Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. (Although come Christmastime, you know I'll be making the very same declaration, ditto Easter). This year we are having about 22 people for lunch. In LA, people say "What are you doing for the holidays" and I say sunnily "Oh, I'm having 22 people for lunch." They look at me in horror and ask why I'd be doing such a thing or tell me to make it a pot luck. Truth be told (and I am dear reader, a great advocate of truth as you know) I look forward to these great family feasts. I love sticking post-its all over my food magazines, and pulling down dusty cookbooks from the top shelf, and rifling through old recipes, and sitting in bed at night with the Maharishi swapping ideas for stuffing. The most brilliant thing is that my husband, the Maharishi, my very own James Beard (no pun intended) is a fantastic cook and a most excellent collaborator and so these things tend to go pretty smoothly. As long as we don't drink too many glasses of pre-lunch champagne, that is.
If nearly twenty-two years of marriage has given us anything it is the intricate dance of the kitchen. We could be blindfolded and still we'd know where the other was and what they were doing. Words are just superfluous and not because we'll be invariably listening to the NPR Julia Child & Jaques Pepin Turducken story or a lovely festive niblet from David Sedaris (yes, he has become a holiday favorite) but because things no longer need to be spoken. It is the kitchen dance of lerv.
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Popcorn
You've heard of Thanksgiving stuffing, Thanksgiving pumpkin pie and Thanksgiving turkey. But have you heard of Thanksgiving popcorn? Of course you haven't. That's because I just created it.
Why "Thanksgiving" popcorn? Read on.
I handed Jeff a bowl of popcorn and said, "Here, try this." He ate a couple of handfuls and said, "This is the best popcorn you've ever made."
"Really?" I said. (I thought my best was my maple walnut popcorn.)
He took another handful and tossed it in his mouth. "Oh, yeah. This is definitely the best. What's it called?" he asked.
"I don't know. I can't think of a name I like," I said.
"You should call it Thanksgiving popcorn. It's got all the flavors and smells of Thanksgiving," he said.
And that, my friends, is how today's popcorn got its name. Hmmm... I wonder if I can get my own Wikipedia entry for it.
Thanksgiving Tips & Techniques
I have a confession to make. I've never made a traditional Thanksgiving
dinner. I always cook something for the feast at my parent's house, but
not the whole meal and certainly not the turkey. I'm not sure I could
take the pressure! Thanksgiving is one of the most traditional of meals
and most of us have very specific expectations about what that dinner
should be.
Here to help make yours a success, whether you are
cooking one dish or ten, is cooking teacher and cookbook author
extraordinaire, Rick Rodgers. His book Thanksgiving 101, is out in paperback and in stores now. Rick is answering questions about Thanksgiving and sharing his advice over on the Epicurious blog but I snagged him for a few questions of my own...
What kind of turkey do you recommend for Thanksgiving – organic, heritage, wild, fresh, frozen?
Look for a fresh bird from a local source. Where I live, organic Eberly from Pennsylvania is my bird of choice, but when I teach in Northern California, I am happy with Foster Farms. There are a lot of very good supermarket birds out there at a
reasonable price. Look for the words "all natural, minimally
processed" on the label, and your bird won't have been shot up with
lots of gunk.
Classic Sage Bread Stuffing for a Crowd
This recipe is a combination of technique and ingredients from Cook’s Illustrated and Joy of Cooking, which I suppose now makes it my own. There are tons of recipes with exotic flavors and ingredients, but if you’re looking for that classic Thanksgiving stuffing, this is the recipe to use. Drying the bread before making the stuffing is an important step for texture and flavor.
If you plan ahead, you can just leave the bread cubes out on the counter for a few days to become stale. I usually just spread them out on baking sheets and dry in a 300-degree oven for 30 to 60 minutes. Let the bread cool before using in the stuffing. You can substitute three 14-ounce bags of plain dried bread cubes for the homemade dried bread cubes, but you'll need to increase the amount of broth to 7-8 cups.
This recipe can easily be halved and baked in a 13 by 9-inch baking dish for a smaller crowd.
Rustic Herbed Stuffing
Stuffing is never my department. My mom has always made the stuffing (another one of my dad’s favorites) and she ALWAYS stuffs it in the bird.
I must admit, I have never made stuffing before making this recipe. I made it last year as a test, prior to Thanksgiving, and it was so good that Eli ate half the pan.
Regardless if it is Thanksgiving or 90* outside, if I ask Eli what he wants for dinner, his answer always has stuffing in the sentence.
Last year marked a new tradition; our holiday menu isn’t complete without this dish.
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