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Has anyone ever had Bell's Stuffing? (Also available in New England Style.) I saw them both at Hannaford tonight. (Hannaford is based in Maine, so they have a lot of random New England goodies, like Bakewell Cream.)

For years I used the Pepperidge Farm bagged stuffing as the base (it was herb, it was crouton style, it was cornbread), with my mushroom, celery, onion and sausage and a little chicken stock overall. It tasted pretty damn good. Then in some fancy foodie magazine or newspaper article I read about packaged stuffings not cutting it!
For the last few years I have used cubed bread stuffing that you buy in the supermarket which is fresh bread cubed. Works all right except you need a ton more stuff.
So blessings upon you all for making me feel better about going back to Pepperidge Farm again maybe this year.

No dressing has to be soggy - there's no law saying you have to use as much liquid as called for on the package. That's why I like to make my stuffing from scratch - sautée whatever veg I want to use, add bread, and then drizzle stock on while stirring until I get the perfect consistency. This works with either dried or fresh bread.

Why should one be more comfortable calling it "stuffing" only when it is baked in the bird and "dressing" when baked in a casserole pan? I recognize that the term "stuffing" implies "to stuff," as in to stuff the bird with it. But why is "dressing" more appropriate for it when baked in a casserole pan? The term "dressing" could be equally read to imply "to dress," as in it dresses something. In the case of baking it in a casserole pans, is the something that is "dressed" the casserole pan? Of course, not! What is "dressed" is THE BIRD or the plate on which it is presented. Just as the bird is stuffed with it, the bird is dressed (up) with it. I take the position that the terms "stuffing" and "dressing" are equally inapt when referring to what is baked in a casserole pan.

I'm a big fan of beer with food, and not just curries! Beer has for too long been an underdog to wine and both have their place.

From the other side of the Atlantic, some darker richer sweeter ales are a good idea, maybe Old Peculiar or Hobgoblin.

Pepperidge Farms is my family's tradition.

The easiest way to doctor it up? Use stock instead of water. We boil the neck and other innards you find inside the turkey for an hour or two and use that.

Dinner is at my sister's house this year. She's making PF and has told her mother in law that MIL cannot bring her gluey bland nasty homemade stuffing. Yey!

Any suggestions on a Sam Adams to go with dinner? I was thinking their Cherry Wheat.

My dressings are like my chilis- similar, but never the same twice.
Could be a combo of fresh bread and store bought croutons; might toss a little wild rice in, could add apples, dried cranberries or chopped apricots, sausage or not, mushrooms or none, but it always tastes great.

It's fun to change it up a little every year (just a little). Otherwise the family gets stuck in a food funk and loses the fun of adventure in eating.

For the past several years I have been bringing Ommegang's Three Philosophers to the Thanksgiving celebration. Festive, fruity but not cloyingly sweet, and a high enough alcohol content to warm the soul.

I also love Stovetop, and Cheerios, too! There's nothing wrong with a classic.

I don't even have to wait for bread to go stale! Our grocery store sells big bags of sliced, dried bread ... like long skinny croutons ... at T-giving time. I love it. Homemade is always better. Lately, I've been baking a pan of cornbread a day or so ahead of time to crumble into it. All delectable.

Manatee!!!

Last year, I decided to try a new approach on the stuffing. I love sour dough bread, so I dried the bread and used it with my favorite recipe. The flavor was awesome, but it was very soggy, but I like soggy, so was great for me. A mix of sour dough and another drier type bread would be good, if texture is important. coco