We call is dressing and stuff it into the turkey....and also have a dish in the oven too.
Just the basic onion, celery parsley sage thyme bread dressing with lots of butter and chicken broth.
Linda c

Both... and if I keep stuffing I'm not going to be able to dress. Sorry.

Seriously, I make dressing, and have never tried making stuffing. I do see recipes that look and sound very good.

jude

Stuffing here. Some in the bird, some not. This what would happen is I were making the turkey this year. As I am not, it will all be baked in a casserole dish. But my grandmother from Missouri called it "dressing."

I put my recipe on Jeri's Thanksgiving thread. But I'll repeat it here.

Grand Marnier Apricot Stuffing "Silver Palate Good Times"

Ingredients

~ 1 cup diced dried apricots
~ 1 1/2 cups Grand Marnier
~ turkey liver ( extremely optional)
~ turkey heart ( extremely optional)
~ 1 cup unsalted butter
~ 2 cups coarsely chopped celery
~ 1 large onions, chopped
~ 1 lb bulk pork sausage
~ 1 lb herb stuffing mix
~ 1 cup slivered almonds
~ 2 cups rich chicken broth
~ 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
~ salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Place the apricots and 1 cup of the Grand Marnier in a small saucepan. Heat to boiling. Remove from heat and set aside. (If you simply must, simmer the giblets in a small saucepan covered with water for 5 minutes. When cool, remove and finely dice, discarding the liquid.)

2. Melt ý cup of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the celery and onion and saute for 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.

3. In the same skillet, cook the sausage, crumbling it with a fork, until itâÂÂs no longer pink. Remove from heat and add to the celery & onion mixture.

4. Add the stuffing mix, apricots with the liquid, the almonds (and the optional giblets.) Stir to combine.

5. Heat the remaining 1/2 cup butter and chicken stock just until the butter melts. Pour over the stuffing mixture and add the remaining 1/2 cup of Grand Marnier. Stir well to moisten the stuffing, adding the thyme, salt and pepper to taste.

6. Bake stuffing in a large buttered casserole at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

7. YouâÂÂll have enough to stuff a 21-24 pound bird with a small extra casserole on the side.

This recipe may be slightly paraphrased as I copied it from a webpage, not from the book itself. I can't find my copy, it must be boxed up as I am painting. The ingredients are correct.

I never use giblets in my stuffing. (Yuck, pah-tooey.) And I also do not use herbed stuffing mix. I use artisan sourdough and regular bread which I Melba toast and hand crumble. I also use fresh sage and fresh thyme. I use homemade turkey stock instead of chicken stock and I will substitute walnuts for the almonds this year as I have several pounds in my freezer and no almonds.

Hmm... I always thought it was stuffing if you actually stuffed it in the bird and dressing otherwise. I used to make stuffing until I got married. He won't let me stuff a bird. So I make it in a casserole dish. So it's dressing now. Same recipe.

It's dressing here also & cooked in a casserole. I don't use a recipe but when I'm done it's a meal in itself. I use toasted homemade bread cubes, onion, celery, carrot, apple, fresh cranberries, pecans, sausage, sage, thyme, broth, sometimes an egg, & S&P. I love leftover dressing & gravy with a slice of pumpkin pie for breakfast!

/tricia

I stuff my turkey and always make enough for an extra casserole also. I don't use a recipe as there are just too many variables, size of the turkey, how many I'm serving and how much I want left over.
When I make it for Thanksgiving the stuffing has to be made the same as it has been for my entire life. On other occasions I have added other ingredients, even followed a recipe one time! I love stuffing/dressing.

Nancy

We stuff our turkey and call it stuffing here on Long Island

Cornbread dressing on the side, please. Love the stuff!

I make stuffing/dressing and some goes into the bird, whatever won't fit goes into a casserole.

No recipe here, either. Mine can include any or all of the following: bread cubes, celery, sausage, wild rice, cranberries, mushrooms, onions, herbs, almonds, butter, broth...and anything else I t hink sounds good at the time!

