Wild Rice Dressing

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha Statue
 (CNS Photo) 

Yesterday I mentioned the diocesan celebration this coming Sunday, hosted by St. Kathryn Parish in Ogilvie, Minnesota, to commemorate Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha’s canonization in Rome that day. After the Mass, those who attend will be invited to a freewill offering dinner including roasted turkey, wild rice dressing, baked squash, homemade corn relish, cranberries and desserts — blueberry and pumpkin pies and bars.

St. Kathryn parishioner Lois Ripka is coordinating the feast. “We’ve chosen foods that we think Native Americans would have eaten,” Lois said. “We’re expecting to feed around 200 people — it is a little mind boggling because we don’t really have any idea how many people will attend the event.

“Another woman in our parish has volunteered to roast 20 turkeys,” she continued. “We’ll make 20 recipes of the wild rice dressing from the diocese’s Centennial Cookbook, three big roasters of squash, homemade corn relish from this summer’s crop of corn-on-the-cob, and at least 10 pies. Most of the food will be made at the church but some volunteers will also bake pans of bars at home. Six women from our sister parish, St. Mary’s in Mora, have volunteered to help our committee by serving the tables.”

Lois said that the Centennial Cookbook is one of her favorites. This wild rice dressing recipe, submitted by Edie Flahave of Royalton, Minnesota, has seen the test of time. “I probably got this recipe about 1974 from Clara Rooney, a longtime resident of Royalton,” Edie recalled. “It’s quite an attractive dish — very pretty. I served it quite often with duck when my husband did more hunting.” CJK

Wild Rice Dressing

(Edie Flahave)

1/2 cup wild rice, prepared

1/2 cup white rice, prepared

 1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup diced onions

1 cup diced celery

1 cup diced mushrooms

1 cup hot water

1 (8 oz.) pkg. herb stuffing mix

1 (2 oz.) jar pimentos, drained

1/2 cup chopped parsley

Cook wild rice and white rice separately.

Melt butter. Saute onions, celery and mushrooms in the butter for about two minutes. Stir in the hot water and stuffing mix. Add the pimentos, parsley and the hot, cooked wild and white rice and combine all ingredients together.

Bake dressing in a greased casserole at 350°F for 30 to 45 minutes. (The original recipe suggests stuffing fowl with the dressing or baking it to serve with fowl.)

A note from Carol: The Centennial Cookbook was published in 1989, commemorating the diocese’s 100th anniversary. It is no longer available for purchase.

Lois (Voss) and her husband, John, are longtime parishioners of St. Kathryn’s. She’s originally from Ogilvie and he hails from Mora. They are parents to six adult children, grandparents to 15 and great-grandparents of two.

Edith Ann (Petron), who has gone by Edie since she was a child, was baptized, confirmed and married in Holy Trinity Church in Royalton. She and her husband, Bob, also a member there, have two adult children and five grandchildren.