It’s officially Thanksgiving Weekend. Today, many people start their cooking (if they have not already). Others are on the road. Some are celebrating Bar Night with friends who’ve arrived from elsewhere. Still more are blissfully relaxing, without cooking duties.
I am making Liz Williams’ recipe for cranberry sauce today, which I shared in the newsletter. You can hear us talking about Thanksgiving in the latest episode of her podcast, Tip of the Tongue (scroll to the end).
I will do more cooking with my brother tomorrow. I’m glad we can spend this holiday together. In this special edition of the CulinaryWoman Reading Room, I also wanted to take time to thank the cooks who shaped me.
Cooking starts at home
Of course, my mother, Bonny Maynard, leads the list. She would never have called herself an gourmet cook, but she was game to try every food trend, from food processors (we had the original Robot Coupe), to wok cooking, to all manner of baked goods including chocolate waffles and Harvey Wallbanger Cake.
When my brother and his late wife announced they were vegetarians, she learned to make spinach lasagne (for a while, we ate a LOT of lasagne). I inherited my mother’s brown wooden recipe box with all her favorites. She made delicious soups and she was teaching me techniques right until she went to Arbor Hospice in 2015. Mummy declared the food there to be terrible and had me bring her boxes of See’s Candies.
My godmother Maxine Clapper was not a cook, but she was a wonderful baker. She was an expert in springerles, the German anise-dotted Christmas cookie. Maxine was our resident expert in Rice Krispie cookies, a talent my brother inherited. Trained as a medical technologist, she was a surgical sous chef, as you can see from the peaches she prepped. Maxine helped me with meals until shortly before she died in January 2022.
A shoutout to my papa, who was a grill master along with the men of his generation. He taught me to make corn pancakes and he loved ice cream, as well as cold cereal on Sunday night (I often have cereal for dinner).
Advice from the pros
I want to acknowledge some of the professionals from whom I’ve gained knowledge. Patricia Wells tops that list. Her Paris cooking class was a turning pint in my life and gave me the confidence to become a food writer. As I wrote in my book, Patricia watched me in her class and quietly said, “You can cook.” It was like winning the Legion d’Honneur, which Patricia has been awarded by France.
Patricia connected me with her friend, Ina Garten. I already knew her husband Jeffrey through his work at Yale, and visited the Barefoot Contessa shop with a friend in East Hampton shortly before it closed. That same friend gave me the original Barefoot Contessa cookbook, which has a place of honor along with many of Ina’s other books.
I haven’t gotten to meet Nigella Lawson yet, but I lugged her cookbook How To Eat home from England soon after it was published. When she debuted on American TV, I was an eager audience. I rewatched her original show, Nigella Bites, recently and found that I had many of the episodes memorized.
Of course,
and are my culinary fairy godmothers and their books sit near each other on my shelves. Looking forward to when I can give them each a big hug in person and thank them for their support.Lastly, I must thank
not only for her wisdom and friendship. Liz hosted me last year for a second Thanksgiving meal and it was one of the best home cooked dinners I have ever eaten. I hope you’ll listen to this episode while you are cooking or relaxing - and it would be wonderful to hear about your Thanksgiving traditions, too. Enjoy the holiday!