Taking on Thanksgiving

NO, we’re not gathering indoors.

According to this mapping tool assuming there are 5x more cases than reported, there is a 34% chance in Chicago of at least one person being COVID positive in a gathering of 10 people. It’s crazy to hear neighbors in their building casually discuss their Thanksgiving travel plans. Those aren’t very good odds.

Instead, I’m cooking all the food for a socially-distanced Zoom gathering. I will be doing this on Sunday/mostly on Monday, in order to ship overnight food to my brother-in-law in Boston and possibly Noah’s aunt. I’m trying to make as much stuff as I can on Monday, maybe even some on Tuesday, so it can be as fresh as possible.

A RIDICULOUS undertaking, truly. But I’m looking forward to it, even if I’m dreading the stressful nightmare that it could very well be. Spending hundreds of dollars to overnight food so we can all eat the same thing is also pretty ridiculous. But it’s been a crazy year, and I feel like we all need to pretend like Thanksgiving isn’t just completely cancelled.

Here is the tentative menu for 8-10 ppl:

Zoom Thanksgiving 2020

Brioche Rolls (incl. gluten-free)
TURKEY - Sous vide breast & roasted legs
Gravy, obv
Cheesy potato gratin
Refined-sugar-free cranberry sauce
Charred green beans w/ tomato romanesco & breadcrumbs
Kale+brussel sprout+sweet potato salad a la GG’s Chicken Shop
Celery & leek cornbread stuffing, w/ homemade cornbread
Apple pie (incl alt. crumble)

Ok so when I first wrote this menu out, it looked very pared down and simple. But when I started writing down each component of each dish, it sounds a little overwhelming, especially if the work can’t be spread out over several days, except for the breads.

But… it’ll be fun!

Maybe I’ll add a few pictures to this post, but I doubt I’ll have time to document during the clusterfuck of a cooking process this is going to be. WOO!

LFG!