Sausage, Apple and Cranberry Stuffing

Can you believe it is already November 7th?! Geesh where has the time gone?! We now only have 14 days left until Thanksgiving and 47 days until Christmas!! Time to get my menu thinking cap on. Our weather here in Tucson, AZ has finally started cooling off this month BUT these past 3 days have been just a bit too warm for my "fall weather" feeling. Hopefully the weather forecasters are right and we are getting our cool off this coming weekend...highs are only supposed to be in the low 70's possibly even mid 60's. If this happens I will be trying out a few new recipes again this weekend.

November 7th is not only the day after Elections 2012 but it is also that time of the month again to submit our Crazy Cooking Challenge recipes. This month our theme is "Stuffing". I must admit my husband has always been the Stove Top stuffing kind of guy BUT I am pretty sure I proved him different last night. Our almost 9 month old LOVED it too, he loves his momma's cooking! This stuffing recipe is going in my keeper files for sure.

Hot out of the oven!

Sausage, Apple and Cranberry Stuffing

1 lb sausage (I would not recommend using sweet italian sausage for this)

1/2 stick butter

1 1/2 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup dried cranberries or cherries

1/2 cup chopped apples

14 oz. stuffing (I used cornbread style that comes in a bag) NOT STOVE TOP

2 cans chicken or veggie broth

1 TBS italian seasoning

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Brown sausage; transfer to a bowl lined with paper towel to drain excess grease BUT do not drain the grease in your pan. 

Add butter to hot pan and heat until foamy.

 After the butter is nice and foamy add celery and onion and cook until tender. Meanwhile in a large bowl combine stuffing, cranberries, apples, italian seasoning and sausage; toss ingredients to combine. Carefully add the celery and onion mixture to the stuffing mixture. Pour broth evenly all over the stuffing and toss to coat.

Spoon mixture into a high rimmed baking dish and cover with lid or foil. (I used my Deep Dish Covered Baker from Pampered Chef). Bake 30 minutes covered and another 30 minutes uncovered.

Enjoy!!