|
Hello there Reader, Thanksgiving doesn't have to leave you cursing like a sailor. (Although, if you ever heard Mama Leite muttering in Portuguese while wrestling a 22-pound turkey into submission, you might think otherwise.) As someone who's hosted more holiday dinners than my youthful countenance would suggest―some of which ended with me hiding in the basement, clutching a bottle of wine, and questioning my life choices―I've learned a thing or two about keeping my sanity intact. The One will back me up on this, especially after That One Year We Shall Never Speak Of Again when I nearly burned down the house. But I digress. What I've learned is mastering Thanksgiving is all about strategy. And, unlike how I usually cook―which The One likens to a tornado in an apron―this requires that dreaded word: planning. Allow me to share with you my hard-won five-day plan that'll keep you from ending up in the fetal position behind the washing machine. (Not that I know anything about that.) My Free Foolproof Five-Day Countdown
|
| ☞ YES, I NEED THIS! |
Why, hello! Leite's Culinaria is the James Beard Award-winning site that helps home cooks and bakers put dinner on the table and laughs in the kitchen. Hungry for more? Join 40,000 food lovers and subscribe.
Hi Reader, It's Monday evening. You didn't shop. The counter still has the last of the weekend's tomatoes, a zucchini that's seen better days, and a hunk of Parmesan that always looks smaller than you remember buying.You have everything you need.Pasta forgives. Salt the water, boil it hard, and let whatever's in front of you become dinner. A handful of herbs, one last eggplant, shrimp if you're feeling flush, or the ragù you froze in July.The kitchen fills with the sound of garlic in olive...
Hi Reader, Every August, I have the same conversation with myself."How many tomatoes did I really need?"The honest answer is never the one on the counter.Here's what happens when tomato season hits: a friend presses a bag into your hands. A farmer's market vendor insists you take "just a few more." You convince yourself you'll make one salad, just one, and suddenly your kitchen looks as though the San Marzano mafia has taken over.I love this problem.Tomatoes ripen fast and unforgivingly. Miss...
Hi Reader, Every year around now, someone leaves zucchini on my doorstep. No note. Just zucchini, the way other people get left flowers.My neighbor's garden has clearly turned on them, and the only humane response to a zucchini glut is to spread it around before it spreads to you.I have stopped resisting. A good zucchini summer is a fun problem to have, because zucchini works just about anywhere: shredded into a cake, sliced into a gratin, grilled in slabs, folded into pasta, fried into the...