Thanksgiving love for everyone at my table

Macaroni + Cheese: Zoe’s favorite

I like to think about the entire Thanksgiving holiday, including the weeks of planning, the food, the love of family, even piles of dirty dishes — the whole shebang, really, like the beloved pumpkin pie itself. All of those things, each part of the holiday, is a slice. Together, they make up one beautiful, delicious pie. A very important slice of that pie is enjoying the time we spend together. It’s so short, isn’t it? In the spirit of creating joy on a holiday that’s got food at its core, I try to make at least one thing that pleases each person at our table. Pleasing people with the food they love is a big piece of my family pie. 

I’ll start with my father, who loves rutabaga, who loves to tell us how delicious it was back in the day, when his grandmother made it for him in South Dakota. He is the only person I’ve ever met who likes and actually eats rutabaga. Rutabaga is a small, rock-hard root vegetable from the brassica family. It’s slightly bitter and I’m sure there are other people in the world who like to eat rutabaga, but I haven’t met any of them. Every Thanksgiving, I cook up a very small bowl of very buttery mashed rutabaga, because no one else will touch the stuff. At the end of the day, I send my father home with a takeout container filled with all the dinner fixin’s, plus the entire bowl of rutabaga. 

My dear husband requested something other than turkey as the centerpiece of Thanksgiving, which I’m happy to oblige. We can roast a turkey anytime, I figure. This year, we’re going to have a big pot roast alongside the mashed potatoes. Pot roast is tender and juicy, simple to make and there’s no worry of it drying out. Plus, gravy is part of the dish. 

Elliot, my youngest child, loves stuffing. He likes the rich, old-fashioned kind that holds back nothing. He loves butter, sausage, plenty of bread. I don’t dare put fancy seasoning or mushrooms or anything weird in that dish, for fear of mutiny at the table. For days after the holiday, he sneaks downstairs to microwave big bowls of stuffing and steals away to his room to eat it in peace. 

Fall Celebration Salad

Luca, my oldest, asked for something — anything — that is pickled, which made me smile because he puts pickled things in his sandwiches, eggs, salads, soups and just about anywhere he can squeeze in a salty, puckery bite, so of course that’s what he wants on Thanksgiving. He and I share a love of fresh vegetables, herbs, flavor and food that is as beautiful to behold as it is to eat. So, in honor of his request, I am going to serve a salad made almost entirely of red things: beets, lettuce, pomegranate, shallots and radicchio. I mashed up Luca’s ask with my own Thanksgiving wish here, making a salad that’s got plenty of crunch, tons of flavor (including the all-important pickle-y bite, thanks to a container of pickled beets) and a sprinkling of herbs. How can anyone be happy, Luca and I both wonder, with a Thanksgiving plateful of brown, tan, cream and white food? Put some color in there! This recipe is included here, and it is truly a dish for a special occasion. It’s a rich jewel, in color and taste alike. On top of a base of red lettuce leaves is a generous amount of radicchio, which is a bitter and spicy red-leafed vegetable often used in Italian cooking. I like it for the bite. Next up is Luca’s must-have Thanksgiving food: pickled beets. You can find pickled beets in the produce department or the canned vegetable aisle at the grocery, and they are packed with tart flavor – a great cheater ingredient. I topped it all with pomegranate arils, walnuts, shallots and a lemon vinaigrette. Green makes an appearance among all the reds and purples in a big handful of dill. You could use cilantro or parsley or even a mix of different herbs, but don’t leave it out because the color is nice and the freshness cuts the tang of the beets and the bitter leaves. There are people who sit at our table who sniff and turn their noses up at colorful and funky salads on Thanksgiving (and you probably have one or two of those, too). It’s OK though, because there is more of this glorious salad for the salad lovers at the table. 

My daughter Zoe is steadfast in her request for Thanksgiving dinner, year after year. For her, it’s macaroni and cheese, now and forever. I would prefer pasta with roasted butternut squash or maybe bitter greens and creamy goat cheese. Making that change would be a betrayal of the worst kind and would not be forgiven. It’s a classic and simply made with elbow-shaped pasta and mild cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses. Year after year, it never changes. For Zoe, it’s a most important (and non-negotiable) piece of our pie. You can make this crowd-pleasing dish the day before and warm it before dinner. The cheese can be switched up, but be sure to buy whole blocks of cheese and grate it yourself; the dish is much creamier that way. 

