Thanksgiving Just Gets Bigger and Bigger

Some people are already starting their meal prep. But don’t forget people who need help.

I grew up in a traditional New England-inspired family (the Maynards have been in Massachusetts for nearly 200 years). Our Thanksgiving meals followed a classic script: turkey, gravy, cranberry relish, mashed potatoes, and pie. We added in butternut squash for color, and fruit salad, probably because my mother thought all that white food needed some balance. However, we were not a green beans with canned fried onions family, nor did we eat sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows.

In the Detroit area, Thanksgiving often begins with the parade downtown and the Lions game afterwards, so the meal is more of a late afternoon affair. Those who can muster the energy go for a brisk walk afterwards (fingers crossed for no snow) and then settle in for a nap.

These days, however, Thanksgiving has diverted far from the holiday of my youth. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger. There’s friendsgiving, which can be held any time from the week before to the weekend after. Depending on their region and family background, cooks have added other dishes to the lineup, from tamales to macaroni and cheese to beets with goat cheese and hazelnuts and lots of different desserts.

There are cookbooks devoted to Thanksgiving dinner, like Thanksgiving: How To Cook It Well, from New York Times editor Sam Sifton. Sommeliers say that sparkling wines are best with the meal, and the rise of non-alcoholic wines means nobody has to skip a toast. Restaurants are topping each other with holiday menus that will relieve some of the stress of cooking.

No matter your tradition, Thanksgiving seems to be a time for every American to enjoy some kind of festive meal, even if it’s gobbled at work or eaten in a restaurant. More than any other holiday, it has become an Olympics of eating.

Documenting dinner

Thanksgiving is Liz Williams’ favorite holiday, and it has been a festive occasion in her Sicilian-American family for generations. “It’s not a religious holiday, and that makes it easy to celebrate,” she says.

Liz, the founder of the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans, tells me that her family typically welcomed 30 to 40 guests on Thanksgiving, for which preparations began a week before. “We always had turkey, dressing, and pasta,” Liz remembers.

I’m endlessly fascinated by what people serve, and the museum is currently hosting a Thanksgiving-focused exhibit called Documenting Dinner. It includes menus, a place setting, and more that reveals the evolution of the annual Thanksgiving meal shared by Susan Henning and Pam and Steve Fritch. Over 40 years, the trio met up on the holiday, but they aimed to eat something different every year.

The group only ate turkey three times, Liz says. Their menus included duck, grouse, various kinds of roasted meat, accompanied by wine. The entrees and side dishes reflect trends in place at the time. “As their affluence increases, the wines kept getting better,” she says.

The exhibit will remain on view until January 15, 2024.

Remembering the hungry

Thanksgiving is a time that makes us accutely aware of our good fortune, and reminds us that others do not share in our prosperity. I told you recently that shoppers in the U.K. have pulled back on restaurant deliveries so they’ll have money to spend during the holidays.

It turns out that American shoppers are cutting back, too, especially on groceries, according to the CEO of Target.

Beyond retailers, the past few years have been a real challenge for the nation’s food banks, which are experiencing unprecedented demand, and many are struggling to keep up.

Inflation, coupled with the end of supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) benefits is causing the increased demand. In Virginia, for example, the average SNAP recipient has lost $82 a month in benefits. Food donations there are down 30 percent, and the government commodities that provide basic staples for food banks have dropped by 25 percent.

If you’re in a position to donate to a food charity, please think about doing so. The need is particularly great in cities such as Chicago, Boston and New York that have seen an influx of migrants. In Washtenaw County, where I live, 43 food banks operate to serve a population of 275,000 people countywide.

This would be a time to explore your local network of community fridges, which I wrote about earlier this year. Or, perhaps think about starting one.

Liz and I will be teaming up to talk about Thanksgiving on a future episode of her podcast, Tip of The Tongue. Meanwhile, scroll to the end to read our respective family recipes for cranberry sauce.

A Bear-Inspired Tour Of Chicago

The streaming series The Bear has shone a spotlight on restaurants around Chicago. So, it’s no surprise that there is now a food tour of the city based on The Bear, according to Block Club Chicago.

