Nana's Fabulous Stuffing

The original recipe

My Aunt Ginny reminded me that I come from a heritage of Thanksgiving stuffing.  While I still believe there is absolutely no shame in Stove Top (or canned cranberry sauce or pre-made gourmet side dishes); my heart yearns to make homemade, moist and carb-tastic stuffing. The best part of this recipe is that is so easy and with a little dramatic flair, you can make it spectacular!

Every year I make this recipe--straight from my Nana's recipe box. There are four different variations that I have made:
1. The recipe, straight up
2. The recipe plus mushrooms to make: Wild Mushroom Stuffing
3. The recipe plus sausage to make: Sweet and Savory Sausage Stuffing
4. The recipe plus bacon and oysters to make: Oyster Stuffing

Pick your favorite or come up with another addition--it is so yummy, you might just make it year round!

Nana's Fabulous Stuffing-the straight up version
1/2 lb of butter (Nana's says or margarine, but I feel margarine is criminal)
1/2 cup minced onion

Me and my Nana, November 1977

12 cups cubes of bread (you have two options: grab a loaf of italian bread and cut it up the night before. or buy a bag of bread cubes in the stuffing aisle)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 cup celery diced
4-6 Tablespoons minced flat leaf parsley
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup of milk (my favorite) or stock-turkey/chicken
1 egg

Melt butter. Add onion & simmer until it is partly cooked. Add chopped celery and cook until nearly tender. Add salt, pepper, parsley and poultry seasoning. Blend well and add bread cubes.
Beat egg into milk or stock. Add egg/liquid mixture to stuffing. Stuff your turkey and/or spread into a buttered casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes (covered) and an additional 30 minutes uncovered, until heated through.

Variations
For Wild Mushroom Stuffing:Stir in 2 cups of sliced, mixed mushrooms (white, shitake, oyster, whatever you love) with onions. Follow the rest of the recipe

For Sweet and Savory Sausage Stuffing: Brown 12 oz of bulk sausage. Drain, but reserve 1 tablespoon of drippings in pan. Melt butter in drippings and follow recipe. Before adding the egg/liquid mixture, stir in browned sausage. Bake as directed. 


For Oyster Stuffing: Brown 1/2 pound of chopped bacon. Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon of drippings in pan. Melt butter in drippings and follow recipe. Before adding the egg/liquid mixture, stir in 1/2 cup chopped oysters.  Bake as directed.