Top 5 Thanksgiving Day Foods

November 20, 2007 – 6:17 pm

Thanksgiving food is the absolute tops. The beauty of these wonderful dishes is that there is no need for  compartmentability: you can essentially mix all of the foods together on your plate and it still tastes amazing. In the spirit of the latest holiday where we give thanks, I present you with the definitive top five list of Thanksgiving day foods, including instructions on how to properly configure your plate.

5. Stuffing

How can you not like a food that’s name straight up tells you what to do with it? It just sounds like you should grab it with your bare hands and start shoveling it in your face. John Goodman sure does. Stuffing is one of the staples of a well-balanced and well-textured Turkey day meal. You should reserve 15% of your plate for this entreé.

4. Candied Yams

How often do you get do eat a “candied” food before dessert? Anything goes for Thanksgiving; you can just throw your regular dinner rules right out the window. These little beauties are actually sweet potatoes, but “yam” is a way cooler word, especially when they are candied. Plus, they are easy to make. Even I could cook these, and I’m about as useful in the kitchen as Michael Jackson is as a babysitter. You should reserve another 15% of your plate for these bad boys.

3. Mashed Pa-Taters

Everyone’s favorite. Sure during the year you’ll opt for that baked potato over their mashed-up counterpart. But not on Turkey day. The clutch thing about these fluffy wonders is the omni-present gravy bowl. With a large spoon (or even with the gravy ladle), create a large, swimming-pool like bowl in the middle of your tater serving. Proceed to fill that crevasse with wonderful gravy goodness. Because of the wonder that is the sea of gravy, you’ll probably need about 30% of your plate for the mashed potatoes.

2. Turkey

And you thought the turkey itself would have to be numero uno. No sir-ee. Don’t get me wrong, it’s kind of a big deal and very important. Preferably your turkey is smoked in some manner and always, always buy the biggest turkey from your vendor of choice. I can’t stress this step enough. Besides, leftover cooking options abound: cold sandwiches, turkey soup, fried turkey…I could go on for days. Because of the spreadability of the number one entry, the remaining 40% of your plate should consist of the main bird. Unless you tastefully decide to add some of your own entries to this list, in which case you can use your judgement. Or better yet, just grab a second plate. Boom, a whole other 100% to play with. Problem solved.

1. Gravy

The beauty of gravy, and why it was placed in the top spot, is that it accentuates everything. Ideally, you set up your whole plate using the percentages listed above. Don’t forget to make the chasm in the mashed potatoes as deep as possible. Then, start there, filling completely to the top. If it overflows, don’t worry! That’s the beauty of gravy. Now, continue to pour a healthy serving of this “nectar-of-the-gods” onto your remaining entreés. Then, the waiting is over. Dig in and enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Enjoy the food; I know I will.

Tags: candied yams, food, gravy, i love thanksgiving food, lists, mashed potatos, stuffing, thanksgiving, top 5, turkey, yum