I CAN NOT believe that Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK! Seriously! What has happened to time? I’d swear I just celebrated New Years only a couple of months ago, four tops. Is this going to get worse the older I get? I’m scared. A year will seem like a month and I’ll be 88 before I know it. What the hell!

With Thanksgiving next week, I raise the question. . . Do you eat Stuffing or Dressing? I know! It’s a sensitive subject between the different regions of the United States. Everybody’s got their own favorite. But I’m curious.

I, being born and raised in the South, proudly eat Cornbread Dressing. Hmmm hmmm good! I salavate just thinking about it. However, when I was married, my ex’s family being from Pennsylvania, eat Stuffing. I didn’t know the difference. I thought white bread, cornbread. . . what difference does it make? (I was young. Forgive me.) Holy Moly! Yes, there’s a difference! Now don’t get me wrong, my mother-in-law’s stuffing is good . . . as far as Stuffing goes. With enough gravy, it’s ALL good. But the texture just doesn’t hit my palate quite right.

Now that I’m older though, more curious to different tastes and cultures and more experienced in my tiny culinary world. . . thanks to The Food Network and the 1000+ cookbooks I’m obsessed with. . . I thought I’d give Stuffing another try. Because my oldest child PREFERS his grandmother’s Stuffing rather than my Cornbread Dressing. And I was hoping to find a happy middle. I’m fair like that.

Paula Deen, the Queen of the South, was raving about a Stuffing that she makes and it had apples and cranberries in it. I thought, “Well, I do like apples. And I do like cranberries. Maybe. Just maybe, the combination will be tasty enough to get me past the texture. And maybe my palate has changed enough over the years that it could accept the difference.” But MOST of all, I thought, “Paula’s from the South. SHE wouldn’t lead me astray.”

So I made it. I made her Apple Cranberry Stuffing. It took all these ingredients:
(I didn’t use the red bell pepper simply because I didn’t have one, and I didn’t use the celery it called for because, well, I hate celery. I don’t even put celery in my Cornbread Dressing. Sshhh – Just don’t tell my mom.)

And it turned out like this.

And this. Doesn’t LOOK bad, huh?

It was gross! My palate has apparently not evolved. And YES, Paula lead me astray. She let me down. I am SO disappointed. I WANTED to like it. I was HOPING to love it! So I gave her a try. I trusted her. Now I’m sad. I can’t believe that Paula would do this to me. She was my hero, my idol, my mentor. Now I can’t hang on her every word.

What am I to do now? Oh! I know! KEEP MAKING MY CORNBREAD DRESSING!!!! I can’t wait! I’ll share that with you when I make it next week. I’ll make it again on Christmas too. Heck, sometimes I make it just because. . . it’s SO good.

For those of you who actually LIKE Stuffing (Bless your heart) and you want to try Paula’s recipe, here it is. But I’m not making any promises. Try it at your own risk.

APPLE CRANBERRY STUFFING

2 cups chicken broth
1 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup butter
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 Granny Smith apples, cored and finely chopped
1 can Cream of Celery soup
3 eggs
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
8 cups Hawaiian sweet bread, cubed and toasted

In a small bowl, combine chicken broth and cranberries; let stand 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 13 x 9 inch baking dish. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, pepper and celery; cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently, or until tender. Add apple, and cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine soup, egges, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Stir in chicken broth mixture and onion mixture. Add toasted bread, stirring gently to combine. Spoon mixture into prepared dish, and bake 45 minutes, or until center is set.

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If anybody has a terrific Stuffing recipe. . . that doesn’t taste like this one, I’m willing to give it a try. For my oldest child. Because I can’t crawl to my mother-in-law and tell her that he likes hers better than mine. I simply can’t. A girl’s gotta have SOME pride. **smoothing down feathers**