Linda

In my family, stuffing is cooked in the bird.

Dressing is cooked outside the bird.

Often we'll have stuffing left over that wouldn't fit in the bird, so we cook that dressing later and serve it with the leftovers throughout the week.

Traditional bread stuffing in the bird. Oyster dressing out of the bird.

Connecticut born and raised. Always stuffed the turkey. I never even heard the term "dressing" until I lived in FL.

As I get older I find more often when I get dressed I have to stuff.... or were you talking about Thanksgiving?

In my house, Ma called it dressing and it was cooked in a pan. A friend was over and was comparing bird-day menus and asked if we had stuffing - I said we had dressing, and Ma told me it's the same thing. I wouldn't argue with her so there.*

I've heard it that it's stuffing in the bird, dressing out. I've heard people call it dressing when it's in the bird while others call it stuffing out of the bird. Methinks it's the term you grew up with and when it's on the plate, what's the difference!

The one thing I want to try was a suggestion I saw from Andrew Zimmern where he'd butterfly the turkey and roast it on a rack over the stuffing. Still get all the juices into the breadstuff without the hassles of temperature and bacteria. Plus the bird cooks faster and more evenly, at least so he said and who am I to argue?*

*To quote Alex Karras in Blazing Saddles, "Mongo only pawn in game of life"

This is my goto recipe.

I place some of it under a split turkey, it soaks up drippings and then that is mixed into the remainder and baked as dressing.

If you aren't doing a bird yet want dressing I use saved wing tips, layering them on top of the casserole and using the broiler as needed to infuse the dressing.

Sausage Stuffing/Dressing

Two loaves of Italian crusty bread torn not cubed into approx. 1" pieces.
1-2 cups chicken stock
1 cup half and half (coffee cream)
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
1 lb pork sausage, broken into 1" pieces
3 medium onions, chopped fine
3-4 celery ribs, chopped fine
2 tblsp butter
2 tblsp thyme leaves, chopped to mince
2 tblsp sage leaves
3 cloves garlic, minced or thru a press
S&P
Dry bread in a 250* oven for maybe an hour?
Put bread in a large bowl. Whisk together cream, chicken stock and eggs and pour over bread and toss (don't break up the bread further.
Cook sausage in skillet at medium high until it looses its raw look, use slotted spoon to transfer it out and add 1/2 of the onions and celery and sauté till soft. transfer this out to sausage bowl.
Now add the butter to pan and bring to heat, add the remaining onions and celery and when softened add the thyme, sage and garlic, cook 30 seconds or so and add S&P to taste.
Add this mixture to the sausage mixture and stir, Add this sausage mixture to bread mixture and *gently* stir. Try and keep the dressing chunky.
Cover dressing with foil and refrigerate until needed.

Stir often while cooking. Use broiler as needed.

Notice how you sort of French Toast the bread? That makes a wonderful dressing. We make it often just to have around. Dressing sandwiches...even if we don't have a cooked bird around.

It's stuffing here except when I call it dressing. Most in the bird, whats left in a casserole.

Mine is very plain. Day or two old bread, sauted onion, celery, lots of butter, sage, salt, pepper. Not much more than that. Sometimes I use poultry seasoning. I never use fruits, nuts or meats.

My favourite thing in the world...well right up there...is a cold turkey sandwich with stuffing and mayo...dill pickle on the side, big glass of milk. I actually cook the turkey just to have that!

I'm aligned with most of you in that it's stuffing in the bird and dressing in the casserole dish. Same recipe for both.

Like Beachlily, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving here without cornbread dressing, baked in a casserole dish (and served with giblet gravy.)

Stuffing. Some inside the bird and some in a casserole dish. Then the two are mixed together, since the inside stuffing is moister than the stuff in the dish. So maybe call it Streffing?

I'm like dedtired. What doesn't fit in the bird, gets baked in a dish or some tinfoil. Mixed together to serve.

