It wouldn’t be Christmas without the STUFFING!

Yeah, it’s all about the food …

Okay, maybe not ALL, but there are certain holiday dishes in every household that must be made. In our house, it’s my mother’s stuffing recipe.

It’s not your usual stuffing, it has ground beef in it for one. And, it’s evolved over the years, but all in all, the original essence of the dish is still there and I have years where I don’t embellish it at all.

I’m the holiday cook in the family, so that makes me the stuffing person. It doesn’t matter if we’re having drunken turkey, (We roast the turkey in beer, makes for a real tender bird) prime rib, ham or whatever.  It also doesn’t matter if I’m in New York with my daughter, in California with one of my sons, or at home in Oregon. That stuffing has to be made. I remember one Christmas when the electricity kept going on and off. I called my big sister to see if I could bring the turkey to her house to cook as she had power. She said, “to heck with the turkey! Come make the stuffing!”

I make it in the morning and it’s tradition to have a bowl for breakfast before opening presents. Then into the turkey it goes, the rest in the fridge for dinner later. We warm it in the oven for dinner and then have two versions. What went into the turkey and what didn’t. If we’re having some other meat as a main dish, then it’s just the one.

I have to make a huge pot of stuffing, as everyone wants to take some home, especially my brother. He’s a stuffing freak and calls several days before Thanksgiving and Christmas to make sure I’m making it. If I don’t, he will. But mine is always better. 😉

 

I think I wrote a blog post about Christmas Salads some years back. They’re a combination of frozen strawberries, cream cheese, pineapple, maraschino cherries, a dab of mayonnaise, and mini marshmallows. You mix it all together then pour the mixture into cupcake papers and freeze them. They were another traditional favorite in our family. We eat them with dinner even though they’re more of a dessert. But those don’t get made every year and I can get away with that. But the stuffing? I’d be hung, drawn and quartered! Thankfully, I’m safe. Without me, that stuffing runs a chance of not getting made at all! Ha! Not unless my brother can swing it.

It’s a simple dish, our mother’s stuffing. Ground beef, onion, celery, olives, cream corn, and just the right amount of seasonings and a wee bit of chicken broth. And of course, cubed stuffing. I never measure, so couldn’t begin to write it down. Maybe I’ll try to pay attention when I make it on Christmas.

We of course have other Christmas traditions. Petite Fours are a holiday favorite but some years I can’t find them. There’s of course the usual Christmas cookies and fudge, and we have our non-food related traditions as well. Some we can’t do anymore.

 

When we were younger, we used to ride our horses into the woods, pick out a tree, then hike back the next day (my brother, sister and me) to chop it down and haul it back. We have a 14 ft. high ceiling, and usually got a good sized tree. It took the three of us to drag that thing back to the cabin. But nowadays, we get one at a local U-Cut tree farm instead of getting a wild tree somewhere on the property. Other traditions are hit and miss as well but when it comes to our mother’s stuffing recipe, nothing gets in the way!

So here’s to all those yummy holiday recipes we love and that year after year, show up on our tables! What’s your favorite?

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USA Today bestselling author Kit Morgan is the author of over 140 books of historical and contemporary western romance! Her stories are fun, sweet stories full of love, laughter, and just a little bit of mayhem! Kit creates her stories in her little log cabin in the woods in the Pacific Northwest. An avid reader and knitter, when not writing, she can be found with either a book or a pair of knitting needles in her hands! Oh, and the occasional smidge of chocolate!

23 thoughts on “It wouldn’t be Christmas without the STUFFING!”

  1. My family also enjoys my mother’s special stuffing (we call it dressing because we serve it in a dish instead of the turkey) recipe. My daughter is making it now.

  2. About the only time I make stuffing is thanksgiving (in the turkey), although I like it. My son-in-law eats lots of it. If I made it more it wouldn’t be good for me as I’m diabetic and would eat way to much.

  3. Wow! Your stuffing sounds delicious.

    Since I switched from turkey to ham, my sides changed a little, including no stuffing.

    I always make yeast rolls. And we always have monkey bread for breakfast.

  4. Kit, what is cubed stuffing and where do you buy it. Do you use sage as one of your spices. We have always made my mama’s (her mama’s before her, etc) every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter and it is a cornbread based dressing and we all LOVE it. It also has celery and onions browned in butter, added to a pan or two of cornbread, depending on how much you need, and dried bread slices, torn into tiny pieces, or cut into cubes, couple of raw eggs, chicken broth, or if you cooked the Turkey, you just use the Turkey broth, sage, salt, pepper, cooked until lightly browned. Yum-me. But, yours sounds so different, I’m thinking of just trying it out, for the fun of it.

    • Cubed stuffing is just that. Little cubes. I know there is also cornbread stuffing. Both are sold at any grocery store around here. I’m in Oregon. I usually buy Mrs. Cubbison’s Herb Seasoned Cubed Stuffing. And yes, I use sage. A lot of it! Your stuffing recipe sounds yummy!

  5. I love stuffing, our son in law makes a real good stuffing. I like stuffing with raisins in it. Have a great rest of the week and stay safe. May you and your family have a Very Happy and Blessed New Year.

  6. We always called it dressing and yes we have it every year, I am just not a big fan of stuffing but I do eat some myself. My favorite thing is the homemade dumplings that you make from the turkey broth. We have them every year.

  7. Like you, the stuffing is my favorite. As much as I enjoy it, I don’t know why I only make it during the holidays. If we have a crown roast of pork for Easter, I will make it then. I use the bagged, dry seasoned bread stuffing and doctor it up. I add chopped apricots, onions, roasted chestnuts, celery, sage sausage, and sometimes a few craisins. I no longer stuff the bird, I just bake the stuffing. I like the top a bit crispy. Sadly, so many other traditions have faded away as the children grew and moved away. There are a few other things we make – sour cream crescent rolls (so good they melt in your mouth, but so rich), gingerbread cookies, mince pie, English toffee bars.
    It is a bit sad that everyone isn’t together for the holidays and all the old traditions aren’t followed. But we will celebrate with those who do manage to be there and enjoy.

      • I will try to remember to send the recipe when we get home. It is really simple, just rich. As much as everyone here loves them, our daughter asked me not to bring them for Christmas because she is dieting. Our son requested them for Thanksgiving. It makes 4 dozen, and you can’t eat just one….or ten.

  8. Oh, Kit…that makes me think of days gone by when my mom always made the dressing from scratch and she’d make up a bunch of it to take with us down to my grandparents when we’d go down there for Christmas dinner–everyone loved it, and I have never even attempted to make it. You have inspired me–I think next year will be my year. That recipe you have for yours sounds really great with the beef and corn in it. Very different and yummy! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and here’s to a great 2022!

  9. I make my Mom’s stuffing/dressing. It is certainly a dish I could not think of having Thanksgiving without. At Christmas, it would be the Seven Layer cookies and my grandmother’s Pumpkin bread. Thank you so much for sharing your traditions with us. Happy New Year. God bless you.

  10. That is a different type of stuffing than what I’m used to. Never tried Monkey Bread.
    On New Year’s Day our Traditions is Pork, Kielbasa, and a bunch of of other food.
    Stuffing sounds good.

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