Mentioned above that I'd be making my mom's oyster dressing for a potluck this weekend. It had been a good 5-6 years since I'd made it. So, I made it yesterday.
COMPLETE AND TOTAL FAIL. As in, I literally just folded the pan over on itself and tossed it in the garbage - it was inedible.
Bottom line, once you mix in all the oysters, oyster liquor, and sauteed sausage and veggies, it needs some additional moisture. We use knorr chicken broth. I added some. It seemed like it needed more. I added more. Felt like it needed more. Added a bit more.
Fuck. As I really worked it in, it was pretty soggy. Baked it, and it took forever for the extra liquid to cook off (it never entirely did). AND, because the main salt in the dish comes from that broth....it had well over 2X the salt it needed. Fucking inedible. I cooked it till 9:30. Made a small tasting bowl. Ate about three bites, just hoping it would get better. It didn't. Tossed probably $35 of ingredients and a couple hours of labor into the trash.
My wife was even surprised and sympathetic - it's pretty rare that I end up with a complete fail like that, but this was definitely one of those times. FML.