Is your family tired of the same turkey and dressing recipes at holiday time.  Every year it is always the same food and the same recipes.  Why not change it up this year with something new?  You can still make your favorite family dressing recipe but give it a new interest by shaping the dressing into small patties and then frying them.  It will still have the same wonderful flavor of your normal dressing, but with a delicious crunchy outside. You family will think that you have created a new addition to the family tradition.

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Ingredients:

2 6-ounce packages cornbread mix
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped onion
½ cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
1 10 ¼-ounce can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
¾ cup milk
¾ cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons rubbed sage
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ cup yellow cornmeal
½ cup all purpose flour
Vegetable oil
Garnish: celery leaves

Make the cornbread by following the package directions and then set aside to cool.  Next crumble the cooled cornbread into a large mixing bowl.  Place a large skillet over medium high heat, add the butter and melt.  Next, add the celery, the onion, and the corn and cook, stirring constantly, until the vegetables are tender.  Now, stir the vegetables, the soup, the milk, the chicken broth, the rubbed sage, the salt, and the pepper into the crumbled cornbread in the mixing bowl.

To make each croquette, shape ½ cup of the cornbread mixture into a thick patty. A large ice cream scoop works well for making the croquettes uniform in size.  Combine the cornmeal and the flour together and then roll the croquettes in the flour and cornmeal mixture until they are covered evenly.  Pour the oil into a large heavy skillet until it is about ¼ inch deep and place on the stove on medium high heat.  Fry the croquettes in the hot oil until they turn a golden brown, turning only once.  Drain on a paper towel to remove the excess oil.  Serve these croquettes warm.  You can garnish with the celery leaves, if desired.

This recipe will yield 16 croquettes.