Celebrating the holidays with Ali is taking some getting used to. And, frankly, it requires some kind of map and notepad. Her parents divorced when she was eleven. Her mom married a friend of the family a few years later. That meant that people that had been friends for her whole life were now family members. I know there are lots of people for whom this is normal. It's just hard to keep track of who will be where and how they are all related from a newbie's perspective!
Anyhow, today is the holiday gathering for her stepdad's family. There will be 23 people at the party. And I'm making the turkey, dressing and sweet potato casserole. Thank God it's not at our house. . .
I know you're not supposed to try a new recipe on a day that you're feeding people who don't know that you're an acceptably good cook. But, I'm feeling adventurous – or maybe just suicidal! I'm not sure how it came about that I'm making this food anyway. I think Ali volunteered me. She's eaten turkey and sweet potato casserole that I've made and she liked it. But, the only stuffing she's ever eaten from a pan on my stove came out of a box. . .
These people are picky eaters. All of them. They like plain, unadorned (and from my perspective – boring) food. I'm a daughter of good old Southern cooks and the only dressing I know how to make from scratch is Cornbread Dressing. I'm fairly certain this would be unacceptable. Perhaps even ridiculed.
So here I sit, behind my computer screen on Thanks-Christmas morning, trolling the internet for recipes that don't resemble slimy, wet bread. And aren't out of a box. And don't make me look like an idiot to people who've only met me once. . .at last year's Thanks-Christmas.
I think this is what I'm going with.
2 packets onion soup mix
2 cup water
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
8 cups bread, cubes
Saute celery and onion in butter. Bring soup mix and water to a boil. Simmer 5 minutes. Stir in poultry seasoning, butter, celery and onion. Add this mixture to the bread cubes; toss together. Grease crockpot; add stuffing; set on low for 3-4 hours.
Since I have to transport all this food across town the crock-pot makes sense. Although, I think my cooking fore-mothers would roll over in their graves if they could see me making stuffing in a crock pot. . .they would be even more distressed that there was no cornbread to be found! Anywhere!
Wish me luck!
1 comment:
After reading the recipe.. Stove top still sounds good! Hope it went well! Sorry the cornbread was missing...lol.
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