Apple and Sage Stuffing

As soon as I saw the pumpkins at Coop, I knew I have to work on this post. Since Thanksgiving last year, my good friend Mike has been asking me for the recipe of the stuffing that I prepared for our Thanksgiving dinner (the picture below was taken by Mike from this dinner). Today, I willed myself to look for my recipe which my husband seriously hid under some papers.
The first time I tried stuffing was maybe about 7 years ago at a Thanksgiving party thrown by American students in my hometown in the Philippines. It was such a revelation for me. My Japanese friend, Kazumi and I "camped" near the buffet at the party and together we ate all the stuffing. I never forgot the taste of that stuffing. So, years later in Zurich, I tried to recreate that beautiful stuffing recipe. I realized that "the new taste" I was so fascinated about was the combination of apples and sage. So, armed with the memory of that stuffing from 7 years ago, I put together this stuffing recipe.

2 tbsps garlic, chopped
3 onions, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
4 apples, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup butter
2 tbsps dried sage
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1/2 tsp thyme
2 whole wheat bread loaf, diced
1/2 cups chicken stock
milk

1. Saute garlic and onion in butter;
2. Add apples, celery, raisins and bread;
3. Add chicken stock;
4. Slowly add milk until all the bread is soaked;
5. Add the herbs;
5. Season and taste;
6. Remove from heat;
7. Place inside turkey or bake in a pan at 180 C for 30 minutes.

Note: Adjust the amount of sage to taste.

So, my dearest Mike and Christina, I am sorry for the delay and advanced happy Thanksgiving!

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Fluffy Pancakes

Due to the absence of hotcake (pancake) mixes in Switzerland 4 years ago, I was forced to invent my own pancake recipe. When I arrived, there were only 2 groceries feeding the whole Swiss population of 8,000,000, Coop and Migros. Thanks to the EU, Switzerland was forced to open it's doors to new groceries and new kinds of foods, like the American pancake (vs the french crepe which is paper thin)!. Now, it is possible to find pancake mixes in Coop and Migros but I don't need it anymore because I have found the perfect pancake recipe.

Pancakes are made from flour, baking powder, eggs, milk, salt and butter. When you prepare pancakes using a pancake mix, you would need to add eggs, milk and butter. This means that when you buy a ready-mix, all you are buying actually is flour, salt, baking powder and the recipe!

Injected by the Americans into Filipino cuisine, pancakes have become a big Filipino favorite!

Pancake

11/2 cup flour
3 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp vanilla
2 tbsps oil
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk

1 tbps oil for frying

1. Beat all ingredients together with an electric mixer (or by hand if you want) until smooth.
2. Heat non-stick frying pan add 1 tbsp oil.
3. Using a tissue paper spread the oil evenly into the pan (also remove excess oil).
4. Cook about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake.

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