Corn Bread Dressing by Stace

Happy Thanksgiving all!

Mama Katie, Papa Leo, Bob & Jovan, Lauren and my family are together for Thanksgiving this year (but sadly missing our sister Steph). Bob and I are are sitting at the kitchen table while Mama Katie runs around frantically preparing corn bread dressing and Papa Leo is calmly preparing the turkey.

I did manage to get out of my chair long enough to retrieve my mom's recipe box from the top shelf of the pantry, so I am posting her yummy corn bread dressing recipe.

I will paraphrase her memories about this dish while she cooks it.

Mama Katie says: It was my first Thanksgiving as a new mother, and I did not know how to cook. My mother-in-law and her sister, (Cajun Queens of cooking) were slowly educating me, offering me recipes and tutoring me to make things like beans and rice, gumbo, homemade biscuits, chicken & dumplings and Thanksgiving dishes for my new, tiny family.

The first time I prepared this, I added a whole chicken. You can add a lot of meat to this recipe and make it a meal in itself. I brought my offering of dressing to the big family Thanksgiving, and it was a hit! (which encouraged me to make it again and again). This has been a Thanksgiving tradition for our family since that first Thanksgiving over 35 years ago.

Stacey adds: This is one of the only dishes my mother prepares at Thanksgiving anymore. Papa Leo usually prepares most of the meal, dishing up tender turkey, sweet and bacony green bean wraps, smooth homemade mashed potatoes, sliced and baked sweet potatoes, fresh from his garden carrots, and homemade cranberry sauce.

Stacey says: This dressing is amazing, much better than the stove top I made and took to church on Sunday :(

Enjoy this time with your family. We are thankful that we have time to be together, time away from the everyday schedules, pressures and stress -- to relax, tease each other and enjoy good food together.

Recipe for corn bread dressing (feeds 10-12):

Ingredients:
-- 2 9x11 pans of cornbread (we used a mix today but my mom usually makes it from scratch). Here is a corn bread recipe from the web in case you need one.

--turkey giblets (whatever comes in your turkey)

--8 stalks of green onion (use all of them)

--6 stalks of celery (less or more depending on your preference)

--seasonings: sage (we have some fresh from Papa Leo's garden), garlic, onion, curry powder, red pepper, pepper and paprika, a tiny bit of salt (to taste).

--4 or 5 chopped, boiled eggs

--almost 64 oz of chicken broth (to add moisture)

--Grandma Werth suggested oysters, but we have never used them in ours

Instructions:
Crumble the cornbread into a bowl and add chopped onions, celery and eggs. Pour chicken broth into the mixture (you want the texture to be wet not crumbly). Add finely chopped giblets. Add seasonings to taste. Place mixture into pans (either 2 9x11 pans or one 12x17 pan). Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown (moisture will have absorbed into the dressing).

--posted by Stace