Highlights: Thanksgiving, Traditional and Otherwise

The other day, I got the following tweet from Kelly:

@relishments ::cough::Thanksgiving Highlights::cough::cough …or maybe you did one last year that I don’t remember?? :)

— Kelly Nigl (@kellynigl) November 9, 2012

I quickly replied

@kellynigl Either this week or next, for sure.Meanwhile, here’s the previous ones: relishments.com/blog/?s=thanks… (plus a couple extra results)

— Emily P. (@relishments) November 9, 2012

but in all honesty, I thought it was too early to be posting Thanksgiving highlights.  Then I looked at the calendar—there are just 11 days until Thanksgiving.  I guess it’s time to get on that after all.

Every year I write essentially the same post about how I love Thanksgiving and hope that some day I’ll be able to host it myself.  This year I’m contemplating abandoning the notion of cooking for a big group of people and testing out some of the most appealing ideas in a faux Thanksgiving for Brian and I.  We’ll see.  Meanwhile, here’s plenty of inspiration:

Good (Cheap) Eats has instructions for how to cook a turkey, which I’ll certainly need if I ever get up the courage to try. If you’re successful in your cooking, Serious Eats has some advice about how to carve a turkey.  In my household growing up, this always seemed to be the more difficult act.

If you want relaxing holiday, try Food Republic’s Ultra-Amazing Guide To A Stress-Free Thanksgiving, Part 1 or The Serious Eats Guide to a Stress-Free Thanksgiving: All the Recipes and Tips You Need.

Apparently, if you want moist breast meat, you should spatchcock your turkey.  Chow has the details (don’t worry, I didn’t know what spatchcock meant either).

This Thanksgiving Recipe Roundup from What’s Gaby Cooking has amazing photographs to accompany an awesome looking list of recipes.  Lemon Garlic Brussels Sprouts, Potato Romanoff, and Apple Pear and Crystalized Ginger Crisp?  Yes, please! (via Shutterbean)

Gluten-Free Girl created a video of tips about how to shop gluten-free for Thanksgiving.  (also via Shutterbean)

How I Do Thanksgiving As a Vegan from No Meat Athlete is full of great tips and recipes for a plant-based holiday.

Serious Eats has tips to help you choose the correct wine or beer for Thanksgiving, although in my experience those are the least important items on the table.

I love a traditional thanksgiving meal, but the more time goes by (and the more recipes I see), the more interested I am in a non-traditional collection of dishes.  As a result, I’ve included some fall themed, but not necessarily “Thanksgiving” dishes below.

• 5 Show-Stopping Vegetarian Main Courses for the Holiday Meal (The Kitchn)
• Green Bean Casserole with Mushroom Béchamel & Crispy Onions (The Kitchn)
• Danielle’s Butternut Squash Lasagna (Dish and Dash)
• Parsnip Gratin with Gruyere and Thyme (Feasting at Home via Savvy Eats)
• How to Make Easy Thanksgiving Stuffing (The Kitchn)
• Vegetarian Main Dishes for Thanksgiving (Chow)
• 19 Sweet Cranberry Recipes We Love (Serious Eats)
• Gluten-Free Apple Crisp (The Wannabe Chef)
• Winter Fruit Pie with Walnut Crumb (Everybody Loves Sandwiches)
• Apple Brown Betty (Serious Eats)
• Cinnamon Sugar Apple Skillet Cake (Joy the Baker)
• 11 Apple Pies to Make for Thanksgiving (Serious Eats)