From House To Home

Q: Dear Christopher: I’m hosting Thanksgiving and need some ideas for side dishes to accompany the bird. Any suggestions? Mimi in Garden City, KS

A: On the years that I host Thanksgiving, there’s always one platter that is emptied first every single year—while somewhat time consuming, it’s so easy that any non-cook can make it. It’s a platter full of roasted vegetables—it looks great (very “harvest”) and everyone goes nuts over it. Basically, it’s simply a matter of taking vegetables like eggplant, fresh fennel, asparagus, butternut squash, parsnips, turnips and beets; cleaning, pealing or dicing them and placing them on sheet pans, drizzling each vegetable variety with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and Herbs de Provence (available in a small crock at most major supermarkets), salt and pepper. Mix with clean hands and place in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes for the eggplant and asparagus and 20-30 minutes for the harder root vegetables. When they’re fork-tender, they’re good to go. Generally there are always a few of my “foodie” friends who want to be part of the cooking process. They book themselves into my guest bedrooms the night before and we stay up half the night enjoying champagne while doing the veggie platter assembly line style. So the roasted vegetable prep thing is ideal for busy (albeit slightly tipsy) hands. All of the vegetables are roasted the night before and can sit out on the counter overnight. On Thanksgiving, I pop them into the microwave for a few minutes and they’re good to go and gone quickly. Try it!

Q: Dear Christopher: Here we go again—which kind of turkey is the best: wild, Butterball, brined, not brined—help? Bre in Tifton, GA

A: I’ve tried it all! The brined turkey where you submerge it in very salty water does act as a tenderizer, but how do you keep a five-gallon container with the bobbing turkey cold for 24 hours without taking up all your refrigerator space?  Not easy, not that much better and often too salty. I’ve done the VERY expensive wild turkey thing and honestly, they are small, on the chewy side and unpredictable during the cooking process—I almost had an anxiety attack one year. A fresh regular turkey is great as it’s never been frozen and you can avoid the slow thaw ordeal. The trouble here is that you have to pre-order the fresh turkeys sometimes up to a month in advance and pick them up several days in advance, so there goes that valuable refrigerator space once again.

Ultimately, I keep returning back to the good old Butterball with the pop-up timer built in—which works the first time every time. They even have an 800 hot-line. So as far as I’m concerned—if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

Q: Dear Christopher: I have a dining room table that’s big enough to seat my guests but not big enough for both place settings and all the food too. Any ideas? David in Galesburg, IL

A: I have a harvest table that can easily accommodate both, but I never put the food on the dining table.  Instead, I set it out on a sideboard (or a kitchen island) in a lovely tablescaped fashion using lifts, levels and fabric for greater interest. This allows me to do it all in advance making sure I have all the serving platters, utensils and garnishes done, save only for loading the platters with the food. This leaves the dining table free to decorate nicely and keeps the half-eaten platters of messy food away from the guests at the end of the meal.

I then create a separate coffee and dessert station in another room so guests can leave the dining table and have a change of environment for the last course. This also allows me to set up the dessert table well in advance too so that I’m not scrambling at the last minute. 

Q: Dear Christopher: Should there be a bar setup for Thanksgiving? Claire in Madison, WI

A: I say yes. A little libation often helps ease the family tensions and gets people in the mood to mix and mingle prior to sitting down to the big event. But you can also make a great punch: cranberry and pomegranate juice, club soda and orange slices—and vodka (or not). It can be made days in advance and is self-serve over ice.