A question: Do you say "dressing" or "stuffing"?... - ha3rvey (likes fritos)

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A question: Do you say "dressing" or "stuffing"? And where are you from?

Yolanda, Jennifer Dittrich, rowlikeagirl and 10 other people liked this

Well, they're different things, too me. - Captain Bubbles

Stuffing. Seattle. - Rochelle

Stuffing comes in a box. Dressing is what we have on Thanksgiving; it's made with cornbread and celery and doesn't go inside the turkey. I'm from Georgia. :) - Laura Lou Who

Stuffing. I got it from my mom who grew up in Massachusetts. - Michelle Martinez

We say dressing. My family's from Louisiana. - ha3rvey (likes fritos)

Akiva says it's only stuffing if it's baked in the bird. Otherwise, it's dressing. He's from Texas. - Rochelle

From Missouri: We say both and were ignorant of the difference. - SAM

Yeah, dressing and stuffing are separate entities to me too. Stuffing is stuffed inside. Dressing dresses the outside. EDIT: from UK. - Mark H

Stuffing. Currently in Nevada. Going back to Cali in a couple of months. My immediate family is/was not from this country, so when they started celebrating Thanksgiving after they came to California, they heard stuffing. - Helen Sventitsky

Dressing - Texas - Jeremy (cropmarks)

I have a theory that the difference is regional. I suspect the dislike of the word "stuffing" is a Bible Belt thing. - ha3rvey (likes fritos)

Harvey, I agree with this theory. I've been in Seattle for nearly 28 years and have never once heard someone native to here call it dressing. - Rochelle

As far as I can remember, my family has always called it stuffing. We're New York Jews. - josh neff, geek at large

Stuffing - dressing is something you do with your clothes to cover yourself up (from UK) - WorldofHiglet

I wonder if us southerners think "stuffing" has a sexual connotation. :) - ha3rvey (likes fritos)

you americans are crazy. stuffing is for the inside of a poultry, dressing is some sort of gravy or sauce for on top of something (eg a salad) - Snipergirl

Well, Snipergirl, there's dressing, and then there's dressing. - ha3rvey (likes fritos)

A salad is considered dressing? Hmm. I don't think I've ever heard (that is,in Seattle) any *food* ever called dressing. Dressing is what you do with clothes in the morning and that's about it. - Rochelle

@rochelles no a salad dressing is what you put on salad - Snipergirl

I think you mean SAUCE. - Rochelle

Snipergirl salad dressing is different from dressing (mush made from cornbread). - Captain Bubbles

When I put my clothes on, it's dressing. When I stuff the turkey, it's stuffing. Oh,and I'm a Midwestener. My mom used to make oyster stuffing for Thanksgiving. So good. - Junebug (aka Sarah Jill)

And even here in the States, depending on region, salad dressing can mean different things. Here in CA it means like ranch, Italian, Thousand Island, but in the midwest, it's some mayonnaise mixture made with relish that people put on sandwiches. - Captain Bubbles

stuffing - VAL D.

Long Island ,NY - VAL D.

I stuff a bird. Mind you, being from England, that certainly has more than one meaning. - Ian May

Stuffing. We get it out of a box, but don't cook it inside the turkey (personally, I don't even eat it anyway). I'm familiar with the term dressing, but have never used it in this particular situation. I'm from Massachusetts. - Penguin It's Cold Outside

@faboomama @rochelles @ha3rvey while I do admit to understanding that this is a conversation about American English only, I would probably alert you to the fact that most people in the world who speak English actually speak British English or a close variant of it (including Canadians funnily enough)- thus to many people outside the US, dressing is a perfectly valid term for what you put on salad, and is never used to denote your cornbread thingy - Snipergirl

though i must admit that the cornbread thingy sounds OM NOM NOM NOM - Snipergirl

To be even more pedantic, not all dressings/stuffings have cornbread. :) - ha3rvey (likes fritos)

stuffing here as well (Washington), though I do here dressing now and then. And in my circles, we rarely have cornbread stuffing, just to be difficult. ;) - holly

Which is why they're different words to me. Dressing is made with cornbread (or any bread really), but stuffing is mostly meat-based and goes inside the bird. - Captain Bubbles

They are two different things, like Anika said, but mostly, I eat cornbread dressing. Mmmm. With cranberry sauce on the side. Oh and turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans and... - Carmen

Just to blow my own horn, I made a vegetarian Thanksgiving dinner with roasted acorn squash with a chestnut and craisin stuffing and mushroom gravy. It was SO GOOD. - ha3rvey (likes fritos)

As someone in the midwest, I don't think I've ever called the stuff I put on sandwiches dressing. I wonder where they eat that stuff. Hmmmm. I do call anything I put on a salad, salad dressing. - Junebug (aka Sarah Jill)

