I Did It!

Last year, I posted about the possibility of preparing the dressing (stuffing) for our Christmas dinner. With everything that happened last year with my mom, we didn't end up having Christmas dinner and therefore, I didn't make any dressing. Well, this year my mom made Christmas dinner! And I made the dressing. And it turned out pretty darn good! I was happy with the outcome. My grandmother's husband (who is very critical of his food) complimented me on it, so I knew I had done well! Yay!Not that anyone really cares or wants the recipe (I read both my grandmother's recipe and my great aunt's recipe, which are similar, and combined the two together for MY recipe), but I am going to post it here, mostly for my own record. This way, I know I have it written down somewhere and next year if I am asked to prepare it again, I will be able to recall what I did.

1 regular size loaf of bread, laid out about a week in advance to dry

1 stick butter

1 lb. pork sausage

giblets from the turkey (already cooked liver, gizzard, heart, and meat from neck bone)

1 large can pet milk (only used about 3/4 of this)

2 eggs

2 medium onions

2 apples

3 small potatoes

6 full stalks celery

1 can beef broth

salt and pepper to taste

Brown pork sausage in about 1/3 of the stick of butter. Chop (I used my Pampered Chef chopper for all the necessary chopping) giblets and neck meat and add to pork sausage once it is browned. Chop onions, apples, potatoes, and celery and add to pan. Do not drain any of the grease/liquid from the pan. Salt and pepper the mixture and allow it to simmer on low for about 15 minutes.

Wet the dried bread with warm water. Squeeze out excess water and put bread in a large baking pan. Mix eggs with 3/4 of the pet milk and pour this mixture over the bread. Also, melt the remaining part of the stick of butter and pour it over the bread. Salt and pepper this and then stir to combine. Once the meat/veggie mixture has simmered, add this to the bread mixture. Mix everything together well. I then transferred it to a bit smaller baking pan to bake.

Bake at 325-350 for 1-2 hours depending on your liking. Stir about every 15-20 minutes while baking and if necessary (to keep from drying out), add a little beef broth each time you stir.

On another note, I posted a different recipe today over at St. Louis Recipe Swap.

We went to the movies tonight after Christmas at my parents' house and saw "Marley and Me." I haven't cried like that in awhile. That's all I'll say. B1 was crying too, and I don't think I've ever seen her cry in a movie. I do like this new tradition though. Once again, it was amazing how many people were in the theater!