is a reviews editor who manages how-tos and various projects. She’s worked as an editor and writer (and occasional sci-fi author) for more years than she cares to admit to.
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Thanksgiving is an interesting holiday. Some celebrate it as an American tradition. Others look at it as simply an excuse to get together with family to watch some football. And still others just enjoy getting an extra day off from work or try to ignore it altogether. But however you regard it, there are often two areas in which many of us can use help: preparing the traditional Thanksgiving meal and dealing with the stresses that a family get-together can create — especially these days, when conversations around the dinner table may be even more fraught than usual.
Here are some of the strategies that the staff of The Verge use to negotiate holiday meals to help you keep your head together around family and friends.
Prepare fantastic food
Kill them with kindness fat and sugar
I started getting into cooking about a decade ago, and since then have felt uncomfortable rolling up to a party empty-handed. Instead, I go on the caloric offensive. Thanksgiving means bringing a double batch of Millie Peartree’s Southern Macaroni and Cheese, courtesy of The New York Times. It’s food coma-inducing (I’m using three pounds of cheese here, folks), but it is a once-a-year sorta thing.
And if you hate cooking and baking, there are no rules against picking up something premade from a bakery or supermarket, or using a boxed mix. — Brandt Ranj, commerce writer
Get an old-fashioned mixer
I spent years toiling over mixing bowls during the holidays, my arm left burning after slogging through dense cookie dough with a wooden spoon. But then, I received a hand-me-down KitchenAid Stand Mixer, and it’s been a lifesaver for making just about anything for holiday gatherings: cookies, pies, bread, and even meatballs. My model comes with a couple of different attachments, including a whisk, a flat beater, and a dough hook, all of which make it a heck of a lot easier to get through whatever I’m making. AlI I have to do is toss in my ingredients, choose a speed, and watch the KitchenAid get the job done in half the time it would take me by hand. — Emma Roth, news writer
... continue reading