My favorite is my mother’s stuffing:
1 large bag of torn assorted dried bread (I buy the “dressing bread” at the store bakery, but you could do this on your own - NOT cornbread, and NOT the little tiny cubes that come in the boxed stuffing mixes.)
1 lb pork sausage with sage seasoning
1 large onion, chopped
3-4 ribs celery, sliced
1 package of giblets from your turkey
Sage seasoning
Poultry seasoning
Water
Take the giblets and put them in about 2 quarts of water, and boil for at least 1/2 hour. SAVE THE WATER. Mince the organ meats, discarding any unwanted bits, neck bones, etc.
While the giblets are boiling, brown and break up sausage in a skillet. As it nears completion, add the onions and celery, continue cooking until onions are translucent, and celery is soft. DO NOT DRAIN; the sausage fat adds flavor and moisture.
In a very large bowl or pan, pour in the dressing bread, then the sausage with onion and celery, add the chopped giblets. Add a couple teaspoons each of sage and poultry seasoning; more or less to taste. Pour in some of the boiling water, mix well. Add water a little at a time, to desired moistness.
Portion out part of the prepared mixture, the amount you expect to use inside the turkey, to a different bowl, in order to avoid cross-contaminating from the turkey. Stuff the turkey with this part. Do not re-use this bowl or spoon until they have been washed.
Spray a casserole dish with vegetable spray; put the rest of the stuffing in this dish and keep in the refrigerator until about the last hour before eating. Bake @ 350, covered. Uncover the last 10-15 minutes or if it is too moist. If too dry, add water, chicken broth, or turkey drippings.
My stuffing is very similar, but I add half a diced apple. If I’m making stuffed mushrooms, I’ll add chopped up mushroom stems. That stuffing mix also makes for great stuffed mushrooms with some cheese melted on top.
Yours, like my mom’s was, is very basic AND it continues to make the stuffing flavor my taste buds crave at Thanksgiving. I have bad many different much more complex versions of stuffing, but they never satisfy me the way the old, simple basic version like mom weened us on every Thanksgiving when we were growing up.
Thanksgiving is about traditions, and traditions arrive from our experience, which leaves us enjoying most the things our Thanksgiving experience has most often had. It’s only natural.