Cornbread Dressing

I know I'm posting this too late for Thanksgiving (this year), but here's something you can make for Christmas.  Vegans, I'm sorry this isn't vegan...it's got eggs.  However, I don't see why you couldn't use Ener-G's Egg Replacer in the cornbread recipe (here), and I KNOW you can skip the eggs in this recipe.  The dressing might not be as firm, but it will taste just fine.
The foundation of this recipe is from Irma Rombauer's Joy of Cooking with plenty of tweaks.  The cornbread recipe is from my sweet grandma.

Ingredients:
1/4 c. plus 2 T. canola oil, separated
1 recipe of cornbread (recipe here)
1 T. plus 1.5 t. dried sage
2 c. chopped onions
1 c. finely chopped celery
3/4 t. salt
1/2 t. black pepper
 3 c. vegetable broth/stock, separated
2 eggs, beaten, optional

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Pour 2 T. canola oil into a 9" x 13" baking dish, and use a paper towel to coat the dish with the oil.

Using clean hands, crumble the cornbread in a large bowl to the desired texture. (I like mine very crumbly, so I have almost no chunks in it when I'm preparing it.)  Mix the sage into the crumbled cornbread so that it is evenly distributed.

In a large skillet, heat 1/4 c. canola oil over medium-high heat.  Sauté the onions and celery until the vegetables are soft.  Stir the salt and pepper into the vegetables, then stir the vegetables into the crumbled cornbread so that they are evenly distributed.

Mix 2 cups vegetable broth/stock and the eggs, if using, into the cornbread mixture, 1/2 c. at a time, so that the mixture is uniformly moistened.  Spread the mixture evenly in the oiled baking dish, and pour the remaining 1 cup vegetable broth/stock evenly over the top.  The pan will look very moist; this is normal.

Bake for 45 minutes, and serve hot.

Candy Cane Cookies

I don't know where my mom got this recipe, because we've been making and eating it since I was a child.  At that time, we shaped the cookies into candy canes.  That's how the recipe went.  As I've gotten, ahem, older, we changed them to pinwheels.  The candy cane hooks were ornery and often broke off, damaging the appearance - but not the taste! - of these cookies.  The pinwheels give the cookies an impressive, complicated look, but they're not at all difficult to form.

These cookies have a cakey cookie texture, and they are not as sweet as many modern cookies.  Maybe that's why I like them:  the mild sweetness, the texture, and definitely the almond flavoring, which is my favorite.  I hope you enjoy them, too.

Ingredients:
2 sticks vegan margarine, room temperature (I recommend Earth Balance or some other vegan margarine that has no hydrogenated oils in it.)
1 c. sifted confectioner's sugar (a.k.a. "powdered sugar")
1 egg (Vegans, feel free to try this with an egg replacer like Ener-G and let me me know how it turns out!)
2 - 2.5 t. almond extract (I go with the extra half teaspoon.)
2.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 t. plus 1/8 t. salt
1 T. plus 1.5 t. baking powder
red food coloring, to color
granulated sugar, for dusting (optional)

Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix the butter, confectioner's sugar, egg, and almond extract in a medium bowl.  In another bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder.  Combine the flour mixture with the butter mixture.

Divide the dough in half.  In a separate bowl, blend red food coloring into half of the dough.  I'd start with about 20 drops, then go from there until you have the color you want.

Now, on a lightly floured surface (Don't worry if the red dough gets white flour dust on it.  It won't show up after cooking.), roll a 6-inch strip of red dough and a 6-inch strip of non-colored dough so that it looks like, well, a worm!  (You can make longer strips, but keep in mind the cookies will be larger and take longer to bake.  I usually make mine bigger.)  Twist the red worm with the white worm so that you now have a single red-and-white twisted worm.

At this point, you decide if you want "candy canes" or "pinwheels.":
(1)  If you want a candy cane, just make the cane hook at the end and move to an ungreased cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with granulated sugar, if desired.
(2)  If you want pinwheels, shown above, curl the twisted worm in a spiral, and you have your pinwheel.  Move to an ungreased cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with granulated sugar, if desired.
Either way, repeat with remaining dough.

Bake about 12 - 15 minutes or until risen and set.  Remember that finished cookies look a little undercooked in the oven.  The moment you notice the non-colored dough just starting to brown, it's time to remove them from the oven.  Cool on a rack, then enjoy!

The amount this recipe makes will vary, depending on how large you make your cookies.  I made large pinwheels last year, and I got probably 20 cookies.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Around Thanksgiving, I gave you the recipe for a vegetarian topping for sweet potato casserole. Here's the recipe for the casserole. I got the original recipe from my mom (I'm not sure where she got it from.) and made a few adjustments to suit my dietary preferences. Thanks, Mom!

4 medium sweet potatoes
1 c. sugar
2 free-range eggs (If you want to make this vegan, try using Ener-G's Egg Replacer instead.)
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 c. vegan margarine (or butter), plus more to grease casserole dish
1/2 c. rice milk (or other milk of your choice)

Bake the sweet potatoes at 475 degrees until easily pierced with a fork. Set aside to cool. Once the sweet potatoes are cool, the skins should peel away easily. Peel the baked sweet potatoes, then use a mixer to purée them. You need 3 cups of the puréed sweet potatoes. (Save any leftovers to add to waffles or muffins later.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add all remaining ingredients to the 3 cups of puréed sweet potatoes. Using the mixer, blend well leaving no lumps. Grease a 9x9 baking dish (I used a 9x11 with no trouble.) with the extra margarine (or butter). Spread the casserole mixture into the baking dish. Top with the vegetarian sweet potato casserole topping (recipe here), spreading over the entire casserole mixture.

Bake the casserole for 30 minutes. Serve warm.

Thanksgiving and Sweet Potato Casserole topping recipe

Happy Black Friday to you all! I hope you enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday as much as I did yesterday! Scott and I went to my parents' house and feasted! Mom started cooking on Wednesday, then she got up at 5:10 yesterday to get rolling again. Scott and I got there a little before 10am so I could help. Of course, my family is not vegetarian, but let me outline the feast that was available to me as the family vegetarian yesterday: smooth mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, buttery corn casserole, candied yams, speckled butter beans, roasted Brussels sprouts (from the recipe on this very blog), vegetarian cornbread dressing, homemade macaroni and cheese, and store-bought rolls. And that's just dinner. For dessert there was homemade yellow cake with homemade chocolate icing, 2 pecan pies, lemon icebox pie, banana pudding, and chocolate pie from my Granny's famous recipe. It was, truly, a feast, and I took full advantage of the gorgeous Southern food and the warm company of family.

Now, one pickle that vegetarians sometimes find themselves in at Thanksgiving is the issue of the sweet potato casserole. You'll find that the casserole is there calling to you, all nice and vegetarian, but someone sticks marshmallows on top! (For those of you who don't know, marshmallows contain gelatin, and gelatin is not vegetarian. I will spare you the details, but you can search the web for information if your curiosity is piqued.) Here's an alternative topping for a sweet potato casserole that is more seasonal and absolutely delicious! It's what my mom uses:

1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. brown sugar (YUM!)
1 c. chopped pecans
1/3 c. melted vegan butter

Just mix the ingredients well and spread in clumps over your casserole. It bakes to a sweet, crunchy, nutty, awesome thing when you bake the casserole. Happy holidays!