Cranberry Apple Cornbread Stuffing

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a dining room table!  We also have an amazing cornbread, cranberry and apple stuffing that was definitely worthy of the inaugural meal at our new table.

One of the most exciting things about moving into a house with more space was the prospect of comfortably hosting dinner parties with friends and family.  I am not going to say that we ever let a small house stop us from cramming our previous home in the name of a good party, but I anxiously awaited the day to seat friends and family around a large dinner table for a comfy and tasty meal.

As we unpacked our boxes and started to get the lay of our new land, Allen decided that he wanted to build our dining room table.  I instantly agreed and immediately began to romanticize how this table would hold and cherish our family history.  Our friends and family would gather around this table to share amazing food, beautiful stories, and endless laughter for holidays, birthdays, dinner parties, sleepovers, and more for years and years to come.   This table that would proudly be passed down from generation to generation.

I could not wait to get started…. I should clarify…. I could not wait for Allen to get started!

While Allen’s dad has some experience woodworking, this would be Allen’s first project.  We eagerly designed a table for our new dining room, to seat as many people as possible within our space.  Our final design was 8 feet by 4 feet.  I think it is safe to say that both Allen and I *may* have underestimated the scale of this project!

I can take no credit for the actual construction of the table, but I am happy to report that after 5 months, countless hours, and many lessons learned, the table is complete!  Not only is the table complete, but it is fabulous!

The inaugural dinner at our new table was also amazing!  We hosted our Supper Club and each course was impressively delicious.  We prepared the main course, and I instantly fell in love with this cranberry, apple and cornbread stuffing.  Both savory and sweet this stuffing would pair fantastically with poultry or pork.  It is perfect for the holidays or as part of a warm and hearty winter meal!

CRANBERRY, APPLE & CORNBREAD STUFFING
Serves 12-15

INGREDIENTS:
16 cups cubed cornbread
1 lb pork sausage
4 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 cups diced celery (5 ribs)
2 cups diced onion (2 medium onions)
1 ½ cups diced carrots (2 large carrots)
2 Tbsp finely chopped sage
1 Tbsp finely chopped thyme
1 Tbsp finely chopped rosemary
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
5  cups diced Granny Smith apples, peel on (5 medium apples)
2-3 cups chicken broth

PREP:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Cube cornbread and set aside.

In a large pan, over medium high heat, brown the sausage.  Remove the cooked sausage with a slotted spoon and place on a plate with a paper towel to drain some of the excess grease.

Once the sausage is removed, add the butter to the remaining drippings in the pan.  Once the butter is melted, add the onions, celery, carrots, herbs, salt and pepper.  Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 10-15 minutes.  Then add the chopped apples and cranberries and cook until the apples begin to soften slightly, about 5-10 minutes.

In a large bowl (I had to use my roasting pan), combine the cubed bread crumbs, sausage, and vegetable/apple mixture.

Slowly drizzle the chicken stock over the stuffing to moisten.  Continue to stir and drizzle until the entire mixture is moist, but not soggy.

Spoon the stuffing into a baking dish.  Bake covered for 30 minutes; uncover and bake for an additional 20-30 minutes.

Confession of a *wannabe* foodie… I had every intention of baking the cornbread to use in this stuffing.  As I passed the bakery section of my local grocery store and caught 2 packages of pre-made cornbread staring at me longingly from the shelf, I decided the shortcut would probably be worth it and tossed them in the cart.  Totally worth it.

Elmo Birthday Party Fun

I frequently lust after the parties I see on some of my favorite party planning blogs, like Hostess with the Mostess and Pizzazzerie.  The parties are amazing, the details are creative, the photos are beautiful, and the people appear to be having the time of their lives.  While I would love to host parties that are featured in blogs and magazines, I consistently run into a few “minor” details… such as budget and available free time.

While I enjoy planning parties, making decorations, and baking cakes, these are just a few hobbies that compete for my ever dwindling free time and funds.  I am on a mission to create the perfect party plan that maximizes a few quality decorations, stays within a reasonable budget, and sets the stage for fabulous fun!

As I continue on my quest for the ultimate party plan, here are a few components that will definitely make future party plans:

Elmo Birthday Dress

Dress: I found this fabulous black and white Elmo chevron dress, by Valentina’s Place, on Etsy.  I loved the look of the black and white chevron contrasting with red Elmo and used this look throughout the invitation and party decorations.

Invitation: I would love to learn to play with Photoshop or Illustrator to create fantastic invitations and amp up my party decorations, but I am definitely not ready to commit to another hobby!  I created a  simple Elmo birthday invitation by layering and filling different shapes in Microsoft Word.  If you are not familiar with this process, Just a Girl and Her Blog has a great simple tutorial on making labels that outlines this process.

