Issue #183: Thanksgiving Recap

Opening the Archive for All, Links to the Best Holiday Recipes

Although I was born in Hackensack, New Jersey (we lived in Teaneck), from the time I was two years old I grew up in Toronto. I came back to the United States for college, and after a year living abroad in Italy, I settled in New York.

My American family tried to continue a late November Thanksgiving tradition the first few years we lived north of the border. But no one had work off on the fourth Thursday of the month and turkeys weren’t on sale at that time of year. Eventually we assimilated, adopting the second Monday in October, Canada’s Thanksgiving Day, as our own. Columbus had fallen out of favor, anyway.

At that time, Canadian Thanksgiving wasn’t such a big deal. To us transplanted Jews, it felt more like a Christian holiday of gratitude and grace than a secular national celebration. It certainly wasn’t fundamental to Canadian identity the way Thanksgiving is fundamental to American.

Turkey it up!

The connotation of Thanksgiving in Canada has changed over the years, in part, I believe, due to NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement. NAFTA opened the Canadian market to American retail companies and gave them a second opportunity to sell Thanksgiving themed goods. I remember the first time I walked into a newly opened Crate & Barrel in downtown Toronto, their first shop in Canada. They had a Thanksgiving table on display bedecked in turkey ornaments. It seemed so un-Canadian to me.

All of which is to say that for the first 15 or so years I lived in New York, I didn’t really care that much for the giant Turkey feast. Arguably more important and more widely celebrated than Christmas and maybe even the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving was just another day for me and a few other transplants I knew. No need for familial angst, uncomfortable pants, or the drone of college football on the television. I often didn’t make plans.

One soon learns that not having plans for Thanksgiving is a pilgrimal sin.

If you let on that you’re going to be alone, Thanksgiving invitations pour in. One year, my record was attending three Thanksgiving dinners back to back. I started at 3 pm at a colleague’s home in Brooklyn. I followed that with a 6 pm event at the James Beard House cooked by catering monks brought to our attention by my friend Marcia Kelly, author of Heavenly Feasts, Memorable Meals from Monasteries, Abbeys, and Retreats.

I ended the day at a very cosmopolitan dinner called for 9 pm at the swank downtown apartment of a new art-world acquaintance of mine, whose exuberance, it turned out, was fueled by cocaine. The food was terrible. I wasn’t hungry. But he had given mum, who was visiting from England, her first lines and she was very entertaining, if a little difficult to follow, what with a strong British accent and a mile-a-minute babble.

Since meeting Nate some 17 years ago, my relationship to Thanksgiving has changed. Almost immediately I was brought into a new tradition that included a “dry run” for friends in NYC—before “Friendsgiving” was a thing—and eventually, an annual gathering of families and friends in Maine, where we go to cook and eat (food is our drug) and Turkey trot and puzzle solve and knit and just hang out and enjoy being together. It’s our own tradition I now look forward to every year.

A Maine feast.

After more than a dozen years, our Maine tradition is moving west this year to New Hampshire. Still New England, but mountains instead of coast. As I write, folks are on their way. Our new house and guest barn are set up to sleep 13. There will be even more for meals. Plus three dogs, give or take. We’ll really be putting the new digs to the test.

With much on my to-do list unchecked, I thought this year for my pre-Thanksgiving newsletter I’d round up recipes from newsletters past that are well-suited for the holiday table. To make all of these recipe accessible to everyone, this week I’m opening up the archive to both free and paid subscribers. If you like what you see, think about becoming a paid subscriber. And while you’re at it, why not give the gift of Kitchen Sense to your friends and family. It keeps on giving.

Wishing you and yours all the best for the holidays. And should you be choosing to spend Thanksgiving alone, cheers to you. 🥂 Enjoy.

—Mitchell

Issue #4: Whole-Roasted Cauliflower with Labne
A perfect side dish.

Issue #8: Seasonal Fruit Sauces
Use the same technique for cranberry.

Issue #11: Flaky Pie Crust
Foolproof. I’ve been making it for decades.

Issue #13: Vinaigrette
Dress that salad!

Issue #16: Going Crackers
Perfect for cheese.

Issue #19: Roasted Squash
Pumpkin is a squash. Roast it for your pie.

Issue #26: Thanksgiving Side Dishes
Straightforward.

Issue #38: Pot Pie
For that leftover turkey.

Pot pie.

Issue #42: Afghani Saffron Squash on Yogurt
So much better than that marshmallow thing.

Issue #69: Skillet Corn Pudding
An appropriate side dish for the holiday.

Issue #78: Sichuan Dishes for Leftover Turkey
Spice things up a little.

Issue #92: Pimento Cheese
Great as an hors d’oeuvre with those crackers you made (above)

Issue #110: Kale Salad
Kale is at its prime this time of year, sweetest if picked after frost.

Issue #124: Apple Pie
🇺🇸

This year I went one farther than spatchcock. I’ve boned and stuffed my bird with ground veal, porcini, pine nuts, and currants and seasoned it in the style of porchetta.

Issue #129: Spatchcocked Turkey
Flatten your bird. I did mine yesterday.

Issue #134: Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Classic.

Issue #162: Pan-Roasted Turnips
A technique that works for any root vegetable.

Issue #180: Beet and Pomegranate Slaw
I’ll be making this one, myself.

(Raw) beets and pomegranate.