A seafood dressing made with the trinity, cornbread and French bread crumbs, shrimp, crabmeat and oysters.

Seafood Cornbread Dressing

There are so many different kinds of dressings out there, the most common ones in the South being one made with cornbread, another made including chicken and the other with only staled bread in the form of sandwich bread, French bread or leftover rolls or biscuits and the addition of herbs.

I've made cornbread dressing both with and without any kind of bread, but I find that I prefer the texture of cornbread dressing when it includes some bread with the cornbread. It's another one of those Southern things that folks tend to argue about though, because there are some who will tell you that only cornbread should be in your cornbread dressing, and that is the only way.

Well. Y'all know what I say about that! 

A bread-based dressing with the classic vegetable seasonings and the addition of mashed potatoes.

Bread and Potato Dressing

Let's see. A bread-based dressing with the classic vegetable seasonings, and the addition of mashed potatoes?

I'm not at all mad at it!

In fact, I cannot believe this isn't already something in the South for heaven's sake.

A baked rice dressing, made with freshly shucked Gulf oysters, with sautéed onion, green onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, rice and seasonings, and always a holiday favorite here in the Deep South.

Oyster Rice Dressing

Rice stands in for bread and cornbread in this common dish here in the Deep South and is what we refer to as a rice dressing.

A mix of meats or seafood, or sometimes, as with this oyster rice dressing, a blend of them, along with onion, green onion, bell pepper and celery, rice and seasonings, it's very often offered as a side dish, though it is also used as a stuffing at times.

One thing is for sure. It's a favorite here in the Deep South year-round, and super popular for  Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.

A classic Deep South dressing, made with torn French bread, vegetables and fresh Gulf oysters with their liquor.

Classic Oyster Dressing

Growing up, Mama always made two dressings. One, she made with bread, most often using the Pepperidge Farms herb stuffing mix and it went right into the bird, with leftovers to be baked in a side dish. I always ate the one from the turkey and despite modern day warnings, I somehow survived. It really was the best!

The other dressing she made was an oyster dressing for my Daddy. Daddy was the oyster lover in our family and other than me, none of the rest of the family were all that interested in it to my recollection.

A cornbread dressing made with yellow squash, sauteed with onion, celery and bell pepper.

Cornbread Squash Dressing

I hear from a reliable source that squash is starting to come in! I didn't plant any this year so if you're trying to get rid of some, stop on by with a bag and I'll gladly take some off your hands!

For some reason, I never see pattypan squash around here, not even at the farmer's market, but yellow squash happens to be my favorite in the summer squash family. I like it far better than zucchini, though I do eat both. I think yellow is a little sweeter and more mellow than zucchini but both make pretty good zoodles.

Mirliton (Chayote Squash) Seafood Casserole

Mirliton (Chayote Squash) Seafood Casserole, a casserole made with mirliton, the trinity, shrimp, andouille, crab, bread crumbs and seasonings. Increase bread crumbs for a mirliton dressing.

Mirliton Seafood Casserole

It's mirliton season in the Deep South! I'm guessing that some of you are likely thinking right now... what the heck is that?

Mirlitons, or in Cajun Country, Alligator Pears

A cabbage and rice dish, commonly called dressing here in the Deep South, made with the trinity sauteed in bacon drippings, stewed down with cabbage, browned ground beef or sausage, cooked rice, and cream soup, baked, and finished with a buttered bread crumb topping. Pictured here with my collard greens and squash salad.

Cabbage Rice Dressing

Okay all you kindred cabbage lovers - if you've been around here any length of time, y'all know how much I love the stuff... though to be honest, 99.9% of the time when I pick up a new head of cabbage, thinking I'll bring something different to the blog, good intentions fall the wayside and I end up making fried cabbage. What can I say? It's an easy dish, and it really is my number one favorite.

 

A classic cornbread dressing made with day old cornbread, traditional sauteed vegetables and seasoned with sage.

Cornbread Sage Dressing with Gravy

Wow y'all! I cannot believe Thanksgiving is just days away now. Where does the time go? Before we know it, Christmas will be here, speaking of which... I put my tree up and started decorating this weekend, which is the earliest ever for me. There were a few reasons for starting a little early this year, and none of them have to do with blogging.

First, well... we moved this year and I wanted to make sure my tree would fit in the new house! I bought one of those Bethlehem Lights {affil link} LED instant-power trees (LOVE!) a couple of Christmases ago, and while it fit fine in the family room where I had a cathedral ceiling, I wasn't sure how it would fit in the new house that has standard height ceilings.

It fit, yay!

A super easy and moist crockpot chicken and dressing, made using a packaged stuffing mix, sauteed onion and celery, cooked chicken and cream soup, blended with chicken stock.

Easy Slow Cooker Chicken and Dressing

The concept of slow cooker dressing certainly isn't unique to me - you'll find a multitude of recipes online and at other blogs and websites, all slightly different from one another.

