Thanksgiving a GO or NO?
Chelsea Beck for NPR
Thanksgiving is 25 days away..., and if you’re like me, you may be wondering how on earth you’re going to celebrate this year. I’ve been hosting a friendsgiving for years—a tradition that started by me and others who's families were too far away and friends are family too right?. However, this year many traditions will be put on hold. Many people will be spending the holiday away from family and friends due to COVID-19–related travel restrictions or safety concerns. But it does not mean it has to be boring, tasteless and unfun.
Perhaps this is the year to break free of familial traditions and choose something nontraditional to cook. If you have a growing stack of recipes you’ve saved or a new cookbook you’ve yet to try, now is the perfect time to rummage through them and choose dishes that inspire you. It’s much easier to try new recipes when you have fewer people to please, especially if that one grumpy relative won’t be joining you this year. Don’t feel beholden to the usual suspects like turkey or pumpkin pie.
Travel to another country for Thanksgiving and try a dish from Calabeza (pumpkin) flan Cuba, Eprax is a carefully layered casserole of grape leaves with other stuffed vegetables (cabbage, tomatoes, squash, potatoes) and a row of lamb chops running through the center and perhaps Cantonese turkey. The bird roasted beneath a rich glaze of fermented soybean paste, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and alliums galore, then served with roasted potatoes basted in the sauce and drippings of the bird, or Filipino bibingka, a cake baked in a banana leaf
What ever or where ever you choose to do this Thanksgiving, make it memorable!