Ep 29: Thanksgiving Traditions: Balancing Classics and Creativity
Join me as I share expert tips for hosting a stress-free and enjoyable Thanksgiving. It can be done!
With over 25 years of culinary experience, I've got your back when it comes to sticking to traditional dishes while finding ways to keep the cooking experience fresh and exciting. You’ll find practical advice on planning, delegating tasks, and accommodating dietary restrictions, ensuring everyone leaves the dinner table fat and happy. Tune in for my favorite strategies that balance beloved holiday staples with creative twists, making your Thanksgiving a culinary success!
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Christine Van Bloem: 0:01
Well happy almost Thanksgiving. We're just a little over a week out. And if you are in charge of dinner, I have something special to talk to you about today. But before we do that, Could you leave a review? It would be so helpful whether you're on apple podcasts or Spotify, every review helps get us out there just a little bit more so we can talk to other Empty Nest ladies. And bring food. Very best guests on for you. So you've got a minute, leave a review. I'd love to see what you think. And now on with the show. Welcome to the Empty Nest Kitchen, where we're finding fun in the kitchen now that the kids have flown the coop. I'm Christine Van Bloem, a cooking teacher with over 25 years of experience, here to show you tips, tricks, and joy in your kitchen, all while trying something new. Let's get cooking! So my background is actually that of a cooking school owner for 15 years. And the cooking school teacher for well, quite a bit long. And I wanted to tell you that Thanksgiving. Is not the time to experiment. And I know that if food is your jail, That is going to break your heart. But after teaching all of these years and after developing cooking school schedules, Because as the owner, I had to always figure out. What would sell when, what were people interested in and so on and so forth? And I can tell you. That selling a Thanksgiving cooking class. Was it Kim to pulling teeth. Thanksgiving is so thoroughly rooted in our deepest traditions that folks want what they want and they don't want anything different now. If you're like me and you love to cook. This can be a little bit disconcerting because. For me, entertaining is so much fun. Our house is small. We're going to cram 20 some people into it. It's going to be chaos. And I love every minute of it. Especially because I don't wash dishes. But I can tell you it's a wholesale a time when I don't always want to cook the same boring thing. Right. Now I'm a south central Pennsylvania girl by birth. And a Maryland girl by choice. And I will tell you that. We had this really cool family tradition. You'll hear about it on next week spot. But we would go and we would have the same exact dinner. Every single year, there was nothing fancy. There was everything homemade. But it was deeply rooted in what everyone, grandparents, aunts, uncles, everyone had grown up with. So I remember it being such a thing that I wasn't even allowed to cook, even after going to culinary school. So I took a stuffing one year. I had been reading my fine cooking magazine and oh my goodness. That was so great. I loved it. I'm so sad. It's gone. But there was a corn bread stuffing. And in my family, there was never cornbread stuffing anywhere. And I thought this would be fantastic. It had some bacon and some pecans, corn bread, carrot, celery, all the good stuff in it. I tasted it. Holy bananas. It was so fantastic. So I made my cornbread stuffing. I wrapped it up and I drove to Thanksgiving dinner. It was hours away. And I got there, we made sure it was hot. Did the whole thing. And I remember nobody. Was touching it. And I'm going to tell you right now that stuffing kicked booty. It was so fantastic, but it wasn't what people were thinking of. It wasn't what they associated with Thanksgiving dinner. It wasn't the stuffing that we were used to having. So nobody wanted to try it. And I had to, I was, I was a pusher man. I had to walk around with the tray offering stuffing to people. I swear it was the craziest thing. And I remember my uncle buddy looking at it. Curling his lip up and going, oh no. And just brushing me off. I still remember this and this was probably 20 years ago. Right? People one, what they want. They don't want you to make the green bean casserole with real green beans that you're going to blanche. And a mushroom soup blend that you will create yourself. They don't want it. They want the cans. They want the dump it all in and certainly. There are exceptions to the rule. Of course, there always are. You've got somebody who's super good natured. Who's going to try anything, but how do you as a cook, as somebody who's hosting, how do you keep things interesting for yourself? Without making it. So you're stuck with lots of leftovers. My example is my fantastic cranberry relish that I love so much where you use fresh cranberries. You can actually go to Empty Nest, Kitchen dot com under blog, and you'll find a whole bunch of recipes. You'll have to go to another page. You will, you will, but you can find my cranberry orange relish recipe. It's what I like to call a dump and stir where you're dumping. Cranberry sugar, orange zest, orange juice. Um, shallots some salt. All that good stuff. You're just dumping it into a glass baking dish