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I posted this on another thread but I will repeat it here. My Mother's dressing includess stale bread crumbs (she buys the bread a couple of weeks in advance and lets them dry out before grating into crumbs - and believe me, nothing else will do!) She adds lots of lemon zest & a bit of juice, chopped onions lightly fried in a bit of bacon fat, raw bacon pieces, salt and lots of pepper, and the surprise - crumbled summer savoury - we always use the savoury from Newfoundland - Mount Scio (I believe it is online, but summer savoury is available on spice racks) - no sage or other spices needed - th bacon pieces helpd to keep the dressing moist whilst adding flavour, and, oh my goodness, it is always delicious and always a big hit. She dresses the cavity of the turkey and then fills the "other end" with sausage stuffing. There is never any left for the next day.

dried cranberries and pecans

Hi "lemons" - I am Canadian but my Mom was a British war bride - she learned to cook from her Mother, who was "in service" - she was a cook in the kitchen of a wealthy family. We have benefitted from a wealth of cooking knowledge!

Oysters are really pretty common, but they're a very controversial addition, too. My grandmother, who was raised in rural Missouri, used them, and we have No Idea of how on earth they got into her cooking repertoire.

My classic oyster story has to do with many years ago in my earlier marriage, and my MIL's dressing. "Yummy," I commented the first time I ate it. "Are there oysters in it?" "Oh, no," came the reply, "I just use mushrooms." Well, okay, fine. A couple of years later, same table, sme dressing, and I said, "I thought you said you didn't use oysters. But here's a piece." "Oh, no. That's a mushroom." Later on, doing dishes, my SIL said, "Oh, of course there's oysters in it. But my husband insists he hates them, and we just don't tell him."

Mashed potatoes. About half and half with the usual dried bread cubes and onions/herbs. Pretty heavy. Apparently Pennsylvania German. I have moved on. Will try bread cubes with onions and lemon this year.

I was, oh, about 22 years old before I found out that people stuffed their birds with meat - like, just meat. My bf at the time was telling me about how his family made sausage stuffing, and I said, "oh, we use bacon." He said, "No, I mean, it's stuffed with sweet sausage, mozzarella, and sometimes some pepperoni." I'm Italian, but I was blown away by this.

I do not do this at Thanksgiving but I have made White Castle Hamburger dressing (when I lived in Chicago). It was actually really freaking good. Of course now I have to buy them in the freezer section of the local Albertson's... so it is way pricier. If you are lucky enough to live in an area where they have a White Castle - order the hamburgers with no pickles and extra onions.

10 White Castle Hamburgers
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
1 1/4 teaspoons ground thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons ground sage
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup chicken broth

Tear the hamburgers into small pieces, and place in a bowl. Toss with celery, thyme, sage, and pepper. Pour in the chicken broth while stirring to moisten the stuffing. This makes enough to stuff a 10 to 12 pound bird.

My family's stuffing includes:

crumbled ritz crackers
onions (cooked down for a long time in a healthy amount of butter)
ground ham
chopped pecans
heavy cream
parsley

I might be forgetting something, but i think that's it. I think my grandmother clipped it out of the newspaper back when my dad was a kid and we've been making it ever since. I was grown up before I realized that most stuffing involved bread, stock and celery (ick!) People always think it sounds odd...until they've tasted it. AMAZING!

My mother put eggs, heavy cream (along with stock), parsley in her stuffing. I do the same but I like to add green peppers and carrots as well. But I like everything in it except the gizzards.