Cornbread Stuffing with Sweet Potato and Squash
My entire family is spending Thanksgiving together up in the mountains. Granted there are only 11 of us, so it is not that huge, but we did want to make Thanksgiving as easy as possible- especially on my mother who usually does everything. So take the load off of her for a year, my brother in law is making the turkey, my brother and his wife are on dessert, and I am on the side dish and salad (my mother is making the stuffing because hers is the best and we as children would rather not mess at least that up). My brother, sister and I of course agree on what the side dish should be since we all grew up with the same one every year- sweet potato pie. However, our spouses have different traditions in their families and hence different ideas on what the side dish should be. I found this recipe and while it says stuffing, it seems like more of a casserole, and it seemed to include a lot of different flavors and ideas, so maybe I will go with this.
Cornbread Stuffing with Sweet Potato and Squash
Ingredients:
1 cup frozen diced onion, red and green bell peppers, and celery
2 small garlic cloves, pressed
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
2 medium-size sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes
3 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
2 teaspoons Creole seasoning, divided
2 (14-oz.) cans low-sodium fat-free chicken broth, divided
1 (8-oz.) package cornbread stuffing mix
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup chopped pecans
Garnish: fresh or dried sage leaves
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°. Sauté frozen onion mixture and garlic in 1 Tbsp. hot oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat 2 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
Stir in squash, next 5 ingredients, 1 tsp. Creole seasoning, and 1/4 cup water. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes or until squash and potatoes are tender. Stir in 1 can chicken broth.
Remove from heat; cool 15 minutes. Stir together stuffing mix, egg, and remaining 1 can chicken broth and 1 tsp. Creole seasoning in a medium bowl. Fold into cooled squash mixture. Spoon mixture into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.
Bake, covered with aluminum foil, at 375° for 25 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with pecans; bake 20 minutes or until dressing is thoroughly heated and pecans are toasted. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Garnish, if desired.
Even though it was a short week, I am so glad it is Friday. We don’t have much planned for this weekend other than some school projects due next week and of course Walker’s football game bright and early on Saturday morning. I was trying to think what would be a good breakfast for him before his game (I must brag a little as his team is undefeated and has only been scored on once- they are pretty amazing), and I found this recipe for sticky buns. Yum- I haven’t had a sticky bun in a long time. My mother used to make them for us on Christmas morning, but I think these are just the ticket for a great start to a Saturday.
We just spent a wonderful long weekend up in Western North Carolina with friends, and the leaves could not have been better. We sat by the fire, we hiked, and we ate a ton. I hated for it to end. Here is a picture from on of our hikes from the top of Hawksbill. The weekend definitely got me in the mood for fall recipes, and while searching for some today, I came across this tasty number on www.delish.com for pecan shortbread with chocolate drizzle. What a great combo- I can’t wait to try it.
On Sunday, Corby and I walked up to the Starbucks to get an iced coffee and my weirdo son Walker a hot chocolate. I say weirdo affectionately and only because it was 90 degrees outside, and who wants a hot chocolate when it is 90 degrees? Corby also got a croissant. I love a croissant. They are buttery and flaky and make me want to live in France. The great thing about croissants is that they can be used for so many things. They are exceptional for breakfast with jam or butter. They make a sandwich extra special when used as the bread. And they add something extra to dinner when they are served as the dinner roll. Also, when you dip them in coffee or hot chocolate, it is sublime. Here is a great croissant recipe from allrecipes.com. Hope you enjoy as much as I do.