and lean it, go in the oven for like 30 minutes and it comes out and this is certainly nothing I was raised on. I mean, raise a hand if you were all about the ridges. Right. I remember trying to get that cranberry sauce to plop out of the cans, standing in my grandma's kitchen. Right. Trying to make sure all the ridges were intact and cutting it just so, so. So it would lay in her special cranberry dish. We never had cranberries that were whole it any big ever. So for me, what I do is I love that. So I make it for me. And then I have the can too. Now. Our Thanksgiving dinner is going to have Turkey classic. Mashed potatoes. Of course. Stuffing gravy. Noodles that is a central south central PA thing. Plus ski noodles are what they're called and we cook them in Turkey broth. And then you put them on top of your mashed potatoes or ours. I like to call it carbs on carbs. Um, we'll have that in my family, my extended family growing up, we always had baked oysters that were simply saltines butter and jarred oysters that were layered and baked. I won't be made. That, but that's something we always had green bean casserole. We would always have. We called it. Korn, my friend calls it like a corn souffle. So classic. So simple. Was there a green salad? Never. Were there appetizers? No. So for me, for my family. That's what they're looking for. So what are my options here? And what are your options here? Well, let's work it through. I recommend. Figuring out what those must have dishes are. And then from there. Planning where you want to be more elaborate or where maybe it just don't care. It's not too late to send a text to the major players and ask them. What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish? And from there working out your list. With that information, I'm able to take a look and make sure that all of the basics are going to be on hand. And I'll tell you. Can I think you'll agree here. But folks really love to contribute. So if you are the type a and you are going to handle dinner soup to nuts the whole way through it's a formal sit down. Listen. Peace be with you because that is amazing. And I think you're incredible. I used to work that way and it just got to be too much on myself. It was just. More than I could enjoy with the holiday. I was so wrapped up in at all and good caterers. I don't know if you know this. But good caters, even good restaurants, but more really caters sort of thing. They know where their strengths are. So rather than baking fresh rolls for you, they're going to find somebody that makes really fabulous roles. You have that same power. Put the attention to the dishes that mattered the most to you. And make sure that the dishes that matter to your family. Are walking in the door. I. Really have so much more fun now. With everyone contributing. And I always ask everyone to bring a dessert. I want to have so many desserts on the back porch. That we can't possibly eat them. Right. And dessert is great. Especially if you have teenagers. I think you'll find teenagers in the family really love to get their bake on. That's how a lot of younger folks get introduced into cooking with baking because when you're young, of course, or when you're old, Sugar rules. So parade. So let's take it back to dinner. I know, for example, That, uh, my wonderful sister-in-law is smart and she really wants a green salad. And let me tell you that green salad delicious. So they're going to bring that my brother's going to handle the mashed potatoes and if you need a great tip. You can make your mashed potatoes ahead of time and keep them warm in your slow cooker. My mom did that for years. But the other thing is slow cookers. Incorporate more moisture in. So you might be under the impression that you need to add a little extra milk to your potato situation. Completely the opposite. You do not have to do that because the slow cookers work and form condensation to help keep everything warm. So it's going to incorporate a little bit of that condensation in there anyway. So do not feel you have to add any, but I'm telling you It is the greatest trick. I absolutely love it. Mashed potatoes in the slow cooker. Every day. It's too good. So. I'm going to handle the Turkey because I kind of feel like that's the host job. I got to go get that. And if you are buying a frozen Turkey this year, I can tell you right now, I'm buying a big one because we're going to have so many people. I am going to put it in the refrigerator probably on Saturday to make sure that it is thought on time. Okay. It's always better to be a day too early than a day, too late. Trust me on that. But if Turkey, maybe isn't as important to you. This is a great time. To try deep prying. Because not only does it put the onus on who's ever going to deep fry. And we've deep fried. A couple of times my brothers have done it. They've usually taken charge of it, family friend. But it takes space. That would be used in your oven and opens it up for other things, which I think is so, so great. So if Turkey, maybe you're like, yeah. Deep fry at baby. Go ahead and get that set up ahead of time. So, you know, what's what there. Let's see, I'm also going to make. Uh, the noodles of course, and the stuffing, because my stuffing is phenomenal. It's so, so good. It's really basic. You don't have to go too fancy. And my brother's like what my brother's like, so I'm not gonna make it too hard. I have a turn from what we