Cummins shares Thanksgiving recipes from the heart of a southern kitchen

November is a great month to enjoy the fall season and  the Thanksgiving holiday.

Do you make the old fashion southern cornbread type stuffing or the kind of stuffing with bread from a loaf or the ready-made type from a cellophane bag or box with the herbs mixed in and all you add is chicken broth or water for instant stuffing? Lets get cooking! with ways to make different typs of stuffing.

For good old fashion southern stuffing start with 8 to 10 cups day-old cornbread. Break the bread up in a large mixing bowl and let it sit out a while on the counter to aerate. Saute 2 cups sweet chopped onion and 2 cups chopped celery with leaves in a ½ cup butter, add a little light oil. Saute until onions are clear.  

Using your hands or a slotted spoon, fluff up the bread in the big mixing bowl, adding 2 tablespoons sage, salt and fresh ground black pepper to your taste. Add the onions and celery. Now you have your base. Here are your options.

For oyster stuffing: add a pint of sautéed whole baby blue point oysters (if you can get them), if not use what your fishmonger or fish market has that is fresh, saute the oysters with a teaspoon of poultry seasoning using some of the oyster liquid in the saute.

For Sausage stuffing. Brown a pound of good quality pork sausage, add to your base mix. This type stuffing is very good and has a spicy bite.

For our great low country popular apple-pecan stuffing, add 1 cup of chopped tart apples and 1 cup of chopped pecans to the base mix.

Do you like other seasonings or spices in your stuffing such as Poultry Seasoning, French Thyme, or Marjoram Leaves? Have you tried Chef’s Shake? You should, it has onion, black pepper, garlic, carrots, orange peel, celery seed, cayenne, parsley, basil, bayleaf, oregano, savory, rosemary, cumin, and coriander. Find it in your spice department, get the Spice Hunter brand if you can. If so, do add them, as you wish. Adding ideas and ingredients you like, leaving out what you do not. Just be bold and fearless when you cook and bake, consider it an adventure.

Sweet Potatoes

You can boil or bake your sweet potatoes for this traditional sweet potato casserole. Also you can mash or not mash your cooked potatoes. You will need about 5 to 6 cups of cooked sweet potatoes, add your spices and seasoning with your butter to the hot cooked potatoes, some great and favorite seasoning for sweet potatoes are cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and add to your taste with a little salt. Add at least a ½ cup to 1 cup of packed brown sugar. If you cannot eat sugar, use ½  cup of honey or molasses, this gives a fantastic taste to your sweet potatoes. Add a bag of miniature marshmallows on top to toast or instead of marshmallows, lay pecans all over the top and slip your potatoes into a moderate 350 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

You may wish, as we do to have mash potatoes as well, for your Thanksgiving feast. If so, I have some great tips and ways I like to call new ways with old fashion potatoes. Do scrub 2 pound or more (as you need) red small potatoes, when tender, drain and mash with butter, salt, fresh ground black pepper, skin and all, add a little sour cream and some shredded cheddar cheese if you like it, about a tablespoon or so. These are perfect for me, however, if you want garlic mashed potatoes, add a bit of fresh minced garlic. A ½ cup of soft cream cheese is also good mashed up with your warm potatoes. By the way, to keep fresh potatoes from budding, lay an apple in with your potatoes. A reader asked if fresh potatoes should be kept in the fridge, I would say no to that, as the potato will turn on the inside leaving a bluish tint and lose much flavor.

 I use kitchen baskets for storing some of my veggies that do not require the fridge. I have a tower of three great woven baskets sitting in a black wrought iron frame in the smaller of the three baskets. I keep bags of dried beans and lintels in top basket and in the big bottom basket I keep potatoes both sweet and white potatoes. The middle basket I keep what I have picked up that is on sale and needful for the time and season. Right now it has boxes of ready-to-make quick breads also at times I have it full of sweet onions. On top of the microwave cart, I keep a big basket for boxes of cereal and packages of popcorn.

The kitchen basket idea is a good one and attractive, as well air can circulate through, the weave of your baskets. As some vegetables like potatoes, onions and tomatoes should be kept out in the air and not in the fridge.

   Here is a favorite! This is great for the coming holidays or anytime. 

Carolina Corn Souffle 

Mix 2 cups fresh frozen corn (that has been thawed)

2 tablespoon flour 

2 tablespoon sugar,

salt and fresh ground black pepper to your taste

 a beaten egg yoke 

1 cup of milk mix well.

Beat 2 egg whites till stiff, fold in then pour mixture into a one quart casserole, dot with butter and bake at 350 degrees 45 to 50 minutes, allow to sit 10 minutes serves six. This is excellent for a side dish.

I will close out with a fabulous dessert, that you can make anytime, however, over the holidays it can be extra special. This one will really satisfy your sweet tooth.

Pina Colada Cake

This is Linda Hancock’s own recipe. Thanks Linda! She is the friendly face you see at the Lake City Branch of the Citizens Bank. All I can add to this is to say it is, Easy & Good!  And you will love it.

You will need one box yellow cake mix. Prepare cake mix according to package directions except: add one cup of shredded coconut to the batter. Bake in a 9 x 13 inch prepared pan. Remove from oven and poke holes in the cake with a fork, while cake is hot, spread a can of cream of coconut frosting all over cake, it will seep into the holes, Sprinkle ¼ of the shredded coconut on top, spread on top of that a can of undrained pineapple and allow to cool thoroughly. After that cover with whipped topping and garnish with remaining coconut. Keep refrigerated. Serves 12. This cake is even better the next day.

 Want your pie crust to look shiny and professional!  Just brush the crust on your finished pie before baking with beaten egg, this will cause a gloss and beautiful look to your finished pies. This works for store bought frozen pies.

  What’s New?

Just in time for the holidays, smelling like hometasting, like heaven Mc Cormicks Roasting Rubs. Try all three! I would not be without them in my spice cupboard: Savory herb, Cracked pepper and French Herb. For great tasting holiday recipes, log onto  mccormick.com or call 1-800-meals-tips.

 If you need help this year with your turkey, I will as I have for the past eight years give you the Butterball hot line number at the end of this column.

If you have smells coming from your in-sink disposal, here are some tips to remedy it.  The only downside to having a garbage (in-sink) disposal, I want to tell you what I have tried for mine and it works well. See if this works for you. Turn on your water and disposal, using a big bowl of ice cubes (from your trays or ice maker), dump the ice down into the disposal, add a cut up fresh lemon, keep the water running, let your disposal grind up the ice and lemon turn off the disposal. Wow! smells fresh and clean. The acids from the lemon will keep it that way for a while, you can also use an orange. Do push all your citrus rinds down the disposal running water as you should each time you use your disposal this is great for a clean machine each time. Never place your hands anywhere near the inside of the disposal when it is grinding! If you need to push anything down, let your running water wash it down or use a wooden spoon.

 Do you get stains in your plastic wear that are hard to remove, Try this: Spray your plastic wear with cooking spray before you fill them with tomato-based sauces, no more stains.

 I wish you an early Happy Thanksgiving! Well, do not worry too much as my Mother use to say, just give it a lick and a promise. Have a lovely and fun time with all those gathered round your table, we have much to be thankful for! Happy Thanksgiving to all.

See you soon with some great tips and recipes for the Christmas holidays!