Countdown to Turkey Day 2008: Ask the Audience

I make dressing (stuffing is IN the bird...and its soggy!) I use Pepperidge Farm's dressing mix with a crumbled up pan of cornbread. I add in a melted stick of butter, turkey broth from the bird, garlic, onions, a bit of celery and a couple of eggs. It has the perfect amount of seasonings without the perfect recipe! Yep, yep...I cheat! ;)

I'm a Southern cornbread traditionalist, too, and the dressing is one of my very favorite parts of the meal. I prefer not to have any fruit, nuts, or other additions.

Years ago, my mother did the traditional stuffing. I can remember bread laying all over the table, drying. Since those days, we have resorted to Stove Top. I am not there yet, but the older I get the more take out sounds appealing!

From Southern Virginia....and the stuffing is one of my favorite parts of the big meal. My grandma used to make cornbread stuffing with sage.....stuffing in the bird and then stuffing balls separate from the bird. There were some Thanksgivings (when I was a wee wee one) that the stuffing were all that I would eat.

So this is my recipe now....and I have tweaked it a bit to suit my own family. We're a little lighter on the sage these days (husband and stepsons are yanks....can't take the spicy food). I make a secret side stash for me (yes it is still my favorite) with all the spicy ingredients left out of the others. I even like to throw in the Tobasco. Mmmmm.....Mmmmmm.

Bring it on. Love me some stuffing.

11 days and counting.

Well being from the south you would think corn bread dressing would be on my top favorite list but....um nope...I like a bread dressing but have yet to find a recipe that is knock me out of this world fabulous. I've even tried oyster dressing, cranberry and sausage etc.

I make barley stuffing, and I add mushrooms and onions plus the normal herbs, i've had stuffing (bread) made with walnuts that was good too.

I've added left over rice in the past to a.) get rid of the rice and b.) stretch out the stuffing because we were short a serving or two.

My family always served Stove Top as dressing. We looked forward to eating it cold the next day. I don't know if that is weird or not!
My MIL starts hers the night before: traditional dried bread sage dressing with walnuts and giblets. She stuffs her turkey and bakes more on the side because we love it so much.

I grew up with cornbread stuffing (southern style with lots of onion and sage), and have also had good luck with from-scratch regular bread stuffing. I always make at least an extra pan of stuffing - what's in the bird isn't nearly enough!

Some years I put a layer of "dry" stuffing (the same recipe minus all liquids except the eggs) under the bird - if the bird is small - to soak up the juices - that's been popular, too. If it comes out too soggy, just save it and add it to a new bunch of stuffing later on to get the liquid balance right. Good stuffing doesn't care if it's baked twice, frozen, etc.

Since I now have an allergy to wheat, I am experimenting with other flours and binders - this year's will be polenta cornmeal with a blend of rye and garbanzo flour....and I'm thinking about adding some oysters, if I can find some good ones (oysters have been really sickly this year) or maybe some scallops. My husband likes oyster dressing, it seems.

I'm usually not intimidated by any recipe, but having tried and tried and tried again to find a recipe for dressing that will turn out ok for me, I've given up and just use StoveTop Stuffing (hanging my head in shame).

Oh well, we all like the flavor and I don't have to stress over it. I guess there's something to be said for that.

I honestly just love the traditional stuffing made with all sorts of herbs and regular bread! The smell gets me every time!

I live in PA dutch country, so our Thanksgiving dinner wouldn't be complete without potato filling (yep, it's filling, not dressing, stuffing, or anything else). My grandma has been making it for as long as I can remember, and it's what I grew up eating. I can't imagine Thanksgiving without it.

My aunt also make bread stuffing, because her husband loved it. Unfortunately he has passed on, but she still makes it every year in his memory.