I have made Thanksgiving dinner every year for the past 11 years save last year (and I missed it terribly!), and what I have found over the years is that everyone has some specific item they need to have on the table to truly make it Thanksgiving in their hearts, and maybe even to bring back some happy childhood memories. After all, they say that scent, taste and memories are irrevocably intertwined; so in other words, food truly can be life.
For me, I have to have deviled eggs as an appetizer on Thanksgiving or it just isn’t right. For Scott, the necessary entity is mashed sweet potatoes, for his dad it’s red cabbage.
Needless to say, we will prepare all of these in addition to the crustless spinach quiche that will make T-day near and dear to my mom’s heart. And a liver pate. Not sure who snuck that on the menu, but I thought the young girl helping me find chicken livers at Pick ‘n Save was going to pass out from shock when we finally located the little tub of lovelies.
Turkey in itself is something of an interesting proposition since I have had turkey at many people’s homes over the years for either Christmas or Thanksgiving and I swear it was done a little differently every time. Martha Stewart and Joey Campanaro swear by a butter and wine soaked cheese cloth, Rachel Ray recommends you plop herb-crusted breasts under a brick and my friend Brian swears there’s nothing better than his deep fried turkey in peanut oil.
I stick to my old standby rule which is that three sticks of butter rubbed under and over the skin coupled with regular basting will make any turkey nearly as juicy as a slice of ripe watermelon. Cholesterol? Calories? Be damned. In fact, I think we should make a ham, too.
But in all seriousness, Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days every year and not just because I am a notorious foodie. In addition to being able to gorge myself without shame, I get to spend the post-cooking part of the day sloughing off, relaxing with friends and family, and regardless of whether I mean to or not, I cannot help but realize genuinely at least some of the many things I have to be thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Amy L. Schubert is a 15-year veteran of the hospitality industry and has worked in every aspect of bar and restaurant operations. A graduate of Marquette University (B.A.-Writing Intensive English, 1997) and UW-Milwaukee (M.A.-Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Writing, 2001), Amy still occasionally moonlights as a guest bartender and she mixes a mean martini.
The restaurant business seems to be in Amy’s blood, and she prides herself in researching and experimenting with culinary combinations and cooking techniques in her own kitchen as well as in friends’ restaurants. Both she and her husband, Scott, are avid cooks and “wine heads,” and love to entertain friends, family and neighbors as frequently as possible.
Amy and Scott live with their boys, Alex and Nick, in Bay View, where they are all very active in the community. Amy finds great pleasure in sharing her knowledge and passions for food and writing in her contributions to OnMilwaukee.com.
