A lot of people use eggs in stuffing, I think. My mom did. I used to but don't anymore. Can't say that I can tell a difference. Maybe makes a difference if you make your stuffing on the dry side. I like mine pretty moist.

My mom used to use eggs in her dressing and I think it was really common for years. It's hard to believe that people could put a raw egg/bread mixture into a cold bird to bake. You would think it would take so long to get the temp of the dressing hot that all kinds of bacteria would develop.

Actually I think people's bodies were much more resistant to bacteria years ago. I think the environment is weakening our immune systems. When I was growing up in the 50's I think it was very common to thaw a pound of hamburger on the counter. And when I would visit my friend's grandparent's farm on weekends we would drink raw milk from the milk pail.

Anyone else have memories of food practices that would be alarming by today's standards?

I put an egg in my cornbread dressing, not stuffing. I don't really have a recipe, but it's always good. May be that it's just the way it's always been, so we never change it very much. I use cornbread, stale loaf bread, both crumbled,...lots of onion, celery, my own dried sage, chicken broth, preferably with some fat in it and an egg. Usually add a few grinds of black pepper, too. I save the end pieces of loaf bread in the freezer and day old cornbread,not fresh because the texture is better and it crumbles easier. I'll make the dry mixture tonight and add the liquid when I'm ready to bake it. After it sets overnight, I can tell by the way it smells if I need to add anything to the seasoning.

jude

Teresa,
It's even recommended not to stuff the bird at all because it takes so long for the interior to get up to temp.
Especially convection cooking. The bird gets cooked quicker on convection, but the stuffing isn't.

On your question.....using a wooden cutting board for everything. Meat and veggies. I didn't know anyone when I was a kid who used a separate cutting board for their cutting.

My mother put chopped up boiled eggs in hers.

I always use eggs in dressing, but I never stuff the cavity of the bird. Here's my version using grits instead of cornbread, but lately I've gone back to using cornbread, although the recipe is very similar.

Grits Faux Cornbread Dressing

Ingredients:
2 tbsp vegetable oil or grape seed oil
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 cups finely chopped celery
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chicken broth (or water)
1 tbsp soup base, mushroom, chicken, vegetable, or a combination
1/8 tsp cayenne or hot sauce
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1-2 tsp dried sage (according to your taste)
3/4 cup quick grits (be sure not to use "instant") - can substitute polenta
2 eggs
2 tbsp water
2 cups dry bread, in small cubes

Directions:
In a large saucepan, heat the vegetable oil and add the butter. When the butter is melted, add the onion, celery, and garlic, and saute for a few minutes, or until the onions begin to be translucent. The celery must stay crunchy. Add the water (or broth, if you have it), soup base, cayenne, and herbs, and stir to combine. Take the pan off heat, and add the quick grits slowly while stirring. Stir for one minute off heat, and return to low heat. Cover and cook five minutes more (for a total of six minutes), stirring occasionally.

Preheat oven to 350 deg F. Beat the eggs with the 2 tbsp water, and then combine with the bread cubes. Transfer the bread to a 9x9 baking dish, add the cooked grits, and stir to combine.

Bake covered for about 10 minutes - longer if the grits have been made ahead and have cooled. If you like it less moist, you can bake it uncovered.

Mixing the eggs with the dry bread gives the bread a more interesting texture after it is cooked - something like soft French toast. I'm making the cornbread version of dressing today.

Lars

Pepperidge Farm stuffing/dressing bread used to call for a raw egg along with melted butter and water or broth, probably assuming the egg got cooked inside the turkey. However, the label no longer lists an egg, I assume for safety reasons. Can't say that I miss it, either.

I really do not like egg in either dressing or stuffing. I use sauteed onion, celery, a bit of garlic and lots of butter. Mix in the dried bread (um, no cornbread here either, LOL). Then stock to moisten it all.

I don't want it "slice-able".

Tastes vary. What one person would call "moist" another would call "sodden", LOL.

I put both boiled, chopped eggs, as well as some beaten eggs into my dressing. I use the beaten eggs to help hold the dressing together because I make it from cornbread and no other bread type. Using other bread makes it more gummy than I like. I don't have a recipe. Besides the already discussed ingredients I use lots of celery, onion, sage, salt, pepper, and homemade chicken/turkey stock. I frequently add bits of chicken to it also. It's good when I don't forget and overcook it.

I also put beaten eggs into my stuffing, my kids like it kind of "gloppy", which is very moist. I think it's all greasy bread and don't care much for it at all, which is why I still intend to make some with oysters added, it wouldn't be just greasy bread any more, it would have an extra added protein!

Annie

Teresa, though researchers do suspect that our immune systems are not getting the workouts they used to (children raised on farms have far fewer allergies to things like gluten and peanuts than children raised in cities), the reason that our grandmothers could used food practices that would make us very sick today is that our farming practices in the last 30 years have developed virulent strains of bacteria in animals. The killer strains of E. coli and the virulent strain of salmonella that crossed the egg barrier in the late 80s are the result of filthy living conditions of animals combined with low level antibiotics routinely given to those animals. It's exactly like when people with TB don't take the full antibiotic and highly resistant strains develop. Or when antibiotics are overused and overprescribed and the same thing happens.

I've got it in the slow-cooker now.
I put a couple of beaten eggs, sauteed onions, and celery. Lots of bread and I always put some leftover cooked rice in my stuffing. Seasonings, and a bit of homemade chicken broth.

It shouldn't be soggy or overly moist; I just dampened it with the broth. Some recipes call for 4 cups of broth which is definitely overkill in a slow-cooker, since the liquid doesn't evaporate.

I've always added a raw egg to my stuffing and stuffed the bird and never had a problem. I've been doing it that way since the dawn of time and my mother and Grandmother before me I guess!
Joann