Thanksgiving: The holiday where people drive hours in the car to eat dinner with relatives they see maybe once a year. The house smells wonderful and everyone excitedly catches up on everyone’s lives. Football blares on the television and squealing children sneak olives, playing olive finger puppets. By the time dinner is over most remember why once a year is way too often.

Many families have traditional family dishes that are served each year at holiday gatherings. Tables overflowing with roasted turkey, Aunt Sally’s marshmallow-topped sweet potatoes, Cousin Judy’s red jello mold, and that one relative that always brings her dreaded, soggy, terrifying dish consisting of bread, poultry seasoning, and water she calls stuffing. Children, while some cry, others with their faces displaying looks of repulsion, protest when reminded of the “just one bite” rule. To be polite, a few adults will reluctantly try just a bite and spit it out in their napkin when they think no one is looking. Then the family dog who normally begs for a bite underneath the table runs hiding in fear.

Then it is time to clear the dishes and put away the leftovers. The untouched stuffing dish sits on the counter. Panic stricken, guests find excuses for not wanting any of the left over stuffing and suddenly most guests are now gluten free. In the spirit of the holiday, usually the hostess will cave in to the guilt and take some of the offensive soggy stuffing while pensively making note to throw it out after everyone is gone.

Here is a stuffing recipe that will make you thankful this Thanksgiving. My family always makes sure it is on the menu even if someone else is bringing stuffing. The water chestnuts give this recipe a little crunch and added flavor. I hope you will celebrate the holidays with your family and friends.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Mushroom Stuffing

• 1 lb. sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 ½ cups chopped onion
• ¾ to 1 cup water
• 12 cups dry bread cubes
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• ½ tsp sage
• 2 cups sliced celery
• ½ cup butter
• 5 tsp instant chicken bouillon
• 1 8 oz. can sliced water chestnuts drained and chopped
• 2 tsp poultry seasoning
• ¼ tsp pepper
• Optional, cooked sausage

In a large frying pan, cook mushrooms, celery, and onion in butter until tender. Add the water and chicken bouillon, cooking until bouillon dissolves. Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl and stir in the cooked mixture. If mixture seems too dry, add a little more water until moist. Put in a greased baking dish, cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Refrigerate any leftovers. This will make about 2 ½ to 3 quarts.

(This recipe can be made with gluten free bread cubes.)

18 Nov This entry was published on November 18, 2015 at 3:32 am. It’s filed under The Cottage Kitchen and tagged bread cubes, cooking, eating, family, holidays, mushrooms, recipes, relatives, Stuffing, Thanksgiving, water chestnuts. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.