What’s inside your Thanksgiving turkey?  Or do you even stuff it?  Maybe the goal is to gobble until stuffed on Thanksgiving?  And what kind of stuff is in your stuffing?  I’m going retro this year and so is a good chunk of my family, stretching out to my cousins too.  I’m making stuffing like Mom used to make, Aunt Jude, my mom.

My most memorable Thanksgivings were with my Idaho cousins.  My family lived in Boise a good quarter of my life.  (I used to be able to say my first half, then my first third.) My mom held the coveted stuffing recipe that all of us hanker for to this day.  No matter where any of us lived, we’d call my mom, or Aunt Jude to get the recipe.  (High-tech, push-button phone.  No Internet.)

This year, it seems my sibs and cousins are getting nostalgic.  With the exception of a couple of fiery aunts and a spunky uncle, most of our parents are giving thanks directly, heaven side.  Last week emails started to fly to unearth the family legacy.  Enter:  The American Peoples Cookbook, copyright date 1956, the year my parents were married.  It must have been a wedding gift.   It’s a collection of recipes from all over the United States, even the Canal Zone or the Panama Canal.  Top entries won $500!

Lucky me, the one with plenty of surprises in her “storage locker” from Colorado got the family treasure.  I didn’t think I wanted or needed another cookbook and now I’m thrilled with the prize. I was planning to make my mom’s recipe this year as two of my brothers are coming into town.  I can’t believe I remembered the recipe came from this book.  I think it’s the only time the book left the shelf, holidays.  Turkey showed up at Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, stuffing too.

I found the recipe quickly.  It was paper-clipped with penciled notes:  1 cube = ½ cup next to the butter or margarine ingredient.  The stuffing recipe was paper-clipped to the one for “Roast Turkey in Aluminum Foil,”  for easy flipping from page to page.  I always wondered why my mom wrapped up the bird and barely exposed it for a light suntan.  Was she thinking, “No turkey shall tan darker than this fair Irish lass?”  I actually think it was just easier to wrap it up and “fuhgeddaboutit.” (No basting.)  Despite the slightly anemic skin, the meat was cooked, really cooked.  No food-borne diseases EVER broke out in my mom’s kitchen.  She made SURE of it.  Note:  We always had plenty of milk at the dinner table.

The stuffing was the best, even Bon Appetit would agree.  It’s made with homemade Turkey stock.  Hours of stinky, boiling broth-in-the-making came from water, giblets, onion, celery, parsley peppercorns and Accent seasoning. (Make a day ahead.)  This was pretty gourmet for my mom.  With seven kids breathing down her neck, this was a real treat.  We’d watch her make the stuffing early Thanksgiving morning, snitching pieces of butter-coated chunks behind her back.  At least we thought we got away with it.  I think she sampled too; she let it all slide.

If I were to make my own notes to this recipe, substitute the Accent ingredient with your best southern drawl.  Refer to the turkey as “y’all”.  “Y’all are a good lookin’ bird.”  Or, “Y’all are going into the oven right now.”  I learned Accent was the seasoning de jour after WWII.  The American Peoples Cookbook recipes are ridden with Accent, including the one for Welsh Rabbit.  I’m bettin’ this was an add-on.  The foreword explains to the aspiring cook that Accent simply makes everything taste better.   (And those headaches after dinner, it wasn’t the red wine.  My money is on Accent-adental overdose or MSGOD.)

Also, reduce oven from 450 degrees (turkey temperature per cookbook) to 350 degrees for baking stuffing.  No wonder the turkey lost weight roasting in the oven, no juices left for the dinner.

If you are feeling retro this Thanksgiving, my mom’s giblet stuffing is just what you need.  See recipe below.  It’s the closest I can get to sharing Thanksgiving with all of my followers and family faraway.   It has a funny way of bringing people together, even if it’s virtual via email.  Even the non-chefs are joining the circle.  See what happens for you.

Thanks for keeping shoezle going.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Giblet Stuffing Or Mom’s/Aunt Jude’s Stuffing

(Enough stuffing for a 10-12 lb. turkey.)

 From The American Peoples Cookbook.

Cooked giblets

Hot water to cover giblets

1 small onion, quartered

3 sprigs parsley

2 3-in. pieces celery with leaves

1 bay leaf

2 or 3 peppercorns

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon Accent (Omit if you know what’s good for you.)

Simmer until gizzard is tender when pierced with a fork (2-3 hours.)

Stuffing

Remove giblets and neck from broth; allow meat to cool slightly.  Remove neck meat from bones and chop with giblets; put into a large mixing bowl.  Set aside.  Strain and reserve the giblet broth.

Heat in the skillet, over medium heat:

3/4 cup butter or margarine (just copying what it says…but you know what to do.)

½ cup chopped onion.

Cook onion until transparent, occasionally moving and turning with a spoon.

Remove from heat and stir in a mixture of

2 teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon Accent (Guess who sponsored the cookbook?)

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ teaspoon paprika

Set out

2 qts. (about 11 slices) dry bread cubes

2 Tablespoons chopped parsley

Add gradually to bread cubes, tossing lightly

¾ cup reserved giblet brot

2 eggs, well beaten

Add the chopped giblets, the onion mixture and the chopped parsley.

Any extra stuffing not going into the bird may be put in a greased, covered baking dish or wrapped in aluminum foil and baked in the oven during the last hour of roasting.  (Turkey is in at 450 degrees.  Gads, no wonder the turkey turned to near dust.  350 degrees for stuffing only is my recommendation.)

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