Limited Edition!

 Jenn McKinlay: I have a confession to make. It’s embarrassing. I probably should keep it to myself but we’re all friends, right? I know you won’t judge me. So here it is.

*Jenn takes a deep breath*

If you put “Limited Edition” on a food item, I will 100% buy it. I know, I know, I should have more willpower. I should be stronger and not so easily manipulated by Madison Avenue and their marketing shenanigans but…but…what if I miss something truly spectacular? It’s LIMITED EDITION -- what if I never get to try it and my life spirals into an abyss of sad because I missed out on the one thing that would make life worth living?

I see you shaking your head. You think I’m being dramatic, well, let me prove you wrong. Snickers came out with a limited edition pecan snickers and it was so good I bought the store out. Completely out.

I texted my candy freak bestie so that she didn’t miss out, because I’m thoughtful like that. Well, yes, by the time the limited edition disappeared, I did have to pay my dentist an exorbitant amount of money for some fillings. No, I’m not saying the pecan Snickers is the reason I am now looking at an implant but I’m not not saying it either.

Now there have been some real clunkers and you’d think I’d learn my lesson but how was I supposed to know that ketchup flavored Doritos would be terrible. Okay, yes, a person with willpower and common sense would know but that clearly ain’t me.

As I’m writing this I am noshing a package of Selena Gomez inspired cinnamon Oreos. Yes, they’re limited edition. And, y’all, they are next level. See? How sad would my Saturday night have been if I hadn’t grabbed them? Wicked sad!

Confess, Reds and Readers, are you a sucker for limited edition? What items have you loved or hated?

My Coauthor is Slacking on the Job

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: When I first saw the title of this essay by Trisha Blanchet I was absolutely shocked. I thought ohhhh my goodness, what?

 I know Trisha, I thought, I know she writes the fantastic and imaginative Neath Trilogy--about a teenager who discovers the secret (and terrifying and fantastical) world that exists underneath Boston. (It's really cool, and completely imaginative, and trust me, you will never walk through the streets of Boston's North End the same way again.) 

Plus, I knew Trisha is the founder of Operation Delta Dog, an absolutely life-changing organization that matches rescue dogs with veterans. Isn't that brilliant?

But what I did not know was that she wrote with a co-author.

I paused, perplexed. Trisha has a co-author?

We'll let her explain.

My Coauthor is Slacking on the Job

(Time to rewrite the story of this long-term partnership gone wrong)

By Trisha Blanchet

“My goodness, thank you all so much for this incredible honor. I’m truly humbled and proud to receive this award from the literary community that I admire so much. I’m speechless. Well, I would be speechless if I hadn’t already prepared this speech, ha, ha!

Apologies for the note cards, here… Lots to remember! And so many people to thank. I’d like to start with my family, of course, and all my fellow writers. And let’s not forget my wonderful agent and editors. But most of all, I’d like to dedicate this award to the one who made it all possible. The fuel to my fire. The springboard to my success:

My stomach.

Dear, dear Stomach. As coauthors go, you’ve always been one of the best. All those words just don’t materialize out of nowhere, after all—they require a little help. Help like Quiche Lorraine, roast beef sandwiches, and Nachos El Grande. Gummy bears by the pound. Ravioli and meatballs. Hot coffee in the morning, and hot toddies at night. Whatever it takes.

Now, I know things have been a little tricky between us lately, which I guess shouldn’t be surprising. Fifty-plus years of collaboration don’t come without a few bumps. But I want you to know that I see you, I appreciate you, and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get our partnership back on track.

If you remember, we got off to a great start. Well, mostly great. Our childhood collab had its challenges, what with all the boxed mac-and-cheese, birthday cake, and McDonald’s “orange drink” immediately followed by two-hour sessions on the trampoline. You didn’t love that. But occasional projectile vomiting aside, we did manage to produce some phenomenal work. Case in point: Our seminal Detective Ladybug Playground Mysteries, published on yellow construction paper with the help of a borrowed stapler.

Our college years saw much the same give-and-take. Just switch out the colors: Instead of “orange drink” and yellow paper, there were a lot of red Solo cups and two-liter bottles of Purple Passion. That was also the period of my unfortunate flirtation with songwriting and feminist books-in-verse, but you bore it all with good will.

