Caroline Kramer's Moist Dressing


1/2 lb. butter or 1/2 lb. bacon, cut into small pieces
2 cups onion, sliced thin
2 cups celery, cut into thin slices crosswise
1 lb. sliced bread, toasted golden brown and thoroughly dried on oven racks at 275 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes (turn bread over several times)
1 tbsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black or white pepper
1 tbsp. sage or poultry seasoning
1/2 cup parsley, chopped medium-fine
3 eggs

1. Melt butter or fry bacon slowly until medium-crisp. Add onions and celery. Cover pan, and steam about 15 more minutes or until vegetables are tender. Pour this mixture over bread that has first been covered with cold water until it swells and then pressed until very fluffy. Season with salt, pepper, sage and parsley. Last, add eggs and mix lightly with two forks. If mixture appears dry, more melted butter may be added. Taste, and season further if necessary.
2. Important: For best results, roast turkeys weighing more than 18 pounds (drawn weight) without stuffing them. Dressing can be baked separately in a heatproof serving dish as soon as turkey is removed from oven to cool, anywhere from 30 minutes for medium size to 60 minutes for large. Drizzle top of dressing with melted butter or margarine, and bake at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes or until top is brown and crusty. Roasting turkey without stuffing also shortens roasting time, thereby preventing overcooking and drying out of breast and outside layers of meat. The heat is conducted more quickly through the body opening.
3. Stuffing the bird: Fill the cavity at the neck end lightly; fold skin over the back, and hold it in place with a steel skewer. Fold wings back so that the wing tips may help to hold the neck skin in place. Fill body from lower end. Place filling in lightly so that room is left for its expansion. Fasten this opening with steel skewers by placing them across the opening at regular intervals. With heavy beef twine, bring the skin edges together by lacing the twine around the pins, thus closing the opening. Butterball turkeys require no lacing. Simply tuck leg ends in opening and close opening with a skewer, or cover dressing with piece of lightweight foil, tucking it underneath skin.