Sausage and Cornbread Stuffing

Lessons in Thanksgiving preparations...

Grandma told us about the differences between stuffing and dressing very early on. She used to cook one of each to accommodate our various tastes, but it was the stuffing that always won us over. There is nothing like stuffing the turkey and letting the juices do their magic. Grandma always used Mrs. Cubbison's cornbread stuffing in the big box. Now this is no advertisement for Mrs. C's, but I will attest that theirs is the best (unless, like Martha, you bake real cornbread rather than buy store bought).

Here is Grandma's recipe for Sausage and Cornbread Stuffing. This particular recipe from the newspaper about 10 years ago was identical to hers. She would typically have the potatoes peeled, the casseroles prepared, the pies made, and salads chilling the night before, so her Thanksgiving day wasn't fraught with frenzy. 

The turkey was fresh, so there was no need to thaw, but she would take it out of the fridge to sit at room temp for about an hour before putting it in the oven, remove the wrapping and giblets (or "innards" included with the turkey) and put these in a pan of water to simmer all morning--except the liver, which was bitter. She would then use this simmered water later in her gravy roux.

The stuffing was the first thing Grandma made on Thanksgiving Day. This was strategic on her part, because if it was made the day before the bread would be soggy--and you can't have that! She would also never consider stuffing the turkey the day before either--mainly because raw turkey is known to cause serious illness if not properly dealt with.

Once the stuffing was prepared, she would place it loosely (loosely being the key word here) into the turkey so it didn't end up as a blob of bread and/or be difficult to remove once the turkey was cooked. That being said, there was always plenty to make a side dish of "dressing." It just was never as good as the stuffing!

This truly is a winner and you and your guests will love it!