carol's thanksgiving stuffing ~ oysters, anyone?

How To Make carol's thanksgiving stuffing ~ oysters, anyone?

• 1

  NOTE BEFORE STARTING: Mom always bought the Italian bread a few days before preparing the stuffing, but if you forget, just tear it apart. Toast in the oven for a few minutes to dry it out. Then prepare the recipe as directed.
• 2

  In a saucepan, cook the celery, onion, and enough broth to cover until vegetables are tender, about 10-15 minutes, depending on how finely chopped you made the veggies. It's all good. I love larger pieces of celery myself. (You can do this ahead of time & refrigerate.) Cool slightly before adding to the remaining ingredients so you won't cook the eggs.
• 3

  In a large bowl, tear up the stale Italian bread. Add the cooked celery & onion mixture. Toss in the 2 eggs. Sprinkle in the sage. Mix up well. (I'll admit that Mom just used her hands for this. She also tasted just a little to see if the sage was right, but she used farm-fresh eggs & didn't worry about salmonella. I'll let you figure this part out for yourself.) Add the oysters, if you're using them. Mix again. If needed, add more turkey broth & mix some more. Add salt & pepper, to taste. Mom's dressing was moist to the point of almost mushy at this stage, but this is a personal preference.
• 4

  Spray a 13 x 9" baking dish with cooking spray. Dump stuffing into the dish and even out. Bake at 350 degrees F. until stuffing has dried out a bit and is browned & crusty on top, about 25-30 minutes.
• 5

  ONE MORE NOTE: If you can't decide whether to make Oyster Stuffing or not, do a little of both. Use 2 brownie or cake pans instead of the 13 x 9". Before adding the oysters, put half of the stuffing into one of the pans. Then add however many oysters you want into the bowl of stuffing, mix well, and put into the other pan. Shorten the cooking time and check earlier.
• 6

  **OK, JUST ONE MORE: About the turkey broth. Some of my friends use a LOT of butter when basting their turkey, which makes the broth, well, buttery. If this applies to you, you might want to buy some canned turkey broth to use for this stuffing. Just sayin'... =^..^=
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