Now that the warm up holidays are out of the way (Halloween), we can finally focus on the real celebrations. The heavy hitting holidays that we start wishing for again the moment they’re over. The first of these are none other than Thanksgiving! Year after year, this feast stands proudly on the fourth Thursday of November. Thanksgiving entices 99% of the family, but for the 1% who has to wrestle with preparing the food it’s a perennial challenge that’s inescapable. Too often we get wrapped up in the “traditional” Thanksgiving I.E. creating a picturesque table setting with a pristine turkey cooked just ‘so’ and having sides prepared to the point where they’d rival the BH&G recipe example. I think it goes without saying that this tradition and expectation can all be very stressful and sometimes feel overdone. Today, I say fear not 1%! While these may seem strange at first here are the top 5 ways to pump a breath of fresh air into this year’s turkey day.
Mom’s Turkey Soup: Most of us are familiar with this recipe as a left overs favorite, yet thousands every year rely on this classic to celebrate the holiday with something a little different. This recipe is easily customizable and you can also control how much you want to make to control proportions and limit the amount of left overs you have if you’re limited on fridge/freezer space. Soups On!
Thanksgiving Egg Rolls:Depending on your practice with making egg rolls these could be more trouble than they’re worth, but none the less a potential family favorite. One benefit of these is you can combine a lot of dishes into one and limit the amount of energy you have to put into creating the various sides.
Turkey Tacos: Personally I think that tacos are fairly straight forward and relatively simple to prepare so this could be a quick/last minute alternative to cooking a full blown turkey! With the endless combinations of flavor you can have with tacos, the potential for new flavors are endless! |
Thanksgiving Pizza: If there are two things I love, it’s Thanksgiving and pizza. As a self-appointed pizza connoisseur the idea of bringing a pie into this holiday excites me. As previously determined, you can’t mess up pizza so if your culinary skills aren’t exactly five stars this easy to make cop-out is sure to make a killing around the table!
Eat Out: If all else fails and you have no time to prepare a dinner at all, there is no shame what-so-ever in packing the family up and taking them to your favorite restaurant. Leaving it up to the professionals is something plenty of people do every year as they are sure to have great Thanksgiving specials.
Year after year the same old traditional meal could get a little bland. Never be afraid to take a risk and switch up the menu occasionally. Also remember, the holiday is about giving thanks for what you have. If you find yourself getting caught up in the picture perfect meal, take a second to appreciate who you’re willing to sacrifice your time and sanity preparing this meal for. Happy early Thanksgiving!