Thanksgiving Planning 2014 | Who's in?

[Aunt Bea]

My mom used this stuff so now I use it so my stuffing will taste like mom's

Same in my house!

I picked up a fresh box the other day.

I was amazed at the price difference around town. I saw the same sized box priced from $1.69 to $2.69. I find that the $1.69 boxes taste much better than the boxes for $2.69!

 

[Cheryl J]

I've never seen it....I'll look in my local grocery store and see if they have it. Sure looks to have been around a long time!

 

[Dawgluver]

Bell's is traditional New England seasoning, apparently rarely if ever available elsewhere, at least not in the midwest. Amazon has it for $6.99 an ounce (!) as an add-on.

 

[Andy M.]

I bought my annual box of Bell's today for $2.00.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Just wondering...how do you make your stuffing/dressing? I've browsed through so many variations and always come back to my own simple recipe, as it's what my small family likes.



I start simmering the giblets (except the liver) as soon as I can pull them out of the turkey, even if they're still a little frozen. Meanwhile, lots of chopped celery and onions sautéed in butter, mix with Mrs. Cubbisons , add some pre-made turkey broth and set aside. When the giblets are done, I chop them finely and add to the dressing, and mix in some of the giblet broth. I put it all into a casserole dish, add bake on high heat so there is a crispy crust on top of the dressing.



How do you do your dressing? Do you stuff or have your dressing separately?

Tomorrow is our Thanksgiving pot-luck at church (after the meetings) and I was responsible to male the turkey. I get the job every year because the bird comes out super tender and juicy. Another party was responsible for dressing. But I can't make turkey with dressing. The birds came out just how I wanted them too. In addition, I just made the best stuffing I've ever made. Now that's not usually saying much for most people, because stuffing is supposed to be easy to make. It's not for me. I've had problems making a proper bread dressing for years. But this turned out really good. Here's how I made it.



12 slices whole wheat bread, cubed and dried in oven

2 lbs. breakfast sausage, Lighlty browned and drained
1 1/2 tsp. dried sage

2 stalks dark green celery, sliced into thick slices

1 large yellow onion, chopped rustic

3 turkey drumsticks

giblets and livers from two turkeys

1 1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. black pepper, ground



Place the giblets, livers, and drumsticks into the pressure cooker, with enough water to fill 2/3rds full. Add 1 tsp. ground sage and 1 tsp. salt. Cover and cook under pressure for 30 minutes.



Combine the bread cubes, celery, onion, and sausage in a large bowl. Add pepper and sprinkle in ground sage. When the PC is removed from the heat, and the lid has been removed, take out the drumsticks, livers, and giblets. Set in a bowl to cool. Add 1/4 cup of the broth to the mixing bowl and fold all ingredients together to moisten. Add more broth if needed.



Remove the meat from the bones, and chop together with the livers and giblets. Add to the mixing bowl and fold in. Place all of this into a casserole dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake in 350' oven for 45 minutes. Remove and serve.



I now, officially have made good bread dressing, with all of the right flavors. It's a relief to finally succeed with my dressing.



Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I used to buy a pound of dough from the freezer section and make clover leaf rolls.

I make my dinner rolls from the Spudnut doughnut recipe. It make amazing dinner rolls.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

This is the ONLY stuffing recipe that I'll eat
(so long as I make it, I don't like it too mushy) :

Fresh Gourmet - Recipe Details

I add sauteed Portuguese Sausage or Linguica and
make it up in a big casserole dish.
I make a double batch so that there's leftovers for
everyone to take home with them, along with
everything else for sandwiches the next day.

 

[bethzaring]

It has become a tradition to have a full turkey meal late in the afternoon at the community house. Last year I prepared the turkeys and helped with the mashed potatoes. I don't intend to make it a tradition of my cooking the turkey! My sister is in charge of organizing the event but has not sent any emails yet. Like last year, I plan of working with my ex BIL on the mashed potatoes. The ex is always invited and participates in my sisters' family doings.


So I really don't know much of the actual menu. Just that a bunch of us will be getting together for a fun meal.


