MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM OUR FAMILY
Every year our Christmas is spent either in Tennessee with my family or in Houston with Norman’s family, but wherever we are we still have the same family Christmas traditions. First of all we go to the Christmas Eve service at our respective churches and then have either Mexican food or a variety of finger foods and appetizers. We mostly open presents on Christmas Eve. Sometimes Norman and I will open ours to each other Christmas morning.
We always have the traditional turkey and dressing with all the trimmings on Christmas Day if we are in Tennessee and when we have a Texas Christmas we have a big family dinner a couple of days before Christmas so that the families can spend Christmas Day with their in-laws. (top photo was just made at our family dinner in Houston).
So what do Norman and I do on Christmas Day? Well, we wake up when we want, have our coffee, exchange our gifts, cook a side ( this year is quail ) and head over to have Christmas lunch with some very good friends and their family. They kind of adopt us for the day. After we eat and visit we head home and take a big nap and maybe watch a little TV….usually football or I might watch the Hallmark channel for some more Christmas stories. I would love to hear about your traditions.
As most of you know, I really don’t enjoy being in the kitchen. I can cook if I put my mind to it, but I would much rather be in my closet or work with my plants outside. I will say that over the years I have been known to make the best oyster dressing and I have had request for the recipe. I spent most of my young life watching my grandmother make dressing and then my mother carried on the recipe and now me. I will have to find someone in my family to follow in my footsteps and be the next heir to making dressing.
SHESHE’S CHRISTMAS DRESSING
**The key to making good dressing is lots of cooked onion and celery in butter with 1 tsp salt and pepper using white cornbread, white bread and Pepperidge Farm mix.
**Make a 9 X 9 pan of white cornbread a couple of days before. Crumble it up and let it get stale. Also, take 4 pieces of white bread and lay out to get stale then toast. Crumble it up also.
**Add 1 package of Pepperidge Farm dressing. Then add the onion and celery to all the breads.
**Heat a large carton of Chicken broth ( low fat if you want ) and add turkey drippings also for extra richer flavor. Pour over crumbled breads. Don’t make it too soupy. It should pour into the pans like a batter. Have an extra carton of broth available in case it is too dry.
** Add sage to taste. About a 1-2 tablespoons. Don’t over season because the spices will come out more after cooking.
**Then buy fresh oysters in the fish department at your grocery store. They usually come in a plastic container. Drain, cut them up and fold into mixture.
**Spray pans or pyrex dishes with Pam or rub with butter so it doesn’t stick. Pour into dishes. About 1″ thick. It will probably make about 3 pans full serving about 12 to 16 people. Add more of everything to have extra for left overs. I like to make a lot since it takes a lot of time to make.
**Bake about 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. I like the top to be brown.
Yes, there is a lot of preparation that goes into making SheShe’s dressing, but I promise it will be a hit.
I hope you all are enjoying this Christmas Season!! Xo, SheShe