Our relationship stayed mostly predictable into the early-adult years. If I’m honest, I just didn’t think about you all that much. (Nothing personal… I’m not close with most of my organs.) 

Then came those pregnancies in our thirties. That brought out a whole new side of you, didn’t it? Suddenly you were all “Give me raw meat!” and “Stay the hell off that glider chair!” I ignored your demands at my peril. But when you weren’t being bossy, you helped me write all those fun “Mommy Confidential” columns for the newspaper.

Our forties rolled by in a gastrointestinal blur, mostly because I was more worried about packing other people’s lunch boxes than my own. Kidding—I didn’t have any lunch boxes. I probably didn’t have any lunch. For a decade. Who remembers? Still, we kept at it, writing manuscripts that turned out to be half decent. Then, better than descent. Then, actually published by an actual publisher.

Then. Came. The fifties.

The half-century mark. And there you were, out of the shadows at last. All those years, you’d been ignored. “Well, no more, missy,” you told me. The message was loud and clear: I’d had my day. This was your show, now. I call that show, “WAIT, WHAT CAN’T I EAT NOW?” It’s streaming, on all channels, around the clock.

The trouble started at my local ice-cream stand. I began telling anyone who would listen that the mint chip was bad. Spoiled, maybe? Then another flavor, with the same result. I switched brands and locations, only to find that this shop, too, was trying to kill me. It was an ice-cream conspiracy.

It took a full year and countless more poisonings (milk, cream cheese, ranch dressing, mozzarella) for light to dawn on this foggy head. The culprit was lactose. Lactose? I didn’t even know what the heck that was. But you knew, didn’t you, Stomach? And you’d decided: No more.

With one fell swoop, you’d taken away most of my favorite foods. Okay, fine. I can deal with that. Just another one of middle age’s indignities. But you couldn’t stop there, could you? Nooooo. Now, suddenly, I can’t eat sugar substitutes. Or apples. You’re not crazy about caffeine anymore, either, or any kind of alcohol. And I guess I can forget about eating or drinking anything at all after 9pm.

Basically, you want me to live like a monk. While I’m at it, I might as well invest in a few monk’s robes, too, because despite not being able to eat anything good in my fifties, I also somehow manage to gain 15 pounds per week. Per day? Whatever it is, it defies all biological principles. Meanwhile, I can’t seem to find the “Mid-Life, Lactose-Intolerant, Stubborn Body Fat” section of the clothing store. So a flowy friar’s frock it is.

Sorry. I digress. And I seem to have lost my place in the notecards, here…

I guess what I’m trying to say is: This writing thing, this creativity thing, has always been a partnership. Didn’t we have fun back in the days when nausea was the exclusive province of seasickness and people guzzled “orange drink” without any idea of what it actually contained? When a full, happy belly was the perfect fuel for an active imagination? I know I took you for granted. But that happens in all long-term relationships, right? I swear, I can change if you can.

Let’s start here, tonight, at this beautiful awards ceremony. I think we’ve earned a glass of champagne, don’t you? Maybe a passed canape or two? If I promise to limit my intake, can you promise to limit our bathroom breaks to just, I don’t know…one or two an hour?

When they told us to take a bite out of life, dear Stomach, I think they might have meant it literally. So let’s do it. Just you, me, this incredible award, all these wonderful people, and a handful of Lactaid pills. Unlike us, friend, the night is young. And full of delicious possibilities.”




HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I am holding my stomach–with laughter! SO hilarious! How about you, Reds and Readers?  Is your stomach your co-author--or co-reader? Mine is very partial to lattes and almonds. And Crunchmasters crackers. Cheese sticks. And tohse little yellow tomatoes. It is no longer so fond of green peppers, and cannot even think about red onions. (This is rarely a problem, except with pizza.)


(PS. ANd the winner of Adele Parks’ FIRST WIFE'S SHADOW from yesterday is Alicia Haney! Email me at hank@hankphillippiryan.com with your address!

