A Recipe for a Relaxing Holiday Meal

T he week before Thanksgiving, a group text came through on my phone. Addressed to almost all of the eleven people who’d be attending Thanksgiving dinner, it was titled “the official Thanksgiving planning chat” and asked what everyone’s must-haves were for the festive meal. Some of my family really can’t eat gluten, but after a disastrous stuffing made with cashew bread a few years ago, we’d been trying hard to find less reprehensible alternatives. More than that, though, my mom (from whom the initial text came) wanted to ensure everyone enjoyed the meal.

My mom, as I’ve probably said before, is an excellent cook, so we haven’t (besides that cashew bread stuffing) ever had a bad Thanksgiving meal. This one, however, truly took the cake — so much so, that everyone begged her to put the mashed potatoes (filled, of course, with cream cheese) on the Christmas dinner menu, and my dad requested my cranberry sauce for then as well.

Anyway, back to that text. Everyone put in their two cents, and many offered to bring a contribution: pie from cousin No. 2, booze from cousins No. 1 and No. 3, and a honey-baked ham (my personal favorite) from my uncle. I’d volunteered to bring a cranberry tart and to make the cranberry sauce. I’ve been making my own cranberry sauce for years, but I did two different types this time, one of which included apples and cinnamon — as inspired by my roommate, who’s been experimenting with her own cranberry recipe for weeks now.

The tart, which I’d done a test run on a few weeks ago, was a huge hit. From America’s Test Kitchen, this tart caught my eye in Cook’s Illustrated magazine a few years ago, but this was my first attempt at making it. Honestly, it was the color and the science that drew me to the recipe, as the writers show you how to harness the wonders of cranberries’ natural gelatin. And such a vibrant pinky-red dessert is difficult to resist — both on the page and in person. My favorite part was probably the stabilized whipped cream. This delicious addition has a tendency to weep all over any dessert you put it on, but since it’s always helpful to have a make-ahead friendly tart, the ATK cooks found a solution: the cranberry filling they’d already made. Some component of this fruit (again, I think it’s the gelatin) stabilizes the whipped cream, so after you make the filling, you save some of it and beat it into your whipped cream. Voila! Perfect whipped cream décor on a delicious tart — all done hours in advance.

Actually, most of our dishes were made in advance this year, which kept Thanksgiving Day fairly relaxing. It all started because of my mom’s love of stuffing. Clarification: her love of second-day stuffing, fried up in butter. We decided that, if this is how we all enjoy it anyway, why not make the stuffing on Wednesday and then just fry it for the big meal? So we did, as well as prep the baked mashed potatoes, the sweet potato soufflé, and the salad. All that needed doing on Thursday morning was to pop our turkey in the oven and mix up some paleo brownies. I’d say that last item was for the less fortunate, but this recipe has truly become a family favorite over the last few years. (Also, fun as it was, we decided to stop dousing our turkey with champagne and took a page from Michael Brendan Dougherty’s book this year — citrus, rosemary, white wine, and butter made for a juicy, delicious bird.)

Last year, I was in Rome for Thanksgiving. It was the first time I’d ever missed the big day, and while I do love being with my family, it’s pretty hard to beat being in Rome. Besides, I didn’t miss Thanksgiving dinner: Our pilgrimage guide took us to a fabulous restaurant where the staff served us a full American Thanksgiving meal with some delightful Roman twists — complete with a golden turkey sporting a bowtie. While I was galivanting around the Eternal City, Sibling No. 4 suddenly realized she was the oldest girl at home and exactly how much work now fell to her since I wasn’t there (Sibling No. 2 was around but claimed incapacitation due to pregnancy, and the boys always do the post-dinner dishes).

While I certainly do a lot in the kitchen, my favorite job is decorating and setting the table. In the past, I’ve tried some elaborate centerpieces consisting of brown kraft paper, apples, and candles, but fitting eleven people and all the food doesn’t allow for much creative expression. This year, simple elegance was called for, and it came in the form of glass vases and the last of my mom’s wildflowers. After that, it was just a matter of stretching out the tablecloth, setting out the fine china, and correctly placing the wine glasses (top right-hand side, above the drinking glass).

The cousins arrived, food was eaten, games were played, and laughter spilled over.

One last note about that initial text: My oldest cousin deserves a prize for his reply, which simply expressed his love of our Thanksgiving meals and appreciation for whatever Mom decided to serve.

My sentiments exactly.