A Preview of a Hate-to-Cook Thanksgiving

It's no surprise that Peg Bracken's I Hate to Cook Almanack (1976) advises readers to attend a potluck Thanksgiving at someone else's house. Not hosting means not having to cook the turkey, and your contribution to dinner can be much smaller and easier. The best choice, as far as Bracken is concerned, is a non-pie dessert. (Dessert is almost certain to be good even if it's easy, and if it's not a pie, then nobody will compare it to the one mom or grandma used to make!) She wasn't psychic, so she didn't specifically point out that the recipe for Kahlua Cream could also help take the edge off of having to spend the day with relatives who were busy griping about the election of that lousy peanut farmer, but I think it's safe to infer that the buzz was a helpful side effect.

For those unlucky enough to have to make the turkey or lucky enough to get leftovers from somebody else's turkey, Bracken offers a couple of recipes to dress up whatever remains.

In the somewhat-adventurous-for-the-genre column, there's Sour Cream Turkey Curry.

It's exactly what it sounds like-- sour cream, curry powder, and turkey, with a little chicken broth and onion for flair. If you read the instructions before you start the recipe, you might even start the rice before the curry so you don't have to worry about the sour cream curdling while the rice cooks!

For those who prefer meals with a stereotypical Italian accent, there's Atsa My Turkey!

It's a mix of fettucini with turkey, wine, broth, milk, and plenty o' cheese! The lesson at the end of the chapter is apparently that leftover turkey tastes best with lots of milk fat. To be fair, the addition of cheese and/or cream is one of the easiest ways to make anything taste good, so Bracken scores again!

Whether you're looking forward to Thanksgiving or kind of dreading it, I hope your November is off to a good start! I'm looking forward to finally getting the veggie-based "turkey" roast out of my freezer that someone in my family picked out for Thanksgiving dinner last year, and then changed the plan. I could really use that extra space.... It's good to be thankful for the little things.