My mom recent sent out this post to friends and family, and with her permission I am adding it to mine Stuffing - A Recipe For Life
I was reading just yesterday, that stuffing/dressing is the most important feature of a Thanksgiving feast. There is wide diversity regarding ingredients, spices, texture, etc., but what really matters is that what ever “best family recipe” you are used to is the one you like and will try to make in future years. Never matter that it tastes a little different as each person makes it and puts his or her own personal spin on it, it is called and will be called “the old family recipe.”
In our family, I guess I am the stuffing expert. I watched my dad make his famous brand for years, and when I became the official family turkey baker, I prepared it according to his directions, but as I served it that first year, I knew that the flavor was just a little different than my dad’s - good, even delicious, but different. My dressing evolved into two types over the years - regular and sausage. Both are excellent, although Friend-Hubby prefers the sausage and I prefer the regular.
I have not cooked the big family dinner in a few years now, but each year, my daughter calls to check in and make sure she is making (the only dressing I have ever made according to her) the sausage dressing correctly. One year, my grandson Chris called from England to make sure he had the recipe for regular stuffing right (the only dressing I have ever made according to him).
The funny thing is that I do not have a recipe. I have the basic ingredients, bread, spices, onions, butter, chicken stock, water, and celery. I use different amounts of each, depending on how much dressing I need to make. I make way more than I stuff the turkey with, usually two separate baking dishes full (one with regular, and one with sausage). I go easy on the celery because I don’t like big junks of celery, even when cooked. My seasonings are dumped in and I tell by smell whether I have the right amount in the mixture. I don’t know what I would do if I had a bad cold, or lost my sense of smell.
After a lot of soul searching this Thanksgiving, I realized that making stuffing is a lot like becoming a Christian. It takes many ingredients to put our own faith walks together, and they vary for each person. As we emerge Christians, each of us has gone on a different path with many adventures along the way. We all are basically the same, but like my daughter and grandson, we need to check in with our maker from time to time, to make sure we have the ingredients correct. My recipe for stuffing could also be called my recipe for my relationship with God. Take the raw person (me), add spice and solid ingredients (prayer, reading and studying the Bible, discussion with others in the faith, attending worship, etc.), allow to saturate and fill, and bingo, here I am, one Christian, content with life and the way I make stuffing.
I know I have taken liberties with becoming a Christian here. I may sound flip, but I assure you that I do not take my faith or my stuffing lightly. I have a basic inner recipe for each, and when I follow this recipe, I am pretty happy with the results.
God bless you all as you make your stuffing or live your faith. Love, Church Lady Happy Thanksgiving to all.............................