This is the recipe that has been handed down from my Great Grandfather, who emigrated from London in the 1880's.

No measurements given because I never got any.
Basic rule is - 3X the amount of bread as the fried pork.
From then on - it's smell and taste.

I can say that I use a lb. of sausage as the base for a 20 lb turkey.
If you make too much, it can be baked in a casserole dish

Break pork sausage into pieces and fry with sliced onions on med heat.
While pork is cooking, lightly toast slices of white bread and butter each slice - lightly.
Break toast pieces into a large bowl, add fried sausage and onions.
Peel and cut into small chunks 2-3 apples, and add to mixture,
Then sprinkle sweet Marjorum liberally, salt and pepper to taste,

MIx and then add 1 or 2 beaten eggs(this holds the ingredients together.

Stuff turkey

if you want truly simple and really good it does not get easier than this one. It has been around a while, I got it from a forum I used to be on and everyone there loved it. It has definitely been tried a lot.

Crock Pot Dressing
1 9 x 13 pan cornbread, baked, crumbled, and dumped in 5 qt. crockpot
1 can of each: cream of mushroom, cream of celery, cream of chicken, cream of onion(sometimes hard to find, can use two celery's)
1 can chicken broth
1 tablespoon poultry seasoning
Mix all together with cornbread, heat on low 4-6 hours.

you can add pre cooked sausage to the mix you can buy the Jimmy Dean cooked sausage crumblers and just use that.

or there is the basic recipe like this one
COUNTRY CORNBREAD SAUSAGE DRESSING

This is the one I like:

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes

Stuffing

8 cups cubed Harvest Grains Stuffing Loaf or other sturdy bread (day-old or stale preferred)- I use white bread.

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups (5 medium stalks) chopped celery, with some inner leaves

3/4 cup peeled, chopped yellow onion; about 1 medium onion

1 3/4 cups chopped apple (1-2 Granny Smiths, Gala, or your favorite cooking apple; peeling is optional)

salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon poultry seasoning (only if you don't use the Harvest Grains Stuffing Loaf)

3/4 to 1 1/4 cups chicken stock

2 large eggs

2 to 4 tablespoons melted butter

Directions

1) Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease or butter a 12-cup standard muffin pan - I use a 9"x13" glass baking dish.

2) Place bread, cranberries, and parsley in a large bowl.

3) Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the celery, onions, and apples, and cook until the onions are translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste (don't bother with salt if you're using regular canned chicken stock, rather than low- or no-salt stock), and the poultry seasoning.

4) Remove the vegetables and apples from the heat and add to the bread mixture.

5) Beat the eggs into 3/4 cup of chicken stock and stir into the bread and vegetables. If the mixture is too dry to scoop, add the additional stock.

6) Place a heaping 1/4 cup stuffing into each well of the prepared pan or spread evenly into 9"x13" baking dish/pan.

7) Bake until set and crisp on top, 40 to 45 minutes.

8) Remove from the oven, brush the tops with butter, cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out and serve.

Yield: 12 stuffing cups or a 9"x13" pan of stuffing.

Thank you!!!

I used to have a recipe, but for the last few years I have used Stove Top and my family has been complaining. Can't say as I blame them.

I will go read through these and pick one. Thanks bunches to all of you!

Hugs

Honestly?.......real dressing/stuffing is made with cornbread.

My husband makes one that is really good and recipe was made by his grandfather... handed down to father then him. Not sure if my kids make it yet or not.

1 or 2 pounds of jimmy dean sausage. Regular flavor. Crumbled and browned with chopped onion till onion is translucent.

season as you like with salt,pepper, sage or basil or italian seasoning, whatever you like.

Then using consume (campbells) or beef broth, stir in 2 bags of dressing, like hard croutons. (We didn't like it when we used fresh ones, or the store made ones as they were too soft. )We used the colombo or other kind. Unseasoned.

Stir in bread and broth alternately till it is all mixed up with the sausage and everything is cooked. moist but not mushy.

let cool completely if stuffing the bird with it. You can pack it in really well as the stuffing as absorbed alot of broth and won't swell up too much.

Or if you rather, put in a casserole and cover with foil so it doesn't get a hard top and bake for an hour or just till really hot.

