An Outrageous Idea About Thanksgiving Next Year
The first article I read by a food writer citing paralyzing Thanksgiving fatigue validated my feelings. The second empowered me. And by the time I was finished reading many others' pleas for some sort of evolution to the annual day of "everything on the line because you're a food writer" cooking and feasting we're expected to bask in starting right after Labor Day, I'd decided to do it my way next year. I think my friends think I'm cooking "second Thanksgiving" Saturday. Guys, I'm not. Not even if you help. I'm doing practice Thanksgiving for next year.
I propose a feast next year of equally epic proportions, composed of dishes from an ethnic cuisine you've been wanting to learn. I hear from people all the time, "Oh wow, you're good at cooking Indian food. That must be hard." Okay, is this okra curry recipe hard? I didn't even bother using recipe format. Seriously, hit the Indian grocery and pick up three things: garam masala, cumin seeds, mustard seeds. Boom, you now have the ability to make Indian food. Pick your 6 favorite dishes, a couple of sauces, bread and a dessert or two. Indian Thanksgiving and you just forced yourself to practice under duress. How's this for a main attraction?
By the time you've cooked your way through a Thanksgiving stress-level feast of your new favorite dishes with a common thread, you'll never forget how to blend up a batch of curry base, base of most curries. Cough, cough oneonionachunkofgingertwoclovesofgarlicandabunchofcilantro. Because you already know how to make the sweet potato casserole nobody finishes.
That said and this being a column about lunch, I'm seriously enjoying the fat on this leftover ham right now. Sandwich ham never has tasty fat, but Thanksgiving ham always does. Ooh, and I see a bite of hamberry coming up! That's nice.
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