A Thanksgiving Must

Last year for Thanksgiving, I was asked to take stuffing to our family dinner.  I had only made the stove top kind before that, so I decided it was time to try something different.  I found a recipe on the Food Network website called Good Old Country Stuffing by Paula Deen.  It turned out to be the best stuffing I had ever tasted.  Everyone else loved it as well.  I am definitely making it again this year.  Here's the recipe:

Good Old Country Stuffing by Paula Deen

Ingredients

• 2 loaves oven-dried white bread(recommended: Pepperidge Farm)
• 2 cups cooked white rice
• 1 sleeve crushed saltines
• 1 pound bulk breakfast sausage
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 7 cups chicken stock
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried sage leaves
• 1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 stick butter, melted
• Mushroom Giblet Gravy, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Crumble oven-dried bread into a large bowl. Add rice and saltines.

Cook sausage in a large skillet until it starts to brown. Add celery and onion and saute until transparent, 5 to 10 minutes. Pour over bread and rice mixture. Add stock and mix well. Add salt, pepper, sage, and poultry seasoning. Mix well. Add the beaten eggs and melted butter. Mix well. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the stuffing mixture for the Mushroom Giblet Gravy.

Pour stuffing into a greased pan and bake until cooked through and golden brown, about 45 minutes