Thursday, November 17, 2022

My Cornbread Dressing and Two Grand-Doggies

 

I probably should have cropped RH's leg out of this picture but who's going to notice it anyway with our two beautiful granddaughters in it?

This picture is from last year's Thanksgiving Day that was held at Zack and Court's house (our old Valley View). That's their handsome Forest posing with the girls. 

I had to post this picture first because I couldn't lead off a post with a package of meat, could I?

 

This is a post of one of three dishes I took last year to Thanksgiving at Zack and Court's house because the younger set is now doing the cooking. There are three things I still make or it just wouldn't seem like Thanksgiving to me or RH.

The Cornbread Dressing, the Cranberry Sauce, and a couple of pies--Chess and Pecan. Here they are, for myself and RH and perhaps for Mimi's Family Cookbook someday for grands and great-grands.

For wonderfully rich turkey stock, rub the turkey parts of your choice with olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast till golden. These could have stayed in the oven a little longer.



 
Put them in a stock pot with carrots, celery, onions, and garlic.


 Add water (distilled water makes the clearest stock), fresh herbs you still have growing outside, salt, whole black pepper pods, bay leaves, any dried herbs you want to include. Cook all day long.


And you have beautiful stock at the end of the day! Strain and store in fridge for up to five days or freeze for longer.


 Make two pans of buttermilk cornbread the day before Thanksgiving and sit unwrapped till next day. Hopefully you have made buttermilk biscuits a few weeks earlier and frozen 6-8 of them, set out to thaw, unwrap to dry. Add 4 slices good white bread. Let all the bread dry on Thanksgiving Day morning by crumbling on clean tea towels for several hours.

Melt two sticks butter in saute pan, add 3 cups chopped onion, 1 1/2 cups chopped celery and sauté, stirring until soft, not brown.

[I wash celery when I bring it home from grocery, dry well and chill so it's ready to use.]

[Also good to wash a bunch of parsley and dry well early before chopping. Dressing is one time I use curly parsley instead of Italian.]


 Add 3 tablespoons dried sage or more to crumbled breads in a very large bowl, 2 teaspoons poultry seasoning, 1 teaspoon dried marjoram, a dash of mace, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Also add some chopped fresh sage if you have it. 

Stir in the sautéed vegetables and 1 cup minced fresh parsley. 


 

Stir in 2 cups of the rich broth (warmed up), and stir in 2 beaten eggs. 

Add more stock if needed to be of pancake batter consistency. You don't want it to be soupy but not dry either. 

Bake at 375 degrees F. for about 40 minutes, maybe a little longer if it looks like it needs it. Don't dry it out.

 

Sprinkle with chopped fresh Italian parsley when serving.

Excellent hot with a dab of cranberry sauce. I don't even need turkey if I have these two things.

This was my mother's dressing, with a few changes I've made over the years. I would eat hers in a heartbeat if she were still here to cook it. 

To end with another picture from last Thanksgiving Day other than food, here is another of Zack and Court's fur babies, Peanut Buttah, a rescue from a hurricane in Puerto Rico a few years ago. She's had several eye surgeries and still doesn't see much but she doesn't need to as Zack sees for her.

 

Happy Thanksgiving Day prep to my U.S. friends and family!

 

[Dressing from Thanksgiving Day 2022--It's so much prettier in a glass baking dish!]


 


 



 

8 comments:

  1. My husband makes the cornbread dressing-very similar to yours-and my granddaughter makes cranberry sauce. (It's wonderful!) My son in law air fries the turkey and my daughter and I split up making the sides and pies. It's so nice not to have one person doing all the cooking! (Namely, me!) Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

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    1. That's so much fun when everyone contributes! And I love it when the younger generations want to be a part of the cooking too and add their own special dishes. Jan, I wish you and your family a blessed Thanksgiving!

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  2. Oh Dewena, what a delicious sounding dressing. I love a cornbread dressing, but the rest of my family prefers the traditional bread dressing that we grew up with, so I stick with that. Like you, give me dressing and cranberry sauce, and maybe a bit of gravy, and I'm a very happy person.
    We all contribute to big dinners, too. It's so much easier than having one person prepare everything. Although, even as I write that, I realize that I like to do all of the main course and have others bring dessert or appies or whatever, because I carefully plan what goes with what. Am I a control freak? Maybe.
    Wishing you and your family a wonderful Thanksgiving. And I wonder which of those beauties in the photo has the same name as one of my granddaughters?

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    1. Oh thank you, Lorrie! I do enjoy reading about your big family celebrations in your blog posts and it's wonderful that your children and their families all live near you now. Are you a control freak? Of course not! Someone has to plan the Thanksgiving menu or you end up with potluck, which can be fun or not. Even though I'm retired from that responsibility now I do miss it a little bit.

      And our little redhead shares your granddaughter's sweet name!

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  3. Your cornbread dressing looks out of this world! Can you believe I've never had it?! I've had true southern cornbread, of course - with my mom being from Kentucky. But she always made traditional bread stuffing for Thanksgiving Day.

    Stuffing, vegetables, sweet potatoes, corn casserole and cranberry relish are my favorite dishes of Thanksgiving. And pumpkin pie for dessert! I could easily skip the turkey. Truthfully, I don't care much for it.

    My aunt and uncle will be hosting Thanksgiving this year and it'll be just me and my hubby and my mom joining them. Our extended family has really shrunk over the years due to deaths, people moving out of state, and my sister estranging herself from our family. I get quite nostalgic for the old days when my grandma, grandpa, favorite great-aunt and uncle and my dad were still alive and we'd have big family gatherings with tons of homemade food, all us kids running around, and everyone just so happy to be together.

    Anyway, my aunt and uncle are making the turkey and ham and me and my mom will make and bring all the sides. Mom will also be making a homemade pie or two.

    Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

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    1. Melanie, I know your Thanksgiving Day will be sweet with lots of good food. I do know what you mean about the good memories from childhood where so many family members gathered. Those were wonderful days! Both my parents came from large families so I had lots of cousins. Almost all of the cousins had a playmate their own age to play with. It does hurt when you miss the presence of loved ones you'd give anything to be there. Please give your mother and aunt and uncle my wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving, and of course, you and Brian too. Love to you!

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  4. First of all, Happy Thanksgiving...
    Nam, nam, it all looks delicious... I have to try the cornbread.
    I also love to cook and I have whole rye bread in the oven.
    Greetings to you all and have a happy day. Viola
    Thanks for the beautiful pictures. A pleasure to see. Thanks.

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    1. Viola, thank you so much for visiting! I was so glad to be able to follow you to your blog and see pictures of your country. I know the good smell of rye bread cooking in your oven, a favorite bread of mine, would draw me to your table. I was only able to comment as anonymous there but think I signed my name (Dewena). Thank you for the Happy Thanksgiving wishes!

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