I say Po-tay-to, you say Po-tah-to…

Is it Dressing, or is it Stuffing?  Usually it’s called ‘dressing’ if it’s served outside the bird, you know, not stuffed.  Which makes stuffing stuffed.  I still call my ‘dressing’ stuffing because more people relate to that, rather than something that ‘dresses’ something else like a condiment or a type of garnish, or a tutu on a bird.  Besides, if you eat enough of it, you’ll feel stuffed, so there’s that.

I don’t like soggy or mushy stuffing.  Which is one of the reasons why I don’t load it into the turkey.  That and the whole fear of giving someone food poisoning for not doing it exactly right.  If you come to my house and see that I’ve stuffed the turkey, you’ll know that my plan is to take you out.  Possibly permanently.  So I make mine outside the bird.  And since I want to reduce the number of things I need to do on Thanksgiving, I make it the day before.  Store it in the fridge overnight and then load it into a crock pot the next day to heat it to perfection just in time for the Turkey Feast.

But before we get to the recipe, let’s get on to some Randomness.  It is Tuesday, after all!

The Puppy Pumpkin is no more.  I know, you were hoping to see its progress, and ultimately see if the puppies had carved a halloween face into it.  So was I.  But Mother Nature thwarted those plans by handing us 70 degree weather and fooling everything into thinking we’d bypassed winter altogether and had woken up in the springtime.

That warm air wreaked havoc on the partially dug out pumpkin – it started to grow mold.  Ewwww!  I know!  I was kind – I chose not to take a picture of it because I didn’t want to look at it, either.  So I had hubby take it out to the Back 40 and put it near the compost pile.  Maybe next year a magical pumpkin patch will sprout.  It could happen.

Princess Nagger’s birthday is coming up in a few weeks – since she’s so big into dinosaurs hubby had the brilliant idea to take a day trip into Philadelphia to visit the Academy of Natural Sciences on her birthday weekend.  It’s apparently the nation’s oldest science institution and has one of the newest dinosaur halls.  Lots of dinosaur skeletons on display and the kids get to play in the ‘best’ dig pit.  I probably shouldn’t have mentioned it to Princess Nagger this early, though – her excitement can barely be contained and she might get tired of waiting so long.  Because three weeks is more like three years to a six year old. 
Getting pictures of her ultimate excitement is going to be priceless.  I’m confident she’s going to say it’s her best birthday ever.  Of course that means we’ll have set the bar really high for all subsequent birthdays. 

I’m still nursing my major sinus infection.  I’m better at taking care of others than I am about taking care of myself.  I’m a giver that way.  I’m so done with having to blow my nose every five minutes and the sinus headache is a bitch to contend with.  I did (finally) call my doctor yesterday and was hoping she’d be able to call in a prescription of antibiotics for me – since my last sinus infection was less than 6 months ago usually she’s good about that. Only she wasn’t in yesterday.   

So the ‘note’ was passed to someone else and of course since the new strange doctor had never seen me, they were insisting I come in before they prescribe anything.  Apparently they don’t know how to read my file.  Or they need the money from the office visit.  So I instructed the patsy that called me back to just have my regular doctor call me when she’s there – which will be today.  Here’s hoping I’ll get my prescription today – because that means I’ll feel almost human again by Thursday.  Fingers crossed.

Every Monday Princess Nagger’s class has Show’n’Tell.  This week it was a ‘Surprise’ one where the kids bring something in a paper bag and give their classmates three hints to see if anyone can guess what it is.  I assumed she would take one of her dinosaurs in, but I assumed wrong.  She decided she wanted to bring this:


