A birthday, a holiday, and a recipe

Richard celebrated his 43rd birthday on the day before Thanksgiving. We partied at my parents’ house with a light Thanksgiving eve supper of soup and sandwiches.

Those of you who follow the blog may not be surprised to learn that he got a Kindle for his birthday. So, really, I got a Kindle for Richard’s birthday.

This put me back in the sewing room again, making a second Kindle cover. In the time between making the first cover and the second, we discovered that Richard likes to read the Kindle without a cover. But I like to read it while it is in the cover. So, I got the first cover and he got a simple sleeve.
Our Thanksgiving was a team effort. After Richard’s birthday celebration, we worked in my parents’ kitchen. D and his friend S made the cranberry relish. Richard made pie crust dough for two pies (cushaw and pecan). My Dad made two kinds of stuffing and prepped the bird for roasting. I took the bird home and roasted it overnight.

Some people (namely G and N) slept while others worked. The big boys appeared to have picked up a bug so we let them doze the evening away.
The Recipe: Cornbread Dressing (gluten and dairy free)

I have been eating gluten free for more than a year, now. I’ve been eating dairy free for a lot longer. This year, in lieu of the turkey stuffing of my youth, I decided to try cornbread dressing. Almost since the beginning of my gluten free days, I’ve enjoyed cornbread. I merely substitute a gluten free flour mix for the wheat flour in my standard cornbread recipe (from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything). I use a mixture of almond and rice milks with a little vinegar to substitute for the buttermilk. I remember liking cornbread dressing as a child, though never at my house.
I consulted a chef friend and pretty much followed his directions (with a few Sarah touches).

Ingredients:
A double batch of cornbread
1 TBL olive oil
2 onions
1 large red bell pepper
1 lb. fresh sausage
3 c chicken stock
2 eggs
1/4 c craisins
Directions:
Break cornbread into chunks and let sit out overnight until stale.
Heat oil in skillet. Dice onions and cook over medium heat until translucent. Dice bell pepper and add to onions. Cook for only a minute or so. Put the onions and peppers in a large mixing bowl.
Form the sausage into patties. Brown over medium to high heat. Put the patties on a plate lined with a paper towel. Let the grease soak out. Break the sausage patties into pieces.
In the mixing bowl with the onions and peppers, add the cornbread chunks, the sausage, and the craisins.
In a separate bowl, mix the eggs into the chicken stock. Add the liquid to the bowl of cornbread chunks.
Mix thoroughly. Place in a large caserole dish. Bake at 375 degree oven for an hour.
I baked mine in the morning and re-heated it in the microwave for serving on Thanksgiving. I have enjoyed the leftovers for several days.
I plan to make it again for Christmas.

Other dishes besides those already mentioned: mashed potatoes (by N), anadama bread, steamed sweet potatoes, green beans with corn, gravy, Chinese steamed dumplings, guacamole with corn chips, chocolate cake, whipped cream, ice cream (8 types).