Thanksgiving is next week! By this time, hopefully you have plans for Thursday. You might be hosting friends and family or perhaps you are a guest this year. Either way, you probably need to prepare something to share. Every year I am asked to make one particular dish. Therefore, today I am going to share its easy, no-fail recipe for Thanksgiving Dressing that will be sure to please.

Dressing:

If you have read the November Newsletter, then you saw Jim Gaffigan’s comedic piece on Thanksgiving. Apparently he has a problem with the term dressing versus stuffing. However in my family we have always called the traditional Thanksgiving dish dressing. Regardless what you call it, this is a delicious recipe that you can adapt to gluten-free easily by using gluten-free breads. I am giving the original recipe that my mom always uses. It consists of a blend of cornbread and wheat bread. So let’s make the cornbread first.

Cornbread-

1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 lg egg
1 1/4 cup yellow corn meal
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup flour*
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Beat milk, butter, and egg in large bowl. Stir in remaining ingredients until moist. Pour batter into an 8″, greased square pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes. *You can use a gluten-free flour. Make sure it has xantham gum or you will have to add 1/2 tsp in order for it to bind.

Dressing-

6 slices of wheat bread, slightly stale
8 slices bacon, crumbled
1/4 cup bacon drippings, reserved
1 cup celery
1/4 cup onion
1/2 cup water
3 Tbsp rubbed sage
1 cup chicken broth (or turkey broth)

After you have fried the bacon, reserve 1/4 cup of drippings and sauté the onion and celery with the 1/2 cup of water. Then in a large bowl, crumble the cornbread and tear the bread into bite-sized pieces. Add the crumbled bacon. Also add the sautéed vegetables, sage, broth. Combine well. In a 13″x9″ pan, pour the mixture and spread evenly. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

If you are bringing this dish, make it in advance, but don’t bake it until just before time to eat. I bring it covered with aluminum foil, on which I write with a permanent maker “Bake 350 for 30 min.” Let the hostess know in advance that you will need the oven so he/she can be prepared. This dressing recipe might just win over people, who in the past have not liked the dish. It is not gummy at all; instead, the individual ingredients maintain their integrity while the seasonings elevate them to a Thanksgiving-worthy plain. In my opinion, this recipe creates the best Thanksgiving Dressing.