We're celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend at school. I know, I know... it's a few days early but what's a girl to do? It's a serious tradition at ACS--the international teachers make Thanksgiving dinner for the Bulgarian teachers at school. So the cooking starts tomorrow after school and we eat (and drink) on Saturday afternoon.

It's a group thing which is good because we're cooking for probably 140 people.  I am signed up to make stuffing.  I volunteered to do this because I've got an amazing recipe that I am going to make. But when I signed up, I wasn't really thinking about the fact that I'd be making stuffing for over 100 people.

Honestly, I've never ever cooked for this many people.  I love Thanksgiving but what was I thinking?! Stuffing for 140 people? Luckily there will be moral support from the other international teachers and I am pretty glad that I am not making pumpkin pies for 140 people.  That seems like a ton of work.  Especially because we don't have cans of pumpkin puree here in Bulgaria. You've got to make the puree and then make the pies.

So tomorrow after school, I'll be found in our school's basement kitchen cutting bread, roasting it until it toasty and putting together my awesome, awesome stuffing recipe.  I am trying me best to get pumped up about this. I mean the stuffing is really tasty and I am excited about this. <!--more--> But right now, I am not so excited about making pan upon pan of stuffing tomorrow.  Not pumped up about it.

I am really trying.  I think that Thanksgiving is a special holiday.  And I want to share the sprit of it with my Bulgarian coworkers. It's just a little bit overwhelming to think about how many people I am going to be cooking for.

On a positive note: once I've cooked stuffing for this many people, it will seem easy-peasy any other time I do it.  Actually, I have a hunch after Saturday I'd be happy to make a whole Thanksgiving dinner by myself for friends and family and it won't feel like any work at all.  Okay, that might be an exaggeration.  But really, how can it not be easy once I've made this much stuffing?

So keep your fingers crossed that everything comes together smoothly.  I mean I did have to increase by eight and I tried to "translate" it from cups to some European measurements. On top of this, I also have to hope that the fresh spices I asked for are in the market and available.

Here's my recipe. It's easy as 1, 2, 3 (but maybe also 4, 5, 6, 7....).

<strong>Vegetarian Stuffing for 15 people:
</strong>
<ul>
	<li>1/2 loaf cubed whole wheat bread</li>
	<li>1 loaf cubed white bread</li>
	<li>2 large chopped onions</li>
	<li>2 cloves of garlic</li>
	<li>1.5 cups chopped celery</li>
	<li>5 Teaspoons fresh sage</li>
	<li>1 Tablespoon fresh rosemary</li>
	<li>1 Teaspoon Fresh thyme</li>
	<li>2 Golden Delicious Apples cored, peeled, chopped</li>
	<li>1.5 cups dried fruit (golden raisins, apricots, cherries)</li>
	<li>2/3 cups minced fresh parsley</li>
	<li>3 cups vegetable stock (Note: this varies based on your bread. You might need more.)</li>
	<li>1/2 cup melted butter</li>
</ul>
How to: cut everything in to pieces. Toast the bread cubes. You can make these by cutting them or I'd recommending ripping the bread into pieces. It's looks more rustic this way. This will take 20 minutes or so. Toss the pieces from time to time so that they toast evenly. Cook with a little butter the garlic and onion until soft. Chop up all of the herbs into little pieces. Then in a very large pan mix everything but the vegetable stock and melted butter together. Then pour the liquid ingredients over the together everything in the pan. It should be moist--not too wet and not too dry. This is important. If you need more moisture--add more stock.  Cover the pan with aluminum foil and stick the whole thing in the oven. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes covered and then 30 minutes or until hot through for 30 more minutes. The top should get toasty and golden.

Um did I mention, this recipe is delicious?!

Don't worry,  there will be an update on the actual cooking and the event.