Kitchen

[Puppy Galore]

I just pulled my cornbread sausage dressing from the oven. Tha dark areas are sausage and bits of chicken, red is a small package of frozen cranberries I added at my last mixing.

I used a bit of all the recipes and hints that were offered, thank you. It actually taste like mom used to make.

I used half a package of the onions  I posted, I sautéed those first, yesterday. Next was the J.Dean sage sausage, one package in large pieces, the second in small pieces,  next was  the mild Italian sausage. I patted with paper towels most but not all of the grease.

Friday night I baked three packages of Jiffy cornbread muffin mix, baked it in the pan you see above. After it cooled I broke it up in large pieces and covered with Saran Wrap. Kept it in my oven, it's cold in there. I didn't let it get stale or dry.

Most of of the cornbread mixes are horrible, but I remembered mom always used Jiffy at  ten cents a package it was cheap at that time. 

I used one package of dry cornbread mix you can buy. Well, after I mixed it up with warm broth, sausage and onions, it was very disappointing. I added to it one box of Stove Top chicken flavor, too much seasoning! 
I wrapped it up and put it in the fridge  overnight.
What to do next? 

This morning I brought it out of the fridge and looked at it.

Bingo! 

Sitting in front of me was the two cans of cream of chicken soup! I opened both added two tbs of butter and warmed it in the microwave. Mixed and folded it together.

Still something missing! 
I forgot to add the cornbread. Mixed and folded again.

Baked it at 350 for one hour.

 Really, I had a list and ingredients in front of me and still...

The cornbread made it like mom's and pretty darn close to tasting like what she made.

Thanks to all of you for helping and all your suggestions, I truly appreciate it.

[Queen of shop]

@Puppy Galore  Beautiful. Pretty as a picture. Great job.

[LizzieInSRQ]

I preheat oven to 350.

I brown a pound of the sage sausage ( one tube) until no longer pink break up into small crumbles. . Add two ribs of diced celery and a medium onion chopped, 3/4 cups or so of Ocean Spray  Craisins, saute until vegetables are softened and craisins are plump. Turn off the heat.

In a large bowl I beat 2 eggs and add 3 cups or so of Chicken stock or broth ( I prefer to buy stock if I can). 

I open a package of Pepperidge Farms Cornbread stuffing. Pour into bowl and  mix with liquid mixture. I add the sausage and veg/ craisin  mixture and mix everything together. 

I butter a 9 x 13 or other casserole dish. Scoop mixture into dish. Level off. Cover with foil or lid. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Uncover for 10 - 15 if you like a brown top. 

I've also sprayed muffin tin with nonstick spray and made stuffing muffins if it is just me, so that I can easily freeze portions. ( I love it so much that if I have a casserole I have eaten a  whole dish in a weekend with a large jar of gravy. )  I bring down the cooking time to like 25-30 minutes if I recall correctly. 

[Sooner]

@LizzieInSRQ This sounds so good!!!!  I am going to do that with cornbread, and use half a can of cream of something soup rather than the eggs!!!!!   

Thanks so much for posting this!!!  If I don't have the Crasins, I know I have dried cherries--which would be about the same thing and SOOOOO good! 

[LizzieInSRQ]

@Sooner Cream of Something Soup aisle 4 lol.  I love dried tart cherries too!

[wagirl]

OP--your story made me think about my ex SIL--man alive, that woman could COOK!!! She was mostly a dump cook--you know where you just dump things together and they taste good----everything she dumped together was amazing!!! I am a precise cook--I NEED to measure ----and still I have a few bombs--but your stuffing adventure is my SIL all over!! I am sure your dish tasted great. Have never eaten a cornbread stuffing--but would in a heartbeat. And the Jiffy mixes---I used those almost every night with our dinner when my kids were little---all the muffin mixes were my jam.