From what Freddi Spruille describes as the beginning of time, her mother has made the Thanksgiving cornbread dressing. She breaks up the unsweetened cornbread, smothers it with turkey juices and chicken broth, and adds sauteed vegetables, seasoning and chopped oysters. Then the whole dish is re-baked and, in its final, glorious form, is "more important than the turkey," Spruille said.
Fortunately, wind, rain and floods can't obliterate traditions such as cornbread dressing.
Holiday How Thanksgiving will help two other families cope with the loss of their homes in Hurricane Katrina. pg 21a
