Every Thanksgiving, the great dressing vs. stuffing debate seems to emerge again. People all over social media have been debating the difference between the two, all month. My very simplistic (and unverified) answer is this: Both words describe a bread based side dish, traditionally served alongside poultry but "stuffing" is baked inside the bird and "dressing" is baked in a separate dish. At the risk of offending the stuffing fanatics everywhere, I'll admit that I'm partial to dressing. My reasons have much more to do with logistics than they do personal preference. 1. Stuffed turkeys take longer to cook and honestly, who has extra time for cooking on Thanksgiving? 2. Since stuffing is exposed to uncooked poultry, I have to take extra measures to ensure that the stuffing is thoroughly cooked before serving it to guests. 3. And maybe the biggest drawback of all - stuffing tends to be soggy and I'm more of a crunchy dressing person. 😬 I credit my Ohio roots with my definition of a traditional Thanksgiving dressing: bread cubes, herbs, onion and thin slices of celery. I can't remember a Thanksgiving as a kid, where we didn't have this type of side dish. Then I moved to the south and my eyes were opened to all sorts of new kinds of dressings. Dressings with spicy peppers, oysters and cornbread! I'm all for nostalgic - especially when it comes to Thanksgiving but, curiosity's gotten the best of me this year. The thought of a cornbread based dressing was just so intriguing that I had to try it. I'm not skipping the traditional dressing though. Never fear - this year, they'll be two options - a cornbread and a more traditional dressing. This will be a good test to see which one my guests prefer. (I'll update you on that after Thanksgiving.) Cornbread Dressing Cornbread 1 1/4 cup cornmeal 1 cup flour 2 Tablespoons sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 1/4 cup buttermilk 1 large egg Dressing 2 Tablespoons butter 1 Tablespoon olive oil 1 pound Italian sausage, casings removed 1 medium onion, finely chopped 3 stalks celery, finely chopped 2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves 2 teaspoon fresh sage, minced Kosher salt black pepper 3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth 1/4 cup milk 2 large eggs, lightly beaten Freshly chopped parsley, for garnish
This cornbread dressing is crazy good but it takes a LOT of pans. I felt like I was washing dishes for days. So my advice to you is this, find yourself a reliable dishwashing assistant before you make this yummy Thanksgiving side dish.
Ciao!
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I think we can all agree that we don't serve canned cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving because of its exquisite taste.🤣It's about sensation of the jellied fruit. There's something simultaneously soothing and also a little disturbing about the sound that the congealed fruit makes when it slides out onto a plate. The wiggle, the jiggle, the tin can ridges, the sound - canned cranberry sauce is a delight for all the senses. When I was a kid, canned cranberry sauce was a staple on our Thanksgiving table and I loved everything about it ... except the flavor. 😅 There's just something nostalgic about it though and even though I hardly ever eat it - my Thanksgiving table just seem incomplete without it. I've tried replacing the canned cranberry sauce with a homemade version but, it's never quite the same experience. Spiced cranberry sauce flavored with rich brandy and the sweetness of orange and clove is amazing but it lacks the shape and jiggle of its canned counterpart. So, why has it never occurred to me before to make my delicious, homemade cranberry sauce and put it in a can? 🤷🏻♀️ Now I can have my jellied cranberry sauce - and eat it too. 😅 Jellied Cranberry Sauce 2 cups cranberry juice 3 cups (12 ounces) fresh cranberries 1 1/3 cups sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
Unmold with fingers and invert jelly onto plate. Full disclosure: My first attempt at canned cranberry sauce was a complete failure. It wasn't even salvageable so... I dumped it down the drain and started again. The second time I used half the juice and it turned out perfectly. If you follow my recipe - make sure that you have 2 empty cans ready because you'll have enough filling for more than one. Enjoy!!
Ciao! Thanksgiving is 10 days away.🦃 If you are a person who simply shows up to the grand feast with a healthy appetite, wearing stretchy pants and a smile - you're probably pretty excited about the upcoming holiday.🍛 On the contrary, if you happen to be the person responsible for preparing the gigantic holiday meal - you might be a little stressed out right now.👩🏻🍳 Thanksgiving can bring even the most organized cook to their breaking point. It's a lot of different foods to prepare and cook to the perfect temperature, arrange on serving platters and artfully set on a beautifully decorated table - all at the exact same moment. 😬 I mean, why is this the expectation? I propose that we turn Thanksgiving into an all day, eat when it's ready, extravaganza. 😅 When the turkey's cooked - carve it and serve it. 🦃 When the mashed potatoes are ready - eat them. 🥔 When the pie is perfectly cooled to barely warm - enjoy it at its prime. 🥧 Kind of like a progressive meal that all happens in one location. 🤣 I've hosted Thanksgiving dinner for 26 and I've made an entire holiday meal for just 3 people. I've got a dining table that only seats 10 so there's been years where we've had to get really creative with our seating.🪑😅 On more than one occasion, the kids and I have taken our Thanksgiving plates outside to the patio for a picnic style lunch. 🧺 #thanksgivingpicnicsrock If you're cooking for a crowd this year - good luck to you. May the Thanksgiving odds be ever in your favor. 😂 But, if you're expecting just a handful people for Thanksgiving - you may want to consider roasting a turkey breast instead of a whole turkey. This Thyme and Fennel Turkey Breast is delicious and cooks in less time than a whole turkey. Thyme and Fennel Turkey Breast Thyme Fennel Paste 1 cup chopped fresh parsley 2 Tablespoons fresh thyme 2 Tablespoons oil 1 1/2 Tablespoons fennel 2 teaspoons orange zest 2 teaspoons garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon pepper Turkey 1/4 cup salt 4 teaspoons sugar 12-14 pound turkey 2 1/2 Tablespoons vegetable oil 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 Tablespoons butter, melted
Heat baking stone in 500 degree. Set roasting pan on top and heat 30 minutes.
