Thanksgiving Stuffing

1/4 cup butter or margarine
1medium onion, chopped (1/2 cup)
2 medium stalks celery, chopped
8 cups dry bread cubes (about 11 slices bread)
2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley, if desired
2 Tbsp poultry seasoning or dried sage leaves
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
About 1/2 cup chicken broth or water

In a 10-inch skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery, cook, stirring occasionally, until tender.

In large bowl, mix bread cubes, parsley, poultry seasoning, salt & pepper. Add broth and butter-onion mixture, stirring until desired moistness. The stuffing will become a little more moist during roasting because it absorbs juices from the turkey.

Use to stuff one 14-18 lb turkey. After stuffing turkey, place any remaining stuffing in 1-2 quart casserole that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cover and refrigerate.

Bake stuffing in casserole with turkey at 325F for last 35-40 minutes of roasting time or until heated thoroughly (to 165F).

How to cook a basic Thanksgiving turkey

If you're not sure what size turkey to buy, plan on 1 lb of turkey for each person.

It takes about half an hour of prep work. From start to finish, plan on the process taking about 5 hours. The restaurant is looking pretty good now, isn't it? But with turkey price on sale being about 59 cents per pound this year, you sure can feed a lot of people affordably!

To cook a turkey, move oven rack to lowest position. Preheat oven to 325.

Make bread stuffing.

Remove & throw away neck & giblets. (or stick this in a bag & put into freezer until trash day. Trust me).

Rinse turkey inside & out with cold water then pat dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the inside of turkey liberally with salt.

Spoon stuffing into neck cavity, turn wings back to hold neck skin in place. You can also fasten the neck skin to back with skewers. Some people like to tie the drumsticks together with cotton string.

Put the turkey breast side up in roasting pan. Insert ovenproof meat thermometer so tip is in the thickest part of inside thigh & does not touch bone. Brush butter over turkey. Don't add water or cover turkey.

Roast turkey uncovered about 4 hours or until thermometer reads 165F and drumsticks move easily when lifted or twisted. Thermometer inserted in center of stuffing should also read 165F. If necessary, cover turkey breast with a tent of heavy duty aluminum foil during the 1-1/2 to 2 hourd of cooking to prevent over browning.

Let turkey sit 15-20 minuted for easier carving. Remove any skewers.

Remove stuffing & place in serving bowl.

Pumpkin Pie

Prep time: 15 minutes
Makes 6-8 servings

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin (2 cups)
1  (14 oz) can Eagle Brand condensed milk
2 eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie shell or deep dish pie shell

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. With a wire whisk, beat pumpkin, condensed milk, eggs, spices & salt.

Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees & continue baking 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted 1-inch from crust comes out clean.

Cool, garnish as desired.
Refrigerate leftovers.