I use bread cubes, leftover cooked rice, celery, onions, seasoning, chicken broth.

We call it dressing and it's never put in the bird. This recipe is from my great grandmother (Mawmaw) and her sister (Boopie) who came to Texas on a covered wagon from Tennessee. The notes are how my mom makes it.

Mawmaw & Boopie's East Texas Cornbread dressing

1 pan cornbread (she uses two packages of Corn Kits and makes it in a cast iron skillet, according to package directions)
1 can biscuits, baked (or one sleeve of crackers, crushed, if you don't feel like making biscuits)
2 cups onions chopped
1 cup celery chopped
1 stick of butter
4 boiled eggs (chopped)
2 large boxes of chicken broth (or broth made from turkey parts)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon sage
2 eggs, beaten
4 to 5 bacon slices

Crumble cornbread and biscuits in a large bowl. Lightly sautee (don't brown) onion and celery together in the stick of butter (she does this in the microwave in a large glass measure). Add the veggies to the crumbs. Add seasoning and boiled eggs. Mix well. Add the broth until it's a very moist mixture, almost soupy. Then add two beaten eggs and mix well. Put in a 9x13 pan. Lay 4 or 5 bacon slices acrosss the top. Bake at 350 for one hour or until brown on top. That makes about 10 to 12 servings. She suggests you make this the night before, refrigerate, and bake the next day.

Some notes from her: She says this is optional, but she also adds chopped green onion sauteed with the other veggies, parsley (dried or fresh), and fresh sage.

Cookebook:

Now THAT'S a special recipe! I love the annotations. Mawmaw and Boopie will live forever. :)

I use the words Dressing and Stuffing interchangeably whether or not I stuff the bird or bake it in a casserole.

My standard stuffing is basically the same as Sharon's - Bread, onions, celery, butter, fresh sage, parsley, salt , pepper and moistened with chicken broth.

Occasionally I make a cornbread version. Same seasoning.

Ann

I never stuff the bird. Mine is just a mix of biscuits, cornbread, sauteed celery, onions and moistened with turkey broth and a can of cream of mushroom soup. I love it uncooked, cooked hot or cold and have even had it for breakfast the next day.

I would chop up the giblets but if my family saw an unidentified piece of anything, they would not be pleased.

Dressing for my part of the country. And it's the only thing that might be keeping me from eating out on Thanksgiving this year. :) For me, leftover dressing, gravy and mashed potatoes is heaven.

We always called it stuffing...dressing was what went on a salad.

I don't have a recipe for the usual stuffing, as it's just something I make...probably never tastes the same twice. But, one year I got a bee in my bonnet for corn bread stuffing and I wrote it down while I made it. Turned out quite tasty for a change.

Corn Bread Stuffing

(Enough to stuff both cavities of a 15 pound bird)

3 c crumbled corn bread (use a recipe for dry, not sweet style bread)
1 c coarse bread crumbs
ý c dried cranberries (give or take)
2 T BellâÂÂs seasoning
ý onion, diced
1 stick celery, diced
2 Italian sausages (hot), cooked & chopped into small pieces
ý t pepper
1 t salt
1/3 c carrot, coarsely grated
1-2 T olive oil or chicken fat

Saute onion & celery in olive oil or chicken fat until onion is translucent.
Add BellâÂÂs seasoning and saute briefly, until pungent.
Combine all ingredients & stuff bird.

This recipe is meant to stuff a bird that will be roasted over a pan of chicken stock & wine (2 cans stock, 1 cup dry white wine), with the breast down until the last hour and a half or so. The steam from the broth & wine moistens the stuffing. If youâÂÂd like to cook the stuffing in a separate container, or roast the bird without liquid, pre-moisten the stuffing with a bit of chicken stock laced with a small amount of wine.

I do both, stuff the turkey with my sausage, cranberry stuffing and a bowl of meatless dressing. I make gravy from the turkey drippings as well as gravy from vegetable broth for the meatless eaters. Like pfmastin stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy are my favorite part of TG dinner.