Saturday, October 26, 2024

Your Thanksgiving Prep Starts Today! Plus: Favorite Lentil Soup, Delicata Squash Salad & More

Hi Friends,

A few weeks ago I pulled up a Google doc I had made last December, roughly a week after Thanksgiving, with my notes from the occasion. Here they are:

  • Turkey was delicious. It was done in 1 hr. 50 minutes.
  • Gravy wasn't very thick when first making it, but it thickened right up on Thanksgiving.
  • Loved the roasted turkey stock, Gourmet's old recipe, used it in everything: potatoes, stuffing, gravy.
  • Mixed pie fillings on Tuesday.
  • Parbaked the crusts on Wednesday morning.
  • Baked the pies on Thursday morning.
  • Stuffings delicious.
  • Potatoes need more salt.
  • Make 2x red wine cranberry sauce.
  • Next year: 2 turkeys, 1 additional stuffing

I'm not sure what I'm more surprised by — that I took the time to write these notes or that I was actually able to locate them — but regardless, I'm so happy I did. I can't believe I mixed the pie fillings on Tuesday — that feels early! — and I had forgotten how two stuffings and 1 turkey (a small guy) were not enough to satisfy our post-Thanksgiving meal needs.

Most important: I had forgotten that last year, after a many-year hiatus, I had brought back Gourmet's roasted turkey stock recipe. It was originally published in the October 2006 issue, which I still have somewhere, and I made it every Thanksgiving for many years. Why I stopped I do not know, but I'm so happy it's back.

The recipe calls for roasting turkey wings (or drumsticks or thighs) followed by some vegetables (onions, carrots, celery), then transferring them to a pot, covering them with water, and simmering them for 3 hours. The exercise will make your house smell like Thanksgiving and, as you ladle your rich, golden, aromatic stock into storage vessels, you will feel so accomplished, so inspired, and so ready to tackle the holiday season ahead.

Last year I used this stock in my stuffing recipes (this one and this one), in my potatoes (Alice Waters Potato Gratin and Hasselback Potato Gratin), and in this gravy, all of which can be made ahead.

Friends, are you ready? Thanksgiving is less than 5 weeks away! I still need to update my annual Thanksgiving post with some of the notes from above, and I will do so shortly, but if you are ready to get after it, here it is!

PS: It is so nice having storage vessels like these on hand this time of year:


5 Recipes to Make this Week

Favorite Lentil Soup

Delicata Squash Salad

Farro Risotto with Butternut Squash and Kale

Everything Bagel Peasant Bread

Vanilla-Almond Biscotti

In Case You Missed It

Easiest Homemade Romesco (No-Peel Peppers πŸŽ‰) + Charred Broccolini = Heaven

Crusty Open-Crumb Baguettes

Crispy Miso-Lime Tofu (so many of you have made and loved this!)


Sesame-Crusted Grandma Pie

In last Friday's pizza newsletter, I shared a recipe for a sesame-crusted grandma pie topped with broccoli rabe and hot honey. Get the recipe and video here:


Popular Right Now

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PS: ALL the popular recipes right here → Popular Recipes

PPS: Perfectly Moist Pumpkin Bread... tis the season πŸŽƒ


Review of the Week

Classic Bread Stuffing

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Such a great recipe Ali! The video is so helpful. This is now my "go to" stuffing recipe. It's Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend and I just popped 2 casserole dishes of this is the oven. Thank you Ali."

— Barb


Thank You

Thank you to all who have ordered Pizza Night.


5 Free Resources Available to You

PS: All previous editions of this newsletter can be found here.

Happy Cooking,


Alexandra Stafford



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