21 November: National Stuffing Day

Today is National Stuffing Day. Here are a few facts about the stuff.

1. Stuffing is sometimes referred to as "dressing".
2. Nobody knows for sure how long stuffing has been around, but the first reference to it is in a Roman cookbook, Apicius De Re Coquinaria, which contains recipes for stuffed Chicken, dormouse, Hare, and Pig. Their recipes consist of vegetables, herbs and spices, nuts, and spelt (a cereal), chopped liver, brains, and other offal.
3. Today stuffing consists of cornbread or dried Bread, in the form of croutons, cubes or breadcrumbs, pork sausage meat, Onion, Celery, Salt, Pepper, and other spices and herbs such as summer savoury, sage, or a mixture like poultry seasoning. In the United Kingdom dried fruits and nuts (usually Apricots and flaked Almonds), and chestnuts are added.
4. The idea of stuffing is that it is cooked within the body cavity of a bird or animal. That said, these days you could get food poisoning from cooking the stuffing that way. Even when the meat reaches a safe temperature, the stuffing may not, so it's recommended these days by United States Department of Agriculture to cook the stuffing separately.
5. Stuffing can also be used for cuts of meat such as chicken legs or pork chops after de-boning.
6. Vegetables can also be stuffed. Tomatoes, peppers and marrows can be stuffed after the seeds have been removed. Cabbages can also be stuffed or their leaves wrapped around some stuffing.
7. 100 grams of stuffing contains around 386 calories.
8. Nutrients present in stuffing include fats, sodium, Potassium, carbohydrate, fibre, protein, calcium, Iron, B vitamins and magnesium.
9. Sometimes, stuffing is actually another animal. A 13th century cookbook includes a recipe for a ram stuffed with small birds. T.C. Boyle's book Water Music mentions a recipe for a Camel stuffed with sheep stuffed with bustards stuffed with carp stuffed with Eggs.
10. A similar recipe for the modern day has been created by British celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. His ten-bird roast calls for a large Turkey is stuffed with a goose, duck, Mallard, guinea fowl, chicken, Pheasant, partridge, Pigeon, and woodcock, as well as stuffing made from sausage meat, streaky bacon, sage, port and red Wine. Ideal if you're expecting 30 people round for Christmas dinner.

My Christmas Novella!

A Very Variant Christmas

Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.

The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?

Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.

Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.

Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.

Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.

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