Easter Recap

The product of my cousin and I's princess Egg dyeing kit.

 This Easter was great even though it rained the whole time!  We had a lovely lunch at my cousin Susie's house.  We all brought over a dish and I was in charge of stuffing. Now I know that stuffing isn't a traditional Easter food, but I have this great Ina Garten recipe that I love.

Sausage and Herb Stuffing

Ingredients

16 cups of 1-inch bread cubes, white or sourdough (1 1/2 pound loaf)

8 tablespoons (1stick) unsalted butter

2 cups medium-diced yellow onions

1 cup medium diced celery (2 stalks)

2 Granny Smith apples, unpeeled, cored and large-diced

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 pound sweet or spicy Italian sausage, casings removed

1 cup chicken stock 

1 cup dried cranberries

Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. 

Place the bread cubes in a single layer on a sheet pan and bake for 7 minutes. Raise the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.  Remove the bread cubes to a very large bowl. 

Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, melt the butter and add the onions, celery, apples, parsley, salt and pepper. Saute over medium heat for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are softened. Add to the bread cubes. 

In the same saute pan, cook the sausage over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until browned and cooked through, breaking up the sausage with a fork while cooking.  Add to the bread cubes and vegetables. 

Add the chicken stock and cranberries to the mixture, mix will and pour into a 9 by 12 -inch baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes, until browned on top and hoot in the middle. Serve warm.

I made some substitutions because some of my family members are vegan.  So I used margarine instead of butter and made a batch with real and fake sausage.  I also misread the directions the first time I made it and peeled the apples, but I don't think it really matters.  Here are my pictures from the process:

My peeled version of the apples.

The onions, parsley, celery and apples cooking in the stick of butter. 

And now the sausage browning. Yum!

Mixing it all together.

And the finished product!

A family tradition in my family is that every Easter my Mom makes a lamb cake.  A cake in the shape of a lamb not one made of lamb. This year we all decided we wanted something different, so she improvised and made a lamb rice crispy treat. 

A little creepy, but it was very good.

All in all a great Easter with some very delicious food!