Actually, I was thinking about that, most of my family who are from the south originally, but live in the midwest now, call *any* spread to put on sandwiches "salad dressing". I wonder if that's old Southern thing. - Captain Bubbles

Maybe. The concoction sounds interesting. :-) I'm kind of plain person when it comes to sandwiches. Usually just mayo. And Ha3rvey, that sounds wonderful. - Junebug (aka Sarah Jill)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... It is gagalicious. - Captain Bubbles

Stuffing, because eating it makes me feel stuffed. - John (a.k.a. dendroica)

Anika, I thought we were friends. I can't believe you introduced Miracle Whip into one of my food threads. *BLOCKED* - ha3rvey (likes fritos)

*shuddder* not Miracle Whip, I think they have the name trademarked. No, this: http://friendfeed.com/fabooma... - Captain Bubbles

I thought I remembered a sandwich spread under the Miracle Whip brand name. My google-fu fails me right now, though. - ha3rvey (likes fritos)

Ha3rvey, I love you. However, as I have said before, I am a Miracle Whip kind of girl. :P That said, the jar of MW in my kitchen does call itself "dressing," but not "salad dressing." When I was in the UK, I put "salad cream" on my sandwiches. - Laura Lou Who

Okay, 'salad cream' just gives me the heebie-jeebies. LOL - Captain Bubbles

Salad cream: http://www.heinzsaladcream.co.uk/ Not exactly like Miracle Whip, but it will do in a pinch. - Laura Lou Who

Stuffing. New England. - Call me Bronco from iPhone

we use both. - Nathalie, Dreamer of FF

Stuffing, I'm from all over the US (mom & dad are too, although the recipe is southern), but we always put it in the bird, so stuffing fits. And it's not meat-based - it's Wonder bread based, with bacon, celery, and poultry seasoning - yummy. In New Orleans, when they ask if you want your po boy dressed, they mean, do you want lettuce, tomato, mayo, etc., which makes sense since the po boy would be almost naked without it. - Cassandra

Like Rochelle said, we call it stuffing in Seattle and I was born and raised here. My husband is from MN and he calls it dressing. To me, dressing is for salad. Or what you do when you put on clothes. ;-) - Annie Anderson

Stuffing. Rural southeastern Ohio - Michael Hocter

It's dressing. It's only stuffing when it's inside the bird. (Texas) - Trish R

stuffing in nyc, dressing in atlanta - Allen Stern

stuffing. Kentucky - Amber, Random Time Lord

STOVE TOP - Andrizzle Gizzle

"dressing"... Tennessee originally... grew up in St. Louis - MASTER OF THE OBVIOUS

Stuffing. FL. Dressing goes on a salad. - Alix Whitmire from iPhone

Stuffing even if it never enters the bird. Baltimore. And in B'more you gotta have sauerkraut with turkey. - m9m, Crone of FriendFeed

Gimme the sauerkraft. Stuff the turkey. - Ian May

I say stuffing, but that's my Brooklyn roots. Actually, I say both since dressing is something completely different: Salad sauce, or stuffing that didn't actually get stuffed anywhere. (don't like dressing) - Rahsheen ™, Coach Rah

STUFFING! - Jim Hearts FF

I say stuffing regardless of whether it was cooked in the bird. Born and raised in LA, CA, USA. - Spidra Webster

stuffing. rural canada. - T. Brent, technopeasant

I go back and forth. - Eric @ CSTechcast.com

Cornbread dressing in Texas - Greg Guitarbuster

It's stuffed in a bird, but comes out dressing.....although if you bake it in a dish, it's still dressing....New York state....English heritage. - Bonnie Foster

Michigan: I say stuffing, but I've heard both. - R1CC1

I say stuffing (born in the USA</springsteen>), my wife says dressing (born in Canada). This topic came up for the first time this year and I'm not sure how - I've been living with Thanksgiving in October for over 15 years now :) - Micah Wittman

Dressing goes on salad. Stuffing goes in a turkey. Montreal, QC - Louis Simoneau

Michigan born and bred (family from Mississippi/Tennessee). We personally say dressing and it's never something that goes inside the bird. What goes in there is 'stuffing'. - Holli B.

Stuffing, though "bread dressing" is understood (but we'll look at you strangely if you say dressing without the bread). Mich. - Michael W. May

Stuffing, Washington, DC area - Shevonne

Stuffing, Indianapolis, IN area - Harold

Dressing, from the Hoosier State - Michelle

Stuffing, from NY - Mary Carmen

Dressing, if it is off of the stove, Stuffing if it is out of the bird - Olympia, WA - Jennifer Dittrich

Harold, I wonder if I called it dressing because my parents are from the south. Interesting. - Michelle

Yes. I'm from Texas. :D - Yolanda