Kitty Lou's Bread Stuffing

12 heaped cups bread cubes
1 large onion, chopped
3 medium celery stalks, chopped
1 bunch parsley, washed and chopped
1 large egg (or 2 medium eggs)
1 cup milk, plus enough to moisten
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 stick unsalted butter, cut into small chunks

Heat olive oil and saute onion and celery. When soft, mix the sauteed vegetables with the chopped parsley and bread cubes in a very large bowl.

Lightly beat the egg in 1 cup milk and add to the bread cube mixture. Toss. The bread cubes should be moist but not soggy; add more milk if necessary. Dot with chunks of butter and add salt & pepper to taste.

If stuffing a bird, do not stuff until just before you put the bird in the oven. If oven baking, put into a 9x13" oiled pan, cover with foil, and cook at the same temperature as the turkey/chicken for the last 45 minutes.

Note: you can saute the onion & celery the day before and keep overnight in the microwave to cut down on prep on the day of serving. If doing with a turkey, place the neck on top of the stuffing in the pan for extra flavor.

Note: you can either use dried bread that you've done yourself (cut into cubes & leave out overnight to dry, then store in the freezer until needed) or buy the bags of Pepperidge Farm cubed stuffing mix, like I do. Either will work fine.

Final editorial comment: Some of you may disagree as to whether this is exactly how your mother prepared it. That may be; I wasn't there. This is a recipe that I got from Mom; I stood by her as she prepared it and measured all ingredients before she did anything with them, since she did everything off-the-cuff. She has told me that Kitty Lou didn't put celery in her stuffing . . .