Stuffing in July

When I think of Stuffing, I feel I need to also think about those things I am most thankful for. . .

• a loving, forgiving, understanding, sweet husband
• one beautiful, precious, caring, vivacious, little girl
• one adorable, eatable, squeezable, happy baby boy
• two giving, thoughtful, accepting, best-est parents
• multiple caring family and friends
• a gospel and Father in Heaven to turn to even in the hardest of times
• and so many more endless, gifts, blessings, perks, talents, bonuses, etc. 

For about a month now I have been thinking about stuffing. Why is it that it is only something most of us only think about in November? I am aware of its association to the Thanksgiving tradition, but I say, "why not stuffing in July?" So for the last month, I have been saving my breads that I know Paul and I wouldn't be eating. Some of which included homemade white & wheat bread, artisan bread, sourdough bread, pitas, and more. YUM..

With my little helper, we broke all of the bread. Some of the pieces turned into ity bity crumbs, but she was so happy to help. I couldn't resist that little face, so I dealt with the misshapen bread that brought more love and character to our finished product. We broke it all up and let it sit for a few hours to dry out a bit.

Having only ever been a helper to my Mom with making this dish, I was kinda at a lost as to what to do after step 1. Luckily, my parents took me and the kids out to lunch, so I was able to pick at my Mom brain before I worked on it anymore. Most of my Mom's recipes are in her head and she just adjusts amounts as she is cooking. Not very helpful to me though..

So according to her, this is everything else to know about stuffing:

• cook some sausage (in my case I used half sausage, half ground turkey cause I had it)
• when sausage is semi cooked, add cut onion and celery (I used leeks..mmmm)

Then mix those into the bread. Sprinkle with:

• sage 
• poultry seasoning (I didn't want to buy it, so I looked at the ingredients at the store and just added basil, thyme, marjoram, salt, and maybe something else, can't remember)

Taste and add more spice if needed (that is the tricky part). Add some:

• concentrated chicken stock/broth/boullion (2 cubes/1 cup water)
• nuts/cranberries/apples, whatever you want that sounds good

Don't make it too soggy, or too dry. This go around it was a bit dry, but as leftovers it's a cinch to fix, just add liquid and cook 15 to 20 min in oven.

Then cook, depending on how deep the pan is, maybe an hour on 350 degrees with tin foil. Last 15 - 20 minutes remove foil. It turned out...okay. Today I had the left-overs and helped them with the dryness which greatly improved them. I am guessing it will take many attempts to get it just like my Mom's delish dressing. But I figure if I am only practicing once a year at Thanksgiving, it will take YEARS! So attempt one in July, I'm off to a better start than had I waited this Fall.