Yep, that’s a real alligator head that I picked up at the Gator Farm in Louisiana last summer.  Princess Nagger didn’t want one then, and when we were down there this year she decided she did want one of her own, but the Gator Farm had changed their visitation rules to that of groups of 10 or more only.  Apparently the economy bit them in the butt, too.  We did stop by there one day when we were in the area, as you don’t have to be a group of 10 to visit the gift shop, but they were closed.  They changed their gift shop to ‘by appointment only’.  How disappointing!   
But since I had this gator head (you’re jealous, right?), Princess Nagger decided she would trick her classmates into thinking she was bringing a dinosaur in and scare show them this instead.  The three clues she wrote out read:  1. It has many sharp teeth.  2.  It is REAL.  3.  It is large.  Smart girl!  Her classmates of course guessed dinosaur, so she was quite pleased with her ‘trick’.
OK, that’s enough randomness – let’s get back to that Stuffing/Dressing recipe, shall we?

Jan from Jan’s Sushi Bar  was a wild woman last week posting a plethora of recipes to entertain the masses and spin circles around the Spin Cycle.  She encouraged me to post my Thanksgiving Feast recipes, so this week I’m doing just that.  For those that are just tuning in, this is the list of recipes I prepare for Thanksgiving:

Champagne Turkey

Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes
Slow Cooker Apple Stuffing/Dressing
Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes
Cranberry Sauce with Port and Cinnamon
Pumpkin Cognac Crème Brûlée
Apple Cranberry Pie

I’m posting them as a daily series this week in case anything on that list catches your eye or tempts your taste buds.  Without further ado, here’s today’s recipe:

Slow Cooker (or not) Apple Stuffing / Dressing
Ingredients:

 ½ cup (1 stick)
 butter, softened
 4
 celery stalks, chopped
 1
 medium to large yellow skinned onion,
 chopped
 3
 apples, quartered and chopped
 2 tablespoons
 poultry seasoning
 ½ teaspoon
 ground cinnamon
 ¼ teaspoon
 ground nutmeg
 ⅛ teaspoon
 allspice
 8 cups
 cubed stuffing mix (recommend Pepperidge  Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing)
 2 to 3 cups
 chicken stock
Directions:

Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Melt the butter, then add celery and onions.  Cook until almost tender then add the apples.  Sprinkle the vegetables and apples with cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice. (You can also add a cup of raisins at this point, but I don’t.)  Add stuffing cubes to the pan and combine. Moisten the stuffing with chicken broth until all of the bread is soft but not wet.

Transfer to a bowl and when cool, cover and refrigerate overnight.  3-½ to 4 hours before your Thanksgiving Dinner time, spray a slow cooker with non-stick spray and transfer stuffing to the slow cooker.  Heat on low, stirring (and stealing bites) occasionally.

Or…
Spoon into a greased casserole dish and bake at 350° F (175° C) for 25 minutes or until hot.  You won’t get to steal bites, though, and that’s no fun.

Or…


Stuff your bird and do all that bird stuffing stuff I don’t do.  Whatever you do, enjoy!


Tomorrow we’ll check out the variations of Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes.  Hope you’ll stop by!

Meanwhile, head on over to Keely’s and see if she makes dressing or stuffing or puts a tutu on a bird.  Could happen.

randomtuesday


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51 Comments

  1. Sounds like good stuffing. I do stuff my bird. I have a recipe that I have been using forever.
    I am interested in the Sweet Potatoe recipe. No one like them here except me, I usually bake them.

  3. Yummo… I think I'm going to have to cook a Thanksgiving dinner for Halloween!

    I'm so excited that we will hopefully get to experience the Acad. of Natural History with PN!

    She is a very smart girl!

  4. I will be jealous of the alligator head if you are jealous of my husband's stuffed fish!!!

    PN will have a great time at the science museum. I would be tempted to take her on a quiet school day. Then, she would have the dig pit pretty much to herself. Nice!!!

  5. whata cool trip for PN! she will love it…great aligator head as well…aligator was the first meat my oldest ever ate…

  6. WOW Princess Nagger will have the best birthday ever! I'd sign up for that dinosaur thing myself:)

    oh and the crocodile head?!? smart girl:)

    Happy Random Tuesday!

