Stuffing

Stuffing has always weirded me out. I mean, what is in there? And the consistency is pretty interesting. I never understood what it was. It doesn't look pretty, and I don't understand why people think it is necessary to a Thanksgiving dinner. I think before the fateful day of Thanksgiving 2011, I had only sampled stuffing once and decided it wasn't for me. I refute all the bad thoughts I've had concerning stuffing; it CAN be good!

The first Thanksgiving we shared together as a married couple, we were unable to be with our families, but we decided to throw a big dinner together anyway. It was a great experience and helped me understand how difficult it is to time everything. You really need all hands on deck; like someone needs to be in charge of mashing the potatoes, someone needs to be carving the turkey, etc. Well, since we were going all out, I decided to give stuffing one more try. It was a success! No I didn't put it inside the turkey so maybe it wasn't authentic but it worked out great!

Disclaimer: I don't know about you, but I don't love mushy bread, so I toasted it twice. I also used slightly bigger pieces of bread because I like to know that bread is indeed a part of this dish. I know I'm weird but I think it makes all the difference.

INGREDIENTS:
15 slices white bread, lightly toasted
1 T butter
1/2 large onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 c chicken broth
1 t rubbed sage
1/2 t garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1) Allow the toasted bread to sit approximately 24 hours, until hard.

2) Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.

3) Break the bread apart and toast again, then place in a large bowl.

4) Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and celery and slowly cook until soft. Remove from heat and drain.

5) Mix the egg and chicken broth with the bread. The mixture should be moist, but not mushy. Use water, if necessary, to attain desired consistency. Mix in the onion, celery, rubbed sage, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

6) Press the mixture into the baking dish. Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until the top is brown and crisp.

Thanksgiving 2011: Chris's First Time Carving a Turkey!

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