Even Food Writers Make Lame Thanksgivings

Published on Wednesday, November 26, 2008, by Lessley Anderson / Edit Post

Slate caught my attention with this one:
“Why food writers secretly hate the November feast” by Los Angeles Times contributor Regina Schrambling. She laments that editors have to come up with a new tortured twist on turkey day, even though readers will just make the same old stuff they always make.

Schrambling writes:

“In a country that worships sickening candied yams under marshmallows, I know that almost no one will try something like sweet potatoes Anna—a gratin of thin slices layered with thyme, Aleppo pepper, and lots of butter.”

She then admits that she, herself, will be making the same old stuff she always makes.

Yeah, it’s true that readers don’t want something weird or too clever when it comes to the biggest food holiday of the year. Last year’s interactive Neoslacker Interactive Thanksgiving on CHOW was kind of a bomb. Lesson learned.

But I was surprised that Schrambling plays it safe at her own feast. As long as you have the turkey, potatoes, and stuffing covered, I think Thanksgiving is a great opportunity to make your relatives try stuff they wouldn’t usually eat that you happen to like. In my case, I’m making CHOW’s Chicory, Tangerine, and Pomegranate Salad, as well as an appetizer of puréed carrots with harissa and dukkah from the Spice cookbook by Ana Sortun. It’s part of my secret plot to add more colorful botanicals to what’s essentially a very brown meal. What’s the most unusual thing you’re making for Thanksgiving?

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  • You have to have the basics: turkey, potatoes, stuffing. But I always mix up the other sides. This year I made a salad with beets, radishes and goat cheese that I've never done before and an interesting green bean dish. I also try varying at least one of the basics a little bit. This year the mashed potatoes had creme fraiche and scallions, whereas last year they were roasted garlic. And I'll...+READ

    You have to have the basics: turkey, potatoes, stuffing. But I always mix up the other sides. This year I made a salad with beets, radishes and goat cheese that I've never done before and an interesting green bean dish. I also try varying at least one of the basics a little bit. This year the mashed potatoes had creme fraiche and scallions, whereas last year they were roasted garlic. And I'll vary the kind of bread I use in stuffing (focaccia this year). You can still prepare the old favorite but with a twist!-COLLAPSE

  • We made gooseberry chutney (gooseberries, onion, cider vinegar, sugar, spices) instead of cranberries. Very good. Also did the turkey breast in a smoker bag on the grill.

  • My family has never put marshmallows on sweet potatoes. We've honed the list of must-haves over theyears and any tweak that passed or failed was noted. We cook what we like, and if the folks next door want to glaze their turkey with CocaCola, that'stheir prerogative. my husband and I have a rockin' Thnksgiving menu that people really love. And I'm not a megalomaniac, it's just something that...+READ

    My family has never put marshmallows on sweet potatoes. We've honed the list of must-haves over theyears and any tweak that passed or failed was noted. We cook what we like, and if the folks next door want to glaze their turkey with CocaCola, that'stheir prerogative. my husband and I have a rockin' Thnksgiving menu that people really love. And I'm not a megalomaniac, it's just something that works and that everybody likes. I don't feel required to push the envelope on a day based on tradition..
    The trouble with some food writers is that as graduates of jourrnalism school, feel as a group felt an ever-increasing sense of self-importance ever since Woodward and Bernstein blew open Watergate. Obvioously it's not ubiquitous, but it does happen a lot. Just because you write about something doesn't mean I have to change on account of you. Honestly.

    My beloved mother-in-law brought a sweet potato casserole to Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, and it was meant as a side dish but iit's one of the best desserts I ever had, and I'm going to get the recipe and serve it as a dessert- maybe in ramkins instead of a casserole. No marshmallows, but a great caramelized pecan topping. It was so good, almost a sweet potato-pecan creme brulee.-COLLAPSE

  • I agree, my husband and I love to cook but don't enjoy hosting Thanksgiving because of the sheer number of simple dishes required by my family. The stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes are all set. However, even to make this simple feast, one has to know how to cook a bird and there is pleasure in executing that task well.

  • Last time I had T'giving dinner at my dad's, he made prime rib.