Stay tuned.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

In the past few years,
I have taken a que from Tim Allen (on Food Network)
and I de-construct the bird prior to roasting.
This way the breast can be pulled at the
correct temp and nothing is over nor under cooked.
Carving is much easier too.
I save the remains of the day, roast the bones, crack them,
and make stock with it.
The leftover meat I LOVE Turkey Tetrazzini, can't wait

 

[bakechef]

My mom used this stuff so now I use it so my stuffing will taste like mom's

I used to bring that back from Maine when I remembered. That is an ingredient that just about everyone has in their spice cabinet up there, heck it wasn't until I moved away from Maine that I realized there was another poultry seasoning out there.

I can get it here now, it's $2.99 a box and for me well worth it. Thanksgiving doesn't taste the same without it for me.

I usually make white bread with 2-3 tablespoons of bells mixed into the dough, while the bread is baking, the house smells like thanksgiving. Makes great bread for turkey sandwiches.

My stuffing goes something like this.

Dried bread cubes (usually my stuffing bread recipe)
generous amount of onion and celery
butter
salt and pepper and more Bell's
Turkey or chicken stock

I saute the onions and celery in a generous amount of butter until quite soft, toss it with the bread cubes, season to taste and moisten with stock. I bake it separately from the bird.

This is a very basic stuffing, like I grew up with in Maine. I've added sausage to it as well, but I usually make it without.

I remember as a child, my mom would sit me in the dining room with the toaster to toast bread for stuffing, I would do 2-3 big loaves. This was back in the day when toasters had to have time to cool down or they would make a loud noise!

 

[Andy M.]

I follow the recipe on the box.

 

[Zhizara]

If I make enything for Thannksgiving, I always make stuffing.

I tried to recreate Mom's stuffing. She used Pepperidge Farms Stuffing so I bought some. It was pretty expensive especially since I had previously used the Betty Crocker which just used a loaf of white sandwich bread.

It was an absolute failure. There was no seasoning in the Stuffing and was just blah. I'll stick to Betty Crocker, but I'll have ti switch to honey wheat bread because of Diabetes. I use honey wheat in meatloaf, so I know it's okay.

 

[Addie]

I used to bring that back from Maine when I remembered. That is an ingredient that just about everyone has in their spice cabinet up there, heck it wasn't until I moved away from Maine that I realized there was another poultry seasoning out there.

I can get it here now, it's $2.99 a box and for me well worth it. Thanksgiving doesn't taste the same without it for me.

I usually make white bread with 2-3 tablespoons of bells mixed into the dough, while the bread is baking, the house smells like thanksgiving. Makes great bread for turkey sandwiches.

My stuffing goes something like this.

Dried bread cubes (usually my stuffing bread recipe)
generous amount of onion and celery
butter
salt and pepper and more Bell's
Turkey or chicken stock

I saute the onions and celery in a generous amount of butter until quite soft, toss it with the bread cubes, season to taste and moisten with stock. I bake it separately from the bird.

This is a very basic stuffing, like I grew up with in Maine. I've added sausage to it as well, but I usually make it without.

I remember as a child, my mom would sit me in the dining room with the toaster to toast bread for stuffing, I would do 2-3 big loaves. This was back in the day when toasters had to have time to cool down or they would make a loud noise!

My mother would make a small amount of mashed potato stuffing for the neck. That was always for me alone. And I also had her bread stuffing. Both had Bell's seasoning.

When I lived in Texas I remember a lot of folks had never heard of bread stuffing. It was always corn bread stuffing. And some of the corn stuffing I tasted was (to be blunt) HORRIBLE. Just corn meal, flour and water. Some folks in Texas really needed some cooking lessons.

Hurry up Thanksgiving. I want some stuffing today.

 

[Addie]

If I make anything for Thanksgiving, I always make stuffing.

I tried to recreate Mom's stuffing. She used Pepperidge Farms Stuffing so I bought some. It was pretty expensive especially since I had previously used the Betty Crocker which just used a loaf of white sandwich bread.