Elmo Birthday Banner

Decorations: It was exciting to host our first party in our new house!  I am still trying to figure out the best way to decorate our new space, so I stuck with the standard birthday banner, centerpieces and balloons.   I used my Silhouette Cameo to create the party decorations and used the trace function of the Silhouette Studio software to create an Elmo design.

Elmo Birthday Centerpiece

I used the cake as a decoration, as well as the photo props and favor bags (which I completely forgot to handout).  I also created a table with Elmo coloring pages and crayons, which looked festive and provided a fun activity for the kids (okay, really all the guests).

Cake: I wanted to stick with the red, white and black Elmo theme for the cake.  I am learning to simplify my cake designs and used the same Elmo cutout to create a stencil for my fondant.   While I would have loved to make the backdrop of this cake black and white chevron, I decided to simplify with the black dots.   I also simplified by using a paper “Samantha” sign to top the cake, instead of creating a sign out of gum paste.

Elmo Birthday Cake

Photo Props: After I finished the birthday banner and the centerpieces, I discovered extra cutouts and extra paper, so I thought it would be fun to create some photo props.  Turns out the photo props were a fantastic idea – Samantha, in particular, loved the props!  We used an empty wall to capture great photos of our friends and family.  The photo props will definitely now be on the list for all future party plans.

Elmo Photo Props

Confession of a *wannabe* party planner… I created my own pin the nose on Elmo game and fun make-your-own-Elmo-ornament favor bags… both of which I completely forgot the day of the party!  D’oh.

 
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Dr. Seuss Cake

My daughter is rapidly approaching 2.  Seriously 23 months and some change.  Didn’t we just perfect the ultimate swaddle, conquer the squeakless door close, and master the art of stacking milk in the freezer?  Our routines change so quickly with this bundle of energy, it is tough to comprehend that we are already building choo-choos with blocks, whisking pancake batter, and talking about friends at school (okay, maybe just repeating their names at home).  I realize this is not a new phenomenon and time flies for everyone… I just wish it were a little more selective to the Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 5:00 time-frame!

1. I have a daughter (this is still sinking in).
2. She will seriously be 2 in a mere number of days.
3. We celebrated, we celebrate, we will celebrate!

Oh, The Places You'll Go Door Sign

I love to decorate cakes, plan parties, and am always up for a good celebration  no matter how big or small… we celebrate Pi day.   I have to admit, however, that I was totally overwhelmed at the prospect of planning my own daughter’s first birthday party!  How would I ever pick and finalize a theme?  How would I decorate her cake?  I checked all my usual sources for inspiration: Pinterest, Hostess with the Mostess, Pizzazzerie, etc., and despite all the amazing party plans, I wasn’t convinced.

I am a sucker for inspiration.  I am a sucker for independence.  I wasn’t ready to let go of little Sammie’s nursery theme, so we stuck with, “Oh the Places She’ll Go!”

Invitation: We found an adorable invitation  in the Meghily’s Printables Etsy Store.

Decorations: I played with my Silhouette SD and found great hot air balloon shapes by SnapDragon Snippets in the Silhouette Studio. I selected several different shades of Bazzil cardstock to use for all my decorations  and outlined the cutouts with a black marker to give it more Dr. Seuss sass.   I downloaded the Doctor Soos font, for free, from dafont.com.   I created  a banner for the fireplace, hot air balloon bunting for the entryway, a door sign (re-purposing an old frame), and fun photos from Samantha’s first year hanging from helium balloons.

Dr. Seuss Cake

Cake: I had some serious trouble coming up with an idea for this cake that I felt I could actually execute!  I decided to use gum paste, fondant, and edible markers to re-create scenes from “Oh the Places You’ll Go.”  I loved the effect of the edible markers on the dried gumpaste.  I did learn that you have to wait for the gumpaste to dry completely before using the edible markers, or the colors may bleed!

First Year Photo Collage

Photo Collage: We spent the year taking monthly black and white photos of Samantha on a plain desk calendar.  We happened to have some extra wall space and found matching extra frames… all the night before her party.  With the assistance of a little Urban Chestnut, we put together this photo collage in no time.. we (the beer) *may* have miscounted our photo-to-frame-ratio… which explains the somewhat random monogram in the fourth frame!  D’oh.
Up next… la la la la… la la la la… Elmo’s World!  Let the celebration continue!

Confession of a *wannabe* party planner…
I wish I could ditch the 8:30 – 5:00 job and execute party plans everyday!

Happy 1st Birthday Samantha!