cup pecans

  ½ cup raisins (optional)

  1 unbaked deep-dish pastry shell

  Beat well sugar, eggs, butter, and milk. Add pecans and raisins. Pour into pastry shell. Bake at 350° for 40 to 45 minutes. Cool before serving.

  Betty Kitchen’s Banana Pudding

  ½ cup all-purpose flour

  ¼ cup cornstarch

  3 cups sugar

  6 eggs, separated, plus 2 egg yolks

  7 cups milk

  ¼ cup margarine

  2 teaspoons vanilla extract

  1 16-ounce box vanilla wafers (or 1½ 12-ounce boxes)

  10 to 12 medium bananas, peeled and sliced

  Thoroughly mix flour, cornstarch, and 21⁄2 cups of the sugar in a large heavy saucepan. Lightly beat the 8 egg yolks; combine milk and egg yolks and whisk into sugar mixture. Add margarine and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thickened. Remove from heat; stir in 1 teaspoon of the vanilla. Cool. Preheat oven to 425º.

  Line bottom of a 13×9×2-inch baking dish with one-third of vanilla wafers; layer one-third of the bananas and one-third of the custard mixture on top. Repeat layers twice. Beat egg whites until foamy; gradually add remaining 1⁄2 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until stiff peaks form. Beat in remaining teaspoon of vanilla. Spread over custard, sealing to edges. Bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Chill overnight before serving.

  YIELD: 12 SERVINGS

  Squash Casserole

  3 pounds yellow summer squash

  ½ cup cracker meal, bread crumbs, or Pepperidge Farm dressing

  2 eggs

  1 stick butter (or less)

  1 tablespoon sugar

  1 teaspoon salt

  teaspoon pepper

  ½ cup chopped onions

  Wash, cut up, and boil squash about 10 to 15 minutes, until tender. Add all ingredients, except half the butter and the crumbs, to the squash. Melt remaining butter. Pour mixture into greased casserole dish. Spread melted butter on top and then sprinkle with the cracker or bread crumbs. Bake at 375° for about 1 hour, or until brown on top.

  About the Author

  FANNIE FLAGG began writing and producing television specials at age nineteen and went on to distinguish herself as an actress and writer in television, films, and the theater. She is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe (which was produced by Universal Pictures as Fried Green Tomatoes), Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!, and Standing in the Rainbow. Flagg’s script for Fried Green Tomatoes was nominated for both the Academy and Writers Guild of America awards and won the highly regarded Scripters Award. Flagg lives in California and in Alabama.

  Also by Fannie Flagg

  Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man

  (originally published as Coming Attractions)

  Fried Green Tomatoes at the

  Whistle Stop Cafe

  Fannie Flagg’s Original

  Whistle Stop Cafe Cookbook

  Welcome to the World, Baby Girl!

  Standing in the Rainbow

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2004 by Willina Lane Productions, Inc.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

  Flagg, Fannie.

  A redbird Christmas: a novel / Fannie Flagg.

  p. cm.

  1. City and town life—Fiction. 2. Alabama—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3556.L26R44 2004b 813′.54—dc22 2004050956

  Random House website address: www.atrandom.com

  eISBN: 978-1-58836-421-0

  v3.0