Are chunks of bread flavored with herbs, onions, and butter at the Thanksgiving table called stuffing? Or dressing up?
Kelly Ripa doesn’t care.
On Monday, November 25 Living with Kelly and Mark co-host sparked a debate about what the classic Thanksgiving dish should be called, since different regions of the country used different terms. The argument then sparked a polarizing, apparently heated debate online.
Ripa addressed the “hate” during the conversation on Nov. 26.
Hosting Thanksgiving this year? Consider this your ultimate turkey guide, from when to buy your bird to how to store leftovers!
“I mean, forget all the political discourse,” Ripa said on the show. “Real discourse is people arguing about things and clothes.”
Generally, most Americans call the dish “stuffing,” but in the South it’s usually called “dressing”—not to mention that it’s sometimes called “stuffing” in Pennsylvania.
Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos on ‘Live with Kelly and Mark’.
DISNEY/Lorenzo Bevilaqua/Getty
Some claim that the difference is in how the dish is prepared – in the turkey itself or by itself. HuffPost reported another possible reason for the difference in terminology — “Victorians considered stuffing too raw to give the dish its name.”
But for Ripa, the issue just wasn’t that deep, especially with the amount of hate she received on social media.
“Basically, I’ll say something: Get a life, honestly. Just find one. Calm down,” she said. “If you are concerned about this, then congratulations, you have no real problems.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Ripa and her husband and co-host Mark Consuelos brought in actress Scarlett Johansson to weigh in on the issue.
“What I realized is that dressing up is kind of southern. It’s stuffing, but they call it dressing up?” Johansson said.
Just a little bit more and it’s time! Here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, including how to watch the festivities from home
“We said that yesterday! But we got hate!” Consuelos said. “The stuffing is what goes in the turkey. If it doesn’t go in the turkey, if it’s on the side, it’s dressing.”
“According to some on the Internet,” Ripa added, “who have a lot of free time.”
During a visit to the show, Johansson shared her plans for Thanksgiving this year, revealing that she and Colin Jost will be spending the holiday at a restaurant for the first time.
“We haven’t really done that before,” the Black widow said the star. “Every year I feel like it’s me and my father-in-law and we’re both doing half the dishes. And I don’t want anyone to feel obligated to clean up.”
The actress added: “I feel very lucky that we can go to a restaurant and enjoy ourselves.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education