Welcome back to Hoot Recommends! This week, in honor of the upcoming holiday, members of The Hoot Editorial Board will be sharing their favorite Thanksgiving dishes.
James: My favorite Thanksgiving dish is stuffing. It’s just the best. Not even homemade stuffing. Just the store-bought box. It’s really great. It is by far the best Thanksgiving food both on Thanksgiving and as leftovers. My second favorite dish is cranberry sauce, although it’s nowhere near as delicious as stuffing.
Michael: I don’t really have one, because I don’t really celebrate Thanksgiving in the same way as other people. See, when my parents came over to the States from China, we didn’t have many immediate family members here, and we still don’t. So on most Thanksgivings, we celebrate with other Chinese-American families that we know. So there’s not much of a family tradition that we have to uphold in terms of food. Sometimes, we have more Chinese-style cooking; other years we have the stereotypical turkeys. So in my experience, food is not that important, hanging out with family friends is. If I had to choose a favorite food, it would probably be some form of bird. Turkey is nice, of course, but I also really, really like duck.
Jason: There is simply no greater thanksgiving dish like mac and cheese. If it’s not, ya mama can’t cook. Turkey, stuffing, greens etc. is more of a compliment to the main star of the show, and I think what’s so special about mac and cheese besides its lactose-loaded, butter golden, saturated goodness, is how differently it’s made by every family.
Cooper: I like da mac and cheese. I’m a big cheese fan, in all forms except American (American cheese is not cheese. In fact, it’s barely food). So when Thanksgiving comes around and I get to make myself a big plate of mac and cheese with a side of turkey, I’m a happy man.
Ella: My favorite is sweet potato, specifically the sweet potato my dad makes is sooooo good. It’s basically candy for me. I will eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I can’t eat sweet potato anywhere else for the rest of the year; otherwise, I will get an aversion to it (speaking from experince) and won’t be able to enjoy this yummy treat on thanksgiving. This is what I look forward to most this Thanksgiving.
Lucas: This may be the most stereotypical, least interesting answer I could give, but: the turkey. It’s just the best. I’m generally a fan of meat in general, but Thanksgiving turkey, prepared carefully, is just another level of meat. Specifically, I prefer the white meat of the turkey, heavily salted. I generally don’t like spices on it; I find the flavour of the turkey alone is enough.
Rachel: It’s hard to believe we have gone this far on the list without someone mentioning the glorious food that is pie. Where would we be without this precious dessert? Every other food offered at Thanskgiving is simply an opening act for the main event, which is the pie. From the flaky and crispy crust to the soft and sweet filling, pie is party on a plate. Naturally, the best Thanksgiving pie is the beloved pumpkin pie. That may just seem like I am going with the popular choice, but it is the popular choice for a reason. That pumpkin pie filling is beautiful and pairs well with the crust. It is a highlight of a Thanksgiving dinner. Frankly, this is a dessert that sould be more commonplace. Why does it only seem to appear at the end of the year? I want a summer pumpkin pie. After pumpkin pie, second place in the competition for the best pie would probably go to apple pie, a classic pie. In fact, I would say an apple pie is the best thing that you can do with an apple. It has a wonderful combination of soft and crunchy textures, which makes for a wonderful eating experience. There is a wide variety of wonderful pies out there, and they can all make for a delicious dessert on Thanksgiving. So as you make your way through that turkey and all of the side dishes, don’t forget to save room for that scrumptious pie (or pies, if you’re lucky) that will be the satisfying ending to a lovely Thanksgiving dinner.
Avery: Ok everyone, strap in and hold your sweet tooth tight. Much like Ella, I am a part of the refined group of society which enjoys sweet potatoes. Unlike Ella, however, I am willing to exceed any societally-normalized word limit to go into great detail on my covetous relationship with sweet potato soufflé. Despite requiring a few Google searches and awe-inspiring attempts to spell the word “soufflé,” make no mistake: I am its most ardent supporter. Let’s get into the nitty-gritty of just what makes up the dish my family and I worship at Thanksgiving, Easter and mayhaps, if we are especially lucky, a birthday or two. Sweet potato soufflé is a heavenly combination of sweet potato (not yam, they are not the same thing, fight me), cinnamon and vanilla extract. Then, after combining these most incredible of fall ingredients, the mixture is lovingly spread (I’m told not to include a NSFW joke here, but just imagine that I did; insert a chuckle here. Go on, I’ll wait) in a pan, where it is covered in a liberal (another joke that I shouldn’t tell at the family dinner table; this one political, because I have range) sprinkling of a combination of melted butter and brown sugar. This crisps on the top of the dish, but we are not finished yet, hold your applause. The co-star to the sweet potato is entering, stage right: MARSHMALLOWS. You read that correctly: on top of the preestablished deliciousness rests a fluffy cloud of marshmallows, which are carefully broiled under a watchful eye, lest they broil a tad too much, causing a small oven fire. No worries, it happens, and worst case scenario the marshmallows are a tad more toasty on top. Who doesn’t enjoy a toasty marshmallow? Exactly. The fire(s) weren’t that bad; the smoke alarm didn’t even go off. It’s fine. Anyway. Sweet potato soufflé: the topic everyone with taste buds will agree on. And if you think it’s too sweet, respectfully, please leave. Would you shun sunlight for being too bright? Rain for being too wet? Sweet potato soufflé is one of the few wonders of nature that mankind has not destroyed. I refuse to hear anything against its magnanimous glory.
Jenna: I don’t really like Thanksgiving … not the food or the holiday. If I had to pick the one Thanksgiving food I love is definitely cranberry sauce. NOT the jello kind but the one with the real whole cranberries. I just like eating it straight up, no bread, no meat, no nothing. They are also the only thing on the dish that has any moisture or color so I think Thanksgiving would be simply bland, beige and historically and edibly blah without it. But I still don’t like Thanksgiving … but now I could go for some cranberry sauce…
