Some of you are old hats at preparing a Thanksgiving feast, but I'm still relatively new to the game. This year will be my fourth year preparing Thanksgiving for my family, so I'm still perfecting my game. Sam Sifton's new book Thanksgiving: How to Cook it Well has been getting a bit of press, so I thought I'd check it out.
I was surprised to see what a slim little book it is. At 133 pages, it's practically shorter than the instructions for just cooking the turkey in Cook's Illustrated! On the one hand, I found it to be a little Martha Stewart-ish: "A correctly set Thanksgiving table is of paramount importance to the success of your meal... Thanksgiving is a holiday that calls for a table set as if for a sacrament." Wow. No pressure or anything. On the other hand, he does give me a pass on putting out appetizers and serving a salad. He advises not to fill people up with appetizers and salads. Thanksgiving is a day for rich foods and it's ok to skip the salad. Noted. Striking the salad from my menu. A quick little read with some helpful tips, although I'm sticking with the Cook's Illustrated turkey recipe, as it never fails.
