Thanksgiving anytime of year!

I know I'm a little crazy when it comes to food. I love Thanksgiving so even though we had an amazing meal at our dear friends house on the actual day, I had to make my own the day after. I know, but really - I need the leftovers - the best part of turkey day is having warmed up plates with mashed potatoes and stuffing covered with gravy and some turkey! I found this turkey recipe online and it was perfect since it was smaller and I really only like white meat anyway. I would recommend making this one anytime - it's so good! I had some of my own canned peach preserves so I used that instead and didn't add any sugar or honey. I also have to have my own stuffing. And actually it's dressing as I don't care for it stuffed in the bird to get all soggy - I like mine with a crispy crust. I've never really had a recipe for it, just watched my mom do it every year so I'll try to give approximate directions. On top of the dressing are some roasted carrots and parsnips that were cooked alongside the turkey. Oh - and my secret to making gravy is to buy some turkey legs or wings and roast about 40 min (this should be done the day before as it keeps) and then use them to make turkey broth with some onion, carrots and celery. That way your gravy is actually made with turkey broth and you can use the same broth to make the stuffing. (sorry, stuffing/dressing - whatever you want to call it!) Last but not least were my Ice Box Rolls - best ever!

Cornbread Dressing serves about 6

1 small onion finely chopped

2 stalks celery finely chopped

couple tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon dried sage

1 recipe cornbread just a basic recipe, sometimes I have leftovers in the freezer

few slices leftover white bread (I usually have this in the freezer too)

about 2 cups warm turkey broth

2 eggs

Saute the onion and celery until soft in a pan. After about 10 min add the sage for a couple min. In a large mixing bowl put the cooked veggies, cornbread and torn apart bread. Add the broth slowly until the mixture is pretty wet, but not soupy. Add S&P to taste then beat the eggs and add to the mixture. Pour into a lightly oiled small square pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 40 min or until it's crispy and brown on top. If you are roasting a turkey too I like to drizzle a little drippings over the dressing while it cooks - oh yeah. This would also be good for a change when you roast a chicken instead of potatoes!

Post Note: My mom would always cook a whole Thanksgiving meal at least once in the summer - I think it's just too good a meal to only eat once a year!