Life has been just too hectic! I have been trying to reorganize and get back to posting, even have a slew of pictures . . . some of which are in the camera that has been missing for a couple of months now. Hoping my almost two year old grandson didn't toss it into the trash when I wasn't looking . . . his favorite past time lately. If he did, I guess it will be a big lesson learned.
 |
| Cynthia Layne Photography: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1535885607&v=photos |
In the middle of all this, my daughter had a double surprise. No not twins. A little one snuck in on them about 6 months earlier than they had planned (no one wants to be PG in southern AZ in the summer) and after 3 little boys, they had a girl.
After some big scares and major surgery, our little miracle (doctor's words) is home and doing well. Life is not exactly back to normal, but we are grateful for what we have!!
Pic taken 3 days before our tiny miss landed in the NICU.
So as I am going through to start our family Thanksgiving dinner, I will bring the recipes up to the top to share them.
These are all made from my pantry to keep the $$ down and nothing has the evil little substances that set my grand kids on their ears and Nanny/Papa's nerves on edge . . . . .
Cornbread Dressing or Stuffing
OK . . . . I know this is ridiculously late, but hopefully it will be helpful sometime during the holiday season. I made my own dressing/stuffing this year. Not by buying the mix at the store and adding the broth, eggs, and other goodies, I made it all from scratch. OK I cheated one time. I had some baguette loaves in the freezer and cut some of those up to for the bread in my dressing. I did make my own cornbread with the seasonings, etc. in it. Had to chase my hubby off a couple of times while it was drying out in the oven, so it must have been pretty tasty. OK I
confess, it snitched too, it was tasty!
1. First I made regular cornbread with some 2. Added flavors. I also added a couple of teaspoons of chicken broth powder. Since that is salty, I eliminated the salt in this batch. I had to look poultry seasoning on the internet because I was out of it. It is mainly sage with marjoram, thyme and a dash of pepper and cloves. I skipped the cloves. 3. To tell if your cornbread is done or not, check to see if it has pulled away from the sides of the pan slightly. It should also have the cracks that you see here. This is a double batch spread out in a cookie sheet to dry more quickly for making the dressing.
4. Break the cornbread and set back into the warm oven let it dry out. You can cut or break it into what ever size you want for your dressing. I guess I did it this way because that is how my dad always did it. Next time I will just let it cool and then dice it up. 5. I used some left over baguettes for the bread. Cut or break it up as you did the cornbread. 6. Now for the really tasty stuff. Dice onions and celery, saute in butter or I used olive oil.
This year I also added some scrambled some sausage and chopped some craisins (dried cranberries) at my daughter's request. They did add some great flavor. I mixed all of this together, covered it tightly, put in the back of the fridge a couple of days before Thanksgiving. On the big day, I just had to beat a couple of eggs, add the chicken and turkey broth and toss it into the oven for half an hour. Great little time saver!
