Friday, November 21, 2008

The menu

Thanksgiving is my favorite meal to cook each year. I enjoy the whole process, a full day of prepping and cooking and setting the table and making everything look perfect.... for me the preparation of the meal is better than the food.

I begin the day early, usually with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade playing in the background. I start by stuffing the turkey, basting and putting it in the oven. Followed by preparations for my dressing and desserts.

The last items of the day are the side dishes.

I like to begin serving appetizers around 2PM followed by dinner at 5 sharp.

This year's menu is a very traditional meal filled with family favorites.....

Turkey,
stuffed with apples, celery, onion, orange and potatoes
Cornbread Dressing
(recipe below)
Gravy
Broccoli Casserole
Sweet Potato Souffle
Deviled Eggs
Green Beans
Black Eye Peas
Seven Layer Salad
Mandarin Orange Congealed Salad
Cranberry Mold
accented with fresh fruit salad topping
Mini Pumpkin and Pecan Pie Tarts
Pomegranate Spritzer
Ice Tea



When I moved to Florida, my friends had no idea what I meant when I mentioned dressing for a Thanksgiving gathering. I found that dressing is typically a southern dish (and for those of you who don't live here, Florida really isn't southern....who knew!), in the rest of the country people just stuff the bird and serve stuffing. In the south we make dressing.

Growing up my mother and grandmother would spend hours discussing the dressing, you could never make it too perfect and in our family the challenge was intensified..... some of us (the smart ones) like the dressing super thin, the family members who have no culinary taste like the dressing thick. My mother and grandmother would work diligently to make sure everyone got what they wanted, so they would always cook 3 pans of dressing.... one thick, one thin and one medium. The medium pan was for nibbling as we prepared for the main feast.

I have carried on the tradition of 3 pans as well, whether I am surrounded by family or friends, it just makes Thanksgiving a bit more special when I prepare those three pans of dressing in a salute to my mama and ma-ma.

If you haven't tried dressing give it a try sometime, it isn't difficult; however, it is time consuming, but worth the time and effort when you see the satisfaction on your guests face.

Cornbread Dressing Recipe

Buttermilk Cornbread (I make it from scratch)
1 Package of Seasoned Stove Top Stuffing Mix
Loaf Bread (Preferably white)

The breads for your stuffing may be cooked on the day of service or 2 - 3 days ahead of time. Crumble all the bread items together and set aside.

1 Large Onion Chopped
Celery Chopped

Smother the chopped onion and celery and combine with the breads

6 hard boiled eggs, crumbled and mixed with the other ingredients

8 cups of Chicken Stock mixed into the dry ingredients

4 sticks of butter melted and mixed with the other ingredients

Fresh herbs

salt and pepper to taste

Poultry Seasoning to taste


Combine all the wet and dry ingredients. Press into a large pan or cast iron frying pans. Bake at 350 for approximately 45 minutes.

Serve with turkey as a side dish with gravy or dry.

Cornbread dressing makes a GREAT accent to a turkey sandwich the day after Thanksgiving, so enjoy this southern tradition, it is Home Made Easy.

3 comments:

Doug said...

That's one of the things I miss the most being on a gluten-free diet: stuffing & dressing. I made some gluten-free stuffing last year and it was okay, but not the same.

Lorraine said...

Yum! We're not making the feast this year as we are going to have dinner with the families at the Fisher House this year. All I'm making is salad dressing and chopping the celery and onions. But I'm with you...it's probably one of my top favorite meals EVAH, especially because, except for the little twists from family to family and region to region, it's pretty much the same foods. And you just can't miss with turkey and gravy and dressing!

(Around here we have both stuffing and dressing...the stuffing is what was put in the bird and the dressing is the same thing only cooked separately. Myself, I hate stuffing (too greasy and gooey) but I could eat dressing every day of my life).

Greg said...

So what time should I fly to Florida for dinner? :D