Words of advice on Thanksgiving Eve

My social media feeds are full of photos of gorgeous pies and beautiful roasted turkeys. This is the first year in over a dozen that I haven’t made a huge meal (I even cooked a whole feast for just two of us during Covid lockdowns), instead I’m taking it easy, going to a friend’s place, and only make a couple of side dishes. The stress level is much lower, but truth be told I miss the hustle and bustle of pulling it all together (but not the housecleaning).

To everyone who is putting forth a Herculean effort of preparing a big dinner, I lift my glass for a toast. I’ll also provide you with mealtime advice from several sources:

• It’s okay to serve some store bought items for your meal. Even Julia Child was known to serve an appetizer that required nothing more than opening a package.
• Listen to Turkey Confidential from The Splendid Table, which features excellent tips from Francis Lam, Claire Saffitz, Rick Martínez, Maneet Chauhan, and Jesse Sparks.
• Get out the serving utensils and pair them with your bowls and platters before you start dishing everything up (getting them together the night before is ideal).
• Use a slow cooker to keep mashed potatoes warm so you can make them well ahead.
• Use an insulated cooler for extra refrigeration space (or if you live in a cold area like I do, just put the stuff on your back porch which is exactly refrigerator temperature).
• Practice good food safety for your leftovers.
• If you discover you are out of something, consult this ingredient substitution guide (warning: it’s not actually a substitution chart).
• Serve a truly terrible meal while softly sobbing if you want to get out of hosting dinners forevermore.

Happy Thanksgiving to our US Members!