Welcome to #CranberryWeek, hosted by Caroline’s Cooking and A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures. We’ll be sharing cranberry-inspired creations all week long in celebration of national cranberry day. You can search #CranberryWeek to keep up to date and follow the #CranberryWeek Pinterest board for more cranberry inspiration.

I was really excited when I discovered #CranberryWeek was going to be a blogging event this year. I hope it’s one that will become an annual thing as I simply adore cranberries!

I’ll be posting each day this week and offering a variety of courses. Yesterday, I shared a dessert that is guarenteed to please your holiday guests. Today I’ve got a wonderful side dish to cranberrify your dressing/stuffing.

I’m sharing this cranberry cornbread dressing today becuase should you choose to serve it on Thursday you’ve got to get your ingredients today! The cornbread needs to be baked at least a day in advance, and there’s a loaf of white bread that needs to go stale.

There are a fair amount of moving parts in this dressing, but just about all of them can be prepped ahead of time, making your turkey day workload lighter.

• Pecans can be toasted and chopped ahead of time (or purchased that way if you can find them)
• Celery and onion cut in advance, even cooked early on, too!
• Cornbread and white bread cubed up early

If you get all that prep done, all you need to do is mix everything together and pop it in the oven (or stuff it in your bird). This recipe makes enought for two large casserole dishes – so if you’re stuffing the turkey, you’d have to have a huge cavity! Any extra dressing/stuffing could be baked and frozen for a taste of Thanksgiving another time of the year.

When I made this recipe, I had all intentions to freeze one of the casseroles for Thanksgiving enjoyment. But… my post-1 year-doctor’s-visit child was needing my attention. As I picked him up and turned to stir the veggies at the stove, he reached out and knocked one of the bowls of bread to the ground! The bright side was that I hadn’t added the egg or stock to it, so the mess wasn’t too difficult to clean.

We loved this dressing recipe and I’m remaking it and serving it today at my husband’s office Thanksgiving party.

Cranberry Cornbread Dressing

Ingredients:

• 2 C pecans, chopped
• 1/2 stick butter
• 3 onions, chopped
• 6 stalks celery, diced
• 1 9″ skillet cornbread (day old), cubed
• 1 loaf white bread (stale), cubed
• 2 C dried cranberries
• 1 bunch parsley, chopped
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp Kosher salt
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 2 – 3 eggs, beaten
• 4 C chicken stock

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread pecans on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast for 10 minutes. Set aside.
2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion and celery, until tender.
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
4. In a very large bowl (or two) toss cornbread, white bread, toasted pecans, cranberries, parsley, oregano, S+P. Add eggs – amount of eggs needed will depend on the moisture level of the bread – and chicken stock.
5. Transfer dressing to two large greased casserole dishes. Bake, covered, 35 minutes. Bake, uncovered, 20 minutes.

*This recipe is modified from Martha Stewart at http://www.marthastewart.com/317663/cranberry-cornbread-stuffing*

Be sure to check out all the other cranberry recipes being shared today:

Baked Pork Chops with Cranberry Thyme Sauce from Hostess At Heart

Cranberry Caipirinha from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures

Cranberry Chicken Thokku from Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Cranberry Cornbread Dressing from Sew You Think You Can Cook

Cranberry Cornbread Stuffing from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings

Cranberry Oatmeal Sourdough Muffins from Cooking With Carlee

Cranberry-Sage Breakfast Sausage from Palatable Pastime

Jaegerschnitzel with Cranberry-Raspberry Sauce from Caroline’s Cooking

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks