T-Minus 9 Days to T-Time: Cornbread Stuffing

Here’s what’s up people. We have less than 10 days til Turkey Time. I’m totally freaking out! Gallons of coffee, project planning, organizing, purging, cleaning, birthday party organizing, charity collection planning and all this is happening while I still take care of my regular day to day nonsense. Not to mention laundry, menu planning, shopping, toy picking up, milk spill cleanup, disciplining, homework, snuggle time, diaper changing/potty training, photo taking and blogging. Whew! As you can see, the boys are not affected by this craziness.

Why am I doing all this? Because I like to enjoy the holidays. I like to sit on the couch and watch 25 days of Christmas every night. I like seeing the “Giving Tree” at my church set up. I like to bake cookies with the kids. I like to fall asleep reading a book by the glow of the tree. I like having Christmas movie picnics in the living room. I like driving around looking at lights. I actually enjoy writing Christmas cards with Christmas tunes playing in the background. I like spending time with my gal pals and drinking Starbucks. I LOVE wrapping presents while the kids “sort” bows and ribbon. I enjoy cooking with whole sticks of butter like Paula Deen. I love when my family is together. I like that Brian has some time off at Christmas. I even love the shopping. The beautiful combination of Christmas music, warm winter coats (making you sweat), a shopping bag in my hand, Christmas decorations, people rushing, and the smell of department store perfume filling my nostrils just gets me giddy.

With all that said, this is the time of year that I usually go on a purge rampage and get my rear in gear and finish some projects that I have been meaning to do. The rule in this house is, before any decorations go up, the house has to begin at zero. As in, before we add anything we must delete. So, the past few days have been spent purging old clothes in Brian and I’s closet. I’m in the process of getting rid of all the kids clothes that are too small or have holes in the knees (why do boys always get holes in the knees of their pants?). I’m cleaning the basement so we can maybe start thinking of renovating down there in the new year. I reorganized the linen closet. I cleaned the garage. We took down the Halloween/Autumn decor. Brian cleaned out the shed. All old toys get donated. Also, I finish all the projects that have been started. Caroline even joined in on the shed cleaning.

Once all the old stuff is gone, we have room for the new. Once all the projects are done, we have room for Christmas. It is a very spiritually cleansing process. I started this tradition a few years ago. I have to say Brian and I never feel rushed during the holiday season. We just soak it in and enjoy it.

However, the week before Thanksgiving… well its insane around here. Are you in a T-Day frenzy right now? Do you have boxes all over the place? Did you donate all your family’s old clothes and toys to make room for everything new? Are you trying to get all you can done so you can watch all the Thanksgiving cooking specials on the Food Network this weekend? No? Just me, then.

Now that you have listened to my rambling (thank you for that, the stock people at Target are sick of my stories I think), I am going to share one of my favorite T-Day recipes.

Corn Bread Stuffing/Dressing

1 – 8 x 8 pan of Corn Bread crumbled (I bake my own using Jiffy brand corn bread mix)
1 stick unsalted butter
1 large or 2 medium sweet onions chopped
4 stalks celery chopped
1 quart low sodium chicken, vegetable, or turkey stock
1 Tbs poultry seasoning
1 dried Bay leaf
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Spray a 9 x 13 caserole dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a large pan over medium heat add 1 stick of butter and let melt completely. Next, add onions, celery and bay leaf stirring occasionally until the onions are soft and translucent. Then add poultry seasoning and salt and pepper and stir once more. Remove pan from heat to cool slightly.

In a large bowl mix together corn bread and onion mixture until well incorporated. Then, slowly drizzle in stock until corn bread is moist but not completely saturated (Note: I NEVER have used a whole quart of stock, but it varies how much stock you need depending on how dry the cornbread is).

Pour the whole mixture into the 9 x 13 pan and bake for about 20-30 minutes until top is golden brown and crispy.

Back to organizing and cleaning!