This recipe comes from the very first Thankgiving I ever cooked as a “grown-up” just after Bella was born thirteen years ago. It was in the little cabin her dad still lives in. I was there with Bella’s dad and Bella – my brother came, and my sister came with her boyfriend at the time. This is that boyfriend’s mother’s recipe and it was a real lifesaver, because none of us had ever cooked a turkey before. Thanks Terrence Stukey. The recipe is actually called “Recipe for Thanksgiving Turkey” but I’m going to share just the stuffing bit here with my own embellishments.
I remember we set the alarm for 3 am – and we all got up together to take care of this enormous turkey. It was a big group effort – like a slumber party with kids just becoming adults. It’s funny how I didn’t think of my boyfriend as “family” until I’d had a kid with him. Or that I didn’t consider myself a “grown-up” in many ways, until Bella came along…and I had to be the one making the Thanksgiving meal (and just about every meal since).
In a deep pot mix the following:
1 bag of Pepperidge Farm bread & herbs crumbs
6 cups of cut-up-in-little-squares-of-any-kind-of-white-bread (old bread if possible), otherwise any white bread will do. [I usually buy a second bag of seasoned bread cubes.] Cook two packages of sausage in a pan and chop them while cooking. When they are well-cooked, add them to the bread at the same time that you are mixing it, including the drippings.
Chop two green peppers, small or medium size, two medium size onions, five or six stalks of celery. Fry (glaze) them in a stick of butter and when this is ready, add to the pan.
[I leave out the green peppers and add two jars of fresh oysters.]
[Add two large handfuls or more of freshly roasted, shelled, and roughly chopped chestnuts.]
Add two tablespoons of poultry seasoning [never done this].
Salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.
Cook one package of chicken bouillion in 2/3 cup water and pour it into the pot. Add a cup of wine of your choice, red or white, but it has to be dry.
Beat at least four eggs, first the whites, and then the rest and mix it with the bread. The purpose of this is to bind the mixture together.
[I have always cooked my stuffing in a separate dish – and generally just shove an onion and some carrots into the turkey’s cavity.]
Cook in a covered dish for 45 minutes at 350.
I like to believe that Mrs. Stukey typed these instructions just for Terrence’s first Thanksgiving away from her. I still have the original page!
