Cooking with Rod

By Rod Cohenour

It's that time of year again - Thanksgiving when we all get together to give thanks and share wonderful dishes. One staple for Thanksgiving and Christmas is a tasty dressing to accompany either turkey or ham. One of the things that presents a challenge, especially this time of year is preparing a dressing that can be eaten by anyone. Our beloved Earl is deathly allergic to eggs, in even the most minute portion. He has never been able to enjoy dressing.

This year, we decided to devise a dressing without eggs. It was highly successful and Earl has been raving about it ever since. So for all you folks out there who can't eat dressing, here is a recipe you CAN have and I guarantee you will enjoy it.

Bon appetit~!

Ingredients:

• 2 pkgs seasoned cornbread stuffing mix
• 1 pkg seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 cup margarine, in spoon size additions
• 1 large sweet onion
• 1 lg bell pepper
• 4 stalks celery
• 3/4 bag Craisins
• 2 lg seedless oranges
• 1 cup pecan pieces
• 32 oz chicken broth
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp black pepper
• 2 Tbsp rubbed sage
• 2 tsp poultry seasoning
• about 1/2 cup maple syrup

Directions:

1. Prepare diced onion, diced bell pepper, diced celery (try to cut to a similar size for even baking. Add craisins, orange cut into small pieces, and pecan bits. Sprinkle with cinnamon and stir well.

2. Season bread and cornbread crumbs with sage, pepper, cinnamon, and poultry seasoning. Stir well. Cut in butter and stir well. Add broth and ensure all is lightly moistened. ( I don't like a soggy dressing.) Make sure the seasoning is to your taste by employing the smell test, it should smell pleasantly savory. Add to buttered roasting pan.

3. Stir in fruits, nuts and veggies. Make sure to blend well. Mixture should be moist, tend to hold together in spoon as stirred, but not be soggy rather have a lightness to the mix.

4. Add in maple syrup. Stir well. Add more as necessary to achieve the binding essential to roast evenly.

5. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees until nicely browned on top and cooked through.

Serve hot. Also delicious cold as a leftover.

(My sweet Melindy started making this fruit salad when still in high school. Back then she used only the whipped cream but a few years ago began adding in the Vanilla yogurt. It gives the dish a slight "tang" that makes you keep wanting more! From the first time the family had her fruit salad, it has been the most requested dish for her to bring for Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas family meals.)

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas, sliced
• 2 apples, (small) sliced, peel on
• 1 seedless orange, sliced
• 1 cup seedless red grapes, halved
• 1 cup seedless green grapes, halved
• 1 cup Craisins
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 can drained fruit cocktail
• 1 cup pecan pieces
• 1 cup Vanilla yogurt
• 1 cup Cool Whip

Directions:

Mix fruit and cinnamon with pecans.

Fold in yogurt and Cool Whip.

Chill for a couple hours to let flavors blend.

Depending on the season, I may add in different fruits like plums, pears, fresh peaches and the like. But these are the basic "musts".