Dawn Pia

Dressing is my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner. It’s good smothered in gravy, with cranberry sauce, or as leftovers the next day. Full confession, I am ANTI putting stuffing in the Turkey. I grew up in the era of mushy cornbread sage dressing that was stuffed into the cavity of a turkey for every holiday dinner. My mother would work for hours, and our extended family would join us for a fest. Sadly, by evening, I was sick. 

My mom always blamed it on the stomach flu, but in hindsight, I blame it on the stuffing. Countless holidays included unpleasant stomach issues of the worst kind. My loving mother had poisoned me with food! My sisters will question this and claim I have issues, but I know what I know, and no matter how good dressing tastes after it has been stuffed into the cavity of a turkey, it is a no-go.

Many years later, as I sat in the kitchen of Annie’s other grandmother,  Margaret Wilkes, memories of my youth flooded back as I stared in horror at a fully stuffed turkey sitting on the counter for hours, waiting for dinner to be served. 

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Annie’s Favorite Thanksgiving Dressing was created. For many years, I generously offered to bring an appetizer and side dish to the Wilkes holiday dinners. That side dish was always the mouthwatering sausage, apple and cranberry stuffing or as I sold it: Annie’s Favorite Thanksgiving Dressing. These ingredients bring a flavorful freshness to the typically rich dinner. This dish became a holiday staple, along with the warning to Annie, “Don’t eat your grandmother’s dressing.”

Ingredients

• 1 Lb.    Mild breakfast sausage
• 4 T       Butter
• 1          Onion, chopped
• 2          Granny Smith apples, cored and chopped
• 1 C       Chopped celery with leaves
• 1 C       Dried cranberries, rehydrated in boiling water for 15 minutes and drained
• 6 C       Boxed bread cubes (croutons)
• 1 ½ C   Chicken stock
• ½ C      Apple cider
• 1 T       Salt
• 2 tsp    Ground black pepper

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Sauté the sausage in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through, crumbling coarsely with the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes. 
• Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage and drippings to a large bowl. Melt the butter in the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, apples, and celery to the skillet and sauté until the onions are soft, about 8 minutes. (Note to family: If Javi is coming to the party, cut the onions super small and cook them until they are falling apart!)
• Mix in the drained cranberries. 
• Add the mixture to the sausage, then mix in the croutons and parsley. 
• Next, add the chicken stock and apple cider a little at a time until the stuffing is very moist. Be sure not to overdo it; it shouldn’t be mushy. 
• Season with salt and pepper. 
• Place in a casserole dish. (The stuffing can be made to this point two days before Thanksgiving, refrigerated.)
• Bake in a 14-inch oval or 9 by 13-inch rectangular casserole dish and place, uncovered, in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until the top is crispy and the center piping hot. Remove and serve immediately.