It was an absolute failure. There was no seasoning in the Stuffing and was just blah. I'll stick to Betty Crocker, but I'll have ti switch to honey wheat bread because of Diabetes. I use honey wheat in meatloaf, so I know it's okay.

Every article that Pepperidge Farms makes and sells is VERY expensive. I don't buy it for the stuffing, just for the slightly flavored bread cubes as a snack. It is like croûtons for a salad.

If I can't find another brand of Cinnamon Bread for French Toast, then I will buy the Pepperidge Farms. But that happens very rarely. Even the house brand is available to me. And for a lot less cost.

 

[bakechef]

My mother would make a small amount of mashed potato stuffing for the neck. That was always for me alone. And I also had her bread stuffing. Both had Bell's seasoning.

When I lived in Texas I remember a lot of folks had never heard of bread stuffing. It was always corn bread stuffing. And some of the corn stuffing I tasted was (to be blunt) HORRIBLE. Just corn meal, flour and water. Some folks in Texas really needed some cooking lessons.

Hurry up Thanksgiving. I want some stuffing today.

I've found that stuffing/dressing varies a lot from region to region. The bread stuffing that I grew up on is very much like you see in pictures depicting a Thanksgiving dinner. As I moved south, where it's often called "dressing" I noticed that cornbread often gets involved, either all cornbread or a mix of regular bread and cornbread. In this part of the south, stuffing/dressing is more like a savory bread pudding because of the addition of eggs and more liquid. It also tends to be flavored differently here, often less sage heavy.

 

[Kathleen]

I make dressing (meaning it does not get stuffed into anything.) My family is all from the south, so we definitely have cornbread in our dressing. It's pretty simple - day-old cornbread and biscuits along with day-old toast. Onions, celery, salt & pepper and sage. To moisten it, turkey essence (which is water that turkey has dripped into while it has cooked. The giblets and neck cook in this water as well.) Sometimes an egg will be added. It depends on the feel of the dressing. Momma liked to form it in to round balls and bake it so it was lightly browned outside and fluffy moist inside.

~Kathleen

 

[Somebunny]

We like our stuffing/dressing on the moist side, and I cook it in the bird and in a casserole dish( always make more than will fit in the turkey). Like many of the recipes above, I start by sautéing onion and celery. I always use celery leaves and especially those from the heart of the celery. I add another vegetable that I have not seen anyone else mention...shredded carrot, I think that all these vegetables keep the dressing moist. I used to use giblets, but DH likes the turkey neck roasted with the bird and nobody here really cares for the gizzard, the liver and heart sometimes get roasted with the bird (less time of course). I use stock and butter to moisten bread cubes (not crumbs). I like a mix of sourdough, wheat and white bread cubes, lots of sage and poultry seasoning and some Spike brand seasoning, fresh ground pepper and parsley I have been known to add mushrooms and/ or ground cooked sausage on occasion, but not usually.
I find cornbread stuffing too sweet for my taste, but I have on occasion made it for my son-in-law.

Sent from my iPhone using Discuss Cooking

 

[Cheryl J]

Really good sounding dressing recipes here. As others have mentioned, sage has to be included in mine. For me, it just doesn't seem Thanksgiving-y without fresh sage. Like somebunny, I like it on the moist side. I usually add spinach or parsley for some extra color.

My son-in-law does not like celery or onions...in anything. He will just have to pick them out, because I'm making the dressing the way the rest of us like it.

 

[Dawgluver]

Good for you, Cheryl! I'm bringing bread stuffing/dressing to a purportedly gluten-free bunch and their spouses. I've never seen so many gluten-free folks in my life. Surprisingly, last year my dressing disappeared pretty quickly.

I'm also bringing deer summer sausage. Many are also vegetarian, though I have a feeling not by choice.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

My son-in-law does not like celery or onions...in anything. He will just have to pick them out, because I'm making the dressing the way the rest of us like it.

Toothless Shrek cannot eat celery or onions. I puree them, then saute and mix in. I will have my flavors.