I remember Mama part one

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm my house smells good! I'm baking and getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow - always makes me remember my mama.

As I was chopping and mixing this morning, I thought maybe you might like to know a few secrets. Mama was VERY secretive about some of her recipes - and she came from a big family of very good cooks. I didn't realize how much competitiveness there was until years later, I was making dressing in Arkansas at the home of my Aunt Vern (my mama's best friend and sister-in-law). As I chopped veggies for the dressing, I heard my Aunt Flora (mama's sister) say "So THAT'S how she did it!" I guess they'd been trying to wiggle the recipe from her and it never worked. Well, Mama - I am spilling the BEANS today!

Here's how you do it. First of all, get out your favorite cornbread recipe. I use this book - and mine is OLD - even been left out in the rain!

My favorite recipe is page 51 (in my old book) and is called Perfect Cornbread - I just leave out the sugar - and sometimes double the recipe if I'm making dressing for an army!

Now here's mama's secret. Put the veggies and seasonings IN the cornbread batter! You'll need celery, green onions (scallions), poultry seasoning and sage.How much depends on how much cornbread you're making. I made one single recipe of cornbread and used about 1.5 cups each of chopped celery and green onions. A heaping tablespoon of the seasonings.

Leave the veggies chunky so they will crunch in the dressing.

Now just toss the veggies and seasonings in with the cornbread batter and stir to mix. (Mine looks a bit dark cause I use whole wheat flour!)Bake as directed in the cornbread recipe. THEN put the cornbread (still in the pan) on top of your stove (which of course is turned OFF) and leave it. You'll need an equal portion of what Mama called "light bread" - I use whatever I have which in this case includes some stale Arabic flatbread. The idea is for it to be "stale" - not fresh. I have even baked up some biscuits the night before - just plunk the light bread on top of the cooling cornbread and leave the whole thing out overnight. Cover it to keep any creepy crawlies out.

Now - this is something you'll need for the next step. This did NOT come from Mama - the original idea is from Martha Stewart! She taught me to never throw anything away that is edible! I keep all the bits and bobs of my fresh veggies in a plastic bag in the freezer. Here's a bowl full of previously frozen skins from purple onions, garlic, bits of tomato, cucumber, etc. I even save the seeds from the peppers!

You can tie it with a rope but I just get a big piece of cheesecloth and tie it in a bundle.Toss the whole thing in a big pan of hot water and boil it for awhile. Remove the bundle (strain if anything has escaped), salt and pepper and voila - STOCK! (Save this for step 2 tomorrow)