Chicago Food and City Tours takes visitors to a variety of places for dishes featured on the show. They include Italian beef from Mr. Beef, a tartine and seasonal pastries from Publican Quality Breads, dan dan noodles or dumplings from Lao Peng You, a slice of pepperoni pizza from Pizza Lobo, a doughnut from Roeser’s Bakery and, for the grand finale, a single-scoop hot fudge sundae from Margie’s Candies.

Tours are limited to 24 people and run every other Saturday at 1 p.m.

I can vouch for several of those places, and if you’ve never been to Chicago, it’s a nice sampler of some of the foods the city has to offer. You can use The Bear tour as a starting point to expand your Chicago horizons. Every cuisine under the sun is available, so I would definitely add in Mexican food, some of the city’s fine African-American restaurants and Indian food from Devon Avenue. And barbecue, and Middle Eastern food and…

I Went To Olive Garden To See Why The Kids Enjoy It

Until last week, I had only eaten at Olive Garden twice in my life, and I didn’t feel a compelling need to go back. But, I then read in Restaurant Business that Olive Garden’s revenues were strong, and that it planned to add 20 more restaurants before the end of the year. One reason: its food was going viral.

I decided to investigate and wound up with a story for The Takeout. As it turns out, videos featuring both Olive Garden’s cheese grater and its Never Ending Pasta Bowl have attracted millions of hits on TikTok. Our waiter James told me the restaurant ran out of $14.95 cheese graters to sell to the public.

While I might not put Olive Garden into my regular rotation, its food is reasonably priced for this economy, and there are plenty of choices for everyone from toddlers to seniors. As for its Gen Z customers, we saw three tables full during our lunch — not with their parents, but dining on their own.

Our Next Giveaway: Bake Smart

Lots of us are intimidated by baking. It seems too easy to screw up cakes and pies, and why take the risk, when there are plenty of good bakeries that need our business? Never fear, says Samantha Seneviratne.

Her new cookbook, Bake Smart: Sweets and Treats From My Oven To Yours is a baking pep talk. She assures bakers that they can come up with some thing tasty, even if it doesn’t look Instagram perfect.

Samantha is a much sought-after food stylist and recipe developer who has written three other cookbooks. Her new one is filled with helpful tips meant to reassure even the most skittish baker. We have a mutual friend in

Dorie Greenspan

and Samantha’s new book reminds me so much of Dorie’s kind approach.

I have one copy of Bake Smart for a paid subscriber. Please reply to this newsletter or email me at culinarywoman@gmail.com if you’d like to be in the running. I’ll announce the winner next Sunday.

If you’re not already a paid subscriber, you are welcome to upgrade, then let me know if you are interested in entering the drawing.

Keeping Up With CulinaryWoman

I’d love to have you register for my upcoming virtual class on electric vehicles at the 92nd Street Y. EVs are definitely in the news: Toyota just announced that it will be investing an additional $8 billion in its battery plant in North Carolina, bringing the total to $14 billion. My class will be taught online on Dec. 12 at 7 p.m. ET.

I talked to Texas Standard last week about the end of the United Auto Workers strikes, and what the new contracts mean for the automobile industry.

Since we’re already thinking about Thanksgiving, it’s not too early to think about holiday gifts. I’d be happy to send you a signed bookplate for a copy of one of my books, including Satisfaction Guaranteed. Just email me with a proof of purchase and your requested dedication. I’m also happy to sell you a copy, although book shops will welcome your business, too!

I’ll see paid subscribers tomorrow with Red Beans & Advice, and everyone else next week. Stay warm and safe.

Cranberry Sauce Two Ways

Liz Williams’ Cranberry Sauce

1 12 ounce bag of cranberries

1 10 ounce jar of pepper jelly

Place the cranberries and the jelly in a microwave proof dish. Microwave the mixture until you see the cranberries burst. Remove, stir, and let sit. The natural pectin in the cranberries and from the jelly will combine to hold the sauce together.

Maynard Family Cranberry Relish

1 12 ounce bag of cranberries

1 whole orange, quartered and seeds removed

Sugar to taste

1/4 cup toasted walnuts (optional)

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp ground cloves (optional)

Place the ingredients in a food processor or blender. Process in short bursts until the relish looks mixed. Taste the relish and adjust the sugar level if needed. If you find it to be a little too dry, add a splash of orange juice. Serve as an accompanyment to turkey. It also makes a sandwich spread, and can be served with yogurt or stirred into oatmeal.