Ask the Strategist: Your Thanksgiving Questions
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In our advice column, “Ask the Strategist,” we take your most burning shopping questions and survey friends, call up experts, and draw on our own personal experience to answer them. If you have an online-shopping question of your own, please send it to strategist@nymag.com with the subject “Ask the Strategist.” We’re here to help.
Best vessel for roasting a turkey?
A traditional roasting pan works fine, but it’s also big and bulky and, I think, unnecessary. On the opposite end of the spectrum, you could go the Alison Roman route and use a sheet pan. But the ideal vessel is a specific hybrid of the two, made by Misen, that came out last year and has quickly become my favorite way to cook large hunks of meat. It’s essentially a sheet pan with higher sides than normal, but still not as deep as a traditional roasting pan. This means there’s ample room for juices to collect at the bottom so you can baste your turkey as it bakes, and you don’t have to be as worried about spills when it’s time to take it out and let it rest. The two hefty handles also assist with this; carrying it around (in and out of the fridge, in and out of the oven) feels secure. It’s made from stainless steel (instead of aluminum), which means it conducts heat evenly and is a breeze to clean.
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Misen 3-in-1 Stainless Roasting Pan
Best containers for sending people home with leftovers?
Despite the fact that in my day-to-day I’m trying to eliminate plastic food-storage containers, Thanksgiving is definitely a time I’d make an exception. Buy a set of restaurant-grade pint-size deli containers and dole out leftovers in those. They’re inexpensive, come with so many in a set that you can keep the mashed potatoes separate from the green beans, are easy for your guests to carry home, and are neat to store once they get there. (And if anyone feels strongly about plastic, they can always bring their own containers.)
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Choice Heavy Duty Plastic Deli Container
Activities for kids (that aren’t screens)?
For this, I turned to the kid experts: Strategist senior writer Liza Corsillo and senior editor Jen Trolio.
The number of activities you might need will depend on whether you are having kids over just for dinner, all day, or for the whole holiday weekend. But as far as little kids (5 years old and younger), aim for a decent variety of toys, games, and art/craft supplies because they have shorter attention spans than older kids.
If they’re coming over before dinner, enlist their help with some decorations, at least for the kids’ table. Give them a stack of precut sheets of butcher paper or blank-paper placemats, or buy a pack of coloring-page placemats, and let them go to town — palm-grip crayons are a good choice for children 3 and under, or you can use washable markers, colored pencils, or tempera paint sticks. I’d also get some on-theme stickers with colorful leaves, pumpkins, and even foods you might be serving like pie. For a craft project not related to dinner, I love the kits from Super Smalls, and recently brought this set of DIY picture frames to my parents house for a week of family vacation with my almost 3-year-old son and my 5-year-old niece. They both loved bedazzling their frames and drawing pictures to go inside.
If you’re trying to keep kids away from the table and out of the kitchen, I would get a flexible toy car track that lets you set up downhill races basically anywhere in the house, and a pack of Hot Wheels to go with it. Or a marble run, which scratches a similar itch. Both can occupy multiple kids at once.
When in doubt, settle in for a round of Poop Bingo. Kids will be drawn like a bunch of moths to a stinky flame. And they’ll actually learn something new about different animals in the process. —Liza Corsillo, senior writer
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Art supplies obviously work for older kids too, but if your youngest guests are more in the 6 to 12 age range (or older), you can level up with fancier markers and more advanced coloring and activity books. Origami kits usually go over well, and Target’s Mondo Llama line also has craft kits that are relatively cheap, and kids can take home their projects as a favor.
A puzzle that everyone can work on together is a good way to kill some time while letting people come and go as they please, as long as you have the space to work on it (make sure there’s good lighting, too). The designs at Le Puzz and Piecework are incredible, and there are a few great ones that feature food, like an actual Thanksgiving spread, or a bounty of fruit or a giant sandwich that are more holiday-adjacent. I also like Mudpuppy’s 500-piece “search and find” puzzles (there are also 64-piece ones for younger kids) and the 1,000-piece stunners from the Magic Puzzle Company, which are both kind of like two activities in one.
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Finally, I think you can’t really go wrong with card games that are easy enough to learn and quick to play; some of my own kids’ favorites include Sushi Go, Sleeping Queens, Exploding Kittens, Slamwich, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, Dutch Blitz, Cover Your Assets, and Monopoly Deal, the last of which just came out with a KPop Demon Hunters edition. Just choose the ones that seem best for the ages you’re trying to entertain. For groups of mixed ages, don’t forget about Uno or, if you’re willing to add some light gambling, LCR (my family plays with quarters instead of tokens). —Jen Trolio, senior editor
Not cooking, but attending someone else’s in another state. What to bring?
