In case you haven’t been here for a couple days – I recently did a test run of Thanksgiving this year. Last year I was stressed about everything getting done on time (or not getting done on time) and decided the best way to go would be to practice. Since I love all the different flavors of Thanksgiving, and growing up all Thanksgiving meals happened for days thanks to leftovers, I figured why not have Thanksgiving dinner twice this month? Last year I made a stuffing with dried cranberries, vegan apple sausage and chestnuts. This year I decided I wanted it to be a lot more like Mom’s, and my mom never put anything fancy in the stuffing. And I loved it. Honestly, stuffing was my favorite part of the meal. I loved the bits that were more moist from being inside the turkey, mixed with the more crispy bits that had been in a pan to cook. I could eat stuffing all day, everyday, and was always disappointed when it was gone. Luckily, I was able to re-create everything I loved about Mom’s stuffing, minus the bird. And it was so quick and easy, I have no worries about making this one again soon.

What you’ll need for the stuffing:

• 4 cups of cubed stale bread (I find it easiest to lay all the pieces out flat for a few hours)
• 4 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 2 TBS Earth Balance or other vegan margarine
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp poultry seasoning
• 1/2 tsp dried French thyme
• 1/4 plus 1/8 cups of low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1 autumn cup squash (or small pumpkin or acorn squash) for baking the stuffing in

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Start by carving the insides of the squash out. You want to make sure you have enough room for the stuffing and remove any seeds or stringy bits.

Heat a skilled over medium heat with the Earth Balance, onion, and celery. Cook until the onions are translucent and the celery is slightly wilted. Add seasonings, 1/4 cup of broth and mix well.

Add the bread to a large bowl and top with seasonings and onions and celery. Drizzle the remaining vegetable broth over top, stirring to make sure all the bread is coated in both seasoning and broth.

Stuff the squash with the bread, and place remaining on a greased pan. Put everything in the oven, and bake the squash for 40 minutes, or until the skin is easily pierced with a fork. For the pan, 20 minutes will be sufficient. Cover the pan and set aside to keep it warm until everything else is ready.

Slice the squash in quarters and serve with extra stuffing along with maple & pumpkin seed crusted tofu, and you’ve got a perfect vegan Thanksgiving meal!