Thanksgiving Stuffing (and as of 2017 Homemade Desserts)

[lauradis]

Well they make me make old fashion Hungarian stuffing, basically it bread, turkey liver, parsley, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, turkey both, two sticks butter, dozen eggs. I would rather eat non heart attack dressing . But dh loves it so much.

 

[daannzzz]

My mom was pretty picky about food and did not like anything strong so hers was dried bread, chicken broth, onions and poultry seasoning and some salt and pepper. I grew up with it so I still love that. But I like many variations. When I make it myself, I put bell pepper and celery in and may experiment with other items.. I have had some with cornbread that I didn't care for and oysters are out completely.

 

[Tinijocaro]

I don't care what type of stuffing- I like it all. But it must be cooked inside the bird.

 

[Conservative Hippie]

Yes, I make a simple home-made dressing.... like my Mom made... A dressing that has cornbread in it, Similar to Cracker Barrel, but SO much better.

Fresh cornbread, baked in a cast iron skillet, diced up.
Bread crumbs. Just zap one slice of bread at a time in the blender.
Celery and Onions, chopped. Not too chunky and not too fine.
Turkey broth.
Salt to taste.
Poultry Seasoning. (SPICE ISLAND)

here is the thing...
I haven't found anything yet that compares to SPICE ISLAND POULTRY SEASONING!!! Not even Bell, or any other. Especially McCormick. OMG... that one is awful... just mostly black pepper.

I cook the celery and onions in a pot with the turkey broth. No need to fry in butter... the veggies come out tender and delicious. Less work.
Season this 'soup'.
Pour this over the diced cornbread and breadcrumbs in a large bowl, until VERY most... as long as liquid isn't dripping out of it, then it isn't too wet. Don't want dry dressing. Just lightly fold together... you don't want 'mush', or 'batter'.

Dump into baking dish, and bake in a HOT oven. This is mostly to brown this and firm it up. Shouldn't take too awfully long. Don't want to bake it all the way through like bread or cake.

This is basically our recipe with sage instead of poultry seasoning. The one slice of bread is always a hamburger bun. We make one batch of dressing out of jalepeno cornbread for my brothers.

Sent from me.

 

[BDL]

Don't know if anyone watched the Iron Chef: Thanksgiving episode last night, but it was a good 1. Flay/Simon vs Zakarian/Guarnacelli. Bobby Flay made a "dressing" that was composed of cornbread and, instead of oysters, he used a Culinary Curveball component of escargot. Lawrence Fishburn and Gina Torres loved it.

I can't wait to see the annual Food Network's live broadcast. I swear that they are all drinking while the show is airing. As the show goes on, the jokes and back-handed compliments fly.

 

[powellrj]

I can't wait to see the annual Food Network's live broadcast. I swear that they are all drinking while the show is airing. As the show goes on, the jokes and back-handed compliments fly.

While I enjoyed watching this last year, I did get a little uncomfortable by the end because there was a real "cool kids lunch table vibe" by the end of the show. The main chefs were all on the front row having lots of fun with each other, while the lesser know chefs were all in the back looking kind of out of it.

 

[chobie]

well, I don't actually put it in the turkey but I still call it stuffing. I did the Pioneer Woman's cornbread-apple-sausage stuffing. It was great. I left out the mushrooms, though.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/10/cornbread-dressing-with-sausage-and-apples/

 

[Wendy31]

Yes, I make a simple home-made dressing.... like my Mom made... A dressing that has cornbread in it, Similar to Cracker Barrel, but SO much better.

Fresh cornbread, baked in a cast iron skillet, diced up.
Bread crumbs. Just zap one slice of bread at a time in the blender.
Celery and Onions, chopped. Not too chunky and not too fine.
Turkey broth.
Salt to taste.
Poultry Seasoning. (SPICE ISLAND)

here is the thing...
I haven't found anything yet that compares to SPICE ISLAND POULTRY SEASONING!!! Not even Bell, or any other. Especially McCormick. OMG... that one is awful... just mostly black pepper.

I cook the celery and onions in a pot with the turkey broth. No need to fry in butter... the veggies come out tender and delicious. Less work.
Season this 'soup'.
Pour this over the diced cornbread and breadcrumbs in a large bowl, until VERY most... as long as liquid isn't dripping out of it, then it isn't too wet. Don't want dry dressing. Just lightly fold together... you don't want 'mush', or 'batter'.

Dump into baking dish, and bake in a HOT oven. This is mostly to brown this and firm it up. Shouldn't take too awfully long. Don't want to bake it all the way through like bread or cake.

This is basically mine (which is also my mom's & my grandmother's before her) except we use chicken broth & a little bit of sage instead of poultry seasoning. And we cook the onion & celery in butter! I might have to try poultry seasoning next time though...

Love, love, love our cornbread dressing! I could completely do w/o the turkey, and, as long as I had dressing & sweet potato casserole, I'd be happy, happy, happy!

Anyway, around here, it's always cornbread dressing baked in a pan & never in the turkey! Sometimes, we'll stuff the turkey w/ breadcrumbs or something like Stove Top just to make it look pretty... but we never eat it!

My mother-in-law makes a similar cornbread dressing but she puts boiled eggs in hers which I don't prefer at all (boiled eggs in dressing?!) & way too much sage.

My sister is married to someone from the North, & he grew up w/ Stove Top. So, at Thanksgiving, my mom always makes her wonderful cornbread dressing plus some Stove Top stuffing for my brother-in-law. I'm not sure how though you can actually prefer boxed Stove Top stuffing to homemade dressing!

