Pre-Thanksgiving Prep

My mother wrote this down for me many years ago. 
It's fun to see her handwriting.

 My cornbread is in the oven. Two 8x8 pans, ready to be mixed into dressing for Thanksgiving Day. I came here to look up the dressing recipe that my mother gave me many years ago. Decided I would share it again in case you are looking for a recipe. I made this last year and it was as good as I remember. It's the simplest recipe out there. 

As far back as I can remember, we had dressing. Not stuffing. Dressing is baked in a dish separate from the turkey. Stuffing is just what it implies—it's stuffed inside the turkey and it cooks while the turkey is roasting. I've never had stuffing. Ever.

Both son-in-laws have made dressing from their family recipes. And both are good. All three are similar in taste. My family's version is the least complicated. I know my mother used sage, so I added that even though she didn't include it in her written recipe. This recipe dates back to a time when full instructions were not always included. Cooks just "knew' what to do.

So if you are the one responsible for the dressing this year, here is my mother's recipe. Read the notes below the recipe. 

CORNBREAD DRESSING

1 9x9-inch pan of cornbread (I used the recipe on the White Lily self-rising cornmeal mix bag)

1 egg

*1/3 cup celery, chopped fine

*1 medium onion, chopped fine

*a little Pepperidge Farm seasoned herb stuffing mix

enough chicken or turkey broth to moisten (and make it "mushy")

I added a few shakes of ground sage

Crumble the cornbread with your fingers so that there are no large pieces. The texture is a fine crumb. Mix all ingredients together, adding enough broth to make the mixture "mushy." Put into a greased 9x9 pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until lightly browned on top.  

Notes:

*Double everything for a 9x13 pan. And the cooking time was nearly double, too. My double batch filled a 9x13 dish, plus a 1-qt dish which went into the freezer.

*Mother always stressed the importance of chopping the celery and onion fine. She said no one wants to bite into a big piece of celery. 

*I had a thought during the night! I did a reverse weigh of the stuffing I had left to figure out how much I used! It was right at 1 cup for a 9x9 pan of cornbread.

*It can be mixed the day before and refrigerated until it's time to bake. Adjust your time if baking straight from the refrigerator. 

 

And that's all she told me! Sometimes she added a little mashed cooked sweet potato to keep the dressing moist. (Instead of the can of chicken soup folks use now.) Last week I used the herb stuffing mix. How much you ask? About that much! I know you hate answers like that, but I can't tell you any more. 

And how much broth? For my double batch it was a little over a quart. I was using boxes of Swansons and I had to open the 2nd box. It always takes more than I think. 

A better question would be "how do I know when I've added enough?" My mother only said "mushy." I would add "but not soupy." Mine sloshed around a little in the dish when I put it in the refrigerator.

If you are brave enough to make this recipe that doesn't have precise amounts, remember that my mother never measured anything. So it's unlikely the amounts she used would have been exactly the same each time. And it always worked. I don't think precise is a requirement here.

Tomorrow, the day before Thanksgiving, I will mix up the dressing and have it ready to go into the oven on Thursday morning.  I'm pretty sure there will be enough to fill a 9x13-inch dish for the Thanksgiving table and a smaller dish to go into the freezer. I'll freeze it before I bake it. 

Our Thanksgiving visitors for the week!