I've never heard it called "bread stuffing" or "dressing!" We just say plain ol' "stuffing" or even "filling," because its what you fill the turkey with :)

Pumpkin bread!

Stuffing is the artist's true Thanksgiving medium.

Other dishes require a recipe (actual or memorized) to get them right... but stuffing can be constructed by wandering through the store, choosing whatever seems good, and letting the spirit guide one's hand.

My mother-in-law makes a rockin' sweet potato casserole with pecans and Calvados.

My mom's cranberry relish is a true holiday signifier since Thanksgiving and X-mas are the only times we eat it. She used to put the fresh cranberries, oranges, and granny smith apples through a huge, hand-crank nut grinder, but the food processor made things much easier many, many years ago!

My Thanksgiving traditional?

(caution: read further at your own risk of drooling)

*PRIME RIBS, CREAMED SPINACH, YORKSHIRE PUDDING, and PINOT NOIR!

Baked jalepeno macaroni and cheese, mashed sweet potatoes, real cranberry sauce (with a hint of orange and honey), my dad's made from scratch biscuits...delicious!

I'm only a little biased by the fact that I'm the one who makes the mac and cheese, mashed sweets and cranberry sauce ;-)

It's not Thanksgiving without the family's special salad dressing.

I could fill my plate with mashed potatoes...and I don't know why I almost never make them any other time of the year!

Wild rice with celery, onions and pecans - kind of a rice version of stuffing.

Sauerkraut! It's a Baltimore thing.

The creamed onions--little onions boiled in white wine with thyme and finished with heavy cream. I don't always make it home for Thanksgiving, but I always have to ask again for the recipe and make the onions. This year I'll be home, and I know the onions will be there too.

Every Thanksgiving since I can remember, we have baked yams with an Amaretti crumble topping. The yams are mashed w/ ginger, orange marmalade, and Amaretto liquer, amongst other yummy things. It's not Thanksgiving without them!!!

While the real stuff is great, it's still not a holiday for me without the canned cranberry sauce. Still in the shape of the can.

rachel...make that sauerkraut and kielbasa for all of my Baltimore Thanksgivings.

My mom's stuffing is unbelievable. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. A close second is mashed potatoes, but that's ingrained in my DNA (most of my family is from Co. Mayo!) so it doesn't give a fair shot to the rest.

Mmmmm-- my grandmother's cornbread dressing kicks off the holiday season. We only eat it at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Can't wait!

Brussel sprouts, usually with a mustard sauce, are what we consider to be the most important side dish. I mean, we like stuffing okay, but we normally just buy a box of stovetop style stuffing. Actually putting stuffing in the turkey's gut? Ugh, gross! Cranberry sauce? some years, we just buy a thing of that frozen cranberry orange sauce, some years, someone makes a new recipe they saw somewhere. Sweet potatoes, we often have, but just toss 'em in the oven and have them baked.

No, brussel sprouts are the thing we all love and look forward to.

Can desserts count? If so - it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie...

Had to vote for green bean casserole but 2nd choice is the sweet potatoes... mmmm orange mashed goodness.

jello mold (a crazy tradition from when we always went to my aunt's for thanksgiving) and, instead of pumpkin pie, pumpkin roll.

I'm also from brussel sprout people. Sometimes we add a mustardy vinaigrette, other times a drizzling of cranberries, but mostly we roast 'em with balsamic vinegar.

This is our second year out on the pier for Thanksgiving and all I can think about are the steamed clams and seafood stew.