Grandma's Homemade Dressing

A few weeks ago my mother's family got together for Thanksgiving dinner. The meal was the traditional turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy and the like.

I volunteered to make turkey AND dressing. The dressing recipe that I used was a pinch recipe you know "a pinch of this and a pinch of that." This recipe has been handed down from my grandmother to my mother and now to me. It may go back even further.

So, a couple of nights before the dinner my mom came over and we baked cornbread and pan biscuits.

After the bread cooled I covered it in large pans. On the night before the dinner I placed two turkey breasts in the roaster. I filled the roaster over half  full of water then added 4 sticks of butter and generously added sea salt to the outside and inside of the turkeys.

On Saturday morning about 5 it smelled like Thanksgiving at my house YUMMY!

So, I arose and turned the turkeys on low. I uncovered the bread and crumbled same parts cornbread and biscuits into a large bowl.

In the meantime I chop celery and yellow onion (not sweet onion.) I use one whole bunch of celery and 4-6 small onions. This is where the "pinch " part comes in. It really depends on you as to how much celery and onion you prefer.

I add celery and onion to the pan of bread. then I add black pepper and sage. We use McCormick. My mother especially bought and brought it to me because she says that off brand tastes different. (We do use off brands around here, but this is one thing she says you can't slide on.) I add a pinch of both at first...

Then I add turkey broth. Can you see in the measuring cup? That color means rich broth =) I dip the broth from around the turkey and drain it thru a strainer. This keeps the broth that goes into the dressing clean from all of the extras floating. I add enough broth to get the whole mixture moist, but not soggy...moist enough to roll in a ball or pattie to bake, but not swimming. Then the taste testing begins! MY FAVORITE PART! When I taste test I decide along with some help from James and Micah whether it needs more onions, celery, sage or pepper.

After the taste is just right I then patty the dressing, spray my cookie sheet and bake at 350 until the top and bottom are golden brown. Add some turkey, ham, mashed potatoes with gravy and pour some of that gravy over onto your dressing, some casserole, green beans and cranberry sauce and enjoy!!

While I was thinking over this post I thought it would be nice to find a picture of Grandma Sarah. I was named after her and she was the best Grandma in the world! Both of my Grandmother's were the best and the best cooks! Her house was always neat and tidy and something yummy was always on the stove and a cake with homemade icing on the table.

The picture below is of Grandma, my aunt Clara and cousin Sam. The back of the picture is dated May 1984 ( I would have been 6) and I'm assuming with the date, nice outfits and Grandma's corsage it was Mother's Day.

Thanks so much for joining me as I shared this special recipe! Have a wonderful day!

Sarah