10 Wild-but-True Facts about Thanksgiving Dinner

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Early American settlers & Native Americans couldn't have had this Thanksgiving dish at their feasts...

stuffing. White flour or butter was not accessible to the first Plymouth colonists, so they couldn't have had our version of the dish, which is made with dry breadcrumbs and lots of butter. They did, however, probably stuff their birds with ingredients like onions, herbs and chestnuts—contrary to more modern stuffing recipes, which are often cooked separately.

American food culture tends to be more cautious on this topic, with many worried about exposure to salmonella or E. coli, two bacteria strains that can make you very ill. The risk is actually two-fold with stuffed turkeys: either cooking the turkey until the stuffing is done (and possibly ending up with overly dry, flavorless meat) or cooking the turkey until it's done but undercooking the stuffing (which is where the bacteria could develop). Unless you're the turkey master, it's probably best to play it safe.

Don't stuff the turkey, and other Thanksgiving food safety tips.