some encouragement for home cooks this week

plus roasted cranberry sauce AND apple cider + sage gravy recipes for paid subscribers

If you subscribe to this newsletter (hey, thanks!), I have a feeling this might be a big week for you. Is your refrigerator at capacity? Are you about to cook a bunch of stuff? Are you about to have friends + family in your house? In your kitchen? Stirring things in your pots that don’t need to be stirred? Loading your dishwasher not the way you do it? Do you also have a million other things going on? Are there other meals to think about besides a big one on Thursday? Do you have conflicted feelings about a national holiday that is, as Viet Thanh Nguyen wrote in the NYT a few years ago, “about genocide as much as it is about gratitude?”

For most of us, YES is the answer to most of those questions.

I am not here to to tell you the best way to make anything. Honestly, it doesn’t matter. Make whatever you want to make. Or don’t! Buy it all! All that matters is that your efforts are acknowledged. If no one else does it for this year, please allow me. I see you. I see your grocery lists and see you thinking about what everyone’s quirky requests are. I see you waiting in line forever at the grocery store. Grocery store workers, I see you dealing with all of these extra shoppers, most of them impatient and anxious. I see you playing refrigerator Jenga to make sure everything fits. I see you filling wine glasses and making sure the empty bottles go in the recycling, not the trash. I see you slicing pies when no one will make the first move. I see you packing up leftovers for everyone to take home knowing you’ll never see those containers ever again. I see you keeping the conversation going when it’s normally the time to wear soft pants and watch bad TV.

Here are a few more thoughts that I hope make your cooking feel more relaxed this week if for any reason it doesn’t. Take these tips if they’re helpful. Leave them if not!

• Hot take: don’t brine your turkey. It’s a mess. Who has the room? Just season it with salt and pepper. If you have time to do this the day before, great. If you have space in your fridge to let it sit uncovered overnight so you get extra crispy skin, great. If you don’t do either of those things, it’s fine!

• Hot take: don’t use a roasting rack. It’s a nightmare to clean. Instead, use some celery stalks as a roasting rack. They add flavor to your drippings, too. You can eat the celery later, add it to stock, or just throw it out. Just put your turkey on top. It will let some hot air get underneath the bird which is nice, plus keep the bottom of your roasting pan from having a ton of stuck-on turkey. Here’s what it will look like:

  

  I know this is blurry! It’s not your eyes or your screen! My mom took this photo of her computer screen during my Thanksgiving prep class Sunday :)

• Let your cooked turkey rest for at least an hour. It will still be warm inside!! And it will be soooooo much easier to carve. Carving a hot turkey is really difficult. Don’t do it! Plus your turkey will be juicer. You can even make it way earlier in the day, let it cool completely, slice it, then just warm it in the oven with some gravy or a splash of chicken stock.

• A disposable aluminum pan is a great thing to use if you don’t have a big roasting pan (or don’t want to clean a big roasting pan). But put a sheet pan under it so you have an easier time going in and out of the oven.

• A smaller turkey (12 - 14 lbs) is way easier to cook than a big one. It’s easier to move in and out of the oven. It will cook faster and cook more evenly, too. If you’re having more people and need more, do two small birds instead of a huge one. Or one turkey plus a turkey breast (or a ham, or just lots more sides!)

• Hot take: you don’t need a turkey if you don’t want one!

• Gravy DOES NOT HAVE TO BE MADE AT THE LAST MINUTE. In fact, I already made mine on Sunday! On Thursday I will just put it in a pot over low heat, let it warm up, and add the dripping from my turkey. I feel zero stress about the gravy and I wish the same for you.

• Save your grocery list (email it to yourself or put it in your notes app or something like that) and use it again next year. Your future self thanks you.

• Remember that so many things taste good at room temperature— there’s no need for every single thing to be piping hot. Roasted vegetables! Salad!

• Mashed potatoes can be made ahead, put in a baking dish, covered with cheese and/or dotted with extra butter and heated in the oven. No scorched pot.

• When people ask what they can bring, tell them. I always delegate wine, pies, and a bag of ice. You can also assign things like side dishes or even the turkey if you wish. You don’t have to be a hero. In fact, you’ll be happier if you don’t try to be one and everyone else will be more relaxed, too. Trust me, no one will remember if you made your own pie crust or even your own pie.

• If you did not cook, please do the dishes. Don’t wait to be asked. Just do them.

• For paid subscribers only, my recipes for APPLE CIDER + SAGE GRAVY and ROASTED CRANBERRY SAUCE are at the bottom of this email. They’re both so good and can absolutely be made TODAY!

  

I taught a fun Thanksgiving prep class this past Sunday. It was recorded and is available for purchase here if you’d like. It includes eight recipes, a grocery list, and a detailed timeline that it very helpful. Proceeds from this class are going to two organizations: The Native American Disability Law Center + The National Indigenous Women's Resource Center. 

Check out my mom’s illustrated notes from class!! Aren’t they fun??

Last week I shared a gift guide that included giving my cooking classes as a gift. I got a few requests for a gift certificate people could print out and give on the holiday— here you go! And here’s all the info about my classes (including all of the gifting options).

Lastly, a quick reminder about the special online event I’ll be hosting this coming Sunday, the 27th, at 2pm EST: COOKING + EATING TOGETHER WITHOUT JUDGMENT.

It’s a sliding scale (starting at $0!) and all are welcome. Can't make it live? Still please sign up so you'll get the recording!

Here's the official class description:

Join me for a special class that's all about feeling FREEDOM around food. Are you recovering from an eating disorder, or just working on having a more positive relationship with your body, or maybe you're working hard to dismantle diet culture? Do you love to cook but don't feel like that's something you get to celebrate because of the way society views your body? Are you scared to eat in front of other people? If you've answered yes to any of these questions, join us for stress-free cooking + experience the joy of cooking with others + the satisfaction of taking care of ourselves. Join us to experience permission to eat together with zero judgment. We will do a simple soup + salad + breadsticks meal (minnestrone-ish, pizzeria salad + garlic breadsticks!), each of which will have a ton of variations offered so you can make exactly what you like to eat. Then there will be plenty of time for Q&A, during which anyone who wants to eat can eat in peace + community. Sliding scale from $0 to whatever you want. All are welcome. Discussion of weight loss/dieting techniques strictly prohibited.

SIGN UP HERE!!!!!!!

Please feel free to share this with whoever you'd like.

Okay, that’s all for today. I’m thinking of you this week! xooxox, Julia

Gravy + cranberry sauce recipes are below for all of you paid subscribers….