Saturday, November 14, 2009

Sunday Dinner, November 15, 2009

Whew! What a week this has been! For that matter, what a day it's been.

Jessica has worked 12 hour shifts every day this week except Tuesday and Thursday, from 7 am to 7 pm, which means that I've had Emmy from 8:30 am until 6:30 pm each of those days. Jason works 9 am-6 pm, so on the days Jessica works 12 hour shifts he drops off Emmy and picks her up as well.

I'm more than ready for Jessica to go back to her usual 3-11 pm shifts next week. Not nearly as ready as she is though, I'm sure.

Saturday was supposed to be Jessica's day off, which meant that I wasn't supposed to keep Emmy today. However, another tech called in sick, so they called Jessica to work, which meant that I've had Emmy from 12-6:00 pm today. Jason got off a little early today, but not much.

In addition to watching Emmy today I've been cooking most of the afternoon and evening. My church is having our Thanksgiving dinner after Sunday morning services and we're all taking food, pot luck style.

I've been planning all week to do all my cooking for the Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday afternoon so I had to do that in addition to cooking Saturday night's supper and watching Emmy.

If I'd known that I'd have Emmy today I could have done some of my cooking ahead of time, but to be honest I probably wouldn't have even if I'd known. I tend to leave things till the last minute and then charge to the finish line with my hair on fire.

I prefer to think of that bad character trait as "working better with a deadline,", but whatever. To-may-toes, to-mah-toes.

Anyway, after all that foot dragging, here's my Saturday Supper/Sunday Dinner/Thanksgiving Dinner menu.

I made a huge dishpan full of homemade Southern Sage Cornbread dressing. Not "stuffing", dressing. And not from a recipe either, but from watching my Mama make it from scratch from the time I was big enough to stand in a kitchen chair and ask too many questions and just generally get in the way a lot.

I boiled about 5 lbs of chicken until the broth was rich, flavorful and concentrated. I also made 2 cast iron skillets of HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK CORNBREAD to use in the dressing. I diced a huge onion into my big dishpan and then crumbled the warm cornbread on top of the onion.

I also tore up about a half a loaf of really stale bread and added to the dishpan, then seasoned it all with black pepper and sage, then poured the broth over all and started mixing it with a potato masher. My Mama always used a potato masher and it just works, okay?

I smell the dressing and add more pepper and sage if needed, add more broth if I think it's a little too dry, then bake the dressing at 375* until brown and bubbly.

And that's the only recipe I have. I never measure anything and I don't think I could write down an accurate recipe if I tried. I learned from watching my Mama and helping her, and then from experience as I've made my dressing over the years.

If you want to make homemade dressing and this sounds a little too complicated for you, you might want to check out my recipe for CROCKPOT DRESSING. It's not the same as my Mama's dressing, but it's really good and I like both kinds of dressing. I might even go so far as to say I like the CROCKPOT DRESSING better than my Mama's version. *Shhhhhhh......*

I cooked a small pan of the dressing for Saturday night's supper for me, Lamar and Emmy, and put the rest in my 6 quart crockpot. I put the crock in the oven to bake and it's now cooling to go into the fridge for the night.

I'll set the alarm to get up early and put the crock of dressing into the crockpot base, then turn it on to heat. By the time I'm ready to leave for church on Sunday morning it should be heated through, and when I get to church with it I'll plug it in and turn it on warm to stay hot until time for our meal.

I also made a dozen and a half deviled eggs to take for the meal. I fully intended to make a HONEYBUN CAKE (scroll down past the Pumpkin Bread) but by the time I got the deviled eggs done I felt like I'd been pulled through a knot hole backwards, so dressing and deviled eggs it is.

For our Saturday Supper I cooked some butterpeas and fixed some sauerkraut and smoked sausage cooked together, we ate some of the chicken I boiled to make the broth for the dressing, and we also had that small pan of dressing I cooked for our supper.

