1. Have you checked your oven temperature with an oven thermometer? That's how you KNOW when your oven reaches the correct temperature for baking - not according to any certain amount of time or a magic pre-heat beep from the oven. Many ovens are out of calibration. Just because the knob or digital read-out says 350F, doesn't necessarily MEAN that's the actual temperature. You need to check the temperature with the oven thermometer where the baking is going to be done (such as the middle rack in the middle of the oven). In some ovens the temperature can differ from one rack to another, as well as from the front of the oven to the back. Baking muffins in an oven that is too hot will create asymmetrically shaped muffins. If the oven temperature is too cool, the muffins will be heavy and not rise correctly. Most muffins bake at 350°-400°F. Those temperatures vary according to the recipe and the type of batter used. 2. If the silicone muffin pans aren't working for you, then I'd suggest using standard metal pans. If you don't like the clean-up, use paper or foil muffin papers to line the muffin pans (metal OR silicone). Did you spray your muffin pan with PAM or other vegetable spray? That can discolor silicone (as well as metal pans), especially any over-spray on the surface top of the pan. I avoid PAM for spraying ANY type of pan - it's just nasty, gunky, stuff that builds up on the surface and is difficult to remove. Did you place the silicone muffin pan on a flat surface (a cookie sheet) during baking? There are different finishes on different brands of silicone bakeware, and some work better than others. 3. How did you mix your muffins? Only mix muffins until the dry ingredients are almost completely incorporated (even a small amount of dry ingreients still visible is okay - over-mixing ISN'T okay). DO NOT use an electric mixer because that results in too much gluten development and poor quality muffins. A wooden spoon or spatula will work fine, even a dinner fork is a good choice for mixing quick batters. A Danish Dough Whisk is actually one of the best investments for hand mixing (yeast breads, quick breads of all kinds, etc.). Your problem may partially be your mixing technique, oven temperature, as well as the pan. Wait to mix and pan muffin batter AFTER the oven has completed pre-heating. You never want the batter to be waiting for the oven to heat (that goes for all batters that have chemical leavening - soda/baking powder - in them.) Due to the type of leavening (baking powder), you need to quickly mix, pan, and get it into a hot oven to get maximum lift out of the leavening. Baking powder reacts twice, once when it is mixed with the liquid ingredients, and again when it hits the hot oven. It will lose it's UMPH the longer it sits waiting for the oven to pre-heat. 4. Normally, a bread machine only needs "babysitting" for the first 10 minutes or so of mixing/kneading until you are sure the dough has the correct hydration. You have to do that with ANY bread making technique, not just bread machines. I use a bread machine for nearly all my yeast breads anymore (dough only). It does a better job than either by-hand or stand mixers. King Arthur Test Kitchen uses Zojurishi BM for all their bread dough making for just those reasons. Patience is still a virtue, even in this ADD/ADHD world where people choose baby carrots so they don't have to peel and chop whole carrots, salad in a bag, instead of choosing the greens, washing and preparing them, and a whole generation who only "cook" using a microwave. Slow cooking is a lost art. -Grainlady

Liz, this is the recipe that I use for the slow-cooker. I posted it back in 2011 I made Slow-Cooker Dressing last year for Christmas, and again this year for our Canadian Thanksgiving. It's the "only" way I'll make it from now on. I always add cooked rice to my stuffing/dressing, as well. 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.

I've been making it a day or 2 ahead for years - for myself. I can't do it all in 1 day and I don't even do a turkey. I do a chicken breast or 2. but I chopped up the things I need in advance. sometimes I'll do the onion / celery 2 days ahead and then the day before I'll break up crackers (it's cracker dressing) and mix it all together - and bake it. It's good for several days. I'll eat it til it disappears! I usually also cook the chicken breasts the day before so I have the broth from them to add into the dressing. TG day I make my potatoes, heat up the other stuff and I'm set for thru the weekend. If I'm not too tired (or in a lot of pain), I make up half the recipe for the grn bean casserole on TG day to bake while I do the potatoes.

I like Bob's idea of making two batches that are somewhat different. If you leave sausage out of one batch, you can add extra sage to that batch, and a bit more garlic. I do love dressing, but I still do not eat that much at any one sitting. If I ate too much, I would not have room for dessert, and I generally make several for TG dinner, including lime pie, chocolate hazelnut Bavarian cream pie, and possibly pumpkin pie. I make the lime pie because I have a lot of limes on my tree at this time of year.