Bread stuffing

This is my third year hosting Thanksgiving at my house. And despite this, somehow, I have never posted the Betty Crocker recipe for stuffing.

Usually, I make homemade bread for my stuffing, but this year I bought white bread from Bottom Dollar because it was cheap. Last night child and I watched an episode of Ugly Betty and ripped bread into cubes.

We have about 16 cups of bread.

BETTY CROCKER STUFFING:
- 3/4 cup butter
- 1 1/2 cups chopped celery with leaves (I omit, I hate celery)
- 3/4 cup finely chopped onions (I hate onions so I usually use chives from my garden that I froze)
- 9 cups soft bread cubes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Heat butter in Dutch oven over medium- high heat. Cook onions and celery for two minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients.

Now, I'm going to probably use done fresh parsley that I froze from my garden as a substitute for celery. I have that country herb blend that I will probably use instead of straight thyme. But I won't mess with sage, because that's the key to that real stuffing flavor. I will mix fresh and dried, though.

Apple Bread Stuffing

I'm prepping for the holiday tomorrow and I keep staring at the pile of bread cubes wondering if I'll have enough for stuffing. The 2-quart round casserole dish is full...

The Betty Crocker 25th Anniversary Cookbook offers this basic recipe for "bread stuffing."
Bread Stuffing

• 3/4 cup butter or margarine
• 1.5 cups celery (chopped with leaves)
• 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 9 cups soft bread cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
• 1.5 teaspoons fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Heat margarine in dutch oven over medium high heat. Cook celery and onion in margarine about two minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Now there's two pertinent variations to note from the cookbook:
Casserole Stuffing (the kind I prefer, baked not 'Stove Top') and Apple-Raisin Stuffing

Casserole Stuffing: Place stuffing in ungreased 2-quart casserole. Cover and bake at 375 until hot. About 30 minutes.

Apple-Raisin Stuffing: Increase salt to 1.5 teaspoons. Add 3 cups finely chopped apples and 3/4 cups raisins with remaining ingredients.

What I plan to do:
Angel's Baked Apple Stuffing

I hate onions and celery... so those are gone...
Using the basic ingredients from the list for Bread Stuffing... I will put the butter in my (Le Creuset) skillet and sauté about three cups apple with all the herbs/spices and four color pepper. I'm going to skip the raisins. I'm going to use fresh herbs I have in the freezer (some from my garden): hopefully sage, thyme, a pinch of rosemary and cloves if I have them.

I will mix my homemade bread (cubed) into the sauce and press into a baking dish, unless it's a small enough amount I can bake it right in the skillet...