My World Today
Thursday, October 21, 2010 at 10:49AM 
Random Photo of the Day: Gijon, Spain...April 2009
The RPofD above was taken during our incredible 17 night TransAtlantic cruise. I was thinking of it today because last evening I booked a 5 night Caribbean cruise for sixteen days from now. One of the advantages of being retired and living in coastal Florida is that we can take advantage of last minute cruise specials. I hope you are sitting down...we paid $179 per person, plus tax, of course. It's for an inside state room, but often one is upgraded at the last minute, depending on unsold rooms. We wouldn't do an inside for a longer cruise, but we've found that we spend little time in our state room except for sleeping anyway. This particular cruisegoes from Miami to Hondouras to Cozumel and then back to Miami. We don't even care if we get off the ship, we just want to be waited on hand and foot and to eat scrumptious meals served by handsome foreign accented waiters. We have booked one dinner in the speciality restaurant, Murano, always a magnificent meal. The other meals we will eat in the main dining room. We are going on Celebrity, our preferred cruise line. I really, really need the break and neither of us has ever been to Roatan or Cozumel. We are not booking any excursions. If we decide to see something, we'll arrange it ourselves.
Back here in the real world today, I am cooking. I love the new kitchen so much! It's big and modern, stainless steel easy for me to reach and use appliances and quartz counter tops...just fantastic for cooks.
I decided to thaw some chicken pieces to bake for dinner tonight. And then I remembered that I had a bag of stuffing cubes like this...
I don't know if you Brits have these dried and seasoned bread cubes. All I have ever seen in the UK is a small box of sort of stuffing crumbs. I made stuffing there once, but it sure wasn't the same. Here is how I made my stuffing this morning. My grandmother made it this way. My mother made it this way. I make it this way. My daughter has no clue. Once I'm dead she'll have to figure it out.
Dana's Homemade Stuffing
melt 1 stick ( 1/4 lb) of unsalted butter
sautee' one finely diced onion and 2 finely diced stalks of celery, leaves and all, do not brown
add 1/2 lb sausage meat (not in casing) and cook until no longer pink but not browned
add salt and pepper to taste
add the bag of stuffing cubes and one beaten egg
OK, it gets tricky here...add about 2 cups milk and a lot of poultry seasoning
Mix well, cover and put burner on low.
Check and stir often, adding more milk as necessary to get a beautiful soft fluffy stuffing with few discernable bread cubes. Remember....fluffy, not heavy and sticky. Do not overcook or it will get gluey. I probably cooked mine for about 45 mins. on low this morning, but my low is really low. If stuffing a bird, cool stuffing or refrigerate and stuff bird right before cooking. Pack loosely, it really fluffs up and expands. For tonight, I will bake my stuffing in a casserole dish. I took photos of mine as I cooked it...
Tomorrow, if there is any leftover stuffing tonight, I will introduce you to the wonderful world of fried stuffing pancakes for breakfast...yummy, yummy, yummy!
Reader Comments (11)
I almost make mine that way, no egg, no milk--that's totally new to me. Love that kitchen! Wow...we will have to try for some of the deals on cruises that you mention. I have a new mac and can put some favorite blogs on the popular list so yours has been added. One click and I'm there. I mean to read but then get forgetful. Have Georgette's there too.
Have been thinking of you. So happy you can get away for a trip.
love to John and you, et al...
Pat and Kermit
Enjoy your break, green with envy, but dont forget your pancake recipe. Truly miserable, Wednesday had a big disaster, one minute I had a mouthful of teeth then a bridge, crown etc, in fact half my front teeth dropped out. Went dentist yesterday, my one going to hospital and wont be back for six weeks. The one I saw just didn't seem to know what to do, glued it back in for appearance purposes only, talking on the phone that evening and out it all popped. Just about to ring another dentist who is supposed to be clued up on cosmetic treatment. Not happy, took Cole for xray this morning was greeted by you were expected here half an hour ago. Hmm I was in the mood for that particularly as I had been told between two times, didn't really matter. Traffic is also fun that time in the morning with road littered with speed bumps. I shall be changing my vet as well at this rate. lol
My gosh--someone read it! ryn: yes, I have some but they are not thriving. Have moved all together. Fl iris are doing much better for spring flowering. The soil here is so odd. Maybe nematodes but there's nothing one can do about them. I swear to set up a calendar for plants' needs and do much better in that dept. next year. I have someone spray and fertilize but that's not nourishing this garden as it should. Still, I obviously love it a lot. Thanks for the note.
Thanks for book hint--will read. Fault Lines is the novel we discuss next, I facilitate. Canadian author and very good book.
blog of possible interest: The Culinary Historian. Did you know there was such a thing as a culinary historian? I didn't.
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