Emerged from the food-coma yet?
Me neither.
Holidays and food always connect, and the connection is often seasonal. Whatever is available is transformed into a dish celebrating the occasion at hand. Processed foods have crept their way in, but the connections are still strong. Thanksgiving and pumpkin, 4th of July cookouts will have watermelon, and so on and so on.
So from this Thanksgiving, what was the food that had to be on the table?
We did much of what was to be expected – turkey, ham, cranberries, potato casserole, and other dishes – but the one that is the difference maker for me is the stuffing – and yes – it is the one my mom makes.
The recipe is on a notebook card. Here it is.
3 cups celery
1 cup onion
1 cup butter (not for the faint of heart)
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp.salt
2 cups crumbled biscuits
4 cups crumbled cornbread
Poultry seasoning
Chicken broth
Melt the butter and cook the celery and onion until soft, add the salt and pepper. While cooking put biscuits and cornbread in a food processor or blender and make into crumbs – do separately if needed. Mix the vegetables (and butter) and breadcrumbs in a 9×13 pan, season, and add broth until soupy.
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until top starts to brown. Broil in the last 5 if that works better. Let rest for 5 minutes and serve.
The key is to make the biscuits and cornbread the day before, and homemade broth always makes the day. I can hear some of you cringe – it is more work, but if you plan the day before this is actually an easy ‘day of’ dish. The ‘extra‘ is what makes it taste like home and my guess is that is true for all the dishes we elevate to ‘has to be there’ status.
I have varied it up – adding garlic and smoked paprika, carrots can be brought into the party, but those are only ornaments.
So I will trade you – send me a classic from your table. What is it that you have to have to make the day be it Thanksgiving or any day? When we share what makes our tables work the world gets stronger and I think Jesus wouldn’t have it any other way!