Memories

Sometimes the most precious things in life are also the hardest. Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was part of a large family sitting around the Thanksgiving table at my maternal grandparents’ house? But it wasn’t yesterday. It was over 62 years ago. My mom passed shortly after that and throughout the years I have lost almost everyone who was at that table.

Today as I sit here pondering, remembering, and cherishing all those I have lost, I am so grateful God put those amazing people in my life and gave me the time, no matter how short it may have seemed, to be with those people, to be loved by them, and to love them in return.

No matter who I have loved and lost throughout the years, today and every day, I am thankful for what was, what is, and what may still come. Loss is a part of life. Living with hope in your heart is God’s gift to us.

Wishing you all a happy and peaceful Thanksgiving.

(The Undressing is for those who do not like Thanksgiving Dressing)

Each year a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, I get my trusty 50-something-year-old cookbook out and pull out my Thanksgiving menus and recipes.

I have several different dressing recipes and the decision-making process is critical in deciding which one to use each year. In other words, I look through them and ask family members which one they would like me to make this year. I wait patiently for them all to say “Oh whatever you want to fix this year is fine with me” and then I pretty much just pick one.

This is the original one I first started using out of the cookbook shown above. I probably followed this recipe to the letter the first few times and then began making my own additions and changes. That goes for most recipes you will see on here. Some of these have notes to the side, others are just handwritten, or printed, copies that I keep within my cookbook.

Also although it says “stuffing” I do not stuff the turkey. I figure he already had his chance to stuff himself. I bake the dressing in a casserole dish.

If time is of the essence and you prefer to do a quicker method for your dressing, I have made the following recipe several times using the bags of dried dressing mix from the store. I never follow the directions on the bag exactly. It is a dressing after all so it needs to be dressed up a bit.

And here is another variation I came up with for a quick version but I added a package of sage sausage. Of course, cook and drain the sausage if you decide to try this.

I actually have more variations, such as cornbread dressing, but I suppose I will stop with these.

I miss the days of cooking the whole Thanksgiving meal. The planning. The extreme gratefulness when everything turned out as I had hoped and nothing was overcooked or undercooked. And not having to call the fire department. That is a big one. Just kidding. I have never had to do that…yet. And then, after cleaning up the kitchen and storing all the food, the sheer joy of getting to sit down and put up my feet and relax knowing I poured all my love for my family into that meal.