The gap between tamales and the Thanksgiving table is continuing to narrow as an increasing number of Mexican-Americans are stuffing their holiday masa with pumpkin and sweet potatoes.
Tamales have been a festive food ever since the Aztecs and other early Meso-Americans served them in conjunction with their religious rituals, says Claudia Alarcon, an Austin-based writer who's kicking off the University of Texas' Foodways of Mexico speaker series this week with a talk on tamale history. While tamales aren't associated with winter holidays south of the border, Alarcon says "I'm pretty sure in every U.S. state where Mexican-Americans live, they have tamales for the holidays."
Need a way to spruce up those turkey leftovers? Top the traditional day-after open-faced turkey sandwich with a decadent mushroom and white wine gravy.
Get this turkey recipe along with many others after the jump.
While the holiday season is all about tradition, here's one to break: serving wine with dinner. Craft beer's varied styles and flavors mean you can match any festive meal to the perfect brew. Here's our hop-filled primer on Thanksgiving entertaining.
As guests snack on crunchy crudités and crackers and cheese, crack a pleasantly hopped pale ale such as the release from San Diego's Stone. The brewery's version contains a malty, reserved bitterness that complements the hors d'oeuvres without overwhelming them. If Stone's unavailable, Stoudt's American Pale Ale is a great biscuity, citrusy selection. (The appetizer can apply to every holiday.)
She had a ham named after her at Costco last year, now fans of Martha Stewart can complete their Thanksgiving menu with her vegetarian-fed and antibiotic-free turkeys from Plainville Farms.
Twelve and 18 pound turkeys are available for purchase online and must be ordered by Nov. 18 to ensure you have your turkey in time for Thanksgiving (turkeys are shipped via 2-day delivery.) Skip the shipping costs if you live near one of these retailers:
Heinen's Fine Foods (Greater Cleveland)
Kings Super Markets (New Jersey)
McCaffrey's Stores (Pennsylvania and New Jersey)
The holiday wouldn't be complete without her expert turkey and stuffing advice. Each turkey is packaged with "Turkey 101," complete with cooking instructions and recipes.
The classic Thanksgiving menu -- which has become so standardized that nearly 90 percent of Americans report eating turkey to celebrate the holiday -- is a virtual parade through the food pyramid, with nearly every known food group admirably represented. Looking for grains? Try the cornbread stuffing. Craving fruit? Have some cranberry sauce. In a vegetable mood? You've got your pick of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and green beans (mixed with mushroom soup, for an extra veggie bonus).
But, for the last half-century, one food group has been conspicuously missing from the typical Thanksgiving table. Confronted by the usual festive spread, a Pilgrim would no doubt ask: "Whither the shellfish, Prudence?"
Lobsters, clams and mussels were almost certainly served at the 1621 feast that's come to be commemorated as the First Thanksgiving. While the Pilgrims weren't especially fond of seafood -- Plimoth Plantation's culinarian Kathleen Wall says the community considered shellfish "the last of God's blessings" -- the settlement's proximity to the sea meant waterborne creatures were a staple of harvest meals, alongside earthy corn porridges, turnips and grapes. Pilgrims and Wampanoags supped on seal, swan and extravagantly large crustaceans.
"They talk about these lobsters that fed three sailors," Wall marvels.
Stuffing doesn't have to be cooked inside the turkey. It also doesn't have to be made with chicken or turkey broth. Entice vegetarian guests with this fragrant, flavorful vegetarian adaptation of traditional stuffing.
Get this stuffing recipe along with many others after the jump.
Nearly every cook has their own take on the iconic sweet potato casserole. Do you sprinkle it with brown sugar or top it with marshmallows? Do you put pecans in it or go without? Despite the variations, the sweet sweet potato dish tastes more like dessert than a side vegetable.
Get this sweet potato casserole recipe along with many others after the jump.
Finish this sentence: "It's not Thanksgiving at my house without ..."
For most, the answer will be the bird of the hour -- Tom Turkey. For others, it may be the baked ham in its glazed glory.
Some like to carbo-load on gravy-laden mashed potatoes, while others prefer to bow before bowls of macaroni-n-cheese. And then there are the casserole crazies.
Many find themselves nostalgic for the green bean casserole of yore, complete with cream of mushroom soup and canned fried onions. Then there's the sweet potato casserole -- which in itself sparks controversy as whether to top with brown sugar or marshmallows. And whether or not it is indeed referred to as sweet potato casserole or candied yams.
On a related note, is it called stuffing or dressing? And do you bake it in the bird or separately? Cranberry sauce -- is it canned or homemade?
For the rest, the answer is easy as pie -- saving the best for last with a slice of pecan, pumpkin, apple or sweet potato goodness.
One thing we can all agree on is Thanksgiving is a time to eat, eat and, oh yeah, eat some more. The nap afterward is a well-deserved reward.
Have a field day in the comments. "It's not Thanksgiving without ..."
One of the most tender and juicy hams you can serve your guests this holiday season is just a click away. Honey Baked Hams are bone-in hams that have a sensational honey crust that produces a sweet taste throughout the meat. A must-have in many Southern households for the holidays, these hams are an ideal Thanksgiving turkey alternative. A variety of honey baked and glazed hams can be ordered online -- making both shopping and cooking easier for the busy host. Slashfood rounded up some of the top online sites for ordering honey baked ham this holiday season.
The HoneyBaked Ham Company offers whole and half honey-baked and glazed hams online. You can even order complete meals with side dishes like green bean casserole, potatoes au gratin and southern pecan pie.
Chicago's Allen Brothers, whose steaks are served in steakhouses like Morton's and at Lawry's the Prime Rib's four outposts, offers honey-glazed hams and ham dinners.
The Holiday Ham Company has whole and half-hams online, along with side dishes, seafood, turkey and steaks.
Smithfield Marketplace has a variety of hams in addition to its honey baked ham, including brown-sugar and wine-glazed hams.
Thanksgiving is linked, more closely than any other holiday, with a single, particular food. The noble turkey. Benjamin Franklin's favorite fowl (and the one he nominated to be our national bird) is eaten nearly universally in the good old U.S of A. on the fourth Thursday in November.
However, not everyone sitting around your dining room table on Thanksgiving Day is a happy meat eater. My younger sister was a vegetarian (and then a vegan) for a number of years, sending my mother and me searching for holiday worthy fare for her. We discovered that tofurky is a poor substitute and that it was better to make a wonderful, non-turkey dish than try to fake poultry.
10 More Dirty Restaurant Tricks
5 Things You Didn't Know About Turducken
10 Catchiest Food Jingles We Love to Hate
