HAPPY THANKSGIVING MENU

This Thanksgiving found my husband and me celebrating alone. We had plans to go see our newest grandson (for the first time) and the rest of the family, but those plans got changed.  My husband said we could go out to eat, but I hated to do that when I could easily cook something for us.  I also knew I would get more food than I could eat....my stomach has shrunk with my recent ordeal with a bacterial intestinal infection.

So I decided to make my Sweet Potato Souffle (a recipe I got from friends (Joyce and Stephan) when we first moved to Ventura, CA in the late 80s.  They were from AL and Stephan's family cook made it when he was growing up.) and the dressing recipe that I got from a teacher at Westwood Elementary School in Springdale, AR when I taught there in the late 70s and early 80s. (I didn't write her name down on the recipe card.)

In place of a turkey I decided to buy a whole chicken and just cook it in the crock pot.  (That would be just about the right amount of meat for us for a couple of days.) Usually when I cook a chicken in the crock pot I just sprinkle on some seasonings and about 1/2 cup of water.  This time I decided to pour a can of cream of chicken soup over it.  (I had the can leftover from when I mixed up the dressing.  I didn't realize until I opened the cans -- instead of one can of cream of mushroom soup and one can of cream of chicken soup, I had bought two cans of cream of chicken.  And of course I didn't realize it until I opened both cans.)  I then cooked the chicken for 5 hours on high.  It was really good and the "gravy" was good over the dressing. 

DRESSING

1     14-oz pkg Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing mix
1      cup margarine
1      cup chopped celery
1      cup diced onion
5      eggs
1      pan of cornbread
1      can cream of chicken soup
1      can cream of mushroom soup (can substitute cream of celery if you don't like the mushrooms)
3      cans of chicken broth (14 - 16 oz cans)


Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Saute the celery and onion in 2 sticks of melted margarine until tender over low-medium heat.

Crumble the pan of cornbread and mix with the stuffing mix in a BIG bowl. (Cornbread can be made the day before if you like.)
You can find my recipe for the best cornbread in the world HERE.

Add the celery and onions

Combine the eggs and soups in a smaller bowl.  I added a little of the broth to "rinse" out the soup cans.

Add to the stuffing mixture 

and stir

If mixture is too thick, just add a little more broth.

Since it was just the two of us, I cooked a small amount in my 7.5 inch iron skillet that I sprayed with cooking spray.  

I baked it for about 20 minutes.











You could bake it in a 9 x 13 - inch sprayed pan for about 45 - 60 minutes or til edges are brown and top is golden brown and set in center.  You can also check with a toothpick in the center.

Here is a tip that you might find helpful.  I cook most of the dressing in my shallow muffin tin.  

I checked the center with a toothpick after 15 minutes and they were done.

After they had cooled, I removed them from the muffin tin and placed them on a cookie sheet to place in the freezer to quick freeze.

About an hour later, I removed the pan from the freezer and wrapped each one individually with plastic wrap.

Then I placed them in a gallon freezer bag and returned them to the freezer.









When my husband wants one or two to eat, he simply takes them out of the bag, places them in the microwave on defrost and then heats til hot.  (He doesn't remember the length of time for each process.)

The mixture made the one 7-1/2 inch pan and 29 muffins.  The last pan only had 5 of the cups filled.  I filled the empty cups with a little water so the filled ones would cook evenly.

Here is a picture of the sweet potato souffle I made.  I featured it last year HERE.

I made us the pumpkin streusel custard I featured a couple of days ago for dessert.  It whips up so quickly and tastes so-o-o-o good. Missed it?  Check it out 
HERE,