Instructions: What started out as a practical and thrifty stretcher for often lean game meats is now a cornerstone of the lavish Thanksgiving feast. If you doubt the appeal of stuffing, just try leaving it off the menu some year.

Although commercial stuffing mixes abound on the supermarket shelf, a from-scratch stuffing has a much more fresh and complex flavor with less salt, less fat and no added sugar or corn syrup - ingredients that ready-made mixes use to boost flavor in the absence of fresh onions, celery and stock.

Why is stuffed poultry so good? Its an exchange that works both ways: The stuffing enhances the flavor of the bird and absorbs the poultrys flavorful juices as it roasts.

Day-old breads are an excellent base for stuffings. Choose white, whole-wheat, multi-grain, French or focaccia yeast breads, or a baking powder corn bread. While whole-grain breads vary in density, the best stuffings are made with lighter textured breads. French bread, rather than sourdough, and challah (egg bread) are favorites. Savory artisan breads already contain onions and herbs, so all you need to do is moisten the crumbs with an egg or broth, and you have a ready-made stuffing.

Stuffing lovers swallowed hard a few years ago, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture advised not cooking stuffing inside birds anymore. Instead, the USDA suggests baking stuffing separately to avoid undercooking and other potentially harmful practices. With a food that is steeped in so much tradition, this announcement ruffled feathers in the kitchen.

People are not going to stop stuffing turkeys during the holidays, said Rick Rodgers, author of Thanksgiving 101 (Broadway Books, $15) as well as a cookbook devoted to stuffings. Just be sure to test the stuffing right out of the oven with an instant-read thermometer. The stuffing should register 165 degrees to 170 degrees Fahrenheit. If not, just remove it . . . into a casserole, and bake or microwave until the safe temperature is reached.

Confused about the difference between stuffing and dressing? I was, too. A stuffing is placed inside the cavity of a bird or rolled inside a flattened piece of meat or poultry, while a dressing is baked separately from the roasted meat and served as a side dish. When adapting stuffing recipes to be cooked outside the bird, remember to add about a half cup more broth to compensate for the lack of the rich meat juices while roasting.

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