Note: My grandma Ruth made this dressing for all of our holiday meals. When she passed away, my mom continued the tradition.
*The night before or several hours before: Open up all eight hot dog buns from one package and lay them flat on a baking sheet. Dry them out in a 100 degree oven for a couple of hours. (Or set baking sheet out overnight to dry out the buns.) Break up the buns into one inch pieces after they are dried out.
1. Prepare 3 cups chicken broth. If roasting a turkey, you can boil the neck to make broth. Add about 1 tsp salt to the broth if made from the turkey neck. Do not add salt if broth is canned stock or if broth is made from boullion or base.
2. In a large saute pan, saute 3/4 cup finely chopped onion, 1-1/2 cups chopped celery (include leaves for flavor), and 1 cup butter (Can also do 1/2 cup margarine and 1/2 cup butter. Do not use all margarine.) until onion is transparent.
4. Add 1-1/2 tsp poultry seasoning, 1/4 tsp pepper. Then taste and adjust as needed.
5. Stir in 1/3 of the bread cubes. Keep turning the mixure while adding the next 1/3 and then the last 1/3 of the bread cubes.
6. Add broth one ladle at a time until bread mixture is just moistened and a bit sticky. Be careful not to get the bread mixture mushy. Too much broth will prevent the dressing from setting up in the oven.
7. Transfer to 5 quart baking pan. (Grandma and Mom always use Descoware, which is a type of coated cast iron. We think it made the dressing perfectly crunchy on the top and sides.) Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until set and knife inserted comes out mostly clean.
