On Oct. 9, food culture reporter Dakshana Bascaramurty and food writer Julie Van Rosendaal answered reader questions on how to make the most of Thanksgiving this year, from the hottest recipes to bring to your potluck to how to be the best host possible.
Readers asked about the ideal dinner menu, how to navigate dietary restrictions and how to spruce up your leftovers the next day. Here are some highlights.
This Thanksgiving, think small with recipes for bite-size dishes
Planning your menu
What are you making for Thanksgiving this year?
Julie Van Rosendaal: My family loves a pretty traditional turkey dinner. Generally we have it at my parents’ house and my mom cooks a turkey and perhaps makes mashed potatoes, and my sisters and I bring sides – one sister always brings a mushroom-gruyere tart, which is amazing, my other sister always brings tubes of Pillsbury crescent rolls, which has become a joke (she’s a very busy parent and school principal). I bring pumpkin pie and upside-down pear gingerbread, which I’ve made for years.
How can I spruce up my Thanksgiving leftovers for the next week?
Dakshana Bascaramurty: There’s this stuffing I’ve been making for forever with ciabatta, sweet potato, chorizo and mushrooms and what I like even more than eating it for Thanksgiving dinner is having it the next morning with a fried egg on top. I always use turkey leftovers in fried rice (depending on what veggie sides there were, I’ll sometimes add those too).
Van Rosendaal: I often turn mine into perogies. I always make loads of mashed potatoes, into which you can stir chopped turkey, gravy, and any leftover veggies. I then freeze the perogies for dinner down the road. I also often make croquettes, which are similarly based on mashed potatoes, into which you can stir chopped turkey and veggies, even stuffing – roll them in beaten egg and then bread crumbs and shallow fry in canola or peanut or really any vegetable oil until crisp. I wrote about them for last weekend’s Globe, with a dip made with equal parts cranberry sauce and mayo!
Food writer Julie Van Rosendaal says she makes these croquettes with her Thanksgiving leftovers.Julie Van Rosendaal/The Globe and Mail
I’m planning on hosting a potluck this weekend, what should I tell people to bring? I’m worried about leaving my friends to their own devices.
Van Rosendaal: This is part of the fun of a potluck! It’s nice to allow people some agency over what they bring, so they can choose something they like, something they know how to make, something that falls within their financial and time constraints. I’d advise giving people a course – say an appetizer, salad or dessert – if you want to have some control over what they bring, and then allow them to choose.
Bascaramurty: I have a slightly different take from Julie on this! I used to really lean into the “luck” part of potluck when I hosted them in my university days but the result was often too many meals where there were dishes repeated (I’m personally haunted by baguettes and spinach dip or those “Farmer’s Market” brand coffee cakes that my friends on undergrad budgets would always bring) or the spread was really out of balance – a lot of salads but no protein. For Thanksgiving potlucks I love a spreadsheet! I think guests appreciate seeing what others are bringing and then figuring out what holes need to be filled. I also think that seeing that someone is making something ambitious will inspire your guests to rise to the occasion and also bring something that requires a little bit more effort.
What’s the ideal Thanksgiving dessert?
Van Rosendaal: My go-to for decades has been an upside-down pear gingerbread. I also have made this deep dish pumpkin pie with a bashed maple cookie crust for years – a recipe Blue Rodeo shared with me. Also this was such a great cake I made last year. It’s from Plantcakes by Vancouver-based baker Lyndsay Sung. I’m totally making it again this year.
I just noticed a Thanksgiving dessert ideas generator published by The Globe last year! And I see my photo of mini doughnuts in there, what a great idea!
Thanksgiving etiquette
What’s your take on navigating dietary restrictions as a host?
Bascaramurty: Personally, I think the most important thing as a host is to proactively ask about restrictions right from the start – really, at the point at which you invite someone over for a meal, even if it’s several weeks out. There’s nothing worse than planning a menu, doing your shopping and then learning at the last minute that you have to navigate around this allergy or that intolerance. I’ve come around to sharing menus ahead of time – usually a few days before the dinner – so that guests know what to expect. It may take away the element of surprise but it also gives them another opportunity to tell me about a restriction.
If I’m learning this late in the game, I might add another dish to the mix or tweak a recipe (swap out fruit X that a guest is allergic to for fruit Y). If I’m overwhelmed and annoyed (hah!), I take advantage of a guest who asks what to bring by assigning them something that will work for the person with the restriction. I have a few friends with long lists of allergies and I actually have a note on my phone with them for easy reference (and I will periodically ask for updates so I can add or remove items).
Food culture reporter Dakshana Bascaramurty says it’s vital to ask your guests for their dietary restrictions far in advance of any dinner party.Illustration by Zoe Si
Aside from the food, what are some fun Thanksgiving activities to organize as a host?
