My Thanksgiving Favorites

**Updated to fix the way the recipes were posted. They were too crammed together. Hopefully this makes it easier to read!**

With Thanksgiving being right around the corner I decided to post some of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes. These are the items that are always requested this time of year (and sometimes other times of the year too).
Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!!

Let's start with the dessert recipe first....I love eating dessert first so let's post about it first (hee hee)!!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pie:
This is a really good choice if you love cheesecake!
INGREDIENTS:
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs 1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 pinch ground cloves

1 pinch ground nutmeg

1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust

1/2 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Blend in eggs one at a time. Remove 1 cup of batter and spread into bottom of crust; set aside. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the remaining batter and stir gently until well blended. Carefully spread over the batter in the crust. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until center is almost set. Allow to cool, then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Cover with whipped topping before serving.

This one is an alternative to the traditional marshmallow topped sweet potatoes but it is very yummy!

Sweet Potato Casserole:
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups sweet potato, cubed

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

TOPPING:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Put sweet potatoes in a medium saucepan with water to cover. Cook over medium high heat until tender; drain and mash. In a large bowl, mix together the sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, salt, butter, milk and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish. In medium bowl, mix the sugar and flour. Cut in the butter until the mixture is coarse. Stir in the pecans. Sprinkle the mixture over the sweet potato mixture. Bake in the preheated oven 30 minutes, or until the topping is lightly brown.

Green Beans, Bacon & Tomatoes:
INGREDIENTS:
2 (14.5 oz) cans green beans
2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
6 slices bacon
1 small onion, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
Brown bacon and onion in a skillet. Drain on papertowels. Put all ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Sweet Corn:
I struggle with what to call this because it is similar to creamed corn but I don't like creamed corn so it has to be better than that (hee hee!!!). It is sweet and a little creamy.
INGREDIENTS:
1 package frozen sweet whole kernel corn
4 oz cream cheese
2 Tbls butter
1 Tbls sugar (actually I usually don't measure this so it may be a little more than that but I really can not be sure....)
Place corn in a large saucepan with cream cheese and butter. Cook over low heat until cheese and butter have melted. Stir in sugar. Let simmer 20 minutes (or until ready to serve)