Stuffing or Dressing?

You know that moist, delicious bread mixture that is usually served at Thanksgiving dinner alongside your turkey and cranberry? The traditional side dish that everyone makes just a little bit different but nobody makes as well as your mother? What do you call that dish -- dressing or stuffing?

While it may seem logical to call it dressing if it is cooked outside of the turkey and stuffing if it is cooked inside, it isn't that simple. How you refer to it is probably more about where you are from than where it was cooked. I am from the South and we call it dressing. But many Northerners will refer to it as stuffing whether or not it has ever seen the inside of a bird.

But let's face it -- regardless of what you call it, the most important thing is what is in it. And this differs by region as well. My mother makes hers with cornbread, celery, hard-boiled eggs and chicken. In the Deep South, they often include rice and bacon or ham. Northerners might use a white-bread base and include oysters or sausage. And those earthy Californians like to add mushrooms and chestnuts to theirs.

However you make it and whatever you call it, I think we can all agree that Thanksgiving dinner would not be the same without it. Let's all give thanks for stuffing/dressing!