The Triserv Family's Favorite Holiday Recipes

To celebrate the winter holidays this year, the Triserv family would like to share our favorite recipes. So put on your stretchy pants and forget about vegetables for a day or two! Enjoy!

Baked French Toast by Pina Sheridan, Appraisal Coordinator

Make this French Toast the day before and cook it in the morning.

  • 1 loaf french bread
  • 8 large eggs
  • 2 cups half and half
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • Dash of salt
  • Praline Topping (recipe follows)

Slice French bread into 20 slices (1 inch each). Arrange slices in a generously buttered 9x13 baking dish into 2 rows, overlapping the slices. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half and half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Beat until well blended but not too bubbly. Pour this mixture over the bread, making sure that all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. Spoon some between the slices. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 350. Spread Praline Topping evenly over the bread and bake for 40 minutes (until puffed and lightly golden). Serve with maple syrup.

Praline topping (combine all ingredients in a bowl and blend well):

  • 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 cup chopped pecans (can omit)
  • 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Coquitos by Lauryn Lee, Customer Service Specialist

  • 1 (12 oz) can evaporated milk
  • 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
  • 2 cups (1 15 oz can) cream of coconut (like Coco Lopez)
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cup white rum
  • Cinnamon sticks for garnis

Mix all ingredients in a blender at high speed. Refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour. Shake well before serving. Serve cold in a small glass. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Potato Rolls by Erica Gibson, Customer Service Specialist

  • 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup warm water
  • 1 cup scalded milk, cooled
  • 1/2 prepared mashed potatoes
  • 1/4 cup vegetable shortening*
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a bowl. Let stand until the yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam, about 5 minutes. Mix milk mashed potatoes, shortening, sugar, and salt together in a bowl, add yeast mixture and egg. Stir 2 cups flour into the milk mixture until incorporated. Stir in remaining 2 cups of flour to make a soft dough.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 7 minutes. Place dough with oil. Cover bowl and put in a warm place until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour. Punch dough down and shape into a ball. Cover the bowl and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease 2 baking sheets. Shape dough into 24 rolls and place into prepared baking sheets; let rise until dough springs back when you touch the side of a roll with your fingertip, about 25 to 40 minutes. Bake rolls in the preheated oven until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes.

*You can substitute 5 tablespoons unsalted butter for the vegetable shortening, if you’d like.
Tip: I roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thick, cut out 4-inch diameter circles, brush with melted butter/olive oil mixture, and fold over to make half circles. I then brush the tops with the butter/olive oil mixture when the rolls are done.

Pernil (Puerto Rican Roasted Pork) by Lauryn Lee, Customer Service Specialist

  • 8-10 lbs bone-in pork shoulder (picnic cut or boston butt)
  • 1 head of garlic, peeled (more is better and it has to be fresh)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons adobo
  • 2 packets of sazón

Rinse pork in cold water and pat dry. With a paring knife, stab 1-inch slits all over the pork, top and bottom.

In a food processor (or by hand if you have a pilón!), blend all the garlic, olive oil, black pepper and oregano until smooth. Fill each slit in the pork with about a teaspoon of the garlic paste. Sprinkle all sides of the roast with the adobo and sazón (if using) and rub pork with the spices. Place in a roasting pan that has sides at least 2 inches deep, cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to cook, preheat oven to 350°F. Leave the roast covered with foil and bake for 4-5 hours, approximately 30-45 minutes per pound. Pork should read 180°F on an internal thermometer and shred easily with a fork.

Uncover roast and bake for 15-20 minutes to crisp up the fat, or broil at 500°F for 10 minutes, watching carefully not to burn. Serve with yellow rice and pink beans

Big Joe’s Short Ribs With Spicy Ginger Sauce by Joe Bryant, President

Short ribs:

  • 3 lbs (for 4 servings) of beef short ribs
  • 1 tbsp oil

Spicy ginger sauce:

  • 1/2 cup chopped scallions
  • 1/4 cup minced fresh ginger root
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 1/4 cup Sriracha sauce
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1 tsp fennel seed
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (I add more for more spice)

Brown ribs in oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Transfer browned ribs to a slow cooker or InstaPot. Combine all ingredients for ginger sauce and pour over ribs. Cook until ribs are tender on high heat in a slow cooker for 4-6 hours or 50 minutes in an Instapot. Recommend serving this with garlic mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus.

Reindeer Mix by Heather Anglin, Sr./Lead Appraisal Coordinator & Director of Production and Vendor Relations

  • 2 lbs white chocolate (bars or chips)
  • 12 oz can of dry roasted peanuts
  • 2 cups of Captain Crunch Peanut Butter cereal
  • 2 cups of mini marshmallows

Mix all dry ingredients (peanuts, cereal and marshmallows) is a large bowl, set aside. Melt white chocolate in a double boiler (melt slowly, white chocolate easily burns). While white chocolate is melting, lay out wax paper. Pour melted white chocolate into dry ingredients and mix together. Dump all ingredients out onto the wax paper and spread out. Once cool, break into palm size pieces.

Little Bits (Mini Cheesecake Bites) by Jerry Knight, IT Director

  • Mini-muffin pan
  • Butter, for greasing the pan
  • Graham cracker crumbs
  • 3 eggs, separated
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened

Sour Cream Filling:

  • 1 (8 oz) carton sour cream
  • 3⁄4 cup sugar
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the cups of the mini-muffin pan and coat generously with graham cracker crumbs; set aside. Cream egg yolks, sugar, and cream cheese until fluffy. Beat egg whites until stiff; fold into creamed mixture. Spoon cream cheese mixture into muffin tins, filling three-fourths full. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove, increase oven temperature to 400F, and cool 10 to 15 minutes while you make the filling (directions below). Remove Little Bits from muffin tins; spoon 1 teaspoon Sour Cream Filling into each indentation. Store in the refrigerator. Makes about 48.

Sour Cream Filling:
Combine all ingredients in a 9-inch pie plate; stir well. Bak
e at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Stir well, and bake an additional 3 minutes. Makes 1 cup.

Butter Toffee by Bo Hussung, Business Development Manager

  • 1 lb. salted butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon white corn syrup
  • 1-1/2 cups sliced or slivered almonds
  • 1 - 12 oz bag chocolate chips (semi-sweet or dark)

Melt butter over medium heat in a tall sided pot. Add sugar and pour water and white syrup over the sugar. Stir until sugar is melted; let mixture cook over medium high heat, stirring frequently until the mixture begins to turn caramel colored. Turn heat off! Immediately and carefully pour the HOT mixture into a sheet pan lined with foil. Immediately sprinkle almonds over the toffee. When it cools, melt the chocolate chips and spread the chocolate over the toffee. Let cool completely and break into pieces.

Crockpot Candy, by Ginny Hollingsworth, Customer Service Specialist

  • 2 lbs. white almond bark
  • 4 oz German chocolate bar (semi-sweet or whatever you can find)
  • 12 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips
  • 24 oz dry roasted peanuts

Add everything to the crockpot, cook on low for 1 hour without messing with it. After 1 hour, stir. Cook for 1 additional hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Drop spoonfuls onto waxed paper and allow to cool.

To stay up-to-date with Triserv’s articles, news, and Personality Profiles, fill out the form below. Thank you!