Lamar's eye is still the same. It looks better overall and his eye specialist says that the inside of his eye is better too, so much so that Lamar isn't supposed to go back to the specialist until December 11, barring anymore crises. Praise the Lord for that! Lamar is still on all those medications, though........

And now it's almost 10:30 pm and Diane is one TARD girl tonight. I still need to study my Sunday School lesson and do a few other tasks and then I'll be going to bed before too much longer. This week has worn me out, so I can only imagine how exhausted Jessica must be.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving week. May God bless you with all you need, and may you have enough to share, dear family and friends.

18 comments:

amelia said...

With all you do I'm amazed you had the energy to do all this cooking too!!
I am going to make your mums dressing, it looks delicious and I'll wing it with the amounts. I usually wing it with recipes anyway so this shouldn't be too hard!!

kkryno said...

I love the idea of crockpot dressing! I love to use home-made corn bread for mine too. I'm going to try it for Christmas dinner, as I'll be tagging along for Thanksgiving with the girls this year. I,m going to be back in Anchorage for Christmas this year. I'll be using your Mama's recipe for biscuits. Those are the fluffiest ones I've ever made! :)

Sounds like Emmy keeps you hopping, and I can certainly relate as Miss Judith is all over the place.

I just read your post about Lamar's eye. I'm glad that he is feeling better, and I'll keep you all in my thoughts and prayers.

Have a great week!

miss G said...

Hey there sweet friend ,
Glad to hear there is some improvement in lamars eye , and it hasnt worsened ,I will keep him in my prayers xoxo

your blog makes me hungry ever time I read it on Sundays ! The church congregation is lucky to have you and your cooking , are there many in your church,I ask only as I wonder if everyone brings potluck or ,whatever ,I am just curious about your world xoxoxox
So Little princess sugar fairy is tuckering you out huh Granny ???LOL , I bet you wish you had her energy ,I know I do !!!! How are the knees holding up chasing her ?Take care of You too Granny D , LOL
Jessica sounds so busy too , wow , she is a Go getter for sure , wonderful young lady she is , you must be proud , listen to me here , I KNOW YOU ARE PROUD ! who wouldnt be!
Give her hugs for me too please and Emmys is all wrapped up in sugar gummy drops and love . BSH just for you my friend , feeeeeeeeeel it , I squeezed extra tight for ex love xoxoxoxoxoxoxox,good thing we're squishy LMBO!

I love you xooxoxoxox

Greeneyes

Linda said...

You sure have had a full week Diane. I'm so glad to hear Lamar's eye is doing better.
Everything just sounds so delicious. I can't wait for Thanksgiving to get here now!
Have a blessed day!

Dick said...

Let me know if you get bored and I'll try to come up with something for you to do. Good news about Lamar's eye condition but I sure wish they could ID the source of the problem. This way you are kind of always waiting for the other shoe to drop and it to return.

It seems odd to be thinking about Thanksgiving already although it is only a week and a half away. We will be going to one of Pat's daughter's houses for dinner that day. Pat always takes something- I think her grandkids expect a special pumpkin pie that she makes. And she always makes an extra to leave here at home.Yum.

Gigi said...

Whew....I'm pure worn out just reading about your week! God love ya, I hope you get a bit of rest in the days to come!

All your dishes sound delish, as always!

Good news about Lamar's eye - I hope he continues to improve and that this whole episode will soon be just a memory!

I wish you and Lamar a blessed week ahead!

MightyMom said...

well the paycheck will look good, but I don't envy her all those hours!!

Mary said...

Diane, I always get hungry when I visit your blog. Your food all sounds delicious! I also make Grandma's dressing from scratch without using a recipe. It's the way things were back then. I can also make a cake from scratch without a recipe...either chocolate or white.

I'm sure you and Jess are both exhausted. It sounds like it's been a looonnggg week. Be sure to get some rest.

I'm glad Lamar's eye seems to be improving. I continue to keep him in my prayers.

