Readers share their favorite family recipes for the holidays

on preserving family recipes inspired us to ask for your favorite family recipes. Read our two favorites below, and read more about preserving your family recipes here.

Emma Lee's Pecan Chiffon Pie from Waycross

Lynn Ford sent us this recipe and said: "I grew up in South Georgia, the Pecan Belt, and although I have lived in Atlanta 35 years, Waycross had the best cooks and teachers of all. My dad was sick, and so my mother's friends had me over in the afternoon after school while she ran my parents' store – I watched them cook. They all shared their special recipes and techniques. Emma Lee's Pecan Chiffon Pie is one of the best recipes I have  and I am delighted to submit. I hope that many people enjoy this light treat for years to come.

Emma Lee worked at the Elks Club in Waycross – all by herself she waited tables, cooked the food, served it, and became so famous for her pie recipe the Holiday Inn hired her away.. she just baked pies for over 25 years.

She had the sweetest eyes you ever saw. My mother ran into her in the grocery store and she dictated the recipe to my mother, who wrote the recipe on an envelope. I still have my mother’s letter with the recipe enclosed

In my recipe box. This has become our family favorite.

1 9-inch pie shell, baked

1 cup pecans, toasted, salted and chopped **do not skip this step

½ cup sugar

4 egg yolks

¼ tsp salt

1 cup milk, heated

1 envelope Knox gelatin, softened in ½ cup cold water

1 tsp almond extract

4 egg whites – beaten until stiff, adding the sugar below

½ cup sugar

Mix 4 egg yolks with sugar in a heavy saucepan, add salt and hot milk, stirring fast (put a dab of yolks in hot milk, then add the rest so you don’t have scrambled eggs)..  Cook over medium heat until thick @ 10 minutes). Stir in gelatin and vanilla. Cool about 35 minutes until cold, then fold into stiff egg whites. Fold in toasted, salted pecans. Pour into baked shell.  Chill until set (@ 4 hours) Then top with whipped cream topping and chill again.

Topping:

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon almond flavoring

2 tablespoons 10X sugar

pinch salt

dab of lemon juice **great trick to keep stiff (1/4 tsp)

Cover cool pie with whipped cream…garnish with a few ground pecans… Chill again….

My Mom's Kolachki

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Butter, softened
• 3 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 1/4 cup All purpose flour
• 1 pinch salt
• Powdered sugar, for rolling cookies
• Unicoi Preserves Strawberry Vanilla Spread
• Unicoi Preserves Salted Caramel Peach Spread

1. Remove and place on wire cooling rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.
2. Note: If some of the cookies open up and weep a bit, don't worry, just sprinkle those with a bit more powdered sugar. They'll still be delicious.