Van Rosendaal: My sister always comes up with amazing interactive games our extended family can play in the living room (my son and his cousins are in their teens/early twenties, and there is a new generation of kids under 10) and it makes such great memories. They are often short challenges like moving cotton balls with straws and scavenger hunts and things everyone can participate in, from age 2 to 80!
What do I bring when invited to someone else’s Thanksgiving dinner? I have discovered that a bunch of flowers is always appreciated.
Bascaramurty: As a host, I only want flowers if they have their own vase! It really stresses me out when guests arrive when I’m cooking and give me flowers that take up a bunch of space on the counter and that I feel pressure to find a vessel for, trim stems, etc.
If you ask what to bring and your host insists they don’t want anything, bring them some goodies they can enjoy later (not at the party itself). Some of my go-tos are nice olive oil, fancy granola, coffee beans (if they are coffee drinkers), even a bunch of fun snacks from the Chinese or Indian grocery store.
Van Rosendaal: This is such a great conversation to have leading up to Thanksgiving. I admit I consider whose house I’m going to when I choose to bring wine, and bring what I know they will like or appreciate. Flowers are always a great idea, but I say bring what you want to bring – your host should be gracious and courteous about anything you arrive with.
It feels like it’s getting tougher to have a civil conversation around the table. Any tips for surviving Thanksgiving dinner?
Bascaramurty: I think a lot of people believe that when having a political discussion with someone who has different views that they can throw logic, data and compelling arguments at them and make them change their mind. This very rarely happens and can actually backfire, only making the other person dig in their heels. I’ve seen some recommend the “80/20 rule”: focus on listening 80 per cent of the time and then use the other 20 per cent of the time to ask questions (rather than arguing).
You should not tolerate racism, sexism, xenophobia or any other forms of discrimination just for the sake of keeping peace, though. Sometimes a great way to respond to offensive comments or jokes is just asking questions like, “What do you mean by that?” or “Sorry, I don’t understand. Can you explain that joke to me?”
The joy of cooking
How can I get my kids involved in cooking?
Bascaramurty: I have a seven year old and two year old, both of whom are eager to be in the kitchen but not always welcome! The three hours before guests come over, I am in “the zone” and really don’t want anyone in the kitchen with me. If there’s work that can be done earlier in the day (or, better yet, the day before), that’s always a great opportunity to assign a task that won’t get in the way when you have lots of things on the stove or in the oven.
A few ideas: have them make a vinaigrette (it involves measuring, mixing and tasting) or pick leaves off herbs or wash salad greens (my toddler LOVES using the salad spinner). If you’re baking something, get their help preheating the oven, arranging things on the sheet pan, seasoning with salt. My little ones love all the buttons and noises on kitchen appliances and sometimes even being able to turn them on and watch them whir makes them feel like they’re “cooking.”
Van Rosendaal: Kids of all ages can get involved in the kitchen, from pulling a stool up to the counter to help mix, pour and knead to reading, measuring, chopping … even having them in the kitchen while you cook allows them to learn and develop a positive association with cooking.
One of my favourite things about Thanksgiving is having everyone in the kitchen cooking together. Kids can be involved in all the prep – shaking up dressings and tossing salads, prepping ingredients, mashing potatoes, baking … even allowing them to help with the decision-making process – let them choose what they’d like to make! I always suggest parents bring kids to the library to peruse the cookbook section for inspiration. You may be surprised at what they want to make!
Readers share the signature Thanksgiving dishes that have become a tradition in their families
Are fancy cooking shows and the reverence of professional chefs taking the joy out of everyday cooking? Everything needs to be “elevated” nowadays.
Bascaramurty: Yes, I think so! This is more or less the philosophy behind Samin Nosrat’s excellent new book Good Things. She writes about how for much of her career (some of which was spent at the acclaimed Chez Panisse in Berkeley) she was really obsessed with the food she served and wowing people with it (and sometimes being so busy in the kitchen she wouldn’t even spend much time with her guests when they came over). She’s really changed the way she cooks now and her food is much less “cheffy” – and she’s come to realize that who is around the table is more important than what’s on it.
I think we entertain less when we feel like it has to be a big production and that’s such a shame! I do love a dinner party where I can show off, but I only have the energy for that a handful of times a year. I love hosting friends for waffles with simple toppings like fresh fruit, maple syrup and whipped cream. I have a bunch of very easy weeknight dinners in my back pocket that are mostly made up of pantry ingredients or things in the freezer (like frozen dumplings) that I can make in just half an hour. Some of my favourite meals with friends have been organized last-minute on a random weeknight!
Van Rosendaal: Yes, I agree that the prevalence of cooking competition shows (and even social media) has given some people performance anxiety. Cooking is such a personal thing. I hope it’s not taking the joy out of cooking for you!
