Early Thanksgiving

Since I'll be going on a little trip for Thanksgiving, we celebrated early. It was super wonderful.

There was food as wide as the eye can see!! My mom made Paula Deen's uber-yummy stuffing, and we pretty much shoveled it in. Try it!

Paula Deen's Homemade Stuffing:

• Cornbread, recipe follows
• 7 slices oven-dried white bread
• 1 sleeve saltine crackers
• 8 tablespoons butter
• 2 cups celery, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 7 cups chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon sage (optional)
• 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (optional)
• 5 eggs, beaten

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine crumbled cornbread, dried white bread slices, and saltines; set aside.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the celery and onion and cook until transparent, approximately 5 to 10 minutes. Pour the vegetable mixture over cornbread mixture. Add the stock, mix well, taste, and add salt, pepper to taste, sage, and poultry seasoning. Add beaten eggs and mix well. Reserve 2 heaping tablespoons of this mixture for the giblet gravy. Pour mixture into a greased pan and bake until dressing is cooked through, about 45 minutes. Serve with turkey as a side dish.

Cornbread:

• 1 cup self-rising cornmeal
• 1/2 cup self-rising flour
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour batter into a greased shallow baking dish. Bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

To serve, cut into desired squares and serve with butter.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Enjoy! :)