Stuffing OR dressing?

I never knew the difference between stuffing and dressing until a few weeks ago.  I just called it all stuffing.  I figured that calling stuffing "dressing" was an old person term.  Guess what...it's not!  The conversation came about when I was talking to my mom about her famous stuffing recipe, which I will be revealing in this very post.  It was the first time that I would be making it by myself for Thanksgiving, so I had her on the phone with a ton of questions.  Thankfully, she walked me through the whole thing.  Anyways, she kept correcting me when I would call it "stuffing".  It was getting annoying.  Then she told me why I was wrong.  It turns out, "stuffing"  is actually stuffed into the turkey.  "Dressing" is the same food as stuffing, but kept out of the turkey.  It makes sense now doesn't it?   So I ended up making "dressing".  I am kinda grossed out by "stuffing".

I made two different dressing recipes for Thanksgiving.  One of them was Italian Sausage Dressing from "Our Best Bites".  I have to be honest, I wasn't too thrilled with it.  I like my Mom's stuffing, excuse me, dressing recipe better.  Here it is!

Mom’s Turkey Dressing

(Makes enough for 15)

3 cubes of butter

1/2 c olive oil

4 or 5 sticks of celery

2 large sweet onions

1 large bundle of fresh parsley

3 12 oz boxes of seasoned cubed bread

1 can chicken broth (I use more)

Craisins (put in as much as you'd like)

black pepper to taste

1. Chop celery first and sauté it in a large pot with 3 cubes melted butter and ½

cup olive oil.

2. Chop parsley and onion while celery is cooking. When celery is soft, add

onion and parsley. Cook for approximately 5 minutes and add Craisins. Cook

another 5 minutes or until onions are clear.

3. In an extra large work bowl, place bread cubes, add hot vegetables and toss

until well mixed. Slowly add 1 can of chicken broth and toss again. Add black

pepper to taste.

4. Line extra large baking pan with heavy-duty foil. Spread dressing evenly in

pan and wrap until ready to cook.

5. Cook dressing for about ½ hour at 450 degrees and serve hot.

Note: Dressing can be frozen before it is cooked. Sometimes I freeze ½ of dressing

and eat the other ½.

*Notes from Jesse.  My Mom chops everything in the food processor.  It's so much faster.  Also, I added a little more chicken broth (about 2 cans total) than what my mom says to add.  I used 15 oz bags of the cubed bread, because that's all I could find.  It actually worked out better with a little more cubed bread.  I think my mom's vegetable to bread ratio is a little off.  And one more thing, I like to cook mine longer than 30 minutes.  I like it really crunchy on top.  That is a personal preference. 

So there you have it.

xoxo

j