Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Ready and waiting....

Happy Wednesday to all!  The day before Thanksgiving is here!   Have you spotted any turkeys running around your place?

Some of you call today's recipe "stuffing," and others call it "dressing."  I have always called it dressing, probably because I rarely stuffed it in the turkey.:-)  Through the years, my method has evolved to what I have been doing for the past several years. 

While in the past, I have used all sorts of bread crumbs - always homemade - cornbread has been the base for at least 25 years.  Yikes!  Let's not talk about how long!:-)  This has become the favorite for those at our house (The Husband).  Oh - and I have been known to enjoy it as well.:-)  So, using for a guideline - long ago - just in my first apartment - Betty Crocker has these instructions from a Dinner For Two cookbook.  I am printing it the way it appears in the cookbook.

BREAD STUFFING

1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup minced onion
4 cups (1 qt.) coarse or fine bread crumbs or cubes
1/2 cup chopped celery (stalks and leaves)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried sage, thyme, or marjoram
poultry seasoning to taste

- Melt butter in large heavy skillet.  Add onion and cook until yellow, stirring occasionally.  Stir in some of the bread crumbs.  Heat, stirring to prevent excessive browning.  Turn into deep bowl.  Mix remaining ingredients and rest of bread crumbs lightly.  For dry stuffing, add little or no liquid; for moist stuffing, mix in just enough hot water to moisten crumbs.  One quart makes enough stuffing for a 4-lb. fowl.

In the interest of decreasing fat from our diet, I have begun cooking the onion in a bit of chicken broth rather than the butter.  I usually add a cup of broth to the crumbs, just enough to moisten it a little.  Then, it is baked at 350 degrees F. until brown on top, usually 30-45 minutes.  Oh, we often are able to have fresh sage for this, and that makes it really good.:-)

Ready and waiting.


I apologize for the darkened photograph.  I just don't seem to be able to consistently have luck with getting the lighting just right.:-( It appears to have already been baked, and that isn't the case.

Anyway, the dish of dressing is now made and waiting to go into the oven for our mid-day meal on Thursday.

Dressing has always been one of my favorite dishes.  I cannot relate any stories about being with any family members when they were making their dressing, therefore learning from them.  However, my paternal grandmother had a version that I truly enjoyed.  It wasn't baked in a pan, but made in little patties (similar to salmon patties) before being baked in the oven.  Very tasty to me as I was growing up!  My sister, who follows this blog, may have some idea how our grandmother achieved this.

Hopefully you are able to relax a bit and enjoy this time with those whom you love.

Thank you for reading.  I appreciate your comments.

11 comments:

  1. Nellie, My father made a dressing that resembled a cookie sheet. It always smelled so good but I would never eat it because it had oysters in it...yuck. I made celery/onion dressing one year that I baked in muffin tins. It was crispy all over, that is my favorite part. Happy thanksgiving to you and your loved ones. xo, Susie

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  2. Well, I am that sister, but I do not know how our grandmother did those patties, except that she used her regular dressing "recipe" and just made it into patties instead of baking it in a pan. I DO recall that she would also make LARGE pans of dressing, then she'd put slices of turkey on top and cover the entire pan with gravy, then cut it into squares so that everyone had a chunk of dressing, turkey, and gravy without any additional steps. She had a knack for "assembly-line" serving that was phenomenal! I also remember that there would be large crowds of relatives and friends at her house for a special time, and the table would hold only so many people at one sitting. The older folks got the first table, and the younger ones worked in the kitchen, keeping the plates washed after each seating. Depending on how many people were there, it might be over an hour before the youngest of us got to sit down and eat, but we never ran out of food! Ahhhh....memories! I don't know how she managed to feed 60-70 people without running out! Looking forward to being at your home tomorrow! :-)

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  3. I love dressing and gravy and mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce and mandarin orange salad and dark meat from the turkey. And now I am hungry. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family Nellie. xx

    Did the teacher part of you cringe when you saw all of those ands in the first sentenced. :-)

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  4. I'm a cornbread stuffing kind of girl! Love all the food on Thanksgiving! Have a good one!

    Hugs, Linda

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  5. We call it stuffing here and I do stuff it. No big turkey this year for us. Just the two of us and we will be up at Happy Trails. : )

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  6. I read your sister's comment, your grandmother fed 60 to 70 people? That is so awesome. How on earth did she do it. I feed 20 or so and I am so tired on Friday. I like your dressing recipe. I have never stuffed my turkey either. I call mine dressing too.
    I like your recipe. In my family all of the women guarded the recipes and wouldn't share so I am glad to see your recipe. No one would ever tell me how they made it. So I have stumbled around in the dark trying to make good dressing for years.
    Have a lovely day today Nellie.
    I really enjoyed your sister's comment too.

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  7. No turkeys running around here, even hubby is at work and I never run!

    We're celebrating on Friday, because someone has to work tomorrow.

    Happy Thanksgiving!

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  8. Hello Nellie....I made our stuffing today, too. I use my Lithuanian grandma's recipe...from the giblets of the turkey. It's moist and I have to tell you. It's really and truly luscious. There's rarely any left over.

    Nellie, I wish you and your dear family and blessed Thanksgiving. And I am very thankful for YOU! Susan and your sweet "sistah" too.Susan

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  9. Happy Thanksgiving, Nellie. :)

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  10. That looks good, Nellie. I am making a small pan for the three of us tomorrow in spite of the fact that we celebrated Thanksgiving last week with our kids. I picked up a chicken breast and thought I would do a side dish of dressing. xo Diana

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  11. That sounds like a very tasty stuffing!
    You are probably just about ready to start your day as I type this.
    I'm sure with all the preparations in hand, you will have a wonderful day.

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