WIP’s Graduation Photos, New Throw Pillow Covers, Antique Quilt, A ‘Bomb’ Cake, Dinner for 40, and a Pantry Re-Do

Is this face destined for greatness?? 

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Time will tell! LoL!  Can you guess what Jacob wants to be when he grows up?  Hmm…Green Beret…policeman..secret service…lawyer…preacher? 

These are photos that will be in Jacob’s senior collage which I ordered on line today. And I've just finished his diploma. It's ready to print on nice paper and sign. (It wasn't the actual diploma..but just a template. A reader pointed out that I had mispelled the word principal..as principal. Those typos do get me when I'm in a hurry. LoL!)   The graduation party festivities and planning are in full swing! 

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Getting the house ready…is part of what I’m busy with today…   I was really on a roll with the re-covering of my couch cushions. I’m trying to make them match this antique quilt of Tim’s grandmother’s. She gave it to us as a wedding gift and I think it will be perfect for the living room and our style of decor. 

It’s been waiting for the right time…since Christmas. With 40 guests coming, I decided to ‘bite the bullet’ and go ahead and repair the quilt. It’s not as hard as I thought it would be though finding the fabric was a chore. I’ll be sharing a tutorial next week. :o)

I’m also having a real fun time designing a ‘Yellow-cake Uranium Bomb Cake’ per request of my weapon crazy son. No..I didn’t have a pan in the shape of a bomb…or did I? 

 

Ah! What about the deep dish oval Corning-ware casserole…and the lid! It worked perfectly. Now…for the army green icing.

 

We’re using red and black twizzlers to stick in the middle where we will cut out a slice of cake to reveal the cut wires inside of the bomb. We wouldn’t want anyone to think it was about to ‘go off’. LoL!

photos by Christian..

I took several photos of our Sago Palms which we trimmed to the stubs a couple of weeks ago. They are growing beautifully as are the magnolia blossoms.  Christian took fabulous photos of them! I’ll be doing that post tomorrow. 

 

And I sure had to do some cleaning. I’m still washing dishes by hand…but the control panel has been ordered. In the meanwhile, I wash the dishes and load them in the drainer to air dry. It’s been working fine for four weeks now!

The fridge is sparkling and the pantry is finally re-organized. Rebekah and I have been wanting to do this forever and were really inspired at the IKEA pantry demo. But no way were we going to pay for their ‘units’. Ha!  Good ole’ Wal-mart to the rescue! 

At the moment though..I’m just cooking..and cooking and cooking!! Three giant pots of potatoes for potato salad (I used two crockpots) and three giant briskets which I managed to SQUEEEeeeeze in to the oven by cutting one in half and putting it into two smaller pans.

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Oh yeah…and I had to cook supper too. Can’t let the troops starve can I?

I haven't forgotten you! :o)   I was able to visit the first couple of days this week..but I may not be able to drop by until the dust settles for returning comments. However, be assured that I so appreciate your comments and read everyone…usually when I can’t stand up any more. Ha! 

Have a great week! What are your works in progress? It’s always fun to see what everyone is up to, I think. :o)

Old Fashioned Chicken Pot Pie

Last week, I took several chicken pot pies to moms with new babies. (I couldn’t help it! I figured if I was gonna make a mess..I might as well do it times three.)

I had a lot of fun decorating the crusts. There’s something about pie dough and cookie cutters that always distracts me! (Thanks Secret Sister if you are out there.)

Here’s the recipe from Better Homes and Garden’s Cookbook that  I use:

• 1 10oz pkg frozen mixed veges
• 1/2 c. chopped onion
• 1/2 c. chopped mushrooms (we leave those out.)
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/3. cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. sage (we skip the sage)
• 1/8 t. pepper
• 2 cups water (I use chicken broth from cooking the chicken.)
• 3/4 c. milk
• 1 T. chicken bouillon granules (if you don’t use chicken broth)
• 3 cups cubed cooked chicken
• 1/4 c. snipped parsley
• Opt.: We add a few diced potatoes – canned, baked, or boiled.
• Pastry for Double Crust Pie (see below)

So the way I do this is to start the chicken simmering in the pot first, or even better, cook it in the Crockpot the night before. Be careful not to overcook it in the Crockpot. This is one time you don’t want the meat falling apart tender. 

Chop it in bite size chunks and set it aside. Save the broth.  (You can substitute canned chicken meat.)