 

[Jedana]

My stuffing is sausage, poultry seasoning, cubed bread, butter, onion, celery, chicken broth and diced granny smith apples. I pretty much hate any other kind of stuffing

I use cornbread only (Jiffy blue box), not cubed bread. No poultry seasoning, just salt, pepper, sage and thyme. Oh, and sage sausage, and no apples.

 

[scrapquitler]

This is the most sought after food on the table at my family's Thanksgiving. Even more than the turkey. My mom makes a stuffing out of potatoes, sausage and Bell seasoning. It is great. Especially if you can get some of the crust that sticks out of the bird.

As a kid, I would only eat Stove Top. Then that option was taken away from me, so I refused to eat mom's stuffing out of spite. Then one year, I caved. And ever since then, when the table is being set, I ALWAYS make sure the bowl with the stuffing is closest to my seat.

Do you have a special kind of stuffing or side dish for Turkey Day?

My stuffing has: bread cubes, butter, turkey broth, chopped cooked giblets from the turkey, cooked and crumbled sausage, chopped hard boiled eggs, chopped apples, sauteed celery and onions, bells seasoning, salt and pepper. I don't stuff the turkey any more, I just make the stuffing in a giant casserole dish because everyone eats LOTS of it!

 

[FzesandTylersNana]

I am making the dressing this year for a very large family gathering. Our receipe calls for 8 pkgs of cornbread. When you add poultry seasoning to your cornbread how much do you use? How much do you add later? TIA

 

[luvsJack]

I am making the dressing this year for a very large family gathering. Our receipe calls for 8 pkgs of cornbread. When you add poultry seasoning to your cornbread how much do you use? How much do you add later? TIA

I make use a cast iron skillet for my corn bread--guess its about a 10 in skillet. And I use about half a tablespoon of poultry seasoning then and the same amount when I add more later.

I am guessing "8 pkgs" are Jiffy cornbread pkgs? One package won't make a full 10" skillet full. So I would guesstimate that you use maybe a tsp or less per package. And then taste it after you cook the cornbread to decide if you need more later. It would be better to not put much in the cornbread and then add more later than to put too much in the corn bread.

 

[FzesandTylersNana]

Thank you! I also use a cast iron skillet and two 6 oz. packages of Morrisons Texas Style cornbread mix. So I cook 4 pans of cornbread. And add

6 biscuits
6 slices of dried bread
6 onions
8 celery stalks
2 bunches green onions
6 eggs
at least 10 cans of Campbell's Chicken broth
2 tablespoons of Better than Bouillon chicken base

I sauté the veggies in butter.

 

[bedogged]

I do a basic sage stuffing/dressing, but I add wild rice and mushrooms to mine.

 

[firecracker725]

This southern girl makes dressing, not stuffing. It's cornbread (made way ahead, crumbled, dried out overnight, then frozen until turkey day), lots of eggs, celery, cream of mushroom soup, onions, homemade chicken broth, poultry seasoning, and plenty of sage. It is to die for. The only thing better is my chicken and mushroom gravy that I serve with sliced hard boiled eggs.

 

[mhsjax]

I am making the dressing this year for a very large family gathering. Our receipe calls for 8 pkgs of cornbread. When you add poultry seasoning to your cornbread how much do you use? How much do you add later? TIA

I don't measure anything, I just eyeball it. Sorry but that wasn't any help I know. OH and for real "souther" dressing. NO NOT, i reapeat NO NOT. Use Jiffy cornbread in the blue box. Use a corn meal and make southern corn bread. Jiffy is sweet and is not meant for dressing.

For a large family I would make 5 five small round pans of corn bread. It really does grow when you start adding stuff in.

 

[luvsJack]

I don't measure anything, I just eyeball it. Sorry but that wasn't any help I know. OH and for real "souther" dressing. NO NOT, i reapeat NO NOT. Use Jiffy cornbread in the blue box. Use a corn meal and make southern corn bread. Jiffy is sweet and is not meant for dressing.

For a large family I would make 5 five small round pans of corn bread. It really does grow when you start adding stuff in.

This is so true. I think she said she was going to use Texas Style mix?

pp, if you can don't use a mix at all. Cornbread is just cornmeal, milk or buttermilk, eggs and oil and some people add a little sugar. I don't for dressing.

 

[kkmcan]

My mom makes the stuffing from a family recipe that we've eaten for decades. Its made with day old bread torn up into pieces, beaten egg, celery, onion, chicken broth and Bells Seasoning. And yes, its cooked inside the bird.

That Bells Seasoning is sure hard to find here in Arizona. My mom bought the last box from a gourmet type specialty store a month or so ago. They were discontinuing it!

 

[BDL]

My mom makes the stuffing from a family recipe that we've eaten for decades. Its made with day old bread torn up into pieces, beaten egg, celery, onion, chicken broth and Bells Seasoning. And yes, its cooked inside the bird.

That Bells Seasoning is sure hard to find here in Arizona. My mom bought the last box from a gourmet type specialty store a month or so ago. They were discontinuing it!

This is for you and anyone else who cannot get Bell's Seasoning because of regional limitations. HERE is a link to Bell's Seasoning on Amazon.

 

[maslex]

I love stuffing. Stove Top, Pepperidge Farm, home made....mmmm My husband's grandmother used to make a meat stuffing (ground beef, potatoes, onion, poultry seasoning, S&P) Sooo good.

Here's my question though. I have read a few posts on this thread and I know some people call it stuffing and some call it dressing. I'm a "stuffing". I haven't read the entire thread so please excuse this if it's already been answered.

I know people consider it a "dressing" if it's cooked separately and served as a side dish. And I know people consider it a "stuffing" if it's stuffed and cooked in the bird, right? But I'm assuming it's the same recipe??? I know people are passionate about whether it's a stuffing or a dressing but is there a difference between the recipes? I mean can you use a dressing in the bird?