Back to Normal? Turkey Stuffing at Last!

I said in my last post, I wanted to get my life back to normal.  Silly me.  I forgot.  There is no NORMAL!  I apologize for being away for so long.  After returning from Colorado and getting caught up on cooking, shopping (there was NO food, all perishables were ruined in the storm) and school work, I was attacked by a recurring health problem.  Not too serious, just very annoying.  Since then, my mom has been hospitalized for a fall.  Nothing broken, but now breathing problems have started.  Never a dull moment. 

I need to take a little time just to be me,  and part of me is writing this blog.  So I am back!  Since Thanksgiving is just days away, I thought I would give you some family recipes for Thanksgiving favorites.  Starting with my grandmother's turkey stuffing.  This of course comes with a story, so here goes.

There are probably as many recipes for turkey stuffing (or do you call it dressing?) as there are people who eat turkey.  I have a friend who tries a different recipe every year, and I envy her.  Sometimes I would like to try cornbread, oyster or chestnut stuffing.  But in my family we only eat Grandma's stuffing.  It's almost against the law to eat anything else! Everyone in my family makes the same stuffing, aunts, cousins, nieces.  It is so delicious, I often eat it as a meal in the days that follow Thanksgiving.  And we ALWAYS make extra so we can do this!  Years like this one, where I am not eating at home, I will still make stuffing so I can have leftovers. 

My grandmother came to this country as a child in the late 1800's.  She wanted very much to assimilate into the culture here.  She wanted to be American.  But old traditions die hard, and when she cooked Thanksgiving dinner there was a definite Italian flare to it.  We always had soup, pasta, roasted white and sweet potatoes,  stuffed artichokes, stuffed mushrooms and a variety of vegetables including carrots cooked with mushrooms and a little tomato sauce.  We still make this every year, but only on Thanksgiving.  Now for the stuffing.  She made her stuffing with what she knew best--Italian sausage and Parmesan cheese.  This is one of the recipes I found in my daughter's recipe book last week, complete with measurements.  I still have the original recipe my mother wrote down for me over 45 years ago, on a tattered piece of paper, but alas, no measurements!  Here goes!

GRANDMA CRUDELE'S TURKEY STUFFING

1 lb. Italian Sausage

1 T olive oil

1 large onion chopped

1/2 lb. mushrooms sliced

9 slices of day old bread

5 eggs-beaten

2/3 cup of Parmesan cheese

1/8 cup minced fresh parsley or 2 T dried

salt and pepper

Remove sausage from casing, crumble and sauté with mushrooms and onion until the meat is thoroughly cooked-about 20 minutes.  While the meat and vegetables are cooking, soak the bread in water until thoroughly soaked through.  Squeeze all the water from the bread and add the eggs, cheese and parsley.  Cool the meat and vegetables slightly and add to egg, bread and cheese mixture.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  This is an important step as all the flavors develop.  DO NOT STUFF THE TURKEY THE NIGHT BEFORE.  This breeds bacteria.  I cook my stuffing in a pan in the oven along with the turkey, but you can stuff the turkey just before you put it into the oven.  If you cook separately in the oven it will take about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes, depending on how dry you like it.  If it starts to get too brown, cover with foil for the last part of the cooking.  Another hint:  Some years we have been very short of oven space and we have cooked the  stuffing in the crock pot.  It works well.  Cook for about six hours on low.  Cook on high if you would like a drier stuffing.  Enjoy. 

I will try to get a few more recipes posted before the holiday.  I just want to take the opportunity to wish you all a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving.  We all have so very much to be thankful for
this year in spite of all the tragedy around us.  Take time to be thankful for your loved ones, they are what life is really all about.  God Bless!