The ceiling does look soooo much better. That alone makes the room so much brighter. Now to get the ambition to paint, but tomorrow hubby and I are resting again. We're too old and crippled up with arthritis to work hard everyday. :-)

Wishing you a great Thanksgiving week, my friend.

Blessings,
Mary

Nashe^ said...

"I tend to leave things till the last minute and then charge to the finish line with my hair on fire."

Oh Di you say the darndest things! That totally made me laugh. And there you go again with the cornbread talk! I'm hungry now.. waiting for my dad to come home with food. Arggh.

Hope you're having a fabu time there without me. hehe. :))

Staci said...

As usual - I wanta come over for dinner!

Miss G ;-) said...

Hey there again Sister friend !LOL

You made me laugh so hard with that comment about the bone poking on my post LOL , I am still giggling , I really ,really ,reeeeeeeeeeeeeally needed that , Thanks xoxo
I also forgot to say Happy Thanksgiving to you yesterday ,so I hope you had a wonderful Turkey day , whil-est being thankful for all you are blessed with :-)
and I also forget to ask if you received any snail mail??? it should have been there long ago !?!?!?!?!?!?!GRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!! anyhow keep a look out ,and I will check on myside too , but I know that snail mail between us esp coming fr this way seems to get a super gluey snail delivery :-) I just hope you get it . Oh and there is a tshirt fr Dwayne to Lamar , dont know if he would wear it ,but I tucked it in anyway if not pass it to someone who will . Thanks and HUGS BSH without the bone poking HAHA sugar by the bowl for Miss E !
love you friend xo

Miss G

Mother Mayhem said...

Picturing you with your head all aflame... Running towards the finish line with a dishpan full of stuffing and all of us behind you with forks and spoons. :o)

Belizegial said...

All this talk of food and I can't get any! lol

Happy Thanksgiving Diane. Hope that you and your family enjoy a restful time with each other.

Cheers,

Enid

Carole Burant said...

That's it...I'm on my way to your place to celebrate Thanksgiving all over again! lol I just love to hear what you've been cooking, so many different dishes than I'm used to here. It all sounds delicious! I can well imagine you're tired after all that cooking and taking care of Emmy. No doubt she doesn't sit still for very long! lol

Glad to hear that Lamar's eye is doing a bit better, may it continue that way!! Prayers continue for him.

Take care of YOU my friend. xoxo

Unknown said...

Diane: That has to be one busy kitchen! Love and (((HUGS)))! :D)

Barb said...

Finally, I'm here to catch up with you, Diane. I just read the previous post and I can tell, you and Lamar are beyond frustrated about his eye. After six months, they still aren't sure what's going on. But it sounds like he has good doctors who are doing their very best to get to the bottom of this. I can't imagine how upsetting it must be.

And thank goodness Jess got the training she did. I know she's working long, hard hours, but you know, my mom would tell you, if you're in the nursing business at any level, you have wonderful job security. People who don't do the work will never know how hard Jess works and how tired she probably is, all the time. Thank goodness for you - like you, I know that we are very important to our hard working daughters.

And finally, the vision of you standing on your tiptoes in a chair, watching your Mama make dressing (I agree - there's a big difference between dressing and stuffing) - just brought a tear to my eye, it brought back such memories.

The best recipes are the ones you learned from watching the older women in your life make, the ones you could never ever sit down and write out on a card. I do it all the time with my girls - they want the recipe and I tell them, "There's no recipe. You just need to watch me make it."

Happy Thanksgiving, sweet friend. And thank you for being such a good friend to me the past few months.

xoxo
Barb

Angie said...

My Mom is from Eldorado, AR and that is exactly how she makes dressing! Never measures anything. She has taught me to "eye" it too so that's how I make it now. It is SOOOOO good.

Happy Thanksgiving!

auntpearl said...

All that talk about dressing is just making me so very hungry. I love cornbread dressing...even cold on the morning after.
Hope you get to take a break and get some rest today.

Hugs,