When Dr. Georgianne Thomas, 80, an author and adjunct professor of humanities at Clark Atlanta University, pushes aside the yellow bracelet adorning her wrist to reveal a burn mark, the table of people she’s dining with are stunned. The mark, decades old but still visible, was left by a Ku Klux Klan member putting out…
Ever since I was a little girl I’d dreamed of going to Darjeeling. My imagination was captivated by this town nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas in the Indian state of West Bengal. Surrounded by lush, terraced tea gardens that extend across rolling hills, with the majestic snow-capped mountains behind them, Darjeeling is one…
For soup enthusiasts across America, the post-Thanksgiving turkey broth can be as sacred as the holiday meal itself. In many households, even before the dishes and the leftovers are packed away, the turkey carcass and trimmings are nestled into a pot of water for their hourslong simmer. Leftover turkey soup is a cozy way to…
Dishwashing, the B-side to Thanksgiving cooking, can be as satisfying as preparing the feast. There’s a certainty to the outcome, a calm that comes with cleanliness and a definitive end to all the work for the holiday. To make it less stressful, it’s important to first acknowledge that stubborn grease stains aren’t the only hard…
“Oh, no. Oh, no. Will they both fit? Absolutely not.” “I’ve made that dish 100 times. It’s never turned out like that.” “Where’s the butter? Do you where the butter is? Oh, sorry.” “No.” “Oh, no.” “The cranberries.” [MUSIC PLAYING] “Thank you.” “100.” “Yay.” “My partner’s dog, Darwin, really looks like Benjamin Franklin. He’s an…
It turns out that, if it tastes good together on your Thanksgiving plate, it’ll taste good baked into a pocket. Wrapping up Thanksgiving leftovers in store-bought pizza dough and baking it all together creates a hand-held pielike treat that’s somewhere between a calzone and one of those Costco chicken bakes. I love how all of…
“The Core of an Onion,” Mark Kurlansky’s latest single-subject food book, made me think of Thanksgiving. He devotes an entire chapter to creamed onions, essential at Thanksgiving dinner when I was growing up. His book has recipes for them dated to 1665 and a reference to the 1941 film “They Died With Their Boots On,”…
With all the pre-Thanksgiving preparations going on — the list-checking and turkey brining, the stock-simmering and pie-crust rolling — making actual dinners this week can feel like too much. A legit move is to order in, of course. But here’s another thought: Why wait for takeout when we at New York Times Cooking have a…
In a spacious Houston cafeteria awash in primary colors, diners crowded around big tables and dug into mashed potatoes splashed with a slick gravy, glossy green beans and sticky slabs of pecan pie. The calendar said Oct. 12. But this was Luby’s, where every day is Thanksgiving. “I am a Texan,” said Wunzel Lewis, 71,…
Christina Iverson and Tracy Bennett, who make puzzles for The New York Times, are offering a tidy potluck of seasonal games for NYT Cooking readers. Gather for some friendly competition, find out interesting trivia about the holiday or team up to see if you can outsmart others in your group. All you need are pencils,…