Dressing and stuffing

[mhsjax]

Did anyone say it was a bad thing? I guess because I said that is one term I wouldn't use interchangeably (like I do stuffing and dressing) that I'm somehow slamming people. Yes, I used the term "country" to make the distinction that it wasn't "southern." There is a difference. I was raised in Maryland and we have people from more urban areas and we have very rural, country areas. Neither is better than the other. I just noticed, in my travels, that the people that use the term supper are from more country/rural areas. A friend of mine from upstate New York (a very rural part) uses it. My SIL, who grew up saying "dinner" but has lived in a VERY small town in Massachusetts for 30 years now says supper.

My British grandma never said supper.

So, I am sorry if my note on supper versus dinner offended all that say supper. It is just one of those terms that niggles at me for some reason and I dislike the sound of it. I don't think less of people who use it and, in fact, hold many of them dearly. Again, I want to iterate that I use stuffing/dressing interchangeably even though I was raised on dressing. I don't think one is right/wrong or superior. I did hear once that stuffing used to be the original term but during Victorian times in England the upper crust of society thought stuffing was inferior and they chose the use of dressing to make themselves sound better, or so they thought.

See Minnesota's post on "supper" sort of has a derogatory slant to it.

 

[Christine]

I'm not sure which post was yours so there is a good chance I wasn't referring to you. I am more commenting on people saying that they cringe when they hear the word because it is "country" or people who call their friends out when they say it because they were raised in the city and that the word is "country". To me, saying that you cringe when you hear a word is not exactly a good thing. Then, citing that you cringe because it is "country" tells me that you cringe because "country" speak is a bad thing.

Well, obviously I don't care for the term but that doesn't automatically mean that I think I'm better or something. There's a lot of things I don't care for the sound of. And parts of rural/country speech can sound off just as much as urban/city terms can sound like nails on a chalkboard to someone else. I believe my overall point was that stuffing/dressing can also be regional yet it doesn't have the same affect on me that, say, supper/dinner might; i.e., I just don't feel strongly about those two terms as other types of terminology.

 

[powellrj]

I always thought a supper was more of a soup and sandwich type of evening meal and dinner was more of a meat and potatoes and sides meal. Who knows which is right.

As for the dressing vs the stuffing, I call it dressing because I always make it out of the bird, but growing up it was always referred to as stuffing no matter how it was made.

I make mine with giblets and oysters, cornbread and regular bread, a mirepoix and seasonings and bind it with a beaten egg and moisten it with broth. I use to make both regular and oyster until I realized that the only people who like dressing ate the oyster, so now I only make one type (oyster) for holidays.

 

[Christine]

See Minnesota's post on "supper" sort of has a derogatory slant to it.

Sort of, I guess...although she obviously really likes her BFF and so I don't think of it as derogatory--it just sounds "off" to her.

I compare it to the use of the word "pop." I grew up calling it soda or even Coke (for all sodas), but when I hear someone say pop, it kind of makes me giggle a little bit. It sounds odd to me--and I've heard it plenty of times but it always gets me each time. Again, not feeling/thinking less of anyone who says pop.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Well, obviously I don't care for the term but that doesn't automatically mean that I think I'm better or something. There's a lot of things I don't care for the sound of. And parts of rural/country speech can sound off just as much as urban/city terms can sound like nails on a chalkboard to someone else. I believe my overall point was that stuffing/dressing can also be regional yet it doesn't have the same affect on me that, say, supper/dinner might; i.e., I just don't feel strongly about those two terms as other types of terminology.

Well going back and looking, it wasn't your post that struck a nerve. Saying it "grates your nerves" is certainly not the same thing as saying that it hurts your ears because it is "country" and that you call your friend out every time she says it because she was raised in the city.

 

[LilyWDW]

To ME:

Stuffing means in the bird and is usually a bit more "plain". Dressing means on the side and a bit "fancier". For example, my stuffing is bread crumbs, butter, salt, and pepper. That is it. My dressing is cornbread, "regular" bread, sage, parsley, onion, celery, chicken stock, and pepper.

I do not do giblet gravy. However, I take all the organs and the neck and boil them for stock. This way I am sure to have enough to make plenty of gravy. The organs will then be cut up and, with the meat from the neck, be given to my kitties.

Supper to me is an early "dinner". Usually it is eaten at 3PM ish. Dinner is a bit later, usually any time after 5PM depending on your preference.