A new Italian restaurant opened in Charleston a couple of months ago, and I had dinner there yet again last night, and again, it was fabulous! I was there with some girhttps://thesouthwillrise.com/wp-admin/post-new.phplfriends, and we started out with the butter bean puree, Castelvetrano olives, and the 24-month aged American Iberico prosciutto. All of it was amazing- especially the prosciutto. We also had the pork trotters, which is one of my favorites on the menu, and all I can say about them is they are ridiculous. We were talking with one of the owners who came over to say hello (did I mention how amazing the service is??), and he was saying that it used to be a restaurant needed to specify if it was a Northern Italian or Southern Italian restaurant, but that Indaco didn’t do that. They just put really good food on the menu. I really love that sentiment. Instead of trying to cater to a certain theme, its just really good food. I mean, really good! We then had several of the pizzas and the eggplant lasagnette. The pizzas are to die for, and while I did not think that I enjoyed eggplant, it turns out I do- amazing. One of the pizzas we had was an eggplant pizza with tomato, ricotta, buffalo mozzarella, and grana padano. It was truly delicious. So, here is a recipe I found for easy eggplant pizza, and while it won’t be as good as Indaco (only because I don’t have a wood fire pizza oven- ha) it will tide me over til the next time I find a reason to go to my new favorite place! (The picture is from the Indaco website www.indacocharleston.com of one of the pizzas.)
This past weekend we spent Friday night out at the Sanctuary at Kiawah Island- a “staycation” if you will. It was absolutely wonderful. I felt like I had been on vacation for a week and we weren’t even there 24 hours. We arrived on Friday afternoon. It had been raining the whole day in Charleston, but just 45 minutes away, it had not rained at all. We sat by the pool for a cocktail and then met some friends on the beach. After that, we had drinks in the lobby bar with some other friends we ran into who were doing the same thing. We then walked up to The Ocean Room, sat at the bar and had a fabulous dinner. Corby got the steak and I had the pesto gnocchi- delicious! We were then “talked” into getting dessert. It was going to be a very tough decision but fortunately they had a dessert trio which included the two things I wanted to try- the carrot cake doughnuts and the chocolate and malt. I can’t remember what the third was but I am sure I enjoyed it. However, I do remember the carrot cake doughnuts very well. Amazing. They were served with cream cheese ice cream and a caramel sauce. And of course since it was a carrot cake doughnut, that means it was healthy because of the carrot- right? Either way, they were really special. The next morning we went for a long walk on the beach and then sat at the pool for many hours until it was time to go home and pick up the dog. It really was a phenomenal night/day/vacation. Now, Walker is finally home after two and a half months of being away and school starts tomorrow- how has the summer gone by so quickly? I dug around this morning to find a recipe for the carrot cake doughnuts that might make the first morning of school a little more bearable.
We sadly left Twilight this past Sunday, but we drove to Linville and are thrilled to be here. This view is worth any amount of driving! As I have said before, Linville in the summer always makes me think of blueberries because we used to have blueberry bushes on the hill behind the house. There are so many amazing things you can do with blueberries- full scale berry wars with your cousins and friends being at the top of the list, but there are also so many delicious recipes as well. Here is another favorite of mine for Blueberry Cream Muffins. Perfect on a crisp mountain morning.
I do love a good biscuit- piping hot and steamy. It can be the perfect breakfast- you really don’t need much else. Fortunately, my wonderful husband makes amazing biscuits- not nearly as often as I would like, but when he decides to make biscuits, they are a work of art. We are heading up to the mountains next weekend with friends, and Corby has said he will make biscuits. I am excited. I usually do not have a preference for flavor of biscuit, but I found this recipe for sour cream and chives biscuits that sounds pretty darn awesome, so maybe he will make these!!
I guess this is a good time to do it since we don’t have to cook Walker meals and there are not snacks in the house. But on the other hand, now also would be a good time to go out to dinner and movies and bars etc since we don’t have to get a babysitter. But, alas, we have chosen the cleansing route and this being the first day, I want to eat my desk. My lemon, maple syrup, cayenne pepper concoction is not really doing it for me right now. I am instead thinking about cheese, pastries, bread, crackers, milkshakes, cheese, hamburgers, bread and more cheese. So I have decided to post my all time favorite recipes and to live vicariously through writing them out. Here is the first one- keeping it pretty simple here with an old fashion grilled cheese sandwich. (The two pictures are of Walker and his shark and then the car ride up to camp- Nemo did not want Walker to go!)