Tom's Turkey Stuffing

"...two types of people in this world, those who like wet stuffing and those who like dry stuffing" Dallin H Oaks from 'Life's Lessons Learned'."

Stuffing recipes tend to be sacred from family to family. I guess we usually like what we were raised on. My mom is a great cook and I liked her dressing that wasn't wet and sticky like others I tasted. When it was time to start our own tradition, I kept thinking that adding brown rice, nuts and sausage would add a savory crunch. As great as it tastes, our favorite thing about it is that we get the whole family involved, All eight of us and any visitors. We crank up some Earth Wind & Fire and groove while we chop, stir and cook. Love it!

3 cups cooked brown rice

1lb sausage

2 onions, chopped

4 stalks celery, chopped

3 cups fresh mushrooms, quartered

1 1/2 cups slivered almonds, toasted

1 5oz can sliced water chestnuts

1/3 cup parsley,chopped

1 tsp sage

1 tsp thyme

salt pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cube butter

1/2 cup chicken broth

8 to 10 oz bread crumbs or croutons

3 bay leaves

Brown sausage, drain and set aside. Melt butter over medium heat, add onions, celery, garlic, salt, pepper and bay leaves. Cook until slightly tender. Mix in thyme, sage and parsley. Remove from heat.

To onion mixture add mushrooms, sausage, nuts, water chestnuts, rice and bread. Toss gently to blend. Gradually mix in stock. Stuffing may appear dry but if you're cooking it in the bird it will become moister. Adjust seasonings. Spoon extra stuffing into a buttered dish, dot with butter and maybe add a little stock, Cover and bake at 325 for about 1 hour, uncovering the last 15 minutes.

This recipe will make plenty to stuff a large bird with some left over. I always double, sometimes triple the recipe. In fact we normally make it the night before and throw some in a sauté pan for dinner with fried or scrambled eggs. Also, to mix it up a bit, sometimes we have even added a cup of fruit before baking like pomegranate, apples or dried apricots.  Happy Thankstuffing!