My family demanded that I include our stuffing recipe. If you have any leftovers, they make a great condiment, cold from the refrigerator, for your next-day turkey sandwiches.

Ingredients:

9 cups (from a 1-day old, good quality 12 oz. bread) of bread cubes, cut into 1/2-3/4 inch pieces

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 sitck) or unsalted margarine

4 1/2 cups chopped yellow onions

2 cups chopped celery

2 1/4 cups dry sherry

1 3/4 cups chopped black dried mission figs

1 1/4 cups dried cranberries

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped dried apricots

1 1/2 tbsp. chopped fresh sage or 1 1/2 tsp. dried rubbed sage

1 1/2 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme or 1 1/2 tsp. dried

1 tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary or 1 1/2 tsp. dried

1 1/4 cups vegetable broth

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 13x9x2 inch glass baking dish, or other large oven-proof casserole dish. 

Heat all the butter or margarine in a large pan and add onions and celery.  Sauté vegetables until they are tender, 10 minutes.  Add sherry, figs, cranberries, apricots, and all of the herbs.  Cook until the liquid is reduced to about 1/3 cup, about 7 minutes. Set aside.

Place bread cubes in a very large bowl and add vegetable and fruit mixture with liquid.  Toss gently, to blend.  Add stock to mixture and season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Mix in beaten eggs.

Turn mixture into prepared baking dish.  Cover dish with foil paper and bake for about 30 minutes.  Uncover and continue to bake an additional 25 minutes or until top forms a bit of a crust. Serve from the dish, hot.

Yield: 10 servings.