You might want to catch the TODAY show on Channel 3 NBC this Sunday 11/20 airing 8-9AM EST.
Parishioner Nancy Yodice, who is a big fan of the TODAY show, kept prompting her husband, Bob, to enter his Mom's stuffing recipe in the Weekend Today's Show Your Stuff Cooking contest.
He eventually did, thinking, why bother?
Well, on Monday he got the call, "we'd like to have you appear on the Today show Sunday, are you available? "
The recipe is a variation on his mother’s. She was of Hungarian heritage who married Bob’s dad of Italian heritage. Bob’s paternal grandmother, taught his Mom how to cook Italian. Growing up I had the pleasure of enjoying foods from both worlds. Plus his Mom was pretty good at creating things on her own.
This particular recipe is believed to have originated with his paternal grandmother and "tweaked" by his Mom. When Bob was a kid, the Holidays were always at his house, so if he wasn't moving furniture or setting up tables and chairs, he had the joy of peeling the chestnuts for Mom's holiday dressing.
When Nancy and Bob were first married she asked his sisters (who continued to make the stuffing after Mom passed away) for the recipe.
What she received was what you call an "old world recipe"; just ingredients, no measurements. Bob’s sisters did help with the quantities, but they eventually re-worked it to the recipe that was submitted to TODAY.
So, Bob will be one of three finalists in the contest. The stuffings will be judged by Food Networks Sunny Anderson and NBC's Willie Geist.