Turkey Stuffing with an Italian Twist

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Chances are it wasn’t quite the same as Thanksgivings past, but we have to do, what we have to do, so that we will be able to celebrate our favorite holidays together for years to come.

One of the things that make holidays so special to us are our traditions. One of my families’ Thanksgiving traditions is a turkey stuffing recipe that came from my Dad’s Italian aunt, Aunt Vee. I wish I could tell you a grand backstory about the passing down of this recipe from generation to generation in Augusta, Sicily, but I can’t. What I can say, is this is the recipe my Mom always used to stuff the bird with when I was growing up. And, she credited Aunt Vee for having given the recipe to her. Aunt Vee was married to my grandpa’s brother and lived in Detroit.

My mom and Aunt Vee, 1954.

It’s a very different recipe with unique ingredients, and I love it! But I’ve never been able to sell my own immediate family on it. My husband has always cooked the turkeys in our household, and so he makes his own dressing. It’s a rather traditional stuffing that features both cornbread stuffing mix and sourdough bread as the central ingredients. I will admit it’s very good, and I enjoy it as well.

But for me, Thanksgiving is not Thanksgiving if I don’t have Aunt Vee’s dressing, so we make both dressings each year; my husband’s is used to stuff the bird and mine is used as a side dish. My husband and one of our daughters love the traditional stuffing and won’t eat mine. Our other daughter has gluten issues and doesn’t really like turkey dinner anyway, and so she eats neither dressing.

I make my Italian stuffing around noon on Thanksgiving Day, long after the turkey goes in the oven. After I’ve finished making my stuffing, I sit down and have my first bowl of this deliciousness. 😊 I consider it a snack, a little something to hold me over until we have our dinner several hours later. It’s a well-balanced dish, nutrition wise, so it does the trick there. And just completed, warm from the stove or from the turkey, is really when it’s at its best. And that’s why I indulge in my own mini-tradition and truly savor that first bowl of Aunt Vee’s dressing.

Hamburger. Hard boiled eggs. Rice. Celery. Onion. Salt and pepper. That’s it! Do you see why it call it a well-balanced dish? It has protein, carbohydrates, and vegetables. If there are leftovers, I’ll eat it for lunch in the days after Thanksgiving. There was a lot leftover this year. I even ate it for breakfast once. 😊 I always take it to winter events when my extended family gathers because my brothers and a couple of my nephews love it, too. No leftovers then.

This dish definitely qualifies as a tried-and-true, family favorite, and I’m glad to share the recipe with you now.

My original recipe from my mom.

WHAT YOU NEED

1 ½ pounds ground beef

1 cup celery, diced

½ cup onion, diced

1 cup cooked instant rice

5 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

WHAT YOU DO

Brown the ground beef with the celery and onion. Remove from heat. Add in the cooked instant rice and chopped hard-boiled eggs and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well, mixing all together.

Oh, my gosh! That’s it. Could this recipe be any simpler? I don’t think it’s possible. I really like cooked onions, so I usually up the onion to 1 cup, same as the celery. Even if you don’t want to stuff your turkey with this dressing, it does make a good side dish. Or, serve it with a salad or vegetable and it’s a complete meal. Let me know what you think about it if you give it a try. Buon appetito!

P.S Dessert for our Thanksgiving dinner was made by daughter, Laura. It's Triple-Chocolate Pumpkin Pie, a recipe Laura found years ago via Martha Stewart Living.

BINGE-WORTHY TV!

Feeling the urge to laugh and escape reality, a few weeks ago I started watching Schitt$ Creek on Netflix. With six seasons out, I’ve heard about this show for a while. But it wasn’t until I watched the Emmy Awards in September – and they basically swept the comedy categories – that I decided I really needed to give this show a chance. And, I’m sooooooooo glad I did!

It’s the story of an uber rich family of four who lose all their money and end up living in a dumpy motel in Schitt$ Creek, a town they bought as a joke several years previously. Parents, Johnny and Moira, are played by comedy legends, Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara. Eugene’s real-life son, Daniel, plays his son David, and Annie Murphy plays their daughter, Alexis. Eugene and Daniel are also the creators and masterminds behind the show.

David is my favorite character, but the whole cast is great. I literally laugh out loud every episode. A lot. And, as an ironic side, the clothes they all wear are AMAZING! I truly think they never wear the same outfit twice. A neat trick for a family who came to town with nothing but a few suitcases and have no money for new duds. And Moira’s wigs! They all have names and personalities, and, sadly, she treats them better than her progeny. Backing up this crazy family is a town full of fun, wacky characters. They are a great cast and the mix of quirky characters played by very talented actors makes for binge-worthy viewing!

Schitt$ Creek is rated TV-MA: mature audiences only, due to language.

The Levy’s decided they wanted the show to go out on top, so its sixth season was its last, ending this past April. I’m happy to report the library has all six-seasons available on DVD. I highly recommend checking out this series. Go online or call the library, and we’ll put it on hold for you; curbside pickup only for now. BREAKING NEWS: as I write, I just found out our library has now been closed due to a Covid exposure. We are tentatively closed through December 9, to allow for a deep cleaning. Curbside pickup should resume December 10. Please watch our website for pertinent updates on the situation.

Thankful for past craft projects from the library used to decorate our home for the holiday.

Take care. Stay safe. Please wear your mask. 😊