HIIIII. um I can't believe that it's almost THURSDAY and I get to eat my mom's stuffing!! her stuffing recipe really is the best. every time I have someone else's I just wish I were having hers.
which is why I'm sharing it with you today!! you know you love me <3
let's get this out of the way: she uses a stuffing mix as her base. DON'T SHUN ME. it seriously is SO good. she adds a few ingredients that just take it to a different level.
do we call this semi-homemade?
I don't care. I call it delicious.
wanna know a fun fact? I used to HATE stuffing. can you believe it?
I know I know. I basically live off of bread so HOWWW could I hate it so much?
I think it was a texture thing. I don't really know. I hate when things get soggy so I think I was just turned off by the whole ordeal.
my mom makes hers in the bird, but for fun's sake I made it in a dutch oven and it's so freaking good. and easy.
but it also gets CRISPY on the sides which takes it to a different level and fixes a lot of my qualms about texture.
okay SO. she makes her stuffing withhhhh apples and sausage and celery and onions and… APPLE JUICE instead of water. I think that's the secret. I LOVE apple juice. I always have. it just lends a fruity flavor to the stuffing. I'm 100% a fan.
so really quick here's what you do: brown the sausage, cook the onions/celery in the sausage grease, mix it all together with the diced apple and stuffing mix, pour hot apple juice with a little butter over the base, mix, and bake.
DONE.
k now we can talk about how excited I am to go home.
you guys. I've been missing home something FIERCE.
I've missed my mom and my dad and my brother. I think I've just missed the people who know me down to the core.
I firmly believe that going home is like a reset. it's like it brings you back to reality.
I've been so stressed about work and so excited about the engagement and now I'm so worried about getting everything planned that I'm just burnt out.
I need the familiar scent of my grandma's house. I need to run along the reservoir. I need a slice of famous pizza (even though I said I didn't want to get any because… um I'm going to have to fit into a wedding dress soon). I need my mom. I need to watch her make gravy and cross my fingers that the blender will explode again like it did one year and we laughed (she cried from burns, but we laughed). I need my friends. I need wine. I REALLY need to curl up with a plate of turkey and watch Christmas movies.
I need to be brought back to the ground.
and this is my favorite time of year to go home. I love my hometown so much at this time of year.
most importantly…. I NEED to steal all of my mom's recipes for Christmas cookies.
and maybe make a batch?
- 1 jimmy dean sausage roll
- 2 apples
- 1 medium onion
- 3 celery stalks
- 4 cups of stovetop stuffing mix
- 1 cup apple juice (i used snapple apple!)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Rinse and dice the celery. Peel and dice the onion and apple.
- Add the sausage to a dutch oven and heat over medium. Using a wooden spoon, break up the sausage and sauté until cooked through. Remove the sausage from the dutch oven, leaving the grease in the pan.
- Add in the onion an celery and sauté it in the sausage grease until transparent.
- Remove from heat and mix the sausage, apples, and stuffing mix back into the dutch oven with the celery and onion.
- Bring the apple juice and butter to a boil in a small saucepan. Pour the apple juice over the mixture and stir until combined.
- Cover the dutch oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.
but above all else, I NEED a thanksgiving sandwich. my way: roll + turkey + stuffing + cranberry sauce + gravy. YES.
Make it? Lemme see it! Hashtag it: #thepikeplacekitchen
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