giving thanks for food babies, part the first

I’m not sure if this is a well-known concept for people other than our roommates past and present, but there is something very important involved in a good meal that often gets overlooked. This, of course, is the food baby. One acquires a food baby by consuming a huge meal so awesome that it overrides one’s natural sense of fullness, leaving you feeling as though you have eaten the equivalent of having a small human inside you. Depending on the awesomeness of the meal and the gastrointestinal fortitude of the eater, this can be upgraded to food twins (usually requiring a tummy rub and awhile spent on the couch dazedly moaning) or triplets (after you’ve given up on things like utensils and chewing).

Of course, Thanksgiving weekend is a prime time for this to happen. My personal Thanksgiving dinner food babies have been made of many delicious things. Volume one came from tonight’s dinner, and volume two will come tomorrow.

First: stuffing!

As per usual, I googled recipes until I found something that looked workable, then changed 75% of it to make it suit my needs. This was delicious and easy and deliciously easy; I highly recommend it.

INGREDIENTS:
– 9 cups soft bread cubes (remove crust if you’re picky about those things)
– 1/2 cup or so olive oil
– 1 medium onion, chopped
– 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
– chopped carrots, sweet pepper, celery, mushrooms, what have you (basically whatever’s in your fridge that’s a heavyish sort of stuffing-appropriate vegetable…use your best judgement, if you have it)
– dried thyme and rosemary (or preferred herbs) to total around 3-4 tsp or to taste
– 1-2 tbsp fresh basil
– salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
– This is a pretty freewheeling recipe. Cut up the bread, and aside from the proportions of onions and garlic (which are still pretty flexible), everything else is really on a “how much do you think you need?” basis. I like my stuffing to have a visible but not overpowering vegetable presence, with the emphasis on the seasoned bread – your mileage may vary. Follow your heart.
– In a large skillet, saute the vegetables in about 1/4 cup of oil, beginning with tougher things like carrots and adding the onions and garlic last to avoid burning them.
– Add in your herbs and salt and pepper, and let them cook with the veggies until they start releasing their fragrance.
– Add about 1/3 of the bread cubes at a time, tossing to coat them with the oil and seasonings (this is a good time to add the extra oil as needed). Let it heat for awhile as you preheat the oven, maybe with a lid on so the delicious steam can infuse the bread with its…delicious steaminess. (It’s past my bedtime, shut up.)
– Throw everything in a roasting pan, cover with tinfoil, and bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes.
– Eat. Share. Repeat. (Serves 6-8 people.)

till tomorrow!