Friday 10: It's All Gravy

It feels like yesterday we were celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving and here with are with American Thanksgiving right around the corner. I don't even want to think about how fast Christmas is approaching!

I have to admit that I like American Thanksgiving better. It always feels like a bigger holiday. Canadian Thanksgiving falls on a Monday, so people tend to have their big turkey dinner on the Sunday and then travel on the Monday. It just feels wrong and rushed to me. 

So in honor of my favourite Thanksgiving (shh! don’t tell the Canadians) next week, I’ve collected some delicious food links, some travel tips, and a couple of things to just get us all in the Thanksgiving mood. It’s all gravy today!

The Ham(ster) 

#1 Tiny, cute animals partaking in Thanksgiving dinner. ‘Nuff said. (Link for email subscribers!) 

#2 Thanksgiving recipes from each state (plus DC and Puerto Rico!) so you can try 52 new dishes: The United States of Thanksgiving via The New York Times. Ahh this reminds me why I always wear sweater dresses with leggings for holidays: elastic waistband + food, food food! = comfortably stuffed.

#3 How about a Thanksgiving playlist that is perfectly curated and timed to finished when your bird is done cooking? Check out Spotify’s Time for Turkey. Read more: Spotify Uses Science to Match Music with Thanksgiving Turkey Cooking Times via Epicurious 

#4 If you’re like me and you are getting tired of hearing about pumpkin everything (even if you don't have anything against pumpkin): Thanksgiving Pie Head to Head - Classic versus Salted Chocolate Pecan Pie via Serious Eats

#5 I made this cranberry sauce for pork tenderloin a few weeks ago and fell in love with it. Quick, easy, and delicious. I used orange juice and orange zest instead of cranberry juice. No more can-shaped gelatinous cranberry goop (although sometimes the goop is wonderfully nostalgic). via Pioneer Woman

The Histoire

#6 It seems like Southern Thanksgiving recipes are everywhere now, which might make you think that the South has always loved Thanksgiving. It actually took a long time to catch on and, later, for Southerners to put their own stamp of things: How Thanksgiving, “the Yankee Abolitionist Holiday” Won Over the South - via Serious Eats

The Travel

#7 If you’re going to be on the road, check out Google’s Seven Traffic Tips to Get You to the Thanksgiving Table. The basics? Avoid traveling Wednesday and try to come back on Sunday. 

#8 Whatever your mode of travel: Go early, be prepared for lines/waits/delays, make yourself comfortable and bring entertainment. I’m thinking a big cozy shawl like this, a good book—I’m finally starting Kate Morton’s The Forgotten Garden—and a sachet or two of luxurious tea. 

The Wildcards

#9 I stumbled on a description of barmbrack, a spicy fruity bread traditionally made in Ireland in autumn, on Saveur this week. A piece of cloth, a bean, a ring, and a coin are wrapped up in parchment and baked inside as omens for the person who finds them. I’m putting the recipe on my “must try” list for the winter. Lucky Charms via Saveur

#10 I’m going to end things with this beautiful video by Louis Schwartzberg on gratitude because being thankful doesn’t just come around once a year with a feast attached to it.  (Link for email subscribers!)

I’ll be traveling a bit myself next week, so I might be slower with the posting. If you’re out there celebrating Thanksgiving, I hope you have a very warm, happy, food-filled day. And even if you’re not celebrating Thanksgiving, I hope you also have a very warm, happy food-filled day—because why not?!

Safe travels and happy weekend! 

PS: I’d love to hear your favourite Thanksgiving recipes and traditions! Leave me a note in the comments.