For the previous 5 years, I’ve rolled as much as my mother and father’ home on Thanksgiving with my specialty: a chai masala pumpkin pie. Velvety with the proper sweet-to-spice ratio, the pie makes the entire home scent like a mug of chai. Each time, at the very least one member of the family declares it “the very best pumpkin pie I’ve ever had.”
This yr, nevertheless, my mother, who often cooks a lot of the meal, stated she wished to chop again and deal with simply the turkey, stuffing, and gravy, and would everybody please present up with a aspect? So, along with pie, I provided to make the mashed potatoes.
However then.
Someway, I let it slip throughout a household brunch that I had by no means made mashed potatoes. And the entire desk misplaced it. “What?!” “You’ve by no means made mashed potatoes?!” “How?” “We want good mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving!” “Possibly she shouldn’t make them??”
After numerous badgering, I rolled my eyes and warded them off by reminding them: a) I’ve cooked nearly day by day of my grownup life, and b) I might do a trial run.
My youthful brother’s texts the following day
So, this weekend, my husband Max and I invited my household over for dinner, and I made Jenny’s traditional mashed potatoes. As he served himself a spoonful, my brother appeared over, raised his eyebrows, and stated, “I don’t know, Jannelle, we’ll see…”
However, expensive reader, I killed it. They had been fluffy and buttery and the whole lot we wished. By the tip of the evening the vote was unanimous: I might be trusted with potatoes.
Right this moment, I now have eight kilos of russets on my kitchen counter and a brand new recipe added to my Thanksgiving specialities. Whereas preparing for the busiest-time-in-the-kitchen season, I’d like to know: what’s your specialty? Turkey with a twist? A vegetarian entrée? A bottle of actually good wine? Or possibly you convey one thing apart from meals, like enjoyable video games or dialog starters. Please share your emblems under…
P.S. Bonding with household, and 21 household board video games which are truly enjoyable.
(Photograph by Nikole Herriott.)