A Thanksgiving Dressing Recipe like Grandma Used to Make

I know I’m not alone when I say that this 2020 Thanksgiving will look different than past years.

Thanksgiving is a big deal in my family. We all gather at my grandparent’s farm to share food and memories and laughs.

But with a 94 year-old grandmother, a new baby on my side of the family, and Covid-19 running rampant, we made the decision to skip this year.

I know many of you have had to make similar tough decisions about tomorrow’s festivities.

It’s not that I’ve never missed a family Thanksgiving. I have, and I’m sure I will again. But this year just feels different.

I’ve been finding comfort in the traditions I can keep alive wherever I am, which is why I’m so thankful that over a decade ago, I copied down my grandmother’s dressing recipe so I could recreate it and keep her legacy close to me.

At the time, fourteen Thanksgivings ago, my grandmother was 80. I knew I wasn’t guaranteed many more holidays with her (who would have thought she’d still be going strong a nearly 15 years later!), so I decided I would pry her famous dressing recipe out of her.

For all you non-southerners, dressing is what we call stuffing that isn’t actually inside the bird.

My grandmother came from a generation where recipes were passed down like folklore, nothing written, nothing googled, just mouth-to-tummy-to-mouth, through the generations.

As far as I could tell, she dumped a bunch of ingredients in a bowl, tasted it, and popped in the oven.

So I knew I’d need to use all my investigative abilities to get the recipe written down with, you know, measurements and cook-times.

I went to my grandmother’s house early that Thanksgiving morning. It was before kids! I had the time. And I watched over her shoulder as she threw sage, celery, leftover biscuits into a dish.

I tried to translate her handfuls and pinches into cups and teaspoons.

By the end of that morning, I had a written recipe that I could replicate year after year.

Then, I took an extra step and had my grandmother copy my notes in her own handwriting. She may not have used a recipe, but I knew my future self, my children, and my own grandchildren would love making her recipe written in her hand.

We may not all be together this year, but the truth is, we’re never guaranteed that we will be. Nonetheless, I’m grateful for the little things that make life feel more normal, and this dressing recipe is one of them. Even if I’m making it in an Airstream kitchen, and not my grandmother’s house on a farm.

I hope this recipe makes you think of you grandmother, and traditions worth keeping around!