ABBY L VANDIVER Happy New Year! Hope
your holidays were good and you’re looking with optimism toward the new year.
I didn’t do much shopping or entertaining this holiday
season, but I did do a lot of cooking. I guess that was why my daughter called.
It was a couple of days before New Year's Day, and she asked me if I would make
“stuffing” for our holiday dinner.
That's about blew me
over.
For the holidays, Thanksgiving Through New Year’s Day we have mainstays—food that is served every year. On New Year's Day there is a slight deviation—one or two things are added on. That’s because there's a little superstition that goes along with what we serve. For instance, we of course have greens, but we have them for prosperity in the new year—they represent money. Black eyed peas are are an addition to the holiday menu, sometimes showing up on the menu for just that holiday, they are supposed to be for good luck. And we have pork. We like to mix it up serving fried pork chops or a pork tenderloin. I don't know what the pork is for but I don't go a New Year's Day without having some. The other food on the menu is basically the same as any other winter (and Easter) holiday . We have ham and turkey or chicken, macaroni and cheese, not mashed potatoes and we have dressing and not stuffing.
“Dressing! We don't have stuffing.” I corrected my daughter. “How long have you known your mother!”
I was very surprised
when she asked me to make stuffing. She's 44 years old, old enough to know the
difference and our family traditions. I wonder will she carry them on. I did make the dressing for our dinner (after
I calmed down), but I did have a talk with her. Traditions are important.
So, here's my recipe for dressing. What did you cook over the holidays?
INGREDIENTS
1 pan of cornbread *
1 stalk of celery diced
4 teaspoons of browned sage (maybe more)
2 cans of chicken broth
1 can of cream of chicken soup
1 can of cream of mushroom soup **
1 tbsp. of poultry seasoning
3 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
* See my recipe for cornbread in this blog.
DIRECTIONS
Please note: Like most of my "traditional" recipes, it is a matter of tasting the food to get it right and not exact measurements. So be sure to taste often and feel free to put more or less of the ingredients in your dish!
Brown sage in the oven until it is dark brown. Not browning the sage will cause your dressing to be light in color.
Sweat the celery in a skillet with butter until soft. Many people also add onions and green pepper to dressing, I don't like them in my food, but if you do, add them in with the celery. You don't want the veggies to be crunchy when you add them.
Crumble the cornbread into a baking dish. Add all of the ingredients and mix.
It's dressing, not stuffing!
Enjoy!
You can find me here:
We just hubby and I, we don't wait until a holiday to have traditional holiday food, but have it when the desire arises. Example 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, we both got a big yearning for dressing (yep that's what it is to me too), so we gathering ingredients and had it. Thanksgiving day we had a wood fire grilled steak. Christmas was homemade enchiladas. New Years' Day we did follow my families tradition of cold cuts, chips and dips. My Dad's birthday was New Year's Eve and we had our big meal that most consider the next day's traditions. By New Year's Day, everyone was so stuffed with make it simple and easy.
ReplyDelete2clowns at arkansas dot net
What a great sounding recipe! Our holiday dinners are about the same and we too believe in the magic of the black eyed peas so every year no matter what we are having or where we are going there will be black eyed peas. I am not a huge fan of stuffing or dressing but your recipe looks really yummy so maybe I'll give dressing another try. 😋
ReplyDeleteI had a quiet Christmas (much needed!) so I made a chicken casserole that is easy. Shred cooked chicken, mix with any veggies you like, mix with a can of cream of chicken soup and some sour cream. Top with DRESSING. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for explaining the meaning of your family's holiday dishes and for sharing your recipe. My Northern family ate stuffing, while my husband's Southern family ate dressing, so I had to change my vocabulary depending on where we ate our holiday dinner. ~Maya
ReplyDeletethis sounds wonderful. thanks for sharing the recipe
ReplyDeleteMy mother (from Atlanta, Georiga) like a crunchy dressing/stuffing. She added celery, onions, pecans, and water chestnuts.
ReplyDelete