Mama's Dressing

Last week, my girlfriend, Cory, asked me for my pumpkin pie recipe. I told her it is the exact same recipe that is on the back of the Libby's pumpkin...except...and I realized that I do exact same things as my Grandma and Mama...I add little touches to make my recipes special.

That made me realize that, even though she taught me so much about cooking, Mama adds little nuances to her recipes that I have to see and document, or they will disappear when she is no longer with us.

Today was the day I began my quest to find out what she does to make her dishes so yummy.

She makes the best dressing and here are her secrets (she is ok with me sharing them). This is for a double batch:

- 2 boxes of Mrs. Culbertson's Stuffing

Traditional Seasoning

• 4 Cubes Butter

• 2 Cups Chopped Onion

• 2 Cups Chopped Celery

• 2 (14 oz) Cans Chicken Broth

• 3 Small Cans Sliced Olives with Juice

• 2 Small Cans Sliced Mushroom, Drained

• 1 tsp each Sage and Thyme Powder

In a very large stockpot, melt the butter, add the chopped onion and celery and cook until the onions are translucent. Then add the olives and their juice and the mushrooms.

Pour a can of the broth into a cup and add the sage and thyme; mix well to incorporate. Now pour one of the bags of dressing into the vegetables and pour the

mixed broth slowly over the breadcrumbs. Then repeat with the other box of dressing and the other can of broth right out of the can. Mix until everything is evenly moistened. Pour into a greased pan, cover with foil, and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. About 10 minutes before it is done, uncover so the the top browns a bit. I tasted it this afternoon, and I am already wanting to taste it again--with gravy and cranberry sauce!

Tiny Trees

A month ago, I was doing some holiday shopping with Mom at a local Christmas Craft sale, and saw some darling little sisal trees that a talented person had attached to old wooden thread spools and decorated with paper and beads. As we all do, I assured myself that I could come home and copy the idea. The very next day, I went to a big Craft Fair with my daughter. One of the vendors had a box of darling little trees.

They are already attached to wooden spools. All I had to do is decorate them.

I found some papers with tiny print and cut out strips to glue around the spools and then decorated the paper with tiny ribbon or twine. I added beads and plastic snow-flakes for toppers.

I have given away most of the trees I made. But I have a lot of plain ones left. Winter is here and the holidays will be over soon. Then it is craft, scrapbooking and puzzle time!

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

Kitchen Workhorses

In this age of modern technology and easy access to premade food, I have seen how people aquire all sorts of small appliances they never use. A lot of these pretty little utilatarian items are merely decorations in their kitchens, until they accumulate enough dust and grease that they decide to get rid of them at a garage sale or in a goodwill box. But please don't get me wrong! I love a nifty gadgets as much or more than anybody! I just hate seeing great things not being used, when there are so many people who would love to have excess money to spend on a nifty gadget or two.

What I am suggesting is that people spend more time in their kitchens discovering how useful these appliances are and how they help make homemade meals so easy to put together.

Of course, we all have our toasters and coffeemakers and mixers. If, this holiday season, you have a mind to upgrade your kitchen to make it more user friendly, here are four items I find will make it well worth your money to consider. They have come in so very handy for me!

My KitchenAide Heavy-Duty Mixer. I upgraded to this tough, stainless steel mixer about 6 years ago and have never regretted the purchase. Yes, it was very costly (to me, at least), but so so worth it! The wonderful thing about KitchenAide mixers is that you can find all sorts of replacement parts and attachments for them. I actually have bought 2 replacement whisks off Ebay, as I apparently tend to be hard on them. (I like the whisks for almost everything, as opposed to the beater. The mixers usually come with 3 interchangable mixing blades.)

My old white mixer lasted 20 years before I invested in this one. It is still, I believe, in my brother's kitchen, in Portland!

My Cuisinart Grill. We live in Montana. Ourtdoor grilling just isn't possible when it is below freezing outside...at least 5 months out of the year! I use this right on the stovetop for steaks and hamburgers. Super nifty!

My KitchenAide Mini Food Processor. This, I just aquired from my girlfriend, Cory, who was cleaning out her pantry and had it in her Goodwill Box. (I have trained her to call me and let me look through her give-away boxes. She has excellent taste, a good budget, and I always come away with awesome treasures for me or Someone I Love! THANK-YOU, Cory!!)

I have a big, wonderful Workhorse of a Cuisinart food processor I use hard for salsa and grinding. But this guy is small enough to fit in a cabinet and pull out to grind nuts or chop onion. It has two work bowls that are super easy to clean. I just love it and have no idea how I ever got along without it!

My NutriBullet. I got my first one years ago, when my daughter insisted I try green smoothies, and was hooked.

This is my second and upgraded one. I have a good KitchenAide blender in my pantry. But this little guy does just about everything the blender does, takes up less room, and I still can use it for smoothies. (I just pureed a dozen persimmons into delicious smoothness, for cookies!)

So there you have it. Some great ideas for gifts for yourself or an aspiring cook in your life. I have no doubt one or all of these will come in very handy in a cooking kitchen!