Scalloped oysters

This is another holiday recipe that you and your family may not be ready for...it only took me about 22 years to learn to like it, and my parents were not happy about it at all. They only get this once a year, the leftovers are better than the first time it's made, it's sort of an expensive dish for a side dish, and they were used to having the whole batch to themselves.  I always gave it a plugged-nose bite each year, and finally I began to pile a few bites rather than just one.  Then I tried them leftover...insert angels singing. 

My standard leftover dish, as I mentioned the other day, is a mixture of all my favorite holiday foods mixed up in a concoction that is simliar to a Kentucky Fried Chicken mashed potato bowl.....it includes corn, gravy, potatoes, turkey, and this...scalloped oysters!

This is the first time my mom actually showed me how to make it, and she doesnt really have a recipe so you'll have to bear with me.  She started with about 10 cans of oysters, with the juice drained into a measuring cup....don't throw that stuff down the sink!!  You will need it later :)

Layer half your oysters (so 5 cans) in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish like so....

Layer a sleeve of crushed up saltine crackers on top of them, and top that with a few dallops of butter...

Repeat the process and layer the other half of the oysters, with another sleeve of crackers, and a few more dallops of butter so your dish is brimming with the slimy goodness that is the oyster!  Cover with cracked pepper....mmmmm!

Here's why you need the juice...she poured about 1.5-2 cups of the drained oyster juice over the top of our creation, just enough to keep it from getting dried out and give it even more flavor.

Now maybe a 1/2-1 cup of milk spread over the top as well....

And da-da-da-daaaaaaaa.....scalloped oysters with crunchy buttery crackers on top.  My word, I don't see why we don't make this more than once a year. I guess it would lose it's luster as a holiday favorite then?  Anyway, this is a favorite in our family but you may want to start with a smaller dish if your family is not a fan of the seafood variety for Thanksgiving dinner....but may I say, that this is the epitome of comfort food in my book!Justin is not a fan yet...thank goodness, we don't have one more person to split the dish with each year....yet.