The air is crisp, the trees are bare, and the holidays are fast approaching. Whether we’re hosting a meal at home, or bringing a dish to a gathering, Thanksgiving often finds us scrambling to find crowd-pleasing recipes.

Your local library is a wonderful source of cookbooks, cooking magazines, and downloadable eBooks that will get your mouth watering and your creative juices flowing. Log into http://www.gcld.org to browse our collection or visit your local branch for suggestions.

To get you started, I’d like to share one of my family’s favorite Thanksgiving recipes. My mother made this dish every year (in the South, people don’t eat stuffing, they eat dressing), and I’ve continued the tradition with my own family. It’s very customizable. You can omit things you don’t like and add things you do. It tastes even better heated up the next day.

Southern Cornbread Dressing

Ingredients

1 thick pan of cornbread or 2 thin pans (recipe below or use your favorite recipe or mix)

2 slices of bread, crumbled

1 chopped onion

1 chopped bell pepper

2-3 cans of cream soup of your choice (mushroom, chicken, and/or celery)

2 eggs, beaten slightly

2 cups of broth (chicken or vegetable)

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 eggs, slightly beaten

Salt, pepper, sage (if desired) to taste

Optional: chopped celery, chopped green onion, parsley, handful of cooked rice, chopped cooked chicken or turkey.

Instructions

Add chopped vegetables and butter to broth and bring to a boil. Simmer 20 minutes, or until vegetables are softened.

Add 2 cans of cream soups to broth and mix well.

Roughly crumble cornbread and bread slices into greased 9 inch by 13 inch casserole dish.

Pour the broth, vegetables, and soup mixture into the pan with the bread. Stir together.

Stir in beaten egg.

Add seasonings to taste. (Mixture will be soupy.)

Bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes to an hour, stirring every 20 minutes or so. Add another can of soup and/or broth or water if it seems too dry.

It’s ready when it’s firm, moist, and lightly browned on top. (If you’ve added extra soup or broth, you may need to cook it a little longer).

Cornbread

Ingredients

1 cup flour

1 cup cornmeal

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

¼ cup vegetable oil

Instructions

Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl.

Add eggs, milk, and oil.

Mix just until smooth.

Pour into an 8 inch or 9 inch well-greased square pan or iron skillet. (Note: I prefer to divide mine into 2 pans to make thinner, crisper cornbread to give the cornbread dressing more texture.)

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes for single pan (400 degrees for 15 minutes, if divided into two pans), or until golden brown on top.

Cooking time will vary depending on pan size and whether you made one pan or divided it into two.

This cornbread can be made the day before, so it’s ready when you start to make your dressing.

Happy Thanksgiving from GCLD!