Stuffing or ?

From Mary's Kitchen

Its Thanksgiving morning, bright and sunny but chilly.  The birds have finally returned to the feeders after I'd thought they all went south for the winter.  Disturbing, as I live in the South.

I'd read Meg's plans for the day and spatchcocking the turkey.  I got the butcher to cut out the backbone for me, which I thought would be the biggest challenge.  This morning though I decided to deconstruct the bird more.  Leg/thigh sections and the two halves of the breast are resting uncovered in the refrigerator waiting for the oven.  I'll coat with butter, coarse ground black pepper, salt and thyme I think, and add onions to the pan.  I am making stock with the wings and giblets, along with onion, celery and pepper corns.  The house is starting to smell lovely, bringing back memories of Thanksgivings past.

The whole stuffing versus dressing question has been on my mind the last few days.  I grew up thinking stuffing was what you put in the bird.  But, we never called it dressing regardless of what we put it in...  I just read an article on this question at Huffington Post, which suggested that the name (and the recipe) is more about regional convention that about the container.  Sort of like couch versus sofa, or soft drinks vs soda pop.  Here in the South, cornbread dressing is pretty common. That's never been a favorite with me.

Close your eyes Meg.  My stuffing will start with a ciabatta mix from Williams Sonoma.  The recipe calls for adding chopped onions, celery, and chicken broth. But I'm "dressing" it up with chopped giblets and local spicy Conecuh sausage, and using the turkey stock.  I like the texture and chew of ciabatta, but didn't want to bother with buying a whole loaf for this purpose.  With the box, I can make half today and save the rest.  Okay you can open your eyes now Meg.  

Whatever you cook and whatever you call what you cook, enjoy the day!  Happy Thanksgiving.