What made you happy today? :)

[Andybev01]

Take me, take me!

[Murfreesboro]

Lol. I would if I could. It's going to be a quick trip, up on Thurs and home on Sun. I think the same teenage girl who plays the Christkind in Nurnberg (sp?) for two years comes to Chicago for a third year. I heard about it on Rick Steves' European Christmas special. I looked up the market on line, and most of their vendors seem to be German or have connections there.

[Andybev01]

It sounds splendid.

Rick Steve's Christmas special is one of his best.

I watch it several times a year.

[Murfreesboro]

I have a lot of his travel dvds, all of them through 2016 in fact, but nothing since. Except I do have a Martin Luther one he must have done for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017.

The Christmas one was probably the first one I bought. He also has an Easter special, but it's mainly about the Mediterranean countries. Sadly, more Northern Europe doesn't do much about Easter these days.

[Andybev01]

I made pork sausage and dill dressing today as a test run.

I'll have to make more for Thanksgiving, because this will be gone by tomorrow.

[Murfreesboro]

I showed your post to my husband. He just said, "That sounds SUPER awesome!"

I actually stuff my bird, but, like all Southerners, I call it dressing even when I stuff it. I make it pretty much like my mother and grandmother did. Cornbread, half a loaf of white bread, a large chopped onion and two or three chopped celery ribs, 2-3 T of sage and lesser amounts of other spices, usually rosemary, thyme, basil, marjoram, parsley, and bind it all together with 6 to 8 eggs.

I rub the bird with handfuls of salt, both inside and out, so I don't salt my dressing.

We had our annual Thanksgiving potluck yesterday at church. I brought something I called a 3 Sisters casserole. It was just the old Campbell's soup green bean casserole, but instead of 3 cans of green beans, I used 1 of green beans, 1 of whole kernel corn, and twelve ounces of chopped butternut squash, which I steamed for 7 minutes before I put it into the casserole. I thought it turned out well.

[Andybev01]

Adding corn and squash sounds like a quality upgrade, as I find green beans in any form b o r I n g.

My dressing is just the traditional Mrs. Cubbison boxed product, an entire chub of Jimmy Dean sage sausage, partially browned so it won't dry out in the casserole dish as it cooks.

I add a teaspoon of herbs de Provence and a generous pinch of dry dill weed.

Of course ground pepper and a pinch of kosher salt at the beginning when I sweat the onion and celery.

No egg, but I will add one to any leftovers and make deep fried hush puppies .

[Murfreesboro]

Thanks for that recipe. I won't use it at Thanksgiving, but I could see using it another time. The hush puppy leftovers sound good, too!

[Andybev01]

A foodie friend said you can also use a waffle iron and make fritters using stuffing/egg.

Serve with gravy or sour cream and chives.

[Murfreesboro]

Oh, yum! I've never thought of that.

[Andybev01]

O good grief; I made a cranberry compote with pear...and left it at home.

Oh well, I'm the only one who eats it.

[Murfreesboro]

Oh, that sounds delicious, too!

[Andybev01]

I saw this idea for a Christmas village display, so my sister used it for hers.

[Murfreesboro]

Oh, how pretty, and visually interesting, too.

I'm behind in my decorating because I have the trip coming up. I've gotten my Advent wreath up, and the decorations on my outside doors changed from Thanksgiving to Christmas. But I'm unlikely to get anything else done before I get back next week. Yard lights, tree, all on hold.

And it's gotten cold here! Nighttime lows in the 20s and even teens. We're having snow flurries tonight, and whatever is falling is sticking, because the daytime highs barely hit 40, if that. We've had an unusually mild fall, so this wintry weather is feeling bitter.