Hassle Free Holiday Hosting

Given the new addition to our lives, we refused to travel this holiday season, which means we must host.  <<<GASP>>  

Ok, not really.  I like hosting. Pull out the fancy china & silver, a few nice bottles of wine, cheese and crackers and have everyone else bring the food!  I have learned with little EC around, it is impossible to do everything on own you - life has now become a team sport.  So, divide and conquer.

I didn't slack completely this holiday, I chose to make the traditional Robertson family dressing.  I swear, this is the easiest and most delish side you have ever put in your mouth.  It goes well with turkey or ham and is even better with gravy on top.  Yum. Yum.  

"Dressing" 

Makes a 9x13 dish of dressing

2 loaves of white bread

1 small sweet onion

4 stalks of celery

Stick of Butter

Chicken Stock

Poultry Seasoning 

Pepper 

Cube the bread in a large bowl and let sit 4+ hours to become nice and stale.  The drier the bread, the better it absorbs all the flavor.  

Dice celery and onion and saute in a pan with the stick of butter until nice and tender.  

Add veggies to bread and start flavoring.  Add poultry seasoning and chicken stock little by little until you get your desired consistency.  I end up using about 1 container of stock and 3 tablespoons + of seasoning.

Pour mixture in greased (use butter wrapper) 9x13 dish and bake at 350 for 30 minutes - checking halfway and 3/4 way through.  You don't want the dressing to end up drying out, so be careful not to overcook. 

I love this side because you can prepare it all the day before and then pop it in the oven to cook the day of your meal.  Another hosting trick, pull out the platters and bowls you are going to use and label each with a post-it of what will go in it.  This eliminates all questions when everyone is trying to set their food out!  Also, label your buffet of where you want things to go and place a serving spoon/fork in its spot.  This way when you are hosting you can focus on you guests, eliminate the drama and have more time to snuggle with your little one :) 

Happy Hassle Free Holiday!