The World According to Bella

Catching Up
On Friday Mrs S said we'd should be gone by dusk. It was really the only thing to do. I sighed and pressed my nose to the back window of the van. I took one long last look at my house and yard as we drove away. Even though I am tired of wearing orange day and night (its deer hunting season) I REALLY just wanted to stay.  

But Mrs. S insisted I needed to be somewhere safe for at least a month. So now I am somewhere different. I can't run and play without a leash unless I am at the dog park. Its a lot of fun there but not the same as my house up north.
Mrs S tried to cheer me up. She read me some poems from her new book called Dog Songs.

I liked this one

If You Are Holding This Book

by Mary Oliver

You may not agree, you may not care, but

if you are holding this book you should know

that of all the sights I love in this world-

and there are plenty-very near the top of 

the list is this one: dogs without leashes. 

Love, Bella

______________________________________________________

Cornbread Stuffing

Cook’s note: This stuffing can be made a day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. You may need more than 3 cups of chicken broth to have mixture moist before baking.

Ingredients:

• 1 TB.Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 3/4 lb. Italian sweet sausage (casing removed)
• 3 ribs of celery chopped fine
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 cups chicken broth (use low sodium-low fat)
• 1 box of cornbread cooked in an 8 inch square pan
• 4 slices of whole wheat bread cut in cubes
• 1 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries
• ¾ cup toasted pecans
• 2-3 TB.dried parsley flakes
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 TB fresh chopped sage or 1 tsp. dried sage
• ½ tsp. dried thyme

Directions:

• Bake cornbread according to directions on box. Cool then crumble and place on a cookie sheet to dry out overnight
• Do the same for the whole wheat bread crumbs to dry out
• Sauté in a fry pan with olive oil onions, celery and garlic-cook 5-7 minutes
• Add sausage and cook till browned 5-7 minutes
• In a large pot bring chicken broth to boil, add thyme, sage,parsley, onion, celery sausage and garlic. Add cubed bread and cornbread. Mix well.Season with salt and pepper.Fold in pecans and cranberries
• Place in a greased casserole and bake @ 350 for 35 minutes