This method actually dates back to the late 70s in my recipe box, a time when convenience products and crockpots were all the rage with us working women. I used to rely on my crockpot a lot back then, but then fell away from it for years because I got bored with the way they cooked.

Then I started blogging, finally upgraded my slow cooker, educated myself a little bit better on slow cookery and slowly started to build up my collection of recipes again.

A cornbread and bread dressing, made with tart apple, hot sausage and pecans.

Sausage Cornbread Dressing with Apple and Pecan

I first made this dressing last Christmas, then again this Thanksgiving and I may even make it again this Christmas, though I'm actually still trying to settle between having a bread or rice dressing, since I'm going with a prime rib roast this year.

Yes, I'm moving away from the traditional turkey and dressing dinner for Christmas this year and going the route of a very expensive hunk of prime rib roast beef with au jus, that I have already warned The Cajun will not be cooked "well done."

A mixture of long grain rice, Louisiana crawfish tails, cream soups, bell pepper and spicy seasonings brings this rice dressing to life.

Crawfish Rice Dressing

I recently had the chance to give Cajun Country Rice a try and they provided me with a Crawfish Rice Dressing recipe that sounded too good to pass up.

A recipe that has been handed down from mother to daughter, it was absolutely delicious and would make a fantastic addition to any holiday, including your New Year's Eve party menu.

Cajun rice dressing is a rice based mixture similar to dirty rice and often served during the holidays. Some folks say omitting the livers is what sets it apart, but I like to include them along with a small roux.

Cajun Rice Dressing

This Cajun Farre Rice Dressing is essentially a dirty rice recipe, sometimes called Dirty Rice Jambalaya, that's been jazzed up a bit with a small roux for the holidays, beef stock added and baked, resulting in a more moist dish than dirty rice. It often makes an appearance both stuffed into some kind of bird or beef, or just simply as a side dish. 

I most often make this with chicken livers, or I use all of the giblets, though some folks say that rice dressing shouldn't have the livers - only dirty rice. I say do what you like! Love them? Use them. Not so fond of them? Don't use them. I happen to like them and so long as I grind them up, The Husband, aka The Cajun, who wouldn't touch liver for the life of him, gobbles it up. Hey, don't judge! All I can say is it works, because not only does he eat it, but he always goes back for more. 

Southern Chicken and Cornbread Dressing with Homemade Chicken Gravy

Chicken and cornbread dressing in a casserole form and served with homemade gravy is pure comfort food anytime of the year. It's a perfect dish to carry to a potluck or church social too!

Southern Chicken and Cornbread Dressing

I have shared several dressing recipes along the way and I've even had my hissy fit rant about my feelings on the dressing vs. stuffing debate to which, I will reiterate, once again... whatever you grew up with, and what you do in your Southern kitchen, is right, bottom line. It's all good folks, so let's just eat, okay?

I know. I am such a rebel.

Chicken and Herb Dressing Casserole

 

Chicken and dressing made with a whole cooked chicken, a homemade herb dressing and homemade gravy.

Chicken and Herb Dressing

Okay. Fair warning. This chicken and dressing is a bread dressing and it has a butter roux - puh-lenty of butter. Like 1 full stick of Paula Deen worthy butter. And this one is made with a combination of chicken and herb dressing, meaning bread dressing and not cornbread, so don't go balking at me.

While oyster dressing may not be a traditional holiday dressing across the south, here along the Deep South of the Gulf Coast, where the oysters are salty-sweet, it absolutely is a star.

Southern Cornbread and Oyster Dressing (Stuffing)

I realize that oyster dressing is not something that is common at the holidays all over the country, and not even in The South really, but it certainly is down here in The Deep South, especially along the coastal waters.

For Thanksgiving and Christmas, my Mama almost always made two dressings - well, essentially three, really, since she also stuffed the turkey with her herb stuffing.

A traditional southern cornbread dressing, made with crumbled cornbread and toasted crumbled bread.

Traditional Southern Cornbread Dressing

Southerners sure do love their traditional cornbread dressing and some of them will get all "stuffy" over what constitutes dressing and what constitutes stuffing. In my humble opinion, it mostly just depends on where you were born!

Seafood and Eggplant Dressing, a breaded seafood dressing, sometimes referred to as a casserole, made with fresh shrimp, crabmeat and eggplant.

Seafood and Eggplant Dressing

I was introduced to eggplant by my first mother-in-law. Eggplant was something that I do not ever recall my mother preparing, in any form, not one single time ... but my mother-in-law did cook it, and often. One of the ways she often made it, was in a wonderful seafood dressing.

For those who prefer a bread dressing, this bread and herb stuffing mix will fill the bill!

Homemade Herb Bread Dressing (Stuffing)

Is it stuffing? Or is it dressing? Does it really matter? Course not!

It's really the same to me - just depends on the presentation, as far as I'm concerned. I say if it's cooked in the bird, it's "stuffing;" if it's cooked in a separate dish, its "dressing." Whatever you call, we sure love it!