    * my randoms are up too:)

  7. That dressing recipe looks so good!
    What a smart Princess with the alligator, I bet she scared some of the kids too! The birthday trip sounds like tons of fun for a dinosaur obsessed girl!
    Hope you get your medicine today so you can start feeling better!!

  8. I assume PN doesn't ride the bus, she wouldn't be able to carry it on.
    Feel better soon!!
    Yummy looking dressing!!
    PN is going to have an awesome Birthday1

  9. A real dead decapitated gator head, wow! Can't say we have one of those.

    3 weeks until the big birthday trip is going to seem like 3 years to you too. I know that my kids would be bugging me every day, how much longer? is it today? when do we go? Ya, good luck with that.

    Also, good luck getting a prescription called in. I know my doctor always wants to see me. Hope you feel better soon.

  10. Princess Nagger would fit right in at my house! My kids are WAY into dinosaurs and bones and disembodied reptiles, as well! I'm sure she'll enjoy her birthday outing. Can't wait to show the pics to my kids!

    And your STUFFING recipe sounds delicious! I'm drooling just thinking about the sweet potatoes, too!

  12. I can not believe you have an alligator head. I can't!

    That recipe for stuffing looks oh so good!

    I know PN is going to have a fabulous time at the museum. How could she not?

  13. funny you mention the rotting pumpkin. I have been watching the pumpkin on our neighbors front porch rotting more and more every day – it is now 50% mold fuzz. wondering if they are every going to part with it??

  15. My moom swore that putting cinnamon on the lid of the pumpkin prevents molding so I did it. But it's rained nonstop for two days now so there goes that theory…

    Feel better. Sinus infections are horrible.

    That alligator is creepy. Creeeppppyyy.

    Can't wait for the dino place. Kids are psyched. Me too 😉 Think I get to get in the dig pit if I claim to be a really tall 11 year old?

  16. Stacy,well now you gone and done it, I'm so hongry I could eat that allygator,I learned on the boats to always stuff the bird with apples quartered, and oranges sliced, stuff it all inside. Don't put the stuffing inside it dries out the bird, but them apples and oranges just make the bird real juicy, then just throw em away.
    BIG BIG HUGS

  17. The stuffing looks great and I'm sure I would love it, but my mom and daughter hate it when I put fruit in things that aren't supposed to be fruity. LOL Of course, they decide what should and shouldn't be fruity!

    Have a great day! ♥

  18. The food looks great and please post pictures of Princess Nagger when she sees the dino for the first time..great idea

  19. AWWWWW. Princess Nagger's trick made me smile.

    I got one of those alligator heads at a gator place in FL. My brother stole it. It's displayed in his living room. Not sure where I was going with THAT…

    Happy RTT!

    😀

  20. That stuffing looks YUMMY! 🙂 I will have to show the pics of the alligator to my girls. They are fascinated by them right now.

  21. What a great idea! How fun that will be for her, smart girl.
    I hate soggy anything. especially soggy noodles, like spaghetti noodles.

  22. I'm not a big stuffing fan whether it be in the bird or not, so I guess I'll have to be poisoned by some other method.
    The gator head ought to freak some kids out. My boys would soooo love to own one of those. I've heard about the gator farm and it looks like a fun place to go. Seems like a lot of tourist type places are having to close or adjust due to the economy.

  23. OK, girlfriend, how many crock pots do you have? I picture your counter lined with crock pots like little soldiers. A virtual army of crock pots, doing their thing.

    That alligator head is really kind of creepy. So what do you do with it? Is it sitting on the mantle or do you just whisk it out when you have guests you want to get rid of?

  24. I'm going to try your dressing! It sounds yummy!

    My mother makes the mushy sausage/bread dressing while my MIL's idea of dressing was to put the cubed bread crumbs on a tray and bake them more. Very surprising because she's a very good southern cook – but we've begged her not to make dressing anymore.

    We need a happy medium … and besides, I don't like sausage. So, I'm going to try yours.

