(Holiday) Food for Thought by Janie DeVos

      

     Nothing rings in the holidays more than those all-too familiar smells that are associated with this time of year.  Who doesn’t think of Thanksgiving when smelling turkey and dressing cooking?  And who doesn’t experience a wave of warm and fuzzy nostalgia that a whiff of eggnog evokes at Christmas?  

Most cooks go to their usual favorite recipes when putting together their menus for the holidays, and I am no different.  Apparently, all of the WordWrangler gals aren’t much different either because when we were throwing around ideas for a December blog theme, one of them suggested posting our favorite holiday recipes and we all wholeheartedly agreed.  So, here are two of my favorites, and what I love about them is not only are they delicious, but they’re pretty much fail proof, too.  I hope you’ll give them a try, and—dare I say?!—include them with your own favorite dishes on your holiday table this year. 

Happy eating and drinking, friends.  And the happiest of holidays, too! 

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JANIE’S CROCK POT CORNBREAD DRESSING

Serves 8 – 10 

2 boxes Jiffy cornbread mix (or favorite kind; Martha White, etc.) 

12 crackers (I use Saltines) 

4-5 ribs of celery – diced 

1 large onion – diced 

1 -2 rounded TB of poultry seasoning (I use 2) 

2 – 14 oz. cans of chicken broth 

S & P to taste

Cook cornbread according to package directions.  Let cool then crumble into a large bowl.  Crumble crackers very thoroughly and add to cornbread.

Sauté onion and celery in oil or butter (can use a little of both, which is good), until fairly tender then add to cornbread mixture.

Season w/ poultry seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste. 

Add chicken broth (you want enough so that mixture is extremely moist, not runny, but close to it.)  I add about 4 cups, or so.

Mix all together well, then pour into a well-greased crock pot.

Cook on LOW for 4 hours, or until set. 

**It will be fine if you don’t serve it right away, but turn your crock pot to WARM and leave it covered.

 

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MARTHA STEWART’S CRANBERRY CIDER 

Serves 6 – 8 

2 quarts cranberry juice

2 oranges

4 three-inch cinnamon sticks

2 two-inch pieces fresh ginger (I substitute ¼ ts cloves instead)

Sugar to taste (I add about ¼ cup during cooking) 

With a vegetable peeler or sharp knife, remove four 3-inch-long strips of peel from oranges and set aside.  Juice oranges and strain out pulp.  In a medium stockpot, combine orange juice reserved orange peel, cranberry juice, cinnamon sticks, sugar (if adding), and ginger (or cloves if substituting for ginger).  Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low and continue to simmer for 20 minutes.  Strain solids immediately and serve hot.

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