Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Mademoiselle Magic Stuffing


Every Thanksgiving for the past 25 years, I have been pulling out of the recipe file, a now tattered three pages ripped from the November 1984 issue of Mademoiselle magazine containing my favorite stuffing recipe.

The lovely and wistful girl in the picture stands in her swell New York single gal kitchen, the Thanksgiving Day Parade is on her (prehistoric rabbit-eared) television. She gazes over a beautifully garnished Thanksgiving spread and arranges seasonal flowers while chatting on her corded phone with her startlingly handsome French boyfriend, Guy. (Pronounced "Gee.") She has stem wear for 16, sweet serving dishes, a horn handled carving set and a Norma Kamali checked blouse. She is an eighties Thanksgiving goddess.

I know that my 20 year-old self was secretly hoping that executing the recipes on these pages might cause some of her perfect life (I know she’s just a model, but still) to rub off on me. That Mademoiselle magic never did work itself on the details of my life, (and I have the photos to prove it) but the stuffing recipe has been a consolation prize that keeps on giving. It is easy and wonderful and always a big hit.

The Recipe For The Stuffing You Should Be Eating On Thursday

8-oz bag Pepperidge Farm Dry Herb Stuffing Mix (I’m pretty sure this hasn’t existed for many years. Any 8-oz bag of any seasoned stuffing mix will work.)
1-1/2 cups chopped, dried apricots
1 cup water
8 Tbs. butter
½ cup currants
2 stalks celery, diced
1 small onion, minced
1 egg, beaten

First, insert Purple Rain into the cassette player. Then, in a large bowl, toss together stuffing mix and apricots. In a small saucepan, combine water, 6 Tbs. butter and currants. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then lower and simmer until butter melts. Add to stuffing mixture, toss well. In a medium skillet, melt remaining 2 Tbs. butter. Lightly sauté celery and onion; add to stuffing mixture and mix well. Stir in egg.

Makes enough to stuff a 12 pound turkey. Extra stuffing can be placed in a baking pan and baked for 30 mins. At 350. For moist stuffing, cover pan with foil. For a crustier stuffing, leave pan uncovered. Apply more mousse to your perm and pour yourself a frosty glass of Tab.

Coupon no longer valid.

13 comments:

  1. This looks great, but can I have Fresca or perhaps a glass of New Coke?

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  2. This is absolutely awesome. Tab. I love it!!!

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  3. Can my legwarmers double as pot holders?

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  4. This is the most awesome blog post I have read or will read all day.

    Unless someone has pages from an old "Dynomite" magazine laying around. Then you are in for a run for your money!

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  5. My husband put me in charge of googling a stuffing recipe, since this is our first time hosting Thanksgiving dinner. I will not even look on the internet, I will use this recipe. Thanks for saving me the trouble, and I'll let you know how it turns out.

    BTW, thanks for your comment...it helps a lot. :)

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  6. I had that haircut.

    May your stuffing work out better than shoulder pads in the 80s.

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    Replies
    1. LOL! Gawd. Shoulder Pads. How long did that last? Can't believe we actually had control of it too, inserting them or not. Too funny.

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  7. Coupon no longer valid made me laugh out loud (not to be confused with "LOL").

    I wrote down all the ingredients. The next step is actually making it out to the grocery store.

    Sidenote that kind of embarrasses me for some reason: I was Alice's age in November 1984.

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  8. I still love Tab and can happily find it at my local grocery store. Now I am just afraid of the saccahrin . .

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  9. Yum. Totally going to try this. Stuffing to the max!

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  10. I thought that was a picture of you! I love that you kept the same Magazine page all these years.. I have so many torn out recipes from the 80's and 90's that I dig out of various cook books every year then peel away the sticky pages and remember the first time I attempted to duplicate the deliciousness. Happy Turkey Day!!

    xo Laura & Maggie

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  11. I bought Pepperidge Farm dry herb stuffing mix yesterday. I use it for many things. Especially stuffing.

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  12. love this!!! reminds me of how i looked at magazine articles differently at that age (especially of single women entertaining or travelling!). i think i am going to cook this for sure.....

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