Taking my stand in the dressing versus stuffing debate

With nothing left of Thanksgiving dinner now but leftovers, inquiring minds want to know if the big Thanksgiving debate reared its head at your table.

I’m not talking about Republican versus Democrat values. I’m not even talking Dallas Cowboys versus Philadelphia Eagles. What I’m referring to is did you have dressing or stuffing on your table?

To some it may seem like semantics. Isn’t it the same side dish, some would ask?

No, it is not and your semantics and understanding of the dish could reveal what part of the country you hail from. It’s likely if you’re an Eagles fan you prepared stuffing and if you’re a Cowboys fan you fixed dressing.

The difference is in the base of the dish. If you’re from the South your dressing was prepared by first making at least one big ol’ pan of cornbread. If you’re from a Yankee state you prepared breadcrumbs, however you do that. Some folks may have done that by stopping off at the store for a box with the name Stouffer’s at the top.

I guess it’s pretty obvious where my leanings are — somewhere in Dixie with cornbread is king even when you’re not making dressing. For example, since I was making cornbread for dressing Wednesday night, I just made extra and fixed a pot of chili to have with it.

My priorities have always been with the dressing and gravy first and the pies second. The meat selection at our house has always varied a little and this year was a T-bone instead of turkey. But I protested when plans called for no dressing and I offered to bring it myself.

My mom made great dressing as we were growing up and she always enlisted my dad to taste it as she went along. He had a good palate and got the seasonings just right and made sure it was moist enough but not too moist.

When I moved away from home and couldn’t get back home for Thanksgiving I had to learn how to fix it myself. Had I left it up to my wife, the damn Yankee would fix stuffing.

It wasn’t what I thought of as comfort food.

Actually, one of the ingredients my mom always used was bread of some kind, usually leftover biscuits, but the cornbread was still the main star. You have to get onion in the mixture and I like a little bit of celery, though I was told to leave it out or at least chop it fine this year. Use broth to get the right moisture and season with a variety of spices but sage and black pepper are the most important.

I really don’t care if the gravy comes from an envelope or the cornbread from a box as long as you make it up yourself and build it with love.

Karl Terry writes for Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at:

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