  Then start the frozen peas and carrots or mixed veges in the steamer basket or microwave. Set these aside when cooked.

 

Start a couple of potatoes in a small pot. Our family ADORES having diced potatoes in their pot pie. :o)

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Now make the sauce. In a saucepan, cook the onion and the mushrooms in butter until tender but not brown. Stir in flour, salt, sage, and pepper.  Stir until it is a smooth paste.

Add the water, milk, and bullion (or broth) all at once and cook and stir until thick and bubbly.  Cook and stir 1 to 2 minutes more. Don’t do this on high. It will burn!

Now stir in all the veges, meat, and potatoes, and parsley. Heat until bubbly. Put the whole mixture into a 9 x 18 baking dish or a casserole.

 

Now make the pie crust. Here’s the recipe for a double-pie crust.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 t. salt
• 2/3 c. shortening
• 6 to 7 TBs. cold water

In a mixing bowl stir together the flour and salt. Cut in shortening till the pieces are the size of small pieces. (I chill it for a few minutes afterwards.) The little pieces of chilled shortening covered in flour make little ‘pockets’ which makes the crust flaky.

Sprinkle 1 TB of the water over part of the mixture; gently toss with a fork and push to the side of the bowl. Repeat till it is all moistened. Then form it into a ball.

 

 

Now roll out the dough on a floured surface with a rolling pin into a rectangle shape. I think this works much better on a thin plastic cutting sheet or pie sheet. Then you can just pick up the dough and lay it over the pan.

But you can also roll up the dough very carefully and loosely over the rolling pin, then roll it back out. Don’t worry! I always have cracks and splits in my crust and I just patch it all up.

Then comes the fun part. Crimping the top edges. First pinch the dough all around into a vertical straight edge.

Then push with one finger tip from the inside of the crust edge into your thumb and forefinger pressed together on the outside of the crust and you will make a little divot or point.

Keep pushing points all the way around. It looks so pretty!

 

Now cut out whatever shapes you like in the left over crust to decorate the top and cut some slits to let out steam.

Pop it into the oven for 10 to 12 minutes and bake at 450. 

Or you can just leave it uncooked and freeze it to serve later or take to a friend.

I always think the little ones must have a fun time when they see their dinner all covered with fun shapes. My kids so looked forward to getting bits of cooked pie dough to nibble on while the casserole was cooking.

I even had two tiny pie tins that I used to cook leftovers in for them to eat :o)

(Just like Beatrix Potter’s The Pie and the Patty Pan.) 

Guess I’ll have to wait till the grandkids visit to do that again.

 (Pretty smooth how I worked that in..wasn’t it? LoL!)

Enjoy!

Six Great Crockpot Recipes Tested in My Kitchen :o)

"There is no spectacle on earth more appealing 

than that of a beautiful woman in the act of cooking dinner for someone she loves."
— Thomas Wolfe

The Results Are In....Crockpots Work!!

Yesterday was a simply gorgeous day! The weather was just perfect, so our whole family spent the afternoon out working in the yard together. Tim mowed the pastures, Jacob cleaned the gutters, Rebekah weeded the flower beds and I raked all the leaves out of my bushes making room for transplanting tulip and daffodil bulbs while Christian carted off the leaves to the burn pile.  What a lot of work we all got done!

For a wonderfully pleasant change, I got to work outside WITH the family instead of inside by myself. Why? Because I already had dinner in the crock pot!  I threw together a hashbrown casserole right after we got home from church. By the time we all got in from our yard work—hot, sweaty, and ready to relax, dinner was ready. I’ve always dreaded cooking dinner on Sunday nights because we cook a big church dinner every Sunday morning. But today was so different! I felt like such a GOOD MOMMY because I made a real dinner not just grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup.

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Kitchen Testing Crock Pot Recipes...

I love the idea of cooking with a crock pot..but I don’t like many of the recipes I’ve tried. Why? Because they often come out mushy or bland and boring.  I’ve looked through my Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook: 700 Great Slow Cooker Recipes any times, but most of the recipes just didn’t sound all that appealing to me. What about you? It looked like there was a lot of repetition and not too many ingredients..and lots of cream of something soup.

Well, after relying on a roaster oven at speech and debate tournaments while feeding several hundred people x 3 days x 8 tournaments, I’ve discovered that it’s amazing what you can cook in a slow cooker! My favorites?  Baked potatoes, Meatloaf, Pot Roast, Beef Stew, Roasted Chicken, Potato-Corn Chowder and Macaroni and Cheese.  To be able to use a crock pot for these everyday staples makes it my favorite kitchen appliance! 

