Stuffing Bread

 I've been spending a lot of time at the guest house getting ready for my biggest Thanksgiving dinner ever.  I am at 25 guests right now and counting.  I only have room for 24 at the table so we might be playing 'musical chairs' when dinner begins.  Someone will definitely end up standing while they eat.  I know I will be. The pups are more than happy to help. When I developed this area and planted the woods, I did it for my first Chow Chow, Freddy.  She loved walking in the woods and I wanted her to have one of her own.  By the time the project was finished, she was pretty old and sick and really never spent much time here.  Teddy, my second chow, loved this area and always hunted for bad kitties here but she used it rather conservatively.  The W's finally use it the way it was designed to be used.  They run and hunt and play until they drop; as you can see above.

 Thanksgiving is not my favorite meal to make.  After all these years, I find it rather boring.  So, each year I try to do something new just to give it some interest.  This year I intended to cut out some of the old sides and add some new ones.  While discussing it with my family I got remarks like:  not the collards, we have to have the creamed corn, sweet potatoes are expected to be served.  SO.....the regulars remain on the menu.  However, I am experimenting with stuffing bread.  I did this years ago with another bread recipe but it was a no knead bread and a bit heavy for stuffing. The breads I am baking this year have celery seeds, granulated onions, all kinds of stuffing spices...all the flavors you find in stuffing.  And wow, does the house smell good when it is baking.

 These braids were a bit wonky but they will be cut into cubes so who cares! Why not have the bread seasoned along with the seasoning in your stuffing recipe?  It will add depths of flavor.  It's like stuffing X 2!

This is my favorite recipe so far, I am trying 2 more today.

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 ¹/₄ teaspoons rapid rise yeast
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• ¹/₄ teaspoon dried sage
• ¹/₄ teaspoon dried thyme
• ¹/₄ teaspoon dried marjoram
• ¹/₄ teaspoon dried rosemary
• ¹/₄ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ³/₄ cup water
• ¹/₂ cup whole milk
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 egg, beaten for brushing the loaf
• ¹/₂ teaspoon celery seed

Directions

1. In large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, onion powder, parsley, sage, thyme, marjoram, rosemary, pepper, and salt.
2. In your mixing bowl, add the milk, water, and softened butter.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
3. Mix by hand, or on medium speed with a stand mixer, for about 2 minutes. Stir in the remaining cup of flour, and mix well.
4. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about 30 minutes to an hour, depending on the temperature of your kitchen).
5. Shape into a loaf and place it in your greased pan. Cover and let it rise again.
6. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375°F.
7. Brush the loaf  with the beaten egg. Sprinkle with celery seed and flaky sea salt (optional). Bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.