thanksgiving SOS

make thanksgiving fun again

One of the greatest holiday dinner catastrophe scenes of all time. “It’s done!”

The flood of DMs and questions about how to "what to cook-ify" aka make Thanksgiving cooking less difficult are already rolling in. And no surprise there. What should be a super fun holiday -- a whole day off! Just to cook! -- is often overwhelming and very UN-fun.

That's why this year I'm partnering with the podcast Pressure Cooker for a special Thanksgiving SOS episode.

Click to listen here if you don’t have Spotify.

Pressure Cooker is one of my favorite podcasts, all about parenthood, feeding kids and how it all became so complicated. Its hosts, Liz Dunn and Jane Black, are veteran food journalists, and the show, which won a prestigious James Beard award this summer, is their attempt to sort through the crazy and offer support and validation to parents who are just doing their damn best to feed their kids.

Liz and Jane are also just so fun to hang out with. I was on Pressure Cooker last year for an episode called: It's Not You, It's Your Recipes, in which we help people break up with those "15 minute recipes" that really take you an hour.  This year, we're taking on the cooking superbowl of Thanksgiving. As you might expect, I have LOTS of ideas of how to simplify, de-stress and get the freakin’ kids out of the house.

I also talk about my perfect Thanksgiving meal in the episode, so I’m sharing my formula as well as actual menu plan here:

my perfect thanksgiving formula

1) A bread thing. I like a dinner roll, preferably Sister Schubert’s, but a good local sourdough loaf is also great here).

2) A salad. I like really thinly sliced kale, brussels, and apples, with some store-bought candied walnuts or pecans, shaved parm, and balsamic vinaigrette).

3) A soft, slouchy, starchy thing. Mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pureed parsnip, etc.

4) A stuffing, but as you’ll see below, I actually prefer a savory bread pudding).

5) Two wild card veggies. Take a poll with your family and pick two recipes!

6) Cranberry sauce. If your crowd likes both whole berry and canned, serve both, opening a can is no sweat off your back.

7) Begrudgingly, turkey.

8) Pies and ice cream. Preferably that a guest brought or you purchased at the best bakery in town.

the exact thanksgiving menu i’ll be serving

Turkey. Cover in salt, smoked paprika, and brown sugar. Leave it uncovered in the fridge for 48 hours. Roast on 325F for 15 minutes per pound. It’s done when it’s 160°F when you stick a thermometer in the thigh and breast (it’ll keep cooking once you remove it from the oven to reach the safe 165°F).

Stuffing/dressing. Ina Garten mushroom and leek bread pudding is my favorite part of Thanksgiving. Please, please trust me on this one and switch from stuffing to her bread pudding.

Starchy thing. I haven’t picked my starchy thing yet! I might let my dad choose. I feel 100% confident that he’ll choose mashed potatoes, in which case I will make these.

Brussels sprouts salad. I always make the Brussels sprouts salad from Just Married (very similar to what I described above, if you don’t own the book!).

Gravy. Make it a day in advance. This recipe is a good formula, but use turkey and beef better than bouillon! Refrigerate it, then stir in some turkey drippings to warm it up at go time.

Green beans. I’ll be making something like these. Delicious at room temperature!

Roasted carrots: You can skip the tahini yogurt, and throw any leftover thyme from this recipe inside your turkey).

Cranberry lime pie if I feel like baking. But I probably won’t and will just order pies from a local bakery because they’re better at baking than I am! Alta and Rise & Roam are both selling pies (you have to pre-order!), if you’re a Monterey local.

What do you think? Are you into the idea of editing your Thanksgiving menu to make the day of cooking and eating more simple and thus, more joyful?