<p>I am starting to plan Thanksgiving dinner.</p>
<p>I’ve always made the stuffing recipe from the Silver Palate (uses white, whole wheat and corn bread crumbs, plus green apples, onion, celery, pecans, and sausage).</p>
<p>My kids do not like this stuffing – they don’t like sausage, and the pecans may also be an issue.</p>
<p>Any alternative suggestions out there? Something that a kid with an unadventuresome palate is sure to like, but isn’t the boxed stuff?</p>
<p>this is a basic recipe without nuts or sausage.
( I like oyster myself)
[Classic</a> Bread Stuffing With Sage And Thyme Recipe](<a href=“http://www.foodreference.com/html/classic-bsst-807.html]Classic”>Classic Bread Stuffing With Sage And Thyme Recipe)</p>
<p>Interesting about the eggs – not sure I’ve had stuffing with eggs before…</p>
<p>I use the Southern Living cornbread dressing recipe every year and like it a lot. You can play around with sausage, oysters, etc. if you feel like being adventurous. This is a moister dish than most dressings, more similar to “in the bird” stuffing texture and moistness. </p>
<p>[Cornbread</a> Dressing Recipe - Vegetables - MyRecipes.com](<a href=“http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=366635]Cornbread”>http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=366635)</p>
<p>Too much disagreement in the house about the joys of sausage, oyster, or fruit laced stuffings for the T bird, so I just stick to the basics… packaged Pep Farm or Arnolds, fresh celery, onions, mushrooms, giblets, all chopped very finely. Heavy on the Bell’s,and plenty of butter when I sweat the chopped goods. Depending solely on my mood, I’ll add a box or two of prepackaged wild rice mix and seasoning pack, and maybe an envelope of a high quality onion soup mix.</p>
<p>Stuffing of course goes in the bird, in cavaties most ornothologists didn’t know exist. </p>
<p>Simple, effective, pleases most palates and there is never enough.</p>
<p>Personally, I love a good sausage stuffing.</p>
<p>We grew up in the South and were accustomed to cornbread dressing. The first year my sister was married (to a non-southerner) our mom was at her house for TG. Sis began to panic, afraid that her husband might not like c.b. dressing and that’s all she knew how to make. Mom reassured her, “Don’t you worry, I can make him some of that old gummy Yankee dressing.” Thirty years later, that’s still a great family story!!</p>
<p>I love stuffing - it’s about my favorite part of the meal. The classic recipe listed above is pretty close to what I’ve been doing for many years - though I don’t include any eggs and usually use dried spices. Not necessarily all of those listed. I also use a combination of the dried, packaged bread crumbs and stale breads I collect from the household the few weeks before T-Day. I’m the only family member that stuffs the bird! My sis and I are probably going to have a tussle over that at her house this year…</p>
<p>A number of years ago I started using a Martha Steward turkey basting method that uses most of a bottle of white wine and lots of butter. My family gives me good natured grief but never complains about the outcome.</p>
<p>White Pepperidge Farm bread, allowed to go stale overnight. Cubed
chopped onions and celery softened in lots of unsalted butter.
