Texanized Traditional Holiday Fare: Tamale Dressing and More

We've all heard the stories of the holiday recipes that Moses Austin brought down from Mount Bonnell on a stone tablet and the tales of the great-grannies of yore and their immaculate dressings that could never be perfected by future generations, recipes more magical and elusive than the one for Dr. Pepper, the holy elixir of Texas.

Well, I hate to break it to all of those sweet Memaws, Mimis, Omas, and Gigis, but my dear brother, Jason, the chief cook of this year's Thanksgiving extravaganza, made the finest dressing I have eaten in all of my more than two score years of existence.

"How did you do it?" I asked him.

"I got the recipe from the Homesick Texan," he said.

Yes, my dear brother riffed on a recipe by Lisa Fain, a talented Texas food blogger based out of New York City. Although I was familiar with her blog before eating my brother's tamale dressing, I have never shared a link to her blog on mine. One thing I really like about the Homesick Texan's blog is that Lisa Fain does a great job of politely explaining Texas food culture to folks who may not be familiar with it. Here is a link to the Homesick Texan's sensational tamale dressing recipe in the event that you would like to try it for Christmas:

http://www.homesicktexan.com/2011/11/tamale-cornbread-dressing.html

And here is a picture of the Thanksgiving chef in all of his glory.

In a future blog post, I will share my personal cranberry salsa recipe, which goes great with turkey, dressing, and all of the fixings.