It is really really good stuffing.

simple but good.
brown off 1 # pork sausage along with a couple onions, cut up and a couple cups of sliced celery, until pork is no longer pink & the veggies are starting to soften. Drain off fat.
In a large bowl. dump in a bag or two of stuffing croutons, add pork mixture and a can of chicken broth. Season with S & P. Then add poultry seasoning, starting with a couple TBSP, taste and add more if needed.
I cook mine in a casserole, but you can stuff the bird.

Thank you so much for the recipies!

My family thanks you too. lol No more Stove Top for us this year.

If you want to try making it in the slow-cooker, I made this last Christmas for the first time. Everyone raved about it and just loved it so I did again for our Thanksgiving. It's the only way I'll do it from now on. So easy and so good!

I always add leftover cooked rice to my dressings, so I threw that in too.
You don't need to cook it for the full 6 hours, but it doesn't hurt it, if you do. The cooking time is flexible as well. 4 hours is good, but it won't hurt if you leave it for 6.

Slow-Cooker Stuffing/Dressing

1 cup butter or margarine
2 cups chopped onion
2 cups chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
12 cups dry bread cubes
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons dried sage
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 1/2 cups chicken broth, or as needed
2 eggs, beaten

Melt butter or margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, celery, and parsley in butter, stirring frequently.
Spoon cooked vegetables over bread cubes in a very large mixing bowl. Season with poultry seasoning, sage, thyme, marjoram, and salt and pepper. Pour in enough broth to moisten, and mix in eggs.

Spray slow-cooker with non-stick spray and transfer mixture to slow cooker.
Cook on High for 45 minutes, then reduce heat to Low, and cook for 4 to 6 hours.

Jas, this is as close as I've found to the one my Mother made every year, only in the oven. It always turns out great IF you don't make it soggy by adding too much liquid.

It's a trial-and-error to get the moisture JUST RIGHT. Thanks for posting this - it brings back warm memories of the Thanksgivings of my childhood - I can smell it now!

We kids would make sandwiches with the leftovers - turkey between 2 thin slices of dressing - OMG, it's GOOD!!!

Thanks Kay, it was a huge hit with all of us, and there were 15 of us. I omitted the poultry seasoning and used the marjoram, rosemary, thyme and sage.

This is a funny story about Stove Top, I'm wondering if the people that say they don't like the stove top dressing would say the same thing if they didn't know it was actually Stove Top. One year my sister was telling me about going to her friend's house and eating the dressing...she said it was absolutely delicious and asked her friend what it was and she told her "oh it's just Stove Top".

I don't have to worry about making dressing because my husband won't eat it unless it's stove top...HA! But since it's really not very high up on his list, I most likely won't make any. It's just the two of us for TG dinner!

dianamo...just start with the basic bread mix of your choice and add what appeals to you...in our case it's simple celery and onion sauteed in real butter (our one indulgence), with chicken broth...

i don't think there's such a thing as "bad" dressing...we always bake cause everyone loves the toasty top...

Susan, oh - yes - there is a 'bad' dressing! LOL The recipe I used last Thanksgiving turned out gummy - YUK! It called for too much chicken broth and too much sage - it was NOT edible, but the dogs loved it!

Dressing is a southern term, uses cornbread, and should always be cooked outside of the turkey.
Stuffing is cooked inside the turkey, and uses white bread and sausage.

Monica, I thought dressing was served outside the bird, and stuffing was inside. I didn't know cornbread had anything to do with it.

Dressing is NOT just a southern term, my gram always called it dressing and it never contained cornbread. Gram was never south of the Mason Dixon line.

I had to go look this up.

From what I gather, stuffing and dressing can be one of the same. Only difference is one is 'stuffed' into the turkey and the other is baked in a pan..

Here is a link that might be useful: Whats the difference between stuffing and dressing?

In other words...it doesn't matter if it's made with cornbread OR bread, it would still be called 'stuffing' or 'dressing.'

Growing up, we always had dressing made with bread. My aunt however made hers with cornbread. They were both good..but I prefer the kind made with bread. That's just my taste preference and what I'm used to eating.

and then there is Cajun rice dressing or Dirty Rice! Which is what we always have. Every one of the potlucks we have been having recently it was requested, which is fine because I love dirty rice.
Here we are able to buy the Savoies rice dressing mix of the ground meats in some areas it is not available.
Savoie's Dressing Mix

I do also love cornbread and Andouille dressing and oyster dressing.