T.M. Blanchet is the author of The Neath Trilogy: Herrick’s End, Herrick’s Lie, and Herrick’s Key. She’s also the producer and host of A Mighty Blaze Podcast and the founder of Operation Delta Dog: Service Dogs for Veterans (OperationDeltaDog.org).


About THE NEATH TRILOGY

Ollie is trying. He really is.

He's trying to lose weight in the biscotti-and-bolognese wonderland of Boston's North End.

He's trying to recover from his mother's recent death.

Most of all, he's trying to battle the loneliness that comes with being 19, living in a shoebox, and working a dead-end job. No girlfriend, no parents, no friends.

Well, he does have one friend. Nell.

But she's gone missing.

At first, Ollie pretends that he hadn't noticed Nell's bruises and skittish behavior. Then, finally, he faces the facts: Nell is gone, and probably in danger. And he might be the only one who can help.

What he doesn't know--couldn't know--is that his journey to find her will take him far below the streets of the city into a dangerous, underground world: a place where magic spills like blood, humans are not quite human, and notions of justice and revenge are as murky as the cavern's brackish waters. And this time, trying just won't be enough.

JANUARY AND THE NON-FICTION TBR

JENN McKINLAY: Every January without fail I find myself buying more non-fiction books than I do throughout the rest of the year (excluding research books, of course). What were my picks this January?

ATOMIC HABITS

INNER EXCELLENCE

RUNNING UNTIL YOU'RE 100

MEDITERRANEAN DIET

Pretty easy to see what I’ve got going on, eh?

BUY

How about you Reds, what non-fiction books are you reading/have you read recently? Do you tend to buy more in January or no?

LUCY BURDETTE: I don’t buy more nonfiction, but I acquire it through the birthday (and Christmas) season LOL. Here’s my list:

BAKING WITH JULIA by Dorie Greenspan

BAREFOOT IN PARIS by Ina Garten

THE NEW PARISIENNE by Lindsay Tramuta

BUY

Food in Paris, anyone?

HANK PHILLIPPI  RYAN:  Buying more in January because of various resolutions, right? Like resolving to read more nonfiction. At which I have already failed.  

Oh, I am always so tempted by non-fiction, and I just got the Ina Garten book, too. But I have so many fiction-reading assignments for interviews that it’s difficult to read for fun. (Isn’t that ridiculous?) Thank goodness for the New Yorker. 

But oh, yes, I just got HOW SONDHEIM CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE by Richard Schoch which I am in love with. Fun fact: Did you know that all of the songs in A Little Night Music are waltzes? ALL of them? I cannot get that geniusness out of my head. Anyway. This is the joy of non-fiction: facts. 

BUY

HALLIE EPHRON: My challenge right now is finishing the books I’ve started – I’ve got 3 under way and one of them is a memoir that I love but it strikes too close to home so I’ve had to take it in laps. The rest of my “nonfiction” reading is the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, and a newsfeed from AXIOS. All of which I like to think of as “nonfiction.” (And I’m not giving them up.)

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’m currently rereading OUR OWN WORST ENEMY: THE ASSAULT FROM WITHN ON MODERN DEMOCRACY by Tom Nichols. It came out in 2021and I’ve also ordered the second edition of his THE DEATH OF EXPERTISE. He’s a smart and entertaining writer, and I can also highly recommend following him on Bluesky.

BUY

I also bought Becca Symes “Quit Books for Writers” 4, 5, and 6: ARE YOU IN WRITERS BLOCK, YOU’RE DOING IT RIGHT, and ARE YOU INTUITIVE. She’s an author’s coach with a  podcast/video series I follow. I’ve listened to her previous books and gotten a lot out of them, so I’m hoping for more of the same. 

Jenn, if you’re interested in habit formation, you should take a look at Katy Milkman’s HOW TO CHANGE. I have the audio book and I loved it!

JENN: Thank you, Julia! I"ll check it out. I also have several of Becca's books and love them.

RHYS BOWEN: Over the holidays I read (devoured) THE SALT PATH about a couple who lose everything–home, health etc–and choose to walk the 630 miles of the Southwest Coastal Trail in England. The prose is exquisite and I would often linger over a description. I gather it’s about to be made into a motion picture but that won’t do justice to the writing. The amazing thing is that the writer only kept a journal for herself, never imagining it would be published. Having lost their farm etc, she is now a bestseller.

