Kelly, of “In My Opinion, and Yes I have an opinion on EVERYTHING,” emailed me to let me know that a major debate had begun at her journal after last week’s Sunday Seven question about Thanksgiving Dinner.

The discussion focuses on one of mankind’s greatest unanswered questions: is it stuffing or dressing?

According to an article from the Detroit Free Press, which gives you far more information about the side dish than you’d ever want, what you choose to call it usually depends on where you live:

“According to conventional wisdom, Southerners make it out of corn bread, bake it separately and call it dressing. Northerners make it with white bread, put it inside the turkey and call it stuffing.”

 

My family’s main Thanksgiving meal features the recipe for what we call dressing: a cornbread-based creation that is baked separately in the oven.

I’ll admit that I’ve never tried “stuffing” cooked inside a bird, but with all of the foodborne illnesses that exist, I don’t think I’d want to run the risk of the stuffing not cooking fully.

The article also discusses the exceptions to the regional rule, plus a variety of different recipes and forms that the dressing/stuffing dish comes in. But the regional answer, which also explains why Southerners say “Sweet Potatoes” while Northerners say “Yams,” is good enough for me.

(Be sure to visit Kelly’s journal and let her know where you stand in the great debate!)