grew up with though. I have. Um, for sure going to make it taste here. Because that's something I can do and they will enjoy that. I'll take care of the noodles and believe it or not. You can purchase Turkey broth. Now get it this week. Okay. Because I promise you. Things are gonna start emptying on the store shelves and you're not going to be able to find them next week. So either grab a better than bullion Turkey broth. Um, base where the it's the concentrated base and you add water to con reconstitute it, or I don't actually need to keep hanging around so long. So I usually just buy. Two quarts of Turkey stock instead. It's super easy breezy. I'll use them both. And then I don't have a leftover to worry about cook those noodles in the broth. They're so good. I'll take care of those things and I'm sure there'll be some others, the aforementioned cranberry, of course, but let folks bring what makes them happy. My friend Miranda. I know for a fact she's bringing the green bean casserole, which I love. And even though I grew up never having an appetizer, I think we're going to go a little later than we usually do. We've done dinner at like 1231. I think I'm going to push it back. To mid late afternoon. But. I'm probably just going to get a little bit of And some cheese and just some light nibbles per folks. Nothing. That I'm really gonna put a ton of effort into, but if you want to experiment. And you want to have fun with your cooking and you're stuck in that traditional dinner kind of pocket. Appetizers are a great way to express your creativity. Now I hate it when my husband was something to nibble on out 15 minutes before dinner is ready. Oh, it makes me crazy. But. If you're going to have some nice lead time before dinner, is there. A couple of little nibbles are a good way to get out. And unless there's something like my grandma's famous clam balls. That you're grieving. It is a great opportunity for you to get your culinary experimentation phase gallon. Also don't forget dessert. If you are not a baker by it. Buy it, there is the most fabulous bakery near me. And she is so smart for this weekend. She's doing, um, all pies. All pies, whatever kind of pie you want, you can get the pie. Toss it in your freezer and then thought out. You have some place near you, but I'm telling you if you don't have that order in now, today is the day. Get your order in a S a P. Because you don't want to get shut out. Also have your guests bring dessert. Like I mentioned before, if they want to bake it awesome. If, Hey, Roman bring a quart of ice cream. Awesome for us. Dessert was always a free for all, nothing fancy and plated. More nibbles and things that were always on the front porch that you could go and eat. So keep it simple, but spread the jobs out. I think it makes it so much more interesting from a culinary standpoint. Because my friend from Nebraska is going to bring something different than my family from central PA. Right. Or the folks that are big international travelers, they'll bring something to. Now there's one more note here, and this is an important one I have this year. Um, I have a gluten-free. I have a vegetarian. And I have a pescatarian. Uh, okay. So how are we going to handle that? Well, there are some things that I'm going to make two versions of gravy, but I'm not going to make three gravy, always have some sort of a starch in there to thicken it. But I will make sure that there are other things available for my gluten-free friend. It's kind of spacing it out and it's also okay. To put some of the responsibility back on them. So not in a harsh way, just in a I'm so glad you're coming. What are, you know, you should contribute something that you really love kind of way. Because folks are typically. Really reasonable. Really understanding. I justifies you to talk to them or to have some accommodations ready. So I know I'll make vegetarian gravy. No problem. I know that I can't use chicken stock and my stuffing. No problem. I'll use a veggie stock instead. It'll still be awesome. But those are the sort of things you have to talk about. I really want you to. Try to relax. Make your lists. Now this is our Superbowl after all. Make your lists now. And. Delegate. Delegate delegate. And finally, if you have kind of a showstopper or something that is going to be really fun. Whether it's a fire pit in your backyard, and you're going to make smores. We love fat. Or I have this little cotton candy machine that I pull out at all the holidays. And everybody goes crazy for it. It's the funniest thing. We'll pull that out and just let kids and adults. I want you to know the kids have had to wait behind the adults. To really get in there. So try to have something that's maybe a user participation for heaven sake. We used to roast marshmallows over Sterno can. My mom got me a smores and put that in air quotes. Why don't you. Uh, smores kit that you would put a Sterno can in the middle for the fire, and then you would spin it around, you know, to get the marshmallows in one thing and the Graham crackers and another, and the chocolate and another. Try to have something that maybe. Brings an edge of fun. If you've got I try to have a little fun with it after all. This is a time when we get to really celebrate food. The holiday is about food and friends and family. And I hope you have a great one. I will talk to you next week and as always have fun cooking. And I'll see in the kitchen.
