We will be on a lighter publication schedule through next Monday, December 2. We may be a post light today, Wednesday, depending on news flow, and will have only three posts ex Water Cooler on Thursday and Friday. I hope Lambert will take Thursday off and am not sure what he plans for Friday. I offered our moderators a 4 day sort-of comments holiday (with Lambert and me covering, which would = slower freeing of posts) but they declined. So thank them for their dedication.
I hope those of you in the US get some R&R, good grub, and enjoyable visits with friends and family. And those who are cooks and responsible for festive meal, hope your prep goes well and you get the assistance you need.
Thanks and R&R for you guys.
some entertainment:
Edward Bernays (*1891) on Letterman, April 4, 1985
8 min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-4AulOuCPI
Thanks, I’ll watch later.
Thanks and kudos to the writers and moderators at Naked Capitalism. It has been quite a year, and there has been too much news to read and to analyze.
Salutations to the other groundlings of the commentariat. The comments sections are almost always like a good chat over a glass of arneis and a plate of stuzzichini (well, that’s how we would do it here in the Undisclosed Region).
Here in Italy, Americans tend to maintain this most American of holidays. It’s just that Thursday is a workday, so the grand meal gets moved to the weekend. Italians like the custom because it’s a chance for a celebration as well as a chance to sample U.S. cookery. (And getting some of the ingredients is a challenge, because they don’t exist in Italian culture — but I have some dried cranberries and some pecans…) Also, American baking is very much appreciated in Italy — so there will be pumpkin bread, which is highly non-Italian.
Maybe later, Yves Smith can give a leisurely report (we all would like things to be more leisurely) about Thanksgiving in Southeast Asia and the adaptions.
Best wishes to all.
I have never, ever, prepared a turkey in the oven. I know there is an expert in every American as I have read in this blog in previous years. If someone wants to share his/her secrets I will appreciate it. I would like to try it next Christmas. Enjoy the Thanksgiving which, when I was living there, found to be the most genuine and enjoyable of the holidays.
Indeed, this year has shown to be quite a demanding one in terms of news and the curation of disinfo, misinfo and propaganda. I thought that 2020 was a difficult one with the pandemic but 2024 shows that it can get worse.
Best wishes!
re: disinfo – beware you won´t get some fake recipe that will mess up your turkey by some mean-spirited CIA-troll among us.
I haven´t made turkey either. But from lamb etc. I assume the challenge is to keep the huge bird from drying out in the oven. So either you have a huge closed casserole or you constantly supply it with fluids. And low-temperature advocates would suggest the longer at a low temperature the better.
Assuming Ignacio must be deep frying his turkey every Thanksgiving? /s
We got a turkey from the Amish, as we’ve done many times. We do it at home and everything is cooked from scratch. My SIL does Thanksgiving, but everything comes in a box, can or freezer bag; everything is ultraprocessed. And supermarket pies with 30 ingrdients are not our idea of dessert. I’m sure you appreciate a homemade Marinara more than Ragu… that’s a difference than makes a difference.
Ignacio,
Back in the day, my college roommates and I used to cook a turkey for our friends in our little place before we all went home to the families. The easiest way is the paper bag method. Sounds too simple but it works.
First make a stuffing with a stick of butter in a skillet and add a chopped up onion, a bunch of celery, and a lot of mushrooms. Then tear up a loaf or so of decent bread (from the panadería, never Bimbo), mix together with some spices – savory is good, thyme or whatever you like – and stuff it all in the turkey, front and back. Sew up the openings where you put the stuffing and maybe tie the legs together somewhat. Place the bird in a brown paper bag like you get at the grocery store here. In Spain I have not seen these used but you can find something. Put it in the oven at about 175C. If you have a wire rack use it, if not just put it down on a cookie sheet or something. Cook until it is done, they say 15 minutes per pound but it can vary. The legs should wiggle and when you poke it the juice should run clear. The breast will cook faster than the dark meat. The bag sort of wicks up the juices and keeps it from drying out. You can also just be vigilant with a turkey baster and put a piece of tinfoil over it until the end when you take it off to brown the bird.
The suggestions about the dutch oven are good, I used that method before I ¨left the building¨ and it works great. I am sure you will get lots of suggestions for ways that may be better, but this is the simplist I know and reminds me of the good old innocent days before we all knew better. The main thing is to enjoy.
Look for Alton Brown’s Turkey & Brining instructions from Good Eats on YouTube.
We used to do the whole bird, various different methods (brining, stuffed with fruit, smoked… ), which all worked reasonably well, but the last couple of times, we’ve quartered it ahead of roasting, which makes it come out so much better. Splitting it up means you can watch the temperature and pull out the white meat before the dark meat, so both come out perfect. You lose the presentation value of the big bird at the middle of the table, but our table ends up with so much other stuff the bird just sits in the kitchen and gets cut up there anyway, so what’s the point?
I agree that parting the bird before cooking gives the best control and best results.
Here’s a nice youtube video of the whole process.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd1rM3CsoN0
However, a lovely torta di zucca could almost be Italian!
I second the sentiments of our esteemed Reality Czar. Best wishes to all and thanks to NC and its Commentariat for their sane voices in this insane world!
Italians do celebrate Black Friday, without celebrating Thanksgiving.
gk: Già.
The men’s clothing store across the street is advertising Black Friday Weekend.
Un mistero d’Italia, ne.
Oh yeah! Black Friday must be now one of the most important “values” of the Collective West. Fighting for it in Ukraine.
Black Friday? 🙄
My pharmacist offered me some high-end beauty products against ageing skin with 30% off due to “Black Friday”. I assume that had nothing to do with Thanksgiving.
Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving — one of the few holidays not sentenced to life on Monday in the US. As such, it’s a day when retailers (and e-tailers) stage big sales to get customers spending, heh, the Christmas rush with them ahead of all others.
I’m old enough to remember when a worker died from being trampled at a Walmart when the doors opened Black Friday morning. . . .
https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/wal-mart-worker-trampled-to-death-by-frenzied-black-friday-shoppers/
But the name comes from the idea that big holiday sales revenue helps stores get into the black for the year.
AHA!!!
did not know
now do.
Thanks.
You can’t have proper Black Friday without someone dying.
Happy Thanksgiving guys and I hope that everybody has a chance to chill out and relax with the family. Many thanks to the crew of the good ship Naked Capitalism, especially Yves and Lambert, and special thanks to the moderators for going above and beyond these holidays. You guys are champs!
Second all of that. Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday. We’re trying a dry rub on the turkey this year.
Peace and love from the southern Greens to all.
Thanks for your service,
Happy Thanksgiving
John
Happy Thanksgiving! A special thanks to the moderators. This is the best place I know of for great content and community commentary. I really do appreciate the work you do to find relevant/interesting posts and keep the comments informative and relevant. This is my favorite place on the web!
I’ll happily “eleventh” or so the thanks given by everyone else already to the founders of the feast that is Naked Capitalism — and especially at this time to the staunch and steadfast moderators.
12th in the chorus.
Giving thanks!
Feliz Acción de Gracias!