Will Run For Granny's Stuffing Balls

about to go in the oven

Christmas vacation has officially begun!  We survived indoor recesses, our Christmas concert (Thriller meets Gangham style meets third grade elves.  Don't ask.), we survived baking and frosting 200 cupcakes for our school feast, we survived handing out new used shoes to every single student in our school (this made my heart grow), we survived making our way to school when buses were cancelled but schools were open (twice) and many of us are currently surviving the Christmas vacation plague (some form of a nasty cold/flu passed on from a child during the last week of school...frig.).

It wouldn't be Christmas vacation without Granny's stuffing balls.  Might I recommend not asking your grandmother for your favourite recipes.  First of all my Granny says things like "add enough x, y,z until it looks right" and x, y, z is usually butter, sugar, or salt.

Granny's Stuffing Balls

(12 balls)

Ingredients

3/4 C finely chopped onions

1 large celery stalk with leaves finely chopped

1 C melted butter (or Earth Balance)

4 1/2 cups toasted whole wheat bread cubes 

4 1/2 cups toasted white bread cubes

2 tsp salt

*1 1/2 tsp dried sage leaves

*1 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp pepper

1 large potato finely chopped

1 large carrot finely chopped 

1/2 C- 1 C vegetable stock  

Begin by toasting 9 cups of bread (the only time I will encourage buying the equivalent of Wonder bread).  We usually do this by placing the oven on broil and flipping the slices of bread once they are browned.  If the smoke detector goes off they have been in there too long.  Cut bread into cubes.

  Granny likes to place the celery, potato, & carrots in the food processor until everything is finely chopped.  You can do this by hand but make sure that everything is chopped finely enough or you will have difficulty making everything stick together (says the person who is too lazy to drag out the food processor and whose stuffing balls don't stick together as well as Granny's).  Add dried spices, salt and pepper.  Add melted butter and enough vegetable stock so that you can form balls out of the stuffing mixture (1/2 C balls are the perfect size).  

Grease a roast pan and cook covered for 30 minutes at 325 F. Finally, cook uncovered for another 15 minutes until crispy.

Do not ruin Christmas dinner by dropping the entire pan of stuffing balls onto the ground (not that this has ever happened...Granny!).

You might want to follow these with a run or a workout...or maybe just a glass of wine and the company of your favourite friends and family members.

just out of the oven

* Granny prefers to use poultry seasoning instead of thyme & sage. I used a blend of oregano, marjoram, basil, rosemary, savoury, sage, and dried garlic.