Welcome to the free issue of Between the Layers! For more great content and recipes, consider becoming a subscriber! The best Thanksgiving is a shared Thanksgiving - No. 28Plus, 5 Substack food writers to check out & Cara’s Cocktail ShrimpIt’s going to be the most costly Thanksgiving ever, warns the New York Times, so how do we survive? Breathe. Today I share Thanksgiving thoughts from fellow Substack food writers and a beloved recipe Aunt Janet always brought to nibble on before the turkey was carved. She got it from her hairdresser.WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THANKSGIVING is that I get to eat other people’s cooking. The homemade rolls, sweet potatoes simmered in orange juice, Steve’s pecan pie, cocktail shrimp we try so hard not to fill up on, and those roasted Brussels sprouts that really shook up the casserole game and were devoured by all. So this year, to keep in the spirit of gratitude and great recipes, I share Thanksgiving thoughts from other food voices here on Substack. Go check out what they write about each week. Because it’s one big table and it’s a lot like our family at that table - we’ve all got something to say! Potlucks and pie start with PPie guru and self-proclaimed apple geek Kate McDermott writes her Kate McDermott Newsletter about food and life from Port Angeles, WA, a logging and fishing town on the coast of the Olympic Peninsula west of Seattle. She’s originally from Santa Barbara, CA, and was a home baker before she literally wrote the book on pie and created virtual workshops on topics such as baking gluten-free pie. Kate’s been gluten-free since 2006. I reached out to Kate to ask her what pie she’s baking for Thanksgiving and what her plans are this year:
Kate says she was invited to go to the Thanksgiving potluck more than three decades ago because the people organizing it had children in her son’s playgroup. Now those kids are grown and they’re bringing their own kids. What does she love most about the meal?
(Look for Kate’s apple pie recipe next week right here in Between the Layers, the same day I pop up over on her newsletter and share a cake to bake for Thanksgiving.) ‘’So many cooks treat Thanksgiving Day like it's All Martyrs Day…Some people just really love the adrenaline and the chaos.’’- Addie BroylesA former newspaper columnist, originally from Aurora, MO, Addie started working for the Austin American-Statesman in 2006 as a copy editor and then took the food writing job two years later. She has written a blog called The Feminist Kitchen since 2010, now on Substack, and it explores traditions like Thanksgiving where key themes are grief, gratitude, adapting to change, and building connection with family, neighbors, and community.
To Addie, Thanksgiving feels the same this year, but different.
While Addie’s older relatives haven’t let her host Thanksgiving for the entire family - in spite of writing about it for more than a decade - she has hosted Friendsgiving. First bit of advice: Divvy up duties and don’t take on too much.
Emily Nunn brings the salad. Plus wit and candor.I learned somewhere that if you’ve invited to a potluck and don’t know what to bring, it’s safe to bring salad. So I asked author and former columnist for The New Yorker, Emily Nunn, who writes the Department of Salad newsletter, for her recommendation. She didn’t waste any time suggesting ‘’bitter greens with bacon, pecans, and warm balsamic dressing.’’ Best part? You deglaze the bacon pan to make the dressing. Emily writes from her salad lab in Atlanta, but she grew up in southwestern Virginia and heads back there for Thanksgiving to an extended family and memories.
(Emily is sharing her black-eyed pea salad with Between the Layers in December, just in time for New Year’s!) Thanksgiving for Jolene Handy is about gratitude and baking up memoriesA fellow food history lover, Jolene bakes out of her lovingly restored 1927 Chicago kitchen and writes the Time Travel Kitchen newsletter. We both love old cakes - she shared my orange chiffon cake recently. I’d just love to roll back time and bake a cake in Jolene’s kitchen!
And from this vintage space, New Yorker Jolene who was born in Brooklyn, grew up on Long Island and lived in Manhattan for 40 years, dives into recipes from across America like that chiffon cake as well as Ebinger’s Mocha Buttercream Cake and Ginger Molasses Cookies. This year, still mourning her mother’s recent death, she is not making the sausage stuffing, roasted root vegetables or fresh cranberry sauce she normally does for Thanksgiving, but going out to eat with her brother and sister-in-law.
Jolene says to make sure you have good bread on hand because there is nothing better or more thrifty than hot turkey sandwiches on Friday!
If your idea of turkey dinner is making reservations, head to The Food SectionHanna Raskin is a former newspaper journalist from Ann Arbor, MI, who covers the food and drink of the South, from restaurants and bars to farmers and fishermen. She’s always loved sweet potatoes and was known to keep them in her desk drawer at Charleston’s Post & Courier to microwave for lunch. And she’s always loved oysters and is envious of people whose Thanksgiving traditions involve them, since her mother’s shellfish allergy prevented oysters being served. When she’s not on the road 15 to 20 days a month, she’s in Charleston, SC, writing about restaurant discoveries and trends.
Hanna recommends an American wine for Thanksgiving… “bubbles are the best match for such a rich feast - especially when there's a wedding to celebrate!” She ordered a Gruet Sauvage Rose as well as an Evening Land pinot noir and Mathiasson Napa Valley white. So cheers! To friends, family, discoveries, traditions, staying at home or venturing out, to normalcy or not, and to writing columns here on Substack and meeting a new community of writers. I hope the upcoming season is a good one for you and yours. This Thursday for Subscribers:Let’s cook inexpensively on weeknights in the lead up to Thanksgiving with some cost-cutting tips and a fabulous frugal pasta recipe from Beth Moncel of Budget Bytes. And BIG CONGRATS to the October winner of an autographed copy of my book, Skillet Love - Mary Kramer! You have a few days left to take advantage of my 6-month celebration discount and become a paid subscriber! This offer turns into a pumpkin after Nov 5! More reading & that yummy shrimp recipe…This Year’s Thanksgiving Feast will Wallop the Wallet, The New York Times. Department of Salad and Emily’s Thanksgiving Salad Ideas Time Travel Kitchen and Jolene’s Take on my Chiffon Cake Cara’s Cocktail ShrimpMy husband’s sweet Aunt Janet got this recipe from her hair stylist Cara Duffy in Chattanooga. I just love the idea of Aunt Janet getting her hair done and chatting about recipes. It’s such a quick recipe because you begin with precooked shrimp - let the seafood counter do it or buy those frozen precooked shrimp at Costco or Sam’s and defrost them. I can’t figure out why this recipe became a Thanksgiving staple, but it’s probably because all ages love it and it’s vibrantly colored and festive. And if by chance you have leftovers, they can be pulled out of the fridge for a next-day salad. My tweak is to sprinkle a tablespoon of drained capers on top for garnish. Makes 8 to 12 servings Prep: 15 minutes, plus overnight thawing, if needed, of the frozen shrimp 1 pound large shrimp, cooked, peeled, and deveined 1 cup mayonnaise (Cara likes Hellmann’s) 1/2 cup chili sauce 1/2 cup finely chopped celery 2 tablespoons chopped pimento-stuffed green olives 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion 1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice Salt and freshly ground black pepper
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