Transfer turkey to carving board and let rest, uncovered for 45 minutes. If you've got questions about your Thanksgiving recipes - reach out to me. I certainly don't have all the answers but I'll do my best to find solutions to your Thanksgiving cooking problems. We've all got to help each other get through this crazy day. 🤣
Ciao! Thanksgiving preparations are already underway in our house. The big day is just under 2 weeks away and it might be too early to get the food ready, but it's not too soon to get the house ready. If we didn't host a family gathering every once in a while - my house would never get a thorough cleaning. 🧹😂 I've spent the week systematically going through each room of the house and giving it a good cleaning and when I'm done, I close it off. If anyone has some of that yellow "do not cross this line" police tape - could you send it to me? ⚠️ 🤣 I really think that might be the only way to keep this house clean until Thanksgiving. This weekend I'll be sorting through tablecloths, dishes, silverware, wine glasses and serving platters to make sure I've got what I need for Thanksgiving dinner. I'm always amazed at how many plates, bowls, trays, boards and baskets it takes to pull off a Thanksgiving meal. 🦃🥔🥙🍠🥐🥧 Honestly, this is exactly the kind of organizational puzzle that I love though. I get out all of my serving dishes, a stack of post it notes and a sharpie and I start assigning foods to each. 😅 Most of the food prep for Thanksgiving will happen next week. With one exception - yeast rolls. I don't think that I've ever hosted a special dinner without making homemade rolls. Freshly baked, warm rolls just add something special to a meal and until recently - I've always carved out precious time to make them on the morning of the event to make sure they were as fresh as possible. Hello, par cooked rolls from the freezer. Why did it take me so long to figure this out? I've seen bags of partially cooked rolls in the freezer section of the grocery store but I never realized that I could do it at home. Now that I know the secret though - I'm never going back to making rolls on Thanksgiving morning again. With this recipe, all the dough making, rising and shaping is done ahead of time. The only thing for me to do on Thanksgiving morning is to throw them in the oven for 10 minutes to finish baking. Freezer Dinner Rolls Flour Paste 1/2 cup water 3 Tablespoons bread flour Dough 3/4 cup milk, cold 2 2/3 cup bread flour 1 egg 2 teaspoons yeast 2 Tablespoons sugar 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 2 Tablespoons butter, softened
Bake rolls 14 minutes at 300.
Look out Mrs. Rhodes - I'm comin' for ya! Just kidding - thank you for inspiring me.
Ciao! I am officially old. You want to know, how I know, that I'm old? This is the headline that caught my eye this week: Gen Z calls out thumbs-up emoji as ‘rude’, wants to ban 9 other 😳 It sounds ridiculous, but it's true. I'll spare you the details of the article but what you need to know is that these teens and 20 somethings have complied a list of 10 emojis that they've deemed to be "out of date" and called for them to be cancelled all together.🤷🏻♀️ And yes, it's pretty much a comprehensive list of emojis that I use on my blog - every single day. 🤦🏻♀️ I know you're curious, so for all my non-Gen Z followers, here's the list of super uncool emojis that are on the "cancelled" list: 👍🏻 ❤️ 👌🏻 ✅ 💩 😭 🙈 👏🏻 💋 😬 You know you're old when you realize that, not only do you use all of the questionable emojis, you don't even understand why in the world a red heart is on that list!?! 🤣 In any case, I want to officially apologize to all of my blog readers that I've accidentally offended by my use of potentially rude emojis.🫥 Here's to making an effort to using some new emojis and just hoping that I use them in the right way. 🫡 I have absolutely zero confidence in my ability to learn to use new emojis appropriately, but not to worry, I'm much more optimistic about my ability to bake a new muffin recipe.👩🏻🍳😂 I feel like I've already used too many words on this blog so my Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins are going to have to speak for themselves. They really are delicious and best described as ... 🤩. Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffins 1 ¾ cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon nutmeg ½ teaspoon ground ginger 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin 2 large eggs ½ cup butter, melted and cooled 1 ¾ cups sugar 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature 1 large egg yolk
Cool on wire racks. My sweet neighbor gifted me the cutest silicone Fall muffin tray. I've not had a lot of success with silicone molds but I decided to give it another shot with some Pumpkin Cream Cheese Swirl Muffin batter. They turned out amazing! For those of you interested: The mini muffins cooked 14 minutes and the bigger muffins cooked 18.
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