Until now, though, I had never tried to recreate what we did in huge quantities in my small crock pot at home. In fact a roaster oven, though it can slow cook, works rather differently in that it can get up to oven high temperatures..like 450 degrees! You can easily saute chicken breasts in a roaster oven.

This month, Rebekah, my daughter, and I decided that we are going to get over the learning curve and start experimenting with the crock pot. Sure, we may make some mistakes along the way, but I’m pretty certain we have not even begun to explore the many wonderful options available for crock pot cooking.

One thing I had always wanted to try, which I DID try this week, with STUNNING results..was baked potatoes. I don’t believe they are in the crockpot cook book.  Oh my goodness!! They turned out just fantastic!!  I didn’t even fill the pot, I just put in our usual five potatoes (one for each person). I cooked them on high and in about two hours, they were done to perfection.

They were a little moist on the outside, but almost browned on the bottom. I didn’t add water, just rubbed them with a wee bit of butter, poked them with a knife, and popped them into the pot. Voila! Perfect baked potatoes!  They were supposed to be for last night’s supper, but the boys got a  hold of them before I could stop them. 

So I threw three more into the empty pot, and they were perfect before my daughter got home for work just a couple of hours later. No more running the oven just for five or six potatoes! Hurrah!  Just in time for summer’s heat.  You gotta love not running that oven in the summer.

My next plan is to fill the pot with potatoes and see how long it takes to cook them. What a great thing to take to our weekly potluck supper at church! And it’s the perfect start to homemade baked potato soup.Yummy!

Rebekah and I have picked out sixteen recipes to ‘kitchen test’ this month.  We've got the freezer and pantry stocked with ingredients..and we're ready to go!

Even though I haven't gotten excited about most of of what was in the cook book before, I spent the afternoon yesterday pouring over the recipes and realized that just about ANYTHING that you cook at home, has a crock pot version of a recipe in this book. (Even baking bread!!..This I have to see.)

I decided to try only recipes that seemed unique or had lots of people recommending them.   I figured that if so many people liked the exact same recipe then that should be a pretty safe one to try.
Frankly, it’s hard for me to imagine being able to make a casserole in a crock pot..but we’ll try it!

Here are the sixteen different recipes we will be testing this month…

Tex-Mex Chicken Chowder

Rigatoni Casserole

Steak Stroganoff

Pulled Pork BBQ Sandwiches

Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken and Stuffing Supper

Beef Minestrone Soup

Cabbage and Sausage Dinner

Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

Beef Enchiladas (Meat)

Cranberry Pork Roast
Scalloped Ham and Potatoes

Sweet Italian Sausage and Spaghetti

Tater Tot Casserole

Beef Napolean

Cola Pot Roast

  

Next week, I’ll include a list of the great crock-pot cooking tips listed in this book. Here are three of my favorites…

• You can use a roasting bag in a crock pot! Just use it according to the package directions.
• And of course, don’t open the lid while cooking..as it takes 15-20 minutes to build back up the heat.
• You can make ahead any casserole the day before serving, put it in the fridge overnight, move it to the crockpot and cook on high for an hour before leaving and then turn  it on low for four hours to heat through.  (Perfect for church lunches!) 

I’ll keep you updated on our progress over the next few Wednesdays! Hopefully, I’ll have some new ideas and some great recipe recommendations for you to try.  

Have fun with your crock pots friends! 

Say, what’s your favorite tried and true crock pot recipe? Just add it in the comments and perhaps I can try it out next month. I’ll even give the credit where it’s due…to you!

Linking with the Clip Cafe’s WIP

Raising Homemakers Homemaking LinkUp 

Soup Mixes in a Jar

Hi Friends!  I thought you would enjoy seeing photos of a great and inexpensive gift idea for Christmas over the weekend. My very crafty daughter-in-law, Elisabeth,  got the idea to make these soup mixes in a jar from a book she picked up at a garage sale.  She wanted to make something for our upcoming Christmas Craft sale at Grace Community Church to earn some extra spending money for Christmas.

I, on the other hand, was musing on what sort of gift I could make to give to friends and I’ve also been wanting to make some soups ‘ahead of time’ that I could just throw in the pot to simmer. I really have been wanting to improve my soup ‘repertoire’ and it always amazes me how things turn up just when I need them. This book, Gifts from a Jar, has the best recipes I’ve ever tried. It’s worth every penny!