Add chopped apple, chopped parsley, and dried cherries. (I like pecans, but they can be omitted)
Salt, Pepper, Thyme, Sage
Add bread and maybe some madeira to moisten.</p>
<p>Even though I generally don’t like to cook, turkey with stuffing is one of my fail safe meals. I got this stuffing recipe from my mom, and I have been using it for nearly 30 years. It has no meat, but it is very tasty, and does not use too much fat in the recipe.</p>
<p>Take a loaf of white bread and toast the slices. A large loaf for a larger turkey and small for a small one. You can do a separate side of stuffing if it doesn’t all fit in the bird. Cut the bread into cubes.</p>
<p>Saute in olive oil chopped onion and celery until soft, but not overly browned. (This will not require a ton of oil, but a couple of tablespoons, save the calories.) I use one large onion and three or four large stalks of celery per small loaf of bread. </p>
<p>Mix a bouillon cube or packet with a cup of hot water. I really like a seasoning called G. Washingtons Rich Brown Seasoning and broth. It is not available all over the country so, use something that is available in your area.</p>
<p>Now, mix the bread, vegetables, and bouillon. Then I beat an egg or two (yes mom used eggs too), and mix that in. If it needs more water, add it a little at a time. The consistency should be firmish, but not dry. </p>
<p>Then I grate in an apple. I like the cooking apples that are somewhat tart.</p>
<p>You can then stuff it. My mom had one additional step that I am too lazy for. She would put the stuffing mix into a large frying pan and cook it a little. I don’t have any idea what this does, but I recently saw a cooking show where they did the same thing. I did not catch the explanation. I think it is ok if you just stuff without this.</p>
<p>I baste the bird with orange juice. It mixes well with the natural bird juices, which incidentally are why I think you can get away without a lot of fat in the stuffing.</p>
<p>I cheat and use the Pepperidge Farm for my base …cook in in chicken broth. Saute onion, fresh sage and sausage in butter.
My family loves it and they do not variations.
Last year, I watched a lot of the Foodnetwork Channel’s Thanksgiving shows. I normally enjoy Paula Dean, even though she is a little heavy handed with the fat. I thought her stuffing was the worst looking mess I have ever seen.
There was an show from Sandra Lee ( I think that is her name ) She is the semi-home made lady. Her turkey looked good, from what I recall. I think I tied my own variation on a turkey breast last winter.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday !</p>
<p>My kids will only eat stuffing with tons of sauteed onions in butter then mixed in with day old bread, salt and pepper.</p>
<p>Adults like sauteed with onions chicken sausage and finely diced apple.</p>
<p>The recipe in #4 is roughly what my family makes every year, with addition of minced mushrooms to the vegetables. The Pepperidge Farm cornbread crumbs are almost as good as homemade cornbread if you want to save yourself a few steps.</p>
<p>My kids are picky as is husband. 2 of the 3 kids won’t even eat stuffing.Pepperidge farm with butter, sauted onions and celery and chicken broth. Plain and boring but that is what they like. Have tried to get more creative but it is more work and they don’t especially like it. They also prefer it from the turkey.</p>
<p>I add a can of cream of mushroom soup (that was mom’s thing) and chop up water chestnuts. A little crunch, but they don’t alter the taste.</p>
<p>I actually love my stuffing. I buy the cubed stuffing (herb flavored) from Pepperidge Farm and follow the recipe (for the butter, and broth parts…I use chicken broth). Then I add a diced apple, a diced pear, chopped onion and raisins. Mix it all up. Put as much as you can inside the bird and cook the rest in a casserole. It’s quite tasty and everyone in my family likes it. The apple actually stays pretty solid…the pear sort of melts into the stuffing.</p>
<p>Here’s a great email message that my mom sent me this week.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I love email from my mom. :)</p>
<p>^^^ LOL - I love it!</p>
<p>I use PF herb stuffing - lots of butter, onion, chicken broth, sausage, apples and mushrooms. My guys hate celery. Tried fancier recipes in the past and they bombed.<br>
I read nasty stuff about putting it in the bird - so I leave it out. No problem.
Gravy is the hardest part but I think I finally got it.</p>
<p>my aunt used, glutinous sweet rice, dates, water chestnuts, italian chestnuts, ****ake mushrooms, peanuts, ginko nuts, onions, and the sink.</p>
<p>toneranger–I don’t mean to hijack a stuffing thread with gravy talk, but have you ever tried making your gravy ahead of time? It’s always such a scramble trying to get everything on the table at the same time, that for the past several years I’ve made my gravy earlier in the week with roasted turkey wings and legs. It comes out great! There are lots of variations on recipezaar, cdkitchen, allrecipes, etc.</p>
<p>Midwestmom - I sent the chicken/popcorn recipe to my daughter.</p>
<p>Hmm - I wonder if i should send her another email telling her not to actually try it :eek:</p>