My father has been very ill, and I will have to make Thanksgiving dinner at his home. Therefore, I decided to buy mostly pre-made food for Thanksgiving this year. I went to the grocery store and asked for "dressing." While I am going to roast the turkey myself, I didn't want to fiddle with making the dressing. The clerk looked at me as though I were crazy. Then he asked if I meant "gravy." "No," I said, "I mean dressing." He asked if I meant broth. "No, I mean dressing." Well, after thinking they must not have it, I said, "You know, stuffing." He said, "Ahhh...stuffing! Yes, we have that."

Is "dressing" a regional word? The clerk happened to be Hispanic.

I learned it as dressing, since that's what my folks called it. I do hear stuffing used more often these days. Here's a definition from the OED Online:

quote:

dressing
Cookery. The seasoning substance used in cooking; stuffing; the sauce, etc., used in preparing a dish, a salad, etc.
1504 Nottingham Rec. III. 319 For floure and peper, and dressing. 1853 A. SOYER Pantroph.75 Lettuces may also be eaten with a dressing of gravy and pickles.

From Wikipedia:

quote:

Dressing is another name for stuffing, the food item which is placed inside a roasted turkey. (In Southern US Cuisine, dressing, while very similar to stuffing, is distinguished by being served as a side dish rather than inside the turkey.)

Now, that's strange. My mother was from Louisiana and she always called it dressing, if I remember right, though it was always stuffed in a turkey.

Then we took it out and stuffed it in us little turkeys (Pre-emptive strike, Asa).

Tinman

In the UK, dressing is for salads; stuffing is for geese and turkeys.

Why did the stuffing hide behind the turkey?

Because it was dressing!

Funny, CW!

Happy Thanksgiving all you Americans!

quote:

Then we took it out and stuffed it in us little turkeys (Pre-emptive strike, Asa).

Tinman

Presupposing UNdressing before stuffing, I assume.

Oh, Asa, you're so darn conventional! Sometimes it's fun to stuff while dressed!

Thanks, Kalleh - same to you!