 

[Jennasis]

Wow. Its like "buttering your bread" part II. An innocent topic brings out all manner of rudeness. Over a SIDE DISH.

Bravo!

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Wow. Its like "buttering your bread" part II. An innocent topic brings out all manner of rudeness. Over a SIDE DISH.

Bravo!

Sorry for my part in the derailment. I'm really not even sure how we started talking about supper vs. dinner, anyway.

 

[Christine]

Sorry for my part in the derailment. I'm really not even sure how we started talking about supper vs. dinner, anyway.

It was my fault. However, I'm really not seeing rudeness but that's always in the eye of the beholder..

 

[mhsjax]

It was my fault. However, I'm really not seeing rudeness but that's always in the eye of the beholder..

But you weren't the rude one, and that was mentioned in a post.

 

[Belle61513]

IMO, they're the same thing. It seems like the word "dressing" is mostly used in the south. I'm from western NY and we've always called it stuffing, whether is goes in the bird or not.

+1...same here. I'm from Philly and never heard of stuffing called "dressing" until moving to Atlanta. Totally the same from what I understand...but some variations on the recipe down here. For instance, a lot of people use cornbread as the bread base here, which is just so wrong to me

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Originally Posted by Christine View Post
It was my fault. However, I'm really not seeing rudeness but that's always in the eye of the beholder..

But you weren't the rude one.

 

[LJSquishy]

I have never had my stuffing - from in the turkey - come out greasy?

Well, maybe it doesn't taste greasy to you but it is. All of the grease and fat from the turkey is soaked up by the stuffing regardless.

 

[dolphinrescuegirl]

Dressing is made with cornbread and stuffing is made with bread. Having a southern mother and Yankee father, we had EVERYTHING at thanksgiving! Stuffing and dressing, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, peas and green bean casserole, etc.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Dressing is made with cornbread and stuffing is made with bread. Having a southern mother and Yankee father, we had EVERYTHING at thanksgiving! Stuffing and dressing, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, peas and green bean casserole, etc.

So, just for my own curiosity, do you have a personal preference between the bread stuffing or cornbread dressing?

 

[Disneylover99]

Well, maybe it doesn't taste greasy to you but it is. All of the grease and fat from the turkey is soaked up by the stuffing regardless.

MMMMM, my mouth is starting to water at this thought!

 

[Christine]

http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2012/11/old-fashioned-cracker-dressing-stuffing.html

This is kind of like the dressing my New England grandma made but hers was not quite as formed as the picture in the link. I guess I didn't realize that there is a whole type of dressing made with crackers and not bread or cornbread. Since she died, we've never been able to recreate it and we just use some sort of bread now.

 

[dolphinrescuegirl]

So, just for my own curiosity, do you have a personal preference between the bread stuffing or cornbread dressing?

Stuffing all the way!!!! Which is weird as I prefer cornbread over regular bread.

 

[Minnesota!]

See Minnesota's post on "supper" sort of has a derogatory slant to it.

I'm not sure which post was yours so there is a good chance I wasn't referring to you. I am more commenting on people saying that they cringe when they hear the word because it is "country" or people who call their friends out when they say it because they were raised in the city and that the word is "country". To me, saying that you cringe when you hear a word is not exactly a good thing. Then, citing that you cringe because it is "country" tells me that you cringe because "country" speak is a bad thing.

"Country" isn't a bad thing...it's just extremely different than how I grew up and I give my BFF a hard time b/c she has "forgotten her roots". Yes, I give her a hard time b/c IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS, supper is a word that is used by the farmers/country folk....not someone who grew up in the inner city! Nothing BAD about being country. Some days I wish I was.

I, seriously, have a list of words that give me the willies, and supper is on them. Along with moist, supple, luscious, etc. DH and I add to it daily - it's how we pass some time on the way to work, lol.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

Dressing is made with cornbread and stuffing is made with bread. Having a southern mother and Yankee father, we had EVERYTHING at thanksgiving! Stuffing and dressing, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, peas and green bean casserole, etc.

Interesting, having grown up pretty much as Yankee as possible (if you look up Yankee in the dictionary, it might well have my family tree as a definition) and having never tasted cornbread dressing until after college, we always called it dressing growing up. My mother had three dishes that she really knew how to cook, and one of them was an absolutely delicious sausage and sage dressing that she'd make every Thanksgiving and I never heard it called stuffing (and we had it both in and out of the bird).

I do like cornbread dressing, when I have it out at restaurants, but it doesn't define dressing in my mind.