When I just saw this image of Sweet Potato Tart Tatin on the Kitchn, I nearly dropped my sandwich. Looks fantastic and you don’t even have to make pie crust! I’m on appetizer duty for Thanksgiving (and bread and veggie duty for a “friendsgiving” I’m attending tomorrow) so if anyone I’m celebrating is reading these, I hereby nominate this for dessert.
Via the Kitchn and Dam Good Sweet by David Guas and Raquel Pelzel, published by Taunton Press.
Thanksgiving just keeps on getting closer. Are you losing your holiday spirit before the holidays have even really begun? Buck yourself up with a little black humor—the Thanksgiving ritual has been fertile ground for wags practically since Pilgrim days.
Day Five: Thanksgiving Satire
Do yourself a favor and read “Wild Turkey.” I nominate this essay, which appeared on the long-running blog Tomato Nation, as a nascent classic piece of Thanksgiving literature for our times. (Maybe I’m not the only one who feels that way—I have to confess I found it because it was the first hit when I Googled the phrase “best Thanksgiving blog post ever.” And now you know about my research methods…gulp.)
“Wild Turkey” is pure sweetness and light compared to William S. Burroughs’ “Thanksgiving Prayer,” recorded in 1986, first heard by me on CD as an 18-year-old in another kid’s dorm room, and now made easy to find thanks to the wonder of the interwebs.
Or you may enjoy Calvin Trillin’s 1981 essay about his (as yet unsuccessful) campaign to have turkey replaced by spaghetti carbonara as the Thanksgiving national dish. I feel a little bad about this, but all I can find is a pirated version, here. The real thing is in Trillin’s book Third Helpings.
And if nothing else works, dust off your mother’s LP of Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Resturant—because as I observed a few posts back, holidays are about nothing if not tradition, and for some reason Arlo’s long, rambing tale about dodging the draft and getting picked up for littering on Thanksgiving was ever ours.
Day Four: Prep Smartly!
In my apartment, at my sister’s place, and at our parents’ house too, Mark Bittman’s big yellow How To Cook Everything is the cookbook of choice for basic dishes and general how-to advice. His “The Minimalist” column in the New York Times is often a good read, too.
On Wednesday, Bittman posted 101 ideas for Thanksgiving dishes you can make ahead, because “[i]t’s not easy to roast a turkey and sweet potatoes for 20 at the same time.” Hear, hear.
[via Lifehacker]
ReadyMade’s countdown to Thanksgiving rolls on…
Day Three: Drumming Up Some Fun
When you and your human friends are eating well, it’s only natural to want to give a little something extra to any four-leggers who might be hanging around.
But what if you’re eating at the home of a conscientious pet owner who wouldn’t dream of giving a splintery turkey bone to Fido or Mittens? What if you’re that kind of pet owner yourself?
Could these be the solution?
Plushoff’s innocently happy-looking stuffed turkey legs are made out of child-safe felt and poly fill. They’re ten inches long and five inches wide—just about like the real thing—and while they’re probably not as delicious as a giant drum of turkey, we’re betting that the pet in your life will be happy to rough them up a little.
That is, if you can bear to throw so much cuteness to the dogs. I’d probably be tempted to keep mine on the mantelpiece or find a cute infant to foist it upon. And then I’d try making one of these recipes for edible Thanksgiving treats for your pet instead.
[Image from Plushoff, onFlickr]
Nine days and counting! Here’s the idea du jour for Thanksgiving enjoyment.
Day Two: Lovely Leftovers
Everyone knows that leftovers are one of the best things about Thanksgiving. More meat, more stuffing, the year’s best sandwiches, pie for breakfast, cranberry sauce on everything…what’s not to like? Okay, we’ll admit it: after four or five days, eating those very last creamed onions with, yeah, more mashed potatoes and whatever’s left of the poultry pile starts to lose its charm. Which brings us to today’s lesson, on avoiding leftovers monotony. Our prescription? Have fun. Get fancy. Go beyond what you think “Thanksgiving food” is supposed to be. Channel your inner David Chang. Or even get architectural…
Consider Exhibit A, above. Hidden inside this mouthwatering yet demure breakfast sandwich is a pile of leftover Thanksgiving swiss chard. As SixtyBeast (which seems to be the nom de Flickr of Becks & Posh blogger, English gal, and toast arteest Sam Breach) explains on her photo page:
I was sent home from a Thanksgiving Family dinner to which we were
invited as friends, with a bag of leftover swiss chard that had been
braised with pine-nuts and spicy chipotle. I figured it would be a
great filling for an omelette the next day for brunch. I decided to
have fun and experiment with fancy presentation. I cut 6 disks from
the bread I had bought with the intention of making a
turkey-accompanying ‘bread sauce’ (very British). I didn’t get round
to making the sauce, so the bread was left over too. I lightly toasted
the disks. I cut 4 of the same-sized circles from the swiss chard
omelette and sandwiched them together with crispy fried strips of
bacon. I topped each little tower with grated gruyere and then grilled
until bubbling. How cute-looking is that? It tasted pretty good too!
