The reason for the holiday

Well, folks, one very successful presentation down, one more to go next week. I can only hope that my next one will go as smoothy and will be as well received as today's. Phew! Such a relief to have it behind me and be one step closer to the end of the semester. I forgot how exhilarating that little light at the end of the tunnel feels when it warms your skin. For those of who are no longer in school -- it's intoxicating!

Hopefully you have recovered from your tryptophan-induced comas and can read about turkey and stuffing without dozing off, as I have something quite special to share with you today. The following recipe is my great grandmother's recipe for chestnut stuffing. I'm going to forewarn you: WE STUFFED THE TURKEY. For those finicky, germophobes who think you should never stuff a turkey, I know, I've heard it too. So has Grandma Joyce. Does she care? Not two shits. I quote, "I was married at twenty-one and starting stuffing turkeys at twenty-one. I'm still alive." Point taken. We stuffed our bird, and we stuffed it good.

I have to give a shout to my lovely mom who evaded all of the holiday photos, less her hands, because she was at the helm of the camera a majority of the weekend. Thanks, Mom, for your efforts, as you captured some spectacular moments.

I am fond of a particular stuffing recipe that is a lovely mingling of country sausage, granny smith apples and fresh sage. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed when I heard that my beloved stuffing would be sidelined this year for Grandma Joyce's. My stuffing recipe is good . . . Grandma Joyce's stuffing is out of this world. Is it the butter? Is it the tender, meaty chestnuts? Perhaps. I think it's the fact that the wittiest, sexiest 83 year old woman I've been blessed to know made the stuffing, and she's made this recipe literally hundreds of times. I don't think I've made anything hundreds of times -- coffee maybe?

Nonetheless, this stuffing is moist (sorry for those of you who hate that word, as there seems to be a number of you!) and so flavorful. The chestnuts are the piece de resistance. From what I understand, they can be tricky to find in the grocery store, but look in the bulk section during the holidays.

I thoroughly enjoyed being her sous chef -- chopping and sautéing and following instructions. I know she appreciated having another pair of hands to stuff and pin the pesky bird. Looking back at the photos, I feel as if the kitchen was taken over by Paula Deen -- two sticks of butter and a turkey covered in bacon. Tis the season, right?

We doubled this recipe to feed ten with leftovers.

One shelled chestnut. My wrinkly hand.

How awesomely retro is this box?!

The amalgamation of goodness.

She has lovely hands.

How she produced such tall children will forever perplex me.

All tucked in.

mmmm, bacon.

Did I mention we bacon-wrapped our turkey? SHA-WING!

Grandma Joyce's turkey and dressing

10-12 lb turkey (double the recipe for a larger bird)

1 lb large chestnuts, (1.5 cups) shelled

1/2 cup butter or 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup turkey fat

1 cup celery, chopped

1/2 cup onion, minced

1/2 cup carrot, chopped (I added this)

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

6 cups fine bread cubes

1 egg

2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp savory seasoning (we used poultry season)

Cook chestnuts for 20 minutes. Remove shells and brown skin. While hot, chop them. (She had pre-roasted them for us. Here's a great link that will show you how to roast and peel the little buggers).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a large skillet. Cook onion, celery, carrot and parsley. Combine bread cubes, vegetable mixture, seasonings and egg. Sprinkle inside of turkey with salt. Fill turkey with dressing. Pin up the opening to seal in the dressing. Cook 3 - 3.5 hours or until a meat thermometer registers 185 degrees.