  25. I love the alligator head! What kind of bag did you have to put that in? A grocery bag? A trash bag? It looks really big. I could see one of my kids wanting to take something like this.

  26. The alligator cracked me right up!

    Skipped your recipe, I'm sure it is fabulous, but this Mommy doesn't cook!

  29. PN is one smart cookie! I remember trying to do that too. That stuffing looks so good!

  30. Oh stuffing is my favorite! Your princess naggar is so funny, she's gonna grow up to be a rocket scientist I bet!

  32. I say both stuffing and dressing. I won't be boxed in by rules.

    But I do love the boxy table for the recipe. It looks so neat and organized!

  33. Hmmm. I have never been thrilled with my stuffing recipe and i really do like apple stuffing. I always put sausage in mine, why? I think I might try this one.

  34. I would love to try the stuffing but I'd be the only one eating it. My kids are all Stove Top Stuffing girls. We make like 5 boxes. It's crazy. And it's not just for thanksgiving, its all year 'round.

    and fyi – sinus infection? Bacterial. Get antibiotics at the beginning and you won't spend weeks feeling like crap!! Love ya!!

  35. I never knew the difference between stuffing and dressing and it always threw me off.

    Yeah, it's sposed to be like 89 here on Halloween. We never carve our pumpkins until like two or three days before and even then, we have to keep them in the fridge during the day so they don't rot. Isn't it weird how different things are here than there?

    Happy almost bday, PN! The dinosaur place looks pretty cool!

  37. Wow! It's so nice of you to post the recipe. I can't wait to see more of them. Thank you very much!

  38. Stuffed, stuffing, stufflee, stuffly. lol I don't know I just eat it! Well I use to, we don't celebrate it down here. 🙁

  39. I totally agree with you on the stuffing/dressing issue. I can't wait to try your recipe! I made a crock pot stuffing recipe one year and it was way too dry, but your recipe sounds perfect!

  40. Wow, i didn't know you could make them in the slow cooker! How cool! i need to use that thing more often.

  41. I'm with you. I don't care for my stuffing wet and soggy.

    We've lost 1 pumpkin to the weather here. The Irish Shamrock pumpkin hit the dumpster on Sunday. We had so much rain it got all soggy and icky.

  42. I love dressing/stuffing. I do mine with chorizo, pecans and dried cranberries. Yum. Now I'm so in the mood for Thanksgiving.

    I love that PN wanted to take a gator head to school, definitely made an impression, I'm sure.

    Hope your sinus infection clears up soon, they're the worst, trumped only by an ear infection, which I've had more in adulthood than I ever did as a kid. Weird.

    Happy RTT. Look forward to the sweet potato recipe.

  44. After 30 years, I now do not stuff the bird, but make dressing- for a number of reasons..

  45. That sounds awesome. My son would love to go to that museum. Don't you love just capturing that first excited look in a picture?? Love your blog.

  46. I can't stand how doctors insist on visits for every thing even if it's already in the chart and you just need a gosh darn prescription called in.

  47. It is stuffing … dressing is what you put on salad.

    And PN will LOVE the Academy of Natural Sciences. They have some great bones and the digging site is awesome. .. we still have our fossils! This was even before the Little One was into dinos!

    And I love how tricky PN is! : )

  48. I really loved your writing in this post, Stacy. It could be your writing talent (or the fact that I don't have students tomorrow, haha). Seriously, though; your "voice" in this is delightful. I am definitely going to try out this stuffing recipe! Thanks.

  49. Stuffing is, by far, the BEST part of Thanksgiving. And I agree that "the best part of Thanksgiving" and "raging case of food poisoning" do not go hand-in-hand.

    I was chuckling as I read about your daughter's Show-and-Tell, wondering how on Earth the kids would guess that she had an ALLIGATOR HEAD IN A BAG. But that was before I realized she was allowed to provide three clues. That probably helped quite a bit. 🙂

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