 

You can imagine my excitement when Ebeth mentioned her idea. This is definitely a project for TWO people (plus I really enjoyed spending the day with her and the grandkids--Yippee!)  For one thing, you can go in together to buy the most critical ingredient for this project, dried vegetable flakes.  Ebeth found a good source online, and we split the cost. We ended up with quite a bit of extra, but this is a great additive to any soup you make, so I wasn’t complaining.

We spent a Saturday morning shopping with the kiddos. (Great excuse to hang out with the grandbabies—Yea!)  Ebeth had ordered the online ingredients the week before which was critical. Just coming up with a shopping list for the 5 recipes we chose was quite an accomplishment all by itself.  Even with pooling the spices and extra beans, rice, barley etc. that we both had on hand, we still had to buy some extra supplies and ingredients. We bought a few things at Sam’s like bulk dehydrated onions, chicken bullion cubes and cumin.  Diced and dehydrated garlic and the vegetable flakes both had to be purchased online.  We both had jars on hand that we had to wash and dry, but we also bought extras.

Between the two of us, we made 71 jars of soup mix!  We figured up our costs and on average we spent about $1.50 to $2.00 per soup mix (including the price of the jar). I think Ebeth could sell her jars for at least $5-6.00 a piece.  For my part, I’m just happy to have a well stocked pantry and now I also have a nice, inexpensive gift to give to friends at church and neighbors too. Plus I’ll tuck a few into the Christmas boxes I ship. What a great gift to have on hand for that surprise person that you left off of your list too! 

I packed a bag with the Chicken and Rice soup mix plus a can of chicken breast chunks, and tomato sauce for my secret sister as a ‘thank you’ for all the gifts she gave me. Plus I sent a Chili Mac & Beans casserole jar plus a can of tomatoes with green peppers to my own secret sister in a quilted tote bag for her Christmas gift. It’s so nice to have a little something on hand for gift giving during this busy season, don’t you think?  

We made the beef, lentil, and barley soup the other day and it was just heavenly! I loved the recipes so much, that I ordered the Gifts in a Jar~ Cookie Mixes too from Amazon. Of course, I bought it used. Why not? It looked brand new and even had fabric circles and raffia twine still in a bag inside the front cover. But Wal-mart also sells pre-cut circle scraps. They are in the canning section.  I gathered a bunch of scraps in colors that I thought Ebeth would like and loaned her my pinking shears so she can make fabric circles for her jars. 

Really, this is pretty easy, but if you are planning to do a bunch of jars or recipes, like we did, then we suggest that you shop on one day and do the work on the next day. It’s a BIG job! We ordered pizza for dinner. We sure didn’t feel like cooking! Ha!

There are so many resources on the internet for crockpot meals in a jar, soups, cookies, muffins, etc. Just do a quick search for “Gifts in a Jar” and you will find some great ideas for cooking ahead for your family as well as an inexpensive Christmas gift idea that’s a lot of fun to do and special to share as well.

What about you? What is your favorite gift to give for friends and neighbors?

Happy Homemaking!

 

How to Cook Thanksgiving Dinner…

 

What makes the perfect Thanksgiving Dinner?  Well, the fact is that  it really doesn't have to be too difficult.  My definition of a perfect Thanksgiving is good friends and family to visit with, favorite dishes that taste great but don’t take all day to prepare and most of all a thankful heart towards God for all of our blessings.  These things make the holiday fun and special ...   Print all of the information below minus the photos by clicking HERE.

Here is our Thanksgiving Day Menu…

(Recipes and instructions below)

Roast Turkey

Whipped Potatoes

Turkey Gravy (broth and cornstarch)

Green Bean Casserole

Oven Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Bread Stuffing

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

Hot Buttered Rolls

Lime Jello Salad

Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Pie, Apple Pie

Whipped Cream

Our Family's Simple Thanksgiving Dinner Shopping List 

• one defrosted turkey and a roasting bag
• a few cans of green beans
• a family size can cream of mushroom soup, or cheese sauce
• 1 large can of french fried onions
• 2-3 large cans of sweet potatoes
• 5-10 lbs white potatoes
• 1 bag of cranberries or sauce
• a couple of pies  (or fruit dump cake: 1 can pie filling and 1 box of white cake mix)
• whip cream 
• 1 can or bottle cranberry juice
• 1-2 bottles ginger ale (mix the two together for sparkling juice)
• instant stuffing 
• rolls  
• pecans or walnuts
• brown sugar
• white sugar