Packing is already hard, so you want to bring something that won’t add much bulk or weight to your load, and of course something that isn’t delicate. Consumables can be a bit tougher to transport, though senior editor Winnie Yang suggests Asian or Italian candies. I like the idea of keeping it in the realm of the kitchen, and even more specifically sticking with an extra-pretty tool or utensil. Think: a Sabre bottle opener or butter spreader, this genius tasting/measuring/drizzling/serving spoon I’m obsessed with, a beautiful set of wooden salad servers, or a stainless-steel pie server.
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I’m traveling to spend Thanksgiving with three generations of family. My hosts are a couple in their 60s, and we’ll be joined by their seven adult children, spouses and partners, and grandchildren ranging in age from 1 to 13. Should I concentrate on bringing something fun for the kids? Should I hand over a standard hostess gift and call it a day? Or is there some inspired idea that will make the weekend?
If you want to stick to getting a present just for your hosts (which I think is totally acceptable), a fancy bottle of olive oil — the kind that is so delicious it should be drizzled over the top of bread and whisked into salad dressings, rather than cooked with — is more unexpected than a bottle of wine, and generally goes over very well. I love Flamingo Estate, Wonder Valley, and Pianogrillo. They can stash it away and use it after the house is quiet again.
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Another nice edible option, this one for the group: Laurie Ellen’s small-batch Chocolate Orange Shortbread and Everything Cheddar Crackers. They’re so delicious, can be snacked on all weekend, and feel special thanks to the nice packaging.
If that doesn’t feel quite right, consider bringing an activity that can be enjoyed over the holiday by a range of age groups. Corsillo and Trolio gave some great ideas above. In addition, MoMA Design Store makes some especially aesthetically pleasing versions of classic games, like four-in-a-row, dominoes, and a two-in-one chess and checkers board. I also like this version of Jenga housed in a book that I culled from senior writer Lauren Ro’s list of great host gifts.
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I am going to my (relatively newly serious) boyfriend’s house for Thanksgiving, hosted by his parents. They’re the kind of people who wouldn’t want or expect a gift and also don’t want us to bring any food for the meal, but I still want to bring a host gift. Looking for something small that wouldn’t be a big deal, but thoughtful and useful.
As far as an edible gift goes, a bottle of olive oil, as I suggested above, makes a lovely gift. If they’re tea people, you could gift a duo of boxes from Flowerhead: a calming chamomile for after the big meal and a classic Earl Grey for the morning after.
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Outside of that, consider a beautiful version of a utilitarian item (and something that doesn’t take up too much space). I really like these pot holders from Nickey Kehoe. Graf Lantz makes my favorite coasters, but they also have this playful trivet. A sort of catchall bowl or dish is a safe option — the kind of thing they could use for olives or nuts at a party as much as jewelry in the bedroom. This is especially so if you have a sense of their style and can cater it to them. Here’s another Nickey Kehoe gem, one from Fredericks and Mae, and an iconic Russel Wright by Bauer Pottery Lug Bowl as some options.
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If a kitchen item isn’t feeling right, a luxurious bar of soap for the bathroom is a good bet, like this one from Claus Porto, or this one from Wonder Valley. They generally fall right into the sweet spot of being more than someone would spend on such a thing themselves, but not crazy expensive for the gift-giver, and always come in pretty boxes or wrapping.
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Claus Porto Soap
I would love suggestions for disposable dinnerware and cutlery that look festive (but not cheesy) for a large group — too large for china.
To be honest, I think your best bet here is keeping disposable dinnerware as simple and classy as possible: either plain clear plastic plates or, if you prefer, compostable bamboo ones. Same goes for cutlery. Pick a pretty color napkin, like an olive green or red stripe. Then build the festive feeling around those basics with the rest of your table: candlesticks and tapered candles, and small vases with flowers. Serving the food out of some beautiful platters and bowls you can reuse forever will also keep things looking higher-end overall.
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Best catering tbh.
I’m not sure where you live! But if I can assume New York City, Citarella is a solid option. They have all the classics in the form of curated “feasts,” as they call them (and you can order certain items à la carte, if you prefer that). Yang always looks forward to getting a whole smoked turkey from Dickson’s Farmstand Meats, which has the advantage of being fully cooked so your oven can be freed up for other cooking, and says their sides should be very good too. If it were me, I would source dessert from somewhere else, though. A pie from Four & Twenty Blackbirds is never a bad idea. If you’re feeling fancy, Frenchette has a few classics on offer, too. Or take a great and outside-of-the-box suggestion from Corsillo and get an array of Fan Fan Doughnuts which taste as good as they look.
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