I’d think you were having the kind of stuffing that’s not actually cooked inside the bird. To me, that’s dressing. I tend to clench my teeth when I hear people call it stuffing.
I’d know what you meant. I know it as dressing even though I’m a native NYer because my grandmother (the one who makes the stuff) is from the south, and that’s what she calls it.
Well, I’d definately have to know it was Thanksgiving, but we use the terms interchangeably, except that dressing you make in the oven and stuffing is inside the bird which everybody says is unsafe anyway.
It’s not unsafe if you even a mediocre chef. But given the 1,000,000+ morons who eat microwave or Burger King 364 days a year & decide to make a feast on T-day with no clue what’s involved besides a bird, the FDA & other “responsible” advice givers are steering people away from stuffed poultry.
Another born & raised in Chicago vote for knowing what dressing it, especially in a “feasting upon fowl” context
Well, it’s also easier (even for people who cook a lot but might not cook giant stuffed turkeys every day) to get everything done enough but not too done if you make your stuffing seperate (and then call it dressing.)
Born and raised Southern in California, and we tend to use both terms interchangably.
What she said. Always called it stuffing.
Some people don’t get out much. They have no idea there are words they have never heard that they will have to learn. They assume every new word will only be heard that one new time and can be mocked and then forgotten.
Two sisters-in-law, wives of my brothers, have teased and taunted and actually scolded each other for years because one says skillet and the other fry pan, and one says pail and the other bucket. No amount of dictionary use by the brothers had made either one see that there are two words for the same object.
[QUOTE=Idle ThoughtsIf I told you we’re having dressing at Thanksgiving, what would you think? [/QUOTE]
Cornbread.
Mmm… Cornbread dressing. (drool drool drool)
Mrs. Magill and I love to drive through downtown Raleigh by St. Aug’s the night before Thanksgiving. One of the houses there makes the best smelling cornbread in the world. One of Mrs. Magill’s big goals in life is to find that house and get that recipe. I’m just thankful that her pregnancy cravings had not kicked in Wednesday night, as I’m not sure how welcome a pair of folks in their mid-thirties would have been knocking on random doors at ten in the evening,
In my family, dressing and stuffing are used interchangeably, without regard to whether it was cooked in or out of the turkey.
This year, we had my new Son-In-Law (from Pennsylvania) to Thanksgiving dinner for the first time. When I asked him to pass the dressing he got a blank look on his face, until my daughter said “Stuffing.”
How about “filling”; does that mean stuffing/dressing to anyone? I went to Grandma’s in PA over the weekend and enjoyed hearing about all the old PA German “soul food” mom refers to. “Potato filling” was a staple of our T-day growing up; it’s mashed potatoes combined with celery, onions, etc., and baked as a casserole. Mom made that because she didn’t make bread stuffing every time. It was nice to hear someone refer to it and not have to explain what it is!
If you told me you were going to dress the turkey, I’d understand what you meant, but I’ve never heard stuffing called dressing before and I’d think you were talking about salad dressing.
Another vote for dressing = outside the bird; stuffing = inside the bird. Also another vote for never calling “salad dressing” just “dressing,” except in the most obvious context (sitting in front of a salad, asking your tablemate to “pass the dressing”.) No offense, but if I were talking about Thanksgiving and making/having “lots of dressing” and the person I’m talking to was confused as to whether I meant side-dish dressing or salad dressing, I’d think I was talking to either a foreigner or an idiot. I know many people who don’t use the term in this way but I’ve never meant anyone born and raised in the States who literally had never heard of it.
To me, ‘filling’ is the jelly or custard that goes inside a donut.
Mmm, donuts…