Stuffing for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving -- the word portrays visions of family gathered together around an overloaded table of delicious food. The blended aromas of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, homemade bread, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie are wafting on the air. The house is warm and full of light hearted conversation and laughter. A beautiful picture of contentment. We have so much for which we should be thankful.

A lot of time and money can be spent purchasing and preparing food for a Thanksgiving celebration. Today I want to focus on an important part of our Thanksgiving meal -- stuffing. Box stuffing can be purchased in the store. But, many people associate Thanksgiving with homemade dressing.

To make homemade stuffing the bread needs to be somewhat dried. To accomplish this step -- cut the bread in 1 inch cubes at least a day before you make the stuffing. After the bread is cubed lay it on cookie sheets to dry.

Stuffing for Thanksgiving

12 cups of dried bread cubes
2 medium onions, chopped
4 stalks of celery, chopped
¾ cup butter
2 eggs
2-14 ½ oz. cans of chicken broth
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 tsp. Lawry's seasoning salt
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp. sage
1 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. thyme
½ tsp. garlic powder

Finely chop the onions and celery. Then, sauté in the butter until they are soft. Allow this mixture to cool for 15 minutes.

In a large bowl beat eggs, whisk in mushroom soup, then add chicken broth, seasonings and cooled vegetable mixture.

Next, add the dried bread cubes to the liquid and vegetable mixture. Toss the ingredients and allow the mixture to stand five minutes. Gently toss the stuffing mixture again. Then, place mixture in a large roaster that has been greased.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and bake stuffing for 1 ½ hours. Bake loosely covered with foil for the first hour, then remove foil and bake uncovered for the last ½ hour. Stuffing is done when it starts getting brown around the edges.

Note: Instead of purchasing two cans of chicken broth you can substitute an equal amount of broth from your turkey (if it is baked prior to mixing the stuffing).