We Gather Together

"We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing" and the table is laden with the most delicious dishes. 




In this year when most would acknowledge that all is not well in our world, it is perhaps even more important than ever to gather with those you love, look without and within, and say "thank you". If your list looks anything like mine it might include: 

  • the blessing of "enough" which encompasses food, clothing, shelter, a job and transportation 
  • my dear people - family, friends, co-workers, students and readers of my blog - each one enriches my life
  • a fervent faith handed down through the generations and now embraced as my own

In recent days I have found myself looking up, simply grateful to be able to live my life under brilliant blue skies punctuated with fluffs of white. Nobody gets to do that forever and I'm glad I get to now. 

On our Thanksgiving table one of our 'must haves' is a traditional Sausage Cornbread Herb Stuffing. Simple ingredients make a delicious dish. A few fresh herbs are still available from the garden and will go into the stuffing this year. Sometimes by Thanksgiving they've already frozen and then I used dried herbs and that's fine, too. 
Sometimes I make Sourdough Cornbread and sometimes I mix it up from a box.

It has been many years since I actually tried stuffing it in a turkey. Its much more tasty baked in its own dish after the turkey comes out of the oven. 





1 pound sausage
1 onion, diced 
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
1/4 cup butter
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh sage (1 1/2 teaspoons dried)
Sourdough biscuits work wonders, but any firm textured bread is fine. 
2 teaspoons diced fresh thyme (1 teaspoon dried)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped 
1/4 cup roasted peppers (optional)
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups crumbled cornbread
5 cups biscuits or other firm bread, cubed in 1/2 inch squares 
2 cups chicken broth

Preheat oven to 350 ℉. In a large frying pan saute sausage until no longer pink. Remove sausage from pan and set aside. Leave any grease in the pan. My homegrown sausage is quite lean so there usually isn't much. You may want to pour some off if there is more than a few tablespoons. 

Add butter and saute onions and celery until almost caramelized. Add fresh or dried herbs, salt and roasted peppers if using and stir briefly. Add 2 cups of cornbread crumbs and stir together.



Thyme
 Place remaining bread in a large mixing bowl. Add sausage, sauteed mixture and stir together. Drizzle chicken broth over mixture while stirring lightly.

Sage
Place stuffing in a extra large casserole or 9 x 13 baking. Bake uncovered about 30 minutes or until lightly browned. 
Parsley







Also on the Thanksgiving table: 
Sourdough Butterflake Refrigerator Rolls
Click on title for link to recipe

And after Thanksgiving, I love to make this: 
Click here for recipe,

1 comment:

  1. What wonderful Thanksgiving traditions of food that nourish our bodies and warm our souls��⭐️❤️ Chris

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.