Today’s post is brought to you by the Fabulous Food Fairy. She is a fantastic cook and busy mom of 3 and I am thrilled that she agreed to write a guest post for Just Short of Crazy. Her Sausage Stuffing recipe is just in time for Thanksgiving. Without further ado, the Fabulous Food Fairy….

I hate stuffing!

I know it is sacrilegious as a food blogger and self-proclaimed “foodie” to renounce such a
traditional dish, but it’s true.

My problem…my husband LOVES stuffing, particularly his mother’s. It was practically a vow
at the altar on my wedding day that I promised to make her stuffing. No fruit…No nuts…No
mushrooms in a fancy wine sauce, just the basics.

There have been stuffing disasters at the hands of my family over the years, like when my
mother tried to serve him a Martha Stewart recipe that he deemed “squirrel food”, or the year that
he begged my sister to leave the wine on the table and not put it in his coveted stuffing.

Once I took over our family Thanksgiving, I knew I had to honor his wishes and attempt to
recreate his mother’s simple dish.

Now, what is an ambitious, kitchen savvy wife to do, but turn to her mother-in-law for a lesson.
The problem is, my mother in law really does not cook often, so her lesson started very logically,
with ripping white bread, and sautéing celery and onions in butter. Where it got interesting
was when we moved on to the spices. She pulled out her little jars of ground sage and poultry
seasoning and began to shake without measuring. I have to admit, I was a bit proud of her ability
to cook without strict measurements.

As a studious assistant, I asked her about how much seasoning she used. I expected her to give
me an approximate amount IN TABLESPOONS…but NOOO! As she mixed the glop with her
bare fingers, she nonchalantly proclaimed, “OH! I just add sage and poultry seasoning until my
cuticles burn!”

REALLY??? Look out Emeril! Suzanne has a hot new technique!

After many years of mixing and kneading until my own cuticles burned, I did figure it out. And,
secretly over the years, I have been able to tweak and sneak some more ingredients into the mix.
I went rebel, and added renegade ingredients like fresh sage, and sausage! Now, I have finally
stepped out of my mother-in-law’s stuffing shadow, and made it my own, sort of.

So here it is, for all of you traditionalists out there. I have to admit, that I have learned to like this, and I rarely have leftovers from my Thanksgiving feast. Despite my sarcasm, it is a great recipe to have in your arsenal to please the masses. I suggest that you try it. Who knows, someday you just may pass down to your “foodie” daughter-in-law.

Sausage Stuffing

4 loaves of stuffing bread or white bread (torn into 1-inch pieces and left out to get a bit stale)

or 2 bags of dried, seasoned stuffing cubes

One bunch of celery

3 large yellow onions

2 tubes of sausage

2 large cans of chicken broth or

2 sticks of butter

4 tbsp. of fresh sage, finely chopped

2 tbsp. of poultry seasoning

Saute sausage, drain, and crumble. Set aside.

Chop onions and celery finely and saute in butter and spices until soft.

Add one can of chicken broth and simmer for about 10 minutes

Combine bread with the celery and onion mixture in a LARGE mixing bowl

Add more broth as needed until it’s just moistened. (you can also add a few basters full of juices
from your turkey broth if it is too dry)

Season with salt and fresh ground pepper ( you may need to add more seasoning, if you did not
used seasoned bread)

Gently fold in sausage

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until it is hot throughout and brown around the edges.
Approximately 45 minutes.

***This makes enough to compliment a family of stuffing lovers and a 10-12 pound turkey.

About The Fabulous Food Fairy:

I am the Fabulous Food Fairy, and while I am not a professionally trained chef, I am a kid tested mother
of three, who teaches full time, and still manages to cook a sit down family meal most nights of the week.
I know that many days, I wish for a magic wand or a fairy godmother to pop in and make a beautiful
dinner appear, but no such luck. I also realize that sometimes the hardest part of dinner is figuring out a
meal that my kids will actually eat. So, I started a Facebook group so that other busy people in my life can
use and not feel hopeless about dinner, or so that busy moms are not forced to resort to the local drive
through or a boring bowl of cereal as a meal. Family dinner can be so much more.

I love to cook, eat, and entertain. I learned to cook alongside my mother. She taught me to experiment
with flavors and handed down some wonderful family recipes that have given me a solid foundation in
the kitchen. As a mother myself, I am committed to instilling the same skills in my daughters. I cherish
the tradition of cooking together and sharing sit-down family meals during the week. I also feel that it is
fundamental to raising and maintaining a healthy, balanced family.

My Facebook group grew so quickly, that at the urging of my most faithful fairy friends, I took it to a
blog of my own:www.fabfoodfairy.com. This is a blog that shares a variety of tried and true recipes for
a multitude of kitchen needs, from a kid friendly casserole, to a mom friendly cocktail! It is like having a
group of best foodie friends at your fingertips. As the Fabulous Food Fairy, I aim to grant your kitchen
wishes and magically transfer your dull weekly menu into a magical moment of family fun!

Links:

Website: www.fabfoodfairy.com

Twitter: @fabfoodfairy

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Fabulous-Food-Fairy/277176989021327