Seven Days Of Eating: Re-Working A Holiday Gathering
I’ve never been one to have a lot of rules about Thanksgiving. I’m not bossy abou this holiday. I’m not bossy about much these days other than (1) my sleep: don’t come to my bedside after 9pm unless it’s a life or death situation (and, no, “where are all the cups?” does not count. Neither does “I can't find the remote.”) and (2) the fact that every light fixture in my home needs a soft-white light bulb (my brain and eyeballs cannot take the harshness of a bright light).
Some of you may be cooking the Thanksgiving meal for the first time.
Instead of getting stalled-out in the place of mourning the loss of “but this is how we always did it!”, this might be the year to:
*embrace a small Thanksgiving
*experiment
*invite your children to step up to the counter to help
*notice some freedom away from frenzied energy of the alpha-cook in your extended family.
This is the year to re-write thanksgiving. Social distancing and COVID-19 cannot stop you from connecting, celebrating, and holding fast to traditions. They all may just look a little different this time around.
Fact: The Thanksgiving meal you decide to cook is the correct meal to prepare.
Here are some options:
One pan/one pot Thanksgiving. Sheet pan to the rescue!! If I had to have a love affair with any piece of kitchen equipment it would 100% be the sheet pan. Here is an entire menu from The New York Times that steps you through using my darling sheet pan and my neutral-feeling friend the medium stock pot. If that link blocks you (as NYT sometimes does), try this idea. Different, but just as good.
My friend Ashley Munro is the queen of Thanksgiving recipes. Here are some of her best: Roasted Butternut Squash Salad, Fresh Cranberry Sauce, Scalloped Potatoes, Pumpkin Empanadas (this uses store-bought pastry dough for the win). Try one, some, or all. You won’t regret it.
My family usually has: Turkey Breast, mashed potatoes, stuffing (Stovetop last year which was a HIT), green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese, a plate of fruit, and a relish tray. We'll finish it off with my favorite dessert cleverly named: Great Pumpkin Dessert.
Turkey is NOT the boss of no one. Your holiday meal does not need turkey to “count”. Click here to be taken to the Ultimate Vegan Thanksgiving Menu.
My hometown meat market sells canned turkey. It’s a real lifesaver when you don’t have the time, energy, or courage to roast a turkey on your own. Here are some meal ideas that center around pre-cooked turkey (from a can or because you roasted an entire bird on your own and are looking for ways to use it bit by bit).
A Thanksgiving make-over of Chicken and Waffle: Fried Turkey and Stuffing waffles (“stuffles”?).
Throw it all into one pot for Creamy Turkey Dinner Soup. Complete the meal with your favorite salad greens tossed with your favorite salad dressing.
I’m leaving out a ton of things, I know. Appetizers (a meal of appetizers?!). Desserts (a meal of desserts?!?!). Cereal from a box. Takeout. A cookout. A picnic. A smoothie. Something that has to do with a smoker or a deep fryer. I can’t read your mind!! I don’t know what you want. Like I said, turkey isn’t the boss of you and I'll add: neither am I! You have your own taste preferences: embrace them. {Insert your favorite food here} but maybe scaled-down (or make the same amount and freeze part of it for a future date).
This is your year to think outside of the previously-expected-heavy-laden-buffet table. Share your favorites with me by commenting below.
A way to extend the conversation beyond food and traditions is to checkout this cool website that shows a map of the indigenous lands that make/made up our great United States of America. Without these people, we would have very little reason to give thanks.