November 21
- National Gingerbread Cookie Day
- National Stuffing Day
- National Red Mitten Day
- Great American Smokeout – Thursday Before Thanksgiving
- National Rural Health Day – Third Thursday in November
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NATIONAL STUFFING DAY
November 21st is an ideal day for National Stuffing Day with Thanksgiving right around the corner. Since we are already thinking about the delicious turkey stuffing that is a traditional part of Thanksgiving dinner.
Some cooks choose to stuff the bird with crusts of bread, vegetables, herbs, and spices. Others prefer to prepare a similar dish alongside the turkey using the drippings to moisten the dish. Either way, each preparation is personal preference or family tradition. The difference is the first is called a stuffing, but the latter is referred to as a dressing.
The usual turkey stuffing consists of bread cubes or crumbs combined with onions, celery, salt, and pepper. Further spices and herbs such as summer savory, sage or poultry seasoning add flavor and variety. Other recipes include adding sausage, hamburger, tofu, oysters, egg, rice, apple, raisins or other dried fruits.
The first known documented stuffing recipes appeared in the Roman cookbook, Apicius “De Re Coquinaria.” Most of the stuffing recipes in this cookbook included vegetables, herbs and spices, nuts and spelt (an old cereal). Some recipes also included chopped liver and other organ meat.
In addition to stuffing the body cavity of poultry and fish, various cuts of meat are often stuffed once deboned and having a pouch or slit cut in them. A few examples of other meats frequently stuffed include pork chops, meatloaf, meatballs, chicken breast, lamb chops, and beef tenderloin.
Stuffing isn’t limited to the butcher block. Vegetables are excellent containers for stuffing. Peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, and cabbage are just a few of the shapely veggies that make stuffing a fabulous part of your meal.
HOW TO OBSERVE #NationalStuffingDay
Test your stuffing recipes before the big day. Give your stuffing some holiday flair with this classic stuffing recipe. Use #NationalStuffingDay to post on social media.