I’m also wading through a thick biography of Edward VIII. Most of it I already knew but shows what a weak character he was.

BUY

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Rhys, I want to read THE SALT PATH! Unfortunately, I’m afraid if I buy it I may be consigning it to the fate of most of the non-fiction I buy, which is to sit neglected and dust-covered in one of my many to-read piles… I asked for Nic Kristof’s memoir, CHASING HOPE, for my birthday in June. Alas, even though Kristof is one of my favorite journalists and I will read any column he writes, I haven’t cracked the book. Hmm. Maybe I should try the audio version…

BUY

How about you, Readers, what's on your non-fiction TBR?

Sticky Toffee Pudding by Jenn McKinlay

 Jenn McKinlay: Originally, I was going to write a lovely post about my recent trip to Ireland full of sheep and green hills, rainbows and ancient buildings. But no. I was lucky enough to have a foodie in my crew and the eating was SPECTACULAR on this trip, which is not what one normally thinks of when thinking of the Emerald Isle. Guinness, sure, but food? Not so much.

Y'all, we need to do a rethink. I had some of the best food whilst tripping along the Wild Atlantic Way and I just want to share a few highlights with you. In no particular order, here are my three favorites and it was hard to choose, let me tell you!

All right, who here has watched Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix? My SIL showed the Dublin episode (my first) the night before Mom and I headed out to Ireland and, let me just say, Phil nailed it. His is a food and travel show that is full of heart and warmth and gentle humor. I've become a fan and have mentioned the show to everyone I know who loves food or travel or both. You may know Phil Rosenthal as the writer for Everybody Loves Raymond. 

On the Dublin episode, Phil stops by a place called Gallagher's Boxty House in Temple Bar (if you click the link to their website, there's a visit from Paul Hollywood that's delightful). Our first night in Dublin and we headed out to eat and just stumbled upon it. Felt like fate, so we ate there and it was amazing. Their specialty is the potato pancake (the boxty) reimagined and I have to say it was delicious! My favorite was the boxty chips (french fries made out of boxties with an arugula garlic mayo - OMG!) as an appetizer and then the Gaelic Boxty, finely sliced, perfectly seasoned beef on a boxty. Fabulous. The showstopper for me was their sticky toffee pudding - I still think about it. My friend Annette and I are on a quest to find the recipe. 

Next up was a castle dinner family style at Bunratty Castle. It was glorious! The only utensil they gave you was a knife. You were to eat with your hands! I expected the food to be dashed out as it seemed the draw would be the actors in medieval dress who put on a delightful show (which has been running since 1963). Yeah, no. The food was terrific. My fave being the fresh soda bread and the spare ribs.

And then it was on to Dingle where we happened to luck out and get a table at one of the most popular restaurants in town - The Fish Box.

Family owned and operated, brother Patrick catches the fish on the family trawler and Mom and Dad, Deirdre and Michael, cook it. It was by far the best fish and chips I've ever had. Deirdre is a chef and her batter recipe is a secret - an amazing one, clearly.

So, those are my top three but there were so many more delicious stops along the way - Milano in Temple Bar had amazing dough balls, Gatto Rosso in Galway had incredible spaghetti carbonara and a tiramisu to die for, and for real down home pub grub and trad music, I loved The Celt Pub in Dublin with their Guinness beef stew, ham toastie and mash, bangers and mash, and Granny's bacon and cabbage. Yes, we went hardcore Irish for our last night and it was glorious!

And the really wonderful thing was that the food was not outrageously expensive. Meals were cheaper in Ireland than in the States by far. So, if you're thinking of hitting the Emerald Isle, bring your appetite!

Reds and Readers, what food stops have surprised you in your travels - good, bad, other? Share!

Adventures in Eating! by Jenn McKinlay

 JENN MCKINLAY: This time last year, I was in Paris, finalizing the research on July's book Paris is Always a Good Idea. Ah, Paris! I don't think it's an understatement to say that trip feels like a lifetime away now. But the book is here and it got a starred review from Publisher's