Grandma’s Thanksgiving Stuffing

Thanksgiving is all about tradition.

thanksgiving-celery-stuffing

And, giving thanks.

And, my Grandma McGurk’s celery stuffing.

I can’t remember a Thanksgiving that this stuffing hasn’t been on our table. Sure, other stuffings have graced the table over the years but always along side this one and constantly trying to live up to my Grandma’s infamous celery stuffing. And not because there is anything particularly outstanding about this stuffing. While delicious, it’s a pretty standard celery stuffing. But, you see, my dad is all about the tradition of things and this is the stuffing he’s deemed traditional. This is and forever will be the our families thanksgiving stuffing.

This recipe goes back a long time. My Grandma has been making it for over 50 years. The original recipe calls for boiling the celery in water and sauteing the onions in vegetable oil. Until this year, the recipe hasn’t changed. Not being able to leave a recipe alone and wanting to sneak a little more flavor into the stuffing, I (gasp) made a few changes. I had my Mom come over for a little taste test and guess what? She agreed.

The secret? Butter. Butter does make everything taste better.

We will be serving the new and improved celery stuffing this year.

Just don’t tell my Dad.

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Grandma’s Thanksgiving Stuffing


Ingredients

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  • Grandma’s Thanksgiving Stuffing

  • Ingredients

    • 4 cups chopped celery
    • 4 cups boiling chicken stock
    • 1/2 cup minced white onion
    • 1/2 cup butter
    • 16 cups cubed, stale, good quality crusty french bread
    • 5 teaspoons poultry seasoning
    • 2 teaspoons salt
    • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
    • 2 teaspoons ground sage

Instructions

  1. Bring chicken stock to a boil and then add celery. Cook for 8-10 minutes until celery is just soft; drain celery and save liquid; set aside.
  2. Melt butter in saute pan over medium low heat and saute onions about 5-6 minutes until soft.
  3. Meanwhile, combine bread cubes, poultry seasoning, sage, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add cooked celery, and the onion/butter mixture. Add enough stock to moisten all the bread. You’ll need between 3 and 4 cups. You want it to to be pretty moist.
  4. Put stuffing a buttered casserole dish and bake, covered, at 350F degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover for 15 minutes or so until nice and browned on top.
  5. Serve.