Real sho'nuff cornbread dressing for Thanksgiving?

[fat tom]

TTT

Because of sickness, I have farmed out the dressing and sweet tater soufflé this year. I will cook a turkey.

It will be the first time in nearly 70 years my Mama hasn't cooked dressing on Thanksgiving.

Hope your mama gets to feelin' better soon. I'd send you some dressin',but with 25 or so expected for dinner (and supper),I doubt there will be any left. Why is it that we only get giblet gravy and dressin' a few times a year?
f.t.

 

[DJINCO]

I grew up in Colorado so turkey and dressing were pretty much "routine." I joined the Navy in 1977 and went to my first Virginia Thanksgiving in 1978. My girlfriend ( now also known as my wife ) and her mother ( now my M-in-L ) introduced me to all sorts of food. We had oyster dressing (mmmm) fruit cake that is actually very good, corn pudding, ham biscuits, and "real" pecan pie.

We now live in Colorado, but every year we manage to find some Atlantic oysters (the Pacific oysters don't taste "right", according to my wife) and have oyster dressing.

My wife's family hails from Keysville, Virginia, near Farmville. Grandma Slayton cooked on a wood stove until the day she died (in her 90's).

 

[wbraswell]

V-35, you know a thing or two about pecans. That stuff in bags ain't fit for squirrel bait. Even the canned, salted ones are way inferior. Luckily, here I can go to the orchard and get a bag, cracked, and pick them myself. They freeze well, too.

 

[handejector]

TTT

Because of sickness, I have farmed out the dressing and sweet tater soufflé this year. I will cook a turkey.

It will be the first time in nearly 70 years my Mama hasn't cooked dressing on Thanksgiving.

Sorry to hear that. I hope she gets better soon.

This thread brought back many memories. You're killin' me. Mom's been gone for years. In her prime, her dressing made it real hard to eat things like squash and beans!
I could, and did, make a meal of leftover dressing and gravy nuked till it steamed with some cranberry sauce.....

 

[Cooter Brown]

Sorry to hear you mom's not feeling well--she certainly deserves to have somebody do some waiting on her at this point but having known ladies like her I know that's the last thing she wants.

Hope she and your wife get to feeling better soon and that your whole clan has a great Thanksgiving!

 

[redlevel]

TTT

Because of sickness, I have farmed out the dressing and sweet tater soufflé this year. I will cook a turkey.

It will be the first time in nearly 70 years my Mama hasn't cooked dressing on Thanksgiving.

Time to bring this one back to the top.

Mama is doing much better this year. She has an amazing resiliency. She gets down, mostly with pain in her back and legs, but she seems to bounce back pretty quickly. Her short-term memory has gone away. Otherwise, mentally and physically, she seems to be doing fine. She continues to be an inspiration to all of us.

I could do a pretty good job of doing the dressing by myself now. I make a mean sweet 'tater soufflé. Cooking the bird is no problem. I still need Mama's help to do the giblet gravy just right. She and I will do the dressing and gravy at my house early Thursday. I will just be mostly looking for advice this year. She still wants to take part in the preparations.

I took this picture of Mama about a month back. She will be 95 in January. She still lives by herself. Amazing.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, and I hope God blesses you like He has blessed me.

 

[mkk41]

Turkey gets deep fried outside so this will have to do.

 

[boykinlp]

Turkey gets deep fried outside so this will have to do.

You can still make redlevel's dressing, just leave out the pan drippings and you are GTG!

BTW, there is no way anyones dressing can be as good as redlevels', because he has 94 years of awesome experience backing him up!!

 

[wbraswell]

Good for Mama! Take lots of notes, redlevel.

 

[walkin jack]

Redlevel, I enjoyed your post. I'm glad your mama is doing well and I agree that God has surely blessed you.

Real Sho' 'Nuff cornbread dressing ain't to hard to find around here! When my parents got married in 1942, one of the first things my paternal grandmother gave my mother was a bunch of her own recipes, including cornbread dressing and giblet gravy. Mom was a great cook and all my childhood memories of all the good food and Thanksgiving and Christmas are based on that dressing and gravy.

Been married twice and had to teach 'em both how to cook. One of the first things I taught 'em was the dressing and gravy. Used to have the turkey etc at both Thanksgiving and Christmas but my kids both LOVE the spiral cut honey baked hams so we alternate now. I never did care for that so I started having the turkey & dressing on my birthday in June or on the 4th of July or something. Only having it once a year just don't fit my pistol.

 

[keith44spl]

Cornbread dressin' ain't jest for holidays anymore.........

My bride fixes me a pan of chicken & dressing bout once a month.


.

 

[finesse_r]

I never could understand why people would ruin perfectly good cornbread by mixing it with other stuff and then stuffing it up a turkey's posterior.

I like my turkey and I love cornbread, but I have never found a dressing or stuffing that I cared for at all.

Then later that night a nice slice of turkey breast with a large glass of milk with crumbled up cornbread in it. Now that is good.

 

[LL617]

Being from the South, it sounds about right. I know some folks like to make the cornbread the day before and let it sit covered until time to make the dressing.

 

[shouldazagged]

I never could understand why people would ruin perfectly good cornbread by mixing it with other stuff and then stuffing it up a turkey's posterior.

Where I grew up we didn't serve impacted turkeys. The dressing was cooked on the side. I believe I could make a dressing you'd like, though I've never made it exactly the same way twice.

 

[jgh4445]

Red, you are truly blessed to still have Mama. She's a jewel! Mine was too. Lost her 4 years ago. She made the same dressing but she did include some of the fixins for the Giblet gravy in it also. Giblets, chopped up boiled egg and, would you believe, more onions and broth?

 

[Brian41]

Sounds real similar to what my mother-in-law used to make and turkey was a regular item in her kitchen too and not just holidays either.
She's gone now but my wife learned well from her and the tradition goes on. These days I do the bird cooking and my wife does the rest, never had a hungry person leave the table either.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.

 

[redlevel]

One more time.

Mama has already called me to make sure I get her early Thanksgiving morning so she can help with the dressing. She continues to do pretty well, although it is evident she has really slowed down since I started this thread in 2010.

Everyone have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!
Hope all y'all enjoy as much of God's blessing as I do.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

My Mother and everybody in my family made dressing. That's baked separately from the turkey.
I Have hung out with some Yankee folks who put it in the turkey.
That would be 'stuffing.'
I asked my Mother for her recipe. She didn't really have one and struggled to write one down.
Either she wrote wrong or I misread. I added too much Sage. I love sage in dressing. But too much sage is not a good think, I guarantee!

 

[RonJ]

Too much sage makes it bitter!
While I don't mind light bread or biscuits in dressing it ain't necessary. Cornbread alone is great.
Giblets and a handfull of raisins are good but no oysters for me.

During the off seasons my Grandma used to make a similar dish. She called it PUSH. Us kids loved it. Anyone else heard of this?
Give me a plate of push, a heap of fried okra and some cold buttermilk, I'm in heaven.

 

[Ogandydancer]

Good dressing is as th OP describes but does not have to be spooned out like thick soup if it's firm O K but not to firm and that is why you have white gravy to put on it (to moisten it). Sage and onions and celery are very very key ingredients. Too little of each and it really isn't good.

No oyster or chestnut dressing either, they are both nasty.