The CWD Thanksgiving Round Up

Some thoughts on how to tackle the Super Bowl of Food

I’m going to go on the record as saying that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year¹. It encompasses everything I love — good food, family, gratitude, tradition, and indulgence. Sure, Christmas and Hanukkah are fun — but have you ever eaten two pounds of turkey and a pound of mashed potatoes in one sitting?

Back in college, I ran a fairly popular humor/satire/news website called “Welcome to Freshman Year.” While most the content of the website, in retrospect, makes me cringe, one feature we did each year on Thanksgiving was a “Giving Thanks” post. Each writer² wrote the top five things they were thankful for that year. Given the demographic and stylistic tone of the website, these were often a bit tongue-in-cheek³, but some real sentimentality did manage to come through.

Revisiting that idea, I’m putting my top-5 “thanks” below. I’d encourage you, the readers, to do the same in the comments. Always nice to put some public gratitude out in the ether!

1. Great family

2. Good health

3. Great dogs

4. Good food

5. The face Baby CWD⁴ makes when she does something she doesn’t think she was supposed to do — and ensuing gremlin laugh.

Anyway, this Thanksgiving will be the first that the Family CWD hosts for a group larger than just us⁵. Some folks might crack under the pressure, but I’m feeling pretty good about things. We’ll spend some time later this weekend actually writing down our intended menu⁶, but the below is a loose idea of how you might think about putting some dishes together. My thoughts are in regular font, and we recruited Mrs. CWD to add hers in italics.

As always, I’d encourage you to leave a comment⁷ with what you’re thinking. Collective wisdom: a potent holiday force!

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Appetizers

CWD: I think, generally, less is more when it comes to Thanksgiving appetizers. Cheese and crackers are pretty easy, a nice salami or prosciutto is never unwelcome, and I suppose roast nuts are classic — but I don’t think you need to go out of your way to make anything. Just buy something at the store.

That being said, if you have some sourdough starter lying around, I’d highly recommend giving this sourdough cracker recipe a go.

Mrs. CWD: Auntie CWD makes a mean phyllo spinach feta cup, which is light enough to enjoy while still leaving room for the pounds of food about to be consumed.

Side Dishes

CWD: Speaking with a lot of folks⁸, it seems like side dishes during Thanksgiving are actually the main event. I'd tend to disagree -- I'm a turkey or die kinda guy -- but I get the sentiment of having some solid sides. Mashed potatoes are a must. You can try this recipe if you like cheese, or just boil the potatoes, rinse, and mash with plenty of great butter and milk. I think stuffing is a tad overrated, but probably necessary to have. Gravy is another must have — we may try a mushroom based version this year since the Family CWD is on a mushroom kick.

Mrs. CWD: It’s not Thanksgiving without a good sweet potato casserole. Now I’m sure you’re all thinking brown sugar, marshmallows and the works, but I prefer the savory version with some good ol’ heavy cream and lots of Gruyère and parm. Whip up some homemade cranberry orange sauce on the side to help cut some of the heaviness.

I will say before having Mr. CWD’s brined and smoked turkey I was definitely a sides for Thanksgiving kind of girl. He has since fully converted me to the “turkey or die” side.

Main Dishes

CWD: Frankly, this section should really just say TURKEY and that’s it. Some people say the Thanksgiving turkey is overrated, but to that, I’d say you just haven’t had a good turkey⁹. What we're going to be doing this year is a brined and smoked turkey, which we'll be picking up from Out Post Farm¹⁰. Having had my fair share of turkey over the years, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say a good, fresh, local turkey is a gamechanger. There is nothing wrong, of course, with a classic Butterball or otherwise from your grocery store — but as with many other things, sometimes you can just taste the difference¹¹.

If you don’t like turkey, I’d suggest throwing in a honey-baked ham instead — bonus points if you cure and smoke it yourself. If you’re vegetarian or otherwise culinarily-restricted, I’d still make a meat-based main and go heavier on the veggie based sides.

Mrs. CWD: Make the brined and smoked turkey. That is all.

Desserts

CWD: Here’s my hot take: desserts on Thanksgiving aren’t worth too much additionally effort. Get a pie from your local farm, or order one online. Get some good ice cream¹², and call it a day.

Mrs. CWD: Wholeheartedly disagree here. Mr. CWD is not a dessert person and so any statements regarding sweets should be considered with a grain of salt. One summer, Auntie CWD¹³ had an internship in Seattle and we had the opportunity to eat at Serious Pie, mostly known for its pizzas. However, while there, Gma CWD ordered a slice of their coconut cream pie and it was truly a game changer. We’ve been making that for Thanksgiving ever since. While it’s a bit of heavy lifting, it’s worth every bit of the effort.

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So there you have it. The Family CWD approach to Thanksgiving. Finished product won’t look too bad!

That’s Mrs. CWD’s plate from our solo-giving. Mine was the same thing, just spread over five different plates.

With that, I’ll let you start your own planning this weekend. If you’ve got any questions or serious concerns about the information posted here today, please bring them up in the comments¹⁴. I’ll address them as received.

It’s also worth mentioning that today is Veteran’s Day. Great opportunity to get a sweat on in honor of those who have served — Family CWD rocked the Chad 1000X this morning. Give it a shot if you’re feeling inspired!

1. The numbers two and three are Memorial Day and Fourth of July, not necessarily in that order.

2. Some editorial alums who now read CWD include Owen and Reed. Reed, believe it or not, was the author of W2FY’s most popular post of all time, which I think received cumulatively over 100,000 views! I won’t repost it here, but let’s just say it got the sororities at Penn State pretty up in arms.

3. I think one year I was thankful for pre-workout formula, grading scales, good dogs, good food, and The Deadliest Catch. Clearly I was taking Musashi’s advice and thinking lightly of myself and deeply of the world!

4. Or should it be Kiddo CWD now?

5. We did, pre Baby/Kiddo CWD have a small siblings-giving and a just-us Thanksgiving, but this will be the first time I get to set the menu for a more extended gathering.

6. On paper, no spoilers!

7. I know Nana will be all over this one!

8. My family, Mrs. CWD’s family…

9. Not going to name any names.

10. We won’t, however, be draping it in a butter-soaked button-down shirt, a la traditional New England housewives.

11. There may be some sticker-shock, though!

12. Gifford makes a fan favorite, but I think Aunt. R is wholeheartedly behind Turkey Hill Vanilla.

13. Auntie M., for clarity.

14. We know we’ll without doubt get some good content from Nana CWD!