“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.”
― Oscar Wilde, A Woman of No Importance

I’m one of those guys who likes to leave Halloween and ease into Christmas. Are you aware that there is a holiday in between? Despite the Christmas decorations being sold at Wally World a week after the Independence Day celebration there is Thanksgiving to celebrate. Family, friends, football games and glorious food…and a turkey induced nap in the afternoon.

It is never too early to plan for the Thanksgiving feast. For some reason I was triggered…might have been a Butterball turkey advertisement or just the pig trails my mind wanders down.

In a time warp long, long ago, I sat down with my first set of in-laws for the traditional Thanksgiving feast. I would later have two different sets of in-laws before I finally got matrimony right, but this pig trail isn’t about in-laws or ex-wives; it is about oyster dressing…and a little forgiveness.

Oyster dressing. I had never had it before that fateful day…not unusual for me, I didn’t eat my first pizza until my freshman year in college and really didn’t understand the bounty I was receiving until the pizza arrived in front of me. I was truly “country come to town.” I continue to eat dishes I hadn’t heard of in the late Sixties…and a lot of them still resembles pizza.

To my sorrow and loss, I haven’t eaten oyster dressing since my first set of in-laws turned in to my first set of ex in-laws…ex-laws?

I intend to change this fact myself this year but have a quandary since my ex-mother-in-law is no longer in the land of the living. Which recipe?

Ruby isn’t around having gone to that great kitchen in the sky a couple of decades ago, and I’m not going to contact my first ex-wife, the red-headed one, to find out what the recipe was. She was not the stereotypical redhead, but I will take no chances.

What a conversation I’m having in my head with one of the many voices residing there:

“Hey, Dianne. Longtime no…see.

“Yeah, I know, I’m the scum of the earth but I do hope you are doing well.”

“Well, that’s a bit harsh.”

“Uh, I need a favor. I need Ruby’s oyster dressing recipe. Can you oblige me?”

“When hell freezes over, you say?”

No, I don’t think I’ll be making that phone call.

Instead of making the phone call from hell, I have perused many recipes online but none of them seem quite right…and stuffing ain’t dressin’! I think I’m going to have to combine certain parts of certain recipes into one. I thought I had found one, but it uses tarragon instead of sage. Who uses tarragon instead of sage in their cornbread dressing? Blasphemy to the angelic hands of my Southern foremothers…or is it heresy?

So, I require suggestions or maybe some gentle criticism. This to be a pretty simple recipe for a pretty simple process, I think. In the back of my head, I hear my grandmother’s voice saying, “It’s not about the process Boy, it is about the outcome.” I also hear her saying, “Nothing is ever as simple as it looks.”

Ingredients

8 cups crumbled cornbread. I will make my own the day before…or rather Linda will, and it will be made in a cast iron skillet.

1/2 teaspoon each, Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.

3 1/2 cups chicken stock

6 large eggs

1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley, this I’m not sure of.

One large yellow onion, chopped.

4 stalks of celery, chopped.

5 cloves of garlic chopped.

1 teaspoon of dried sage, I might stub my toe and put in a little more, but I like sagey, sage dressing.

1 pint of small oysters and their juices.

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9- by 13-inch baking dish.

In a large cast-iron skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. (I might cheat and use a little bacon grease with the butter.)  When the butter is foamy, add the onion and celery, and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes.

Stir in the garlic and cook until aromatic, about 1 minute. Stir in the crumbled cornbread and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, then remove from the heat.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs until smooth. Whisk in the chicken stock, parsley, and sage. (I’m still not sure about the parsley.) Stir in the cornbread mixture and the oysters. Pour the dressing mixture into the prepared baking dish and bake until dressing is set and golden brown, about 1 hour. (Alternatively, cover the mixture and refrigerate overnight before baking. Cornbread will soak up more goodness.) Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

***

Ruby, I’m gonna make this in your honor. You were a good mother-in-law…better than I was a husband to your daughter. Please forgive me. Uh, you wouldn’t want to come to me in a dream maybe and let me in on your recipe? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

Don’s author’s page is at https://www.amazon.com/stores/Don-Miller/author/B018IT38GM?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true