When I was growing up, Thanksgiving morning started VERY early. I think the turkey had to cook for about 100 hours so Mother was up at dawn... Happily, we've learned a thing or two about that!
But my favorite food that day was always what we called "dressing..." and everyone else called "stuffing." Ours was very, very basic... and remains, for me, the gold standard: dry bread in large crumbs, or cubes, sautéed onions and celery, stock, salt and pepper, and (my one change) lots of chopped fresh sage leaves. The difference between fresh sage leaves and the grey powder in the can really is night and day.
And here's a tip: if you want the flavor and moisture of dressing cooked inside the bird, without the overcooked bird that goes with it, cook it separately in a baking dish but add a generous amount of the drippings from the bird. Remember, you won't need all of the drippings for gravy - check out my most recent post (November 30, 2012) and you're ready to prepare for gravymaking days or even weeks in advance!