Now…what are you going to do with YOUR leftovers?
Greetings, ReadyMakers. By our calculations, Thanksgiving is a mere ten days off, which means that the holiday season is basically upon us, full-bore. Are you ready? Is anyone, ever?
Whether this Turkey Day you’re planning on cooking a semi-formal feast for twelve, enduring some form of conveyance back to your ancestral home, meeting or being met by your beloved’s relatives, or simply gathering a few friends together to rustle up some holiday cheer on your own terms, we’d like to mark the time between now and the big event by presenting you with a fresh idea each day—something to do or make, or at least an item we think will bring a smile to your face and fortify you for this, the season of going overboard.
Day One: Orange Rind Votive Holder
A wise social scientist once observed that holidays are often characterized by a return to old-fashioned ways of doing things: practices that have been phased out in decades past, like daily baking or, you know, eating together with the whole family, make a triumphant if temporary return in the guise of tradition and nostalgia.
On that tip, here’s an appropriately pioneerish idea for your table. The orange rind votive holder is a sweet-smelling, old-fashioned, and low-tech disposable centerpiece that comes from the creative couple behind farmhouse/gift shoppe/brand Beekman 1802. Fast to make, fun to use, and, the idea goes, way better-smelling than chemically, commercially-scented potted candles, oranges prepared jack o’ lantern style cast a homey glow. Use the meat from the hollowed-out citrus for punch, or save it for a morning-after mimosa to have with a leftovers breakfast feast. Click to the orignial post for a full how-to with great process shots.
Incidentally, this project reminded me of my favorite item from Pratt’s “Design For A Dollar” booth at the ICFF this year: David Steinvurzel’s Orange Votive Candles (coolest thing about them: the wick is actually a piece of the orange pith). At the show, Steinvurzel told me he got the oranges to assume their particular round shape by drying them on light bulbs.
Sometimes what’s old-fashioned is also paradoxically forward-looking (in this case, eco-friendly). What goes arond comes around, people. That’s a Thanksgiving Deep Thought you can take home with you.
[From Beekman 1802---and thanks, Lifehacker]
Amy (our deputy editor), Adam (our senior graphic designer), and I just returned from a festive fall party one floor above us: Better Homes and Gardens Falloween. Not only were there beverages and all kinds of treats, but also gourd bowling and pumpkin ring toss.
Amy threw first, and tossing that hula hoop was much harder than it seemed. She didn’t reach the free ticket pumpkin, but she did get some candy out of it…which is just as satisfying.
Adam definitely wins the “RM Gourd Bowler of the Year” award. We found that kicking the ball off the wall results in more pins down, but also increases the noise to an obnoxious level.
After all, we were in an office building.
2719 Hyperion, an all-things-Disney blog, digs up what is behind (under?) the tombstones that line the entrance of the Haunted Mansion at Disney. Who exactly was this Master Sewell, you ask?
Bob Sewell came on board at WED Enterprises shortly after the opening of Disneyland in 1955. A model shop veteran, Sewell was often in charge of show installations at the park. He was involved in the development of a diverse array of attractions including Nature’s Wonderland, the Grand Canyon Diorama, the Submarine Voyage, the Swiss Family Treehouse and the Enchanted Tiki Room.
Head over to their blog to find out 12 more tales of the Haunted Mansion tombstones.
Halloween, as we all know, is a scary time. Until now, that scariness has been at least in part caused by anticipating the inevitable finger-singeing pain of trying to drop a lit tea light through a round hole into a big gourd. Drop the candle, and it inevitably goes out. Lower it slowly, and you’re bound to burn your hand.
Well, the reign of terror is over, because Make subscriber Michael Williams has shared with the world a better way to carve a pumpkin.
[via Lifehacker]
Just a sampling of the weirdness, wildness, and occasional over-the-top cuteness that awaits at the Halloween Pets pool on Flickr.
[Photo from piggelicious, via Flickr]
This is the ReadyMade editors' blog. ReadyMade is named after the term that Marcel Duchamp coined in 1915 for a series of sculptures that playfully rethought the relationship between people and mass-produced objects, everyday items and art. ReadyMade is about people who make things and the culture of making.