Optional : Ingredients for Lime Jello Salad

• 2 -3oz boxes lime jello
• 1 8oz pk. cream cheese
• 12-20 oz whip cream
• 2 - 13oz cans crushed pineapple  
• 1 cup nuts (optional)

Have pantry ingredients on hand:  butter, coffee, creamer, pumpkin spice for coffee, nuts, foil or roasting bag.
Our dinner hasn't changed in 20 years. It’s not that we don’t want to try other things..we just love our traditional dishes.  We experiment at Easter. :o)  We have taken a cooked turkey and the cans of vegetables, cream soup and some French fried onions to have Thanksgiving while camping.  We bake the potatoes in the coals.  Even my 19yr old cooked Thanksgiving dinner once  Too bad we all had the stomach flu that day.  I must say, he has a new appreciation for the art of cooking a huge meal like this. It requires careful timing.

Cooking The Turkey

I start early..I get up at 6 or maybe as late as 7am and get the turkey in the oven. That way it will be cooked by 1-2pm.  I do give the turkey a bath the night before--it's a family ritual. :o)  We put him in a tub of cold water to defrost overnight.  Then in the morning, I take off the plastic, rinse the turkey, pat it dry, rub it with oil and salt and also rub a little salt inside.  Then I put the turkey on a rack in a roasting pan.  I coverit loosely with foil and turn the oven on 325.  My cookbook says about 6-7 hours for 25 lbs. The turkey was well done today when I took it out and the meat was falling off the bone. (It’s easier to just use a roasting bag of course.) Click here for roasting times per pound of turkey 

Frankly, when we can all smell the turkey, it's probably time to take it out.  I cover it with foil ASAP and don't carve it until we all sit down for dinner. That keeps the meat nice and juicy.(Poor Turkey..He gave the ultimate sacrifice and we appreciate it. :o).    

I suck all the fat off of the broth surface with a cooking syringe (or spoon it off) and  then pour the fat into a can to discard later and save the broth for gravy.     Once the turkey is in the oven, the time critical element is over.  I jump back into bed for another hour of snoozing.  Ahh....Nice!

The Whole Cooking Schedule for the Day

Cooking dinner for a holiday is like cooking any other except that it's more important to cook the things that take the longest or need to cool, first.
7am TURKEY: Start turkey. See above instructions. Go back to bed for a while!



9am CRANBERRY SAUCE: Cook Cranberry sauce...1 cup sugar, 1cup water, 3 cups frozen cranberries. Bring to boil, simmer for 10 minutes, let cool on the deck. Cover with towel so the local wildlife doesn’t get to taste test it and the honeybees will leave it alone. :o)

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9:30am JELLO SALAD:  Make lime jello salad. (Optional: Great idea to do the day before.) 
Boil 4 c. water in hot pot, stir in 3 3oz pks lime jello till dissolved. Stir in 8oz package of cream cheese until melted.  Stir in leftover juice from two 20oz cans crushed pineapple.  Let the jello set in the refrigerator until it starts to thicken.  Then stir in a medium size container of whipped cream and the pineapple and let set until firm..just in time for dinner.



10:00 am Whipped Potatoes
Peel and cut the potatoes in chunks.  I usually cook all five pounds! (I don't want to cook the day after Thanksgiving!).  Put about a teaspoon of salt in the pot and leave it sitting in water on the stove to cook later.



10:30am SET TABLE, MAKE DRINKS
Set the table nicely. Make iced tea early so it can cool and you won't need so much ice or you could make homemade lemonade (1c. lemon juice, 1c. sugar, 2qts water). Get the coffee ready so you only have to push a button. Put butter on a plate to soften and put sugar in the sugar bowl.  (Ask the kids to help!)  For a festive drink, you can stir together carbonated water and frozen juice.

11:00am STUFFING 
Set bags or boxes of stuffing near stove until ready to make. (Takes 5 min. or less). Stir pineapple and whip cream into jello to set the rest of the way.  Put cranberry sauce in fridge to cool.

