To start off some of our favorite Thanksgiving dishes – I have to start with my favorite, the dressing {or stuffing if you prefer}.  To me this is the best part of Thanksgiving dinner – it is the flavor of Thanksgiving!  {How lucky for my family – we got to have a yummy Thanksgiving meal in October so I could take pictures  – {Big Smile}}.

I love lots of different varieties of stuffing and dressing, but for Thanksgiving it always comes back to this traditional favorite.  It’s just so moist and good and really not hard to make – well worth the time in my opinion!

I must tell you that one of the reasons Jocelyn and I started this blog was to record our recipes, because frankly we’re not by the book cooks.  I’ve never actually written a recipe for the dressing – I’ve just made it.  My mom never had a recipe, she just made it.  When Jocelyn cooked her first Thanksgiving dinner, she called for the recipe and I said, “What recipe?  I don’t know, you just add some of this and some of that . . .  ”  So this is my attempt to record how to make this Thanksgiving tradition – I think we finally have it recorded for our posterity!  {but yes, it’s always subject to change, because even if I write it down, I probably still just make it by taste : ) }

Classic Bread and Butter Dressing

Ingredients:

2-3 loaves of bread, dried and cubed (about 12-14 cups of dried bread)
1 cup of butter
1 1/2 cups celery, sliced (plus the leaves chopped)
2 cups onion, chopped
1/2 – 1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup half and half
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/8 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

A couple of days in advance, lay your bread out on a tray to dry out.  Then let your kids sit and tear it up {this was always a favorite for my kids to do}.  You can also buy those bags at the grocery store that is already torn up – I like to mix a few different varieties together, i.e. wheat, white, even a little rye – I’ll throw in buns or rolls – whatever is around at that time!

Chop your onion and celery (be sure to use the leaves too).  Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the onion and celery – allow to cook (medium heat) until onion starts to get tender, then add seasonings.  Allow the seasonings to cook and blend for 10-15 minutes {at this point your kitchen is going to smell so good!}.  Add 1/2 cup chicken broth.   Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.  Add milk and slowly pour over bread, stirring to let the bread soak up the liquid.  Add more chicken broth until all is coated and moist.

At this point you can stuff your turkey if you like; however, I don’t cook the dressing inside the turkey.  I spray a 13×9 pan, add the dressing and cover with foil.  (I always make the dressing up the day before and keep it in the fridge.)  Bake at 350 for about 45 – 60 minutes.  Remove the foil the last 10 minutes to brown.

YUM – Now you can sit down and enjoy your Thanksgiving Dinner – be sure to pour a little extra gravy over the dressing!