Ralph remembers his grandmother, Bertha Clarice Copeland (1882-1977), making it, as well as his own mother, Juanita Inglish (1906-1995). It naturally follows that Ralph would continue to make it for his own children, and thus it continues. Ralph describes how when his children were young, they would make a big batch, stuff the turkey with some, and bake the rest in a pan -- the stuffing that was in the turkey usually had a different flavor as it had more of the turkey juices.
In my household (the fifth and sixth generations from Bertha), it ranks up there with pumpkin pie as a favorite dish of our Thanksgiving meal! We make extra, just to make sure we have leftovers!
There's no written recipe for Bertha's version, per se, but it traditionally includes crumbled cornbread, chopped celery, chopped boiled eggs, turkey giblets, juice from the cooked turkey, and spices.
I generally need a recipe to follow, so this is the variation we've come up with:
KF's Cornbread Stuffing
- Bake cornbread (equivalent of 12 muffins or one pan); crumble and set aside in a bowl.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute 1 bunch of celery (chopped), 1 basket of mushrooms (about 8-10 oz, sliced; sausage or turkey giblets is also tasty), 1 yellow onion (diced), 1/4 c dried parsley, 1 Tbs dried sage, 1 Tbs dried rosemary, 1 Tbs dried thyme. Add to the crumbled cornbread in the bowl.
- Mix in 1 cup dried cranberries (chopped even more finely) and 1 cup vegetable or chicken broth.
- Put in an unbuttered casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Anyone else in the family have a variation on cornbread stuffing that they make? If so, please share! And bon appetit!
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Sources:
- From a phone conversation with Ralph, 27 Dec 2015.
- From a conversation with BR, Dec 2015.