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11:15 GREENBEAN CASSEROLE  Stir togeth er 2-4 cans green beans, 1-2cans mushrooms soup, salt, pepper, 1/2-1 c. milk and 1/2 a container French fried onions if you have them. (Substitute any soup you like or make white sauce and stir in grated cheese).  Pour in 8x11 pan to wait until turkey is out of oven. (Top with crackers or corn flakes or potato chips and butter if you don't have French fried onions about 5 min. before you take it out of oven.



11:30pm SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE   I don’t use a recipe..I just stir together chunks of canned sweet potatoes, generous amount of brown sugar and 1/2to 1c. walnuts or other nuts (if you have them and like them).  Top with dollops of butter all over. Cover in foil and set aside to cook later.

12:00pm  LIGHT LUNCH Break  Have a little snack like fruit, applesauce, eggs, or toast for lunch,  if you plan to eat by 2-3pm. Take a break!

12:30pm. BREAD/POTATOES Put rolls or french bread etc on cookies sheet and brush with butter to cook right before dinner.  Start white potatoes boiling.

1:00pm  Take Turkey out and START CASSEROLES Take turkey out of oven and put sweet potato casserole and green bean casserole in oven at 350 to cook for 30 min.



1:15pm. GRAVY:  Pour broth out into a cup to make turkey gravy with.  Cover the turkey in the pan completely so that the  juices can't get out. Don't slice it until ready to serve.

Let the broth cool a bit.  Make gravy.  Remember, if you need to add more flour, stir it into cool water in a small bowl or cup, then whisk that into the hot gravy to avoid lumps; never add dry cornstarch or flour to hot gravy.)

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1:30pm Cook Stuffing  Follow package directions for stuffing.  (A hot pot heats the water quickly.)  Usually, you heat the water and butter (I substitute turkey drippings) to boiling, remove from heat, stir in dry stuffing mix, cover, set aside for 5 min. fluff and then bake for a little while in you want.

1:45pm FINISH POTATOES Take out casseroles and set aside. Drain water from potatoes, mash, add butter, whip with beaters. Salt and pepper to taste. (keep warm)

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2:00pm SERVE DINNER/HEAT ROLLS  Put food into serving bowls or on platters and add serving utensils. Fill glasses with ice. Bake the rolls in the oven.

Congratulations! You’re done! 

Printable Menu List, Schedule, (no photos)

This schedule leaves plenty of time for breaks, washing and drying dishes so you don't have to do them later, and visiting.  Don't make this complicated! And say yes if anyone offers to help. If no one does, ask them to.  After twenty years of doing the same dinner, I can now do this ‘in my sleep’.  I'm all for easy cooking, great taste and lots of visiting and thankfully, my family loves this dinner. It never seems to get old for some reason. 

 

I always feel that holidays are for fellowship and simple but great tasting dishes that you don't eat every day.  So what if they aren't super healthy? It's time for feasting not fasting!  Eat healthy the rest of the year, and the pies and whipped cream won't hurt you. :o)    

Pray before dinner and thank the Lord for all your blessings. 

Take a walk after dinner--save the dessert and coffee for later.  Play games…visit... play with the babies… and take lots of pictures to preserve the special memories.  

And remember..No dessert until everyone has helped you with the dishes.  

Have a great Thanksgiving  and….Happy Homemaking!

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BONUS: Cornbread Dressing from my dear friend..Millicent...
She felt sorry for me and offered me this recipe which she says is fantastic. :o) She and her husband are fantastic cooks, so I'm sure this will be great.

So, I'm going to TRY this for Christmas dinner. (My MOTHER is making dinner for Thanksgiving. I feel so weird not running around shopping today!)

CORNBREAD DRESSING

1 c. Onions, chopped

1 c. Celery, chopped

½ pan cornbread, crumbled

1 pkg. Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix

Chicken broth

Sauté onions and celery in bacon drippings. Add cornbread & stuffing mix. If you like Poultry Seasoning, you can add it to taste. Mix with broth until moist. You want it very moist, so it doesn’t dry out.

Bake at 350˚ until done, usually 30-45 minutes.

Here is the cornbread recipe I always use.

Sift together 1 c. flour, 1 T. baking powder, 2 T. (heaping) sugar, 1 t. salt.

Stir in 1 c. corn meal. Add 2 eggs, 1 c. milk, and ½ c. oil.

Pour into greased 8X8 pan, and bake at 450˚ for 20 minutes.

These are both recipes from my daddy who loved to cook. The year he told my grandmother that he thought his dressing was better than hers, was the last year she made it for him. From then on, he always did the dressing.