Southern Cornbread Dressing for the Holidays

I made this dressing last year for the firs time and it was by far the best dressing I have ever tasted. Its a good old southern version of the cornbread variety but it does have some bread in it as well. I hope you love it as much as we do! (We don't actually stuff it in the bird since there are health issues with it not getting cooked enough and poultry juices running through it.)


Ingredients
Pan of cornbread (I doubled the recipe and made one that would fill a large rectangle casserole dish), crumble after its done and cooled

1 package of family sized stuffing mix (like stove top, the bread and the seasonings)
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, dreid stuffing mix, 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.

Here is a cornbread recipe if you need one, but I think I used 2 package mixes last year

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. For stuffing above, crumble cornbread.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

French Silk Pie

This is from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. It's the best french silk recipe I've found, and I absolutely love it!

Shortbread Crust:
1/3 c. butter, melted
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 cups finely crushed Pecan Sandies (about 18 cookies)

Mix butter and sugar. Add crushed cookies and toss to mix well. Spread into 9-inch pie plate, pressing onto bottom and up sides. Bake in 375 oven for 5 minutes, until edge is slightly brown. Cool on wire rack before filling. {I usually end up sticking mine in the freezer for about 10 minutes.}

Pie Filling:
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup chocolate pieces - 6 oz. {I use Hershey milk chocolate chips}
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 beaten egg yolks
3 T. whipping cream

In a heavy medium saucepan combine the 1 cup whipping cream, the chocolate pieces, butter, and sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until chocolate is melted (about 10 minutes). Remove from heat. Gradually stir half of the hot chocolate mixture into beaten egg yolks. Return egg mixture to chocolate mixture in saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is slightly thickened and begins to bubble (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat. Stir in the 3 tablespoons whipping cream. Place the saucepan in a bowl of ice water, stirring occasionally, until the mixture stiffens and becomes hard to stir (about 20 minutes). Transfer the chocolate mixture to a medium mixing bowl. Beat cooled chocolate mixture with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 2 to 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Spread filling into cooled shortbread crust. Cover and refrigerate for 5 to 24 hours. Serve topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Caramel Apple Pie

2 pie crusts for a 9" or 10" pie

Filling:
6 cups apples (Jonathan or Granny Smith)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1 T lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
4 T heavy cream
4 T butter

Streusel Topping:
1/2 cup flour
3 T sugar
1 T butter
2 toffee bars (Skor or Heath)

Filling:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put bottom crust in pie plate.

Peel and slice apples. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and add apples. Toss to mix. Add vanilla and cream. Melt butter in heavy skillet. Add apple mixture and cook approximately 8 minutes, to soften apples. Turn into pie shell.

Streusel Topping:
Combine the flour and sugar. Mix in butter with fork until coarse crumbs. Stir in the crushed toffee bars. Sprinkle over pie. Add top crust. Seal, flute edge and vent top. (I'll also take left over pie crust dough and cut out small leaves or apples to decorate the top. This makes it a little fancier if you're trying to impress your guests!) Brush with beaten egg white and sprinkle with sugar (I use cinnamon sugar). Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake 45 minutes longer.

Cranberry Fluff

This is a Thanksgiving tradition started by Michelle. CJ requested that I post it, so here it is:

2 cups raw cranberries, ground (Mix with ½ cup sugar and chill overnight)
2 cups diced apples
3 cups mini marshmallows
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Add ingredients to cranberries; fold in whipped cream.