Cranberries, simmering with sugar and spice

I included a recipe for a brilliant, spiced cranberry syrup, because on a holiday, it’s nice for everyone to have a little something special in their glass. Make this pretty red drink base and let everyone drink it their own way: with sweet soda, with seltzer, or topped with Champagne for a fun holiday mimosa. It keeps for a month or so, so if you make a big enough batch, you can sip it right through the end of the year. It’s made with tangy cranberries, cinnamon, cardamom and fresh ginger. The spices are warm, the syrup is sweet, and it looks and feels festive. 

This is our first Thanksgiving with Frankie, our11-month-old granddaughter. She can’t request any favorites just yet, and so her plate will be full of little bites of everything we are eating. She’s the smallest one at our table, but in many ways, the biggest slice of our pie. 

This holiday, we know, is not just about being happy. And it’s not just about eating our favorite foods. Being grateful, feeling loved, being well-fed: all of these things are but slices of one pie that makes for a big, happy Thanksgiving. I am wishing you and yours a happy Thanksgiving, too.  

Thanksgiving Macaroni and Cheese
Serves 10

1 pound box cavatappi or elbow-shaped pasta
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 cups whole milk, divided, plus more for rewarming
1 (8-ounce) block Monterey Jack cheese, grated
1 (8-ounce) block mild cheddar cheese, grated
Cook the pasta in salted water until just al dente. Drain and set aside. 
Meanwhile, in a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat the butter over a medium low flame until melted and bubbling. Sprinkle the flour in and stir. Cook the flour and butter mixture for 3-4 minutes, stirring, until it smells toasty. Season with the salt. 
Pour in about 1 cup of milk. Let it get hot and start to simmer, and slowly whisk it into the roux. Keep whisking, until the flour-butter-milk mixture is smooth. It will be thick. Add in another cup of milk and repeat the process, going slowly and whisking patiently. Continue with the last two cups of milk, one at a time. When all of the milk is incorporated and the sauce is creamy and smooth, stir in the grated cheeses. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and let the cheese melt. 
Add the cooked pasta to the cheese sauce and stir well to coat. Taste and add more salt, if you like. Serve warm. 
The macaroni and cheese can be made a day ahead. To reheat, pour in a cup of milk and set the pot over very low heat. Stir occasionally, until heated through.  

Fall Celebration Salad
Adapted, from the French Country Cookbook
Serves 6

1 head red lettuce leaves, trimmed
1 (8-ounce) container pickled beets, sliced
1 head radicchio, trimmed
1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted 
1 cup pomegranate seeds
2 shallots, peeled and sliced thin (see note)
1 large handful fresh dill
For the dressing: 
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon honey

On a large salad platter, arrange the red lettuce leaves, then layer the beets and radicchio on top. Sprinkle the walnuts, pomegranate, shallots and dill on top. 
Whisk together the dressing ingredients in a small glass bowl. Taste and add more salt if you like. Drizzle the dressing over all and serve. 
Note: if you want to mellow the onion-y bite of the fresh shallots, soak the sliced pieces in very hot tap water for about 20 minutes, then drain. 

Spiced Cranberry Sparkling Cocktails or Mocktails
Serves 12

For the spiced cranberry syrup:
2 cups fresh cranberries
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups water
Pinch salt
3 cinnamon sticks
3 star anise pods
5 black peppercorns
5 green cardamom pods, cracked
2 ¼-inch thick slices of ginger

For the cocktails or mocktails:
Seltzer, ginger ale or lemon-lime soda
Sparkling wine
Clementines

For garnish:
Clementines, sliced into rounds
Star anise
Fresh cranberries

Combine all of the syrup ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Turn off the heat and allow to cool for an hour. Strain into a large bowl. 
To make cocktails or mocktails: Fill a glass with ice. Add about ⅛ cup syrup and the juice of ½ clementine. Fill to the top with your drink of choice. Garnish with oranges, star anise and cranberries.  
Make ahead: the cranberry syrup can be made ahead of time. It keeps in a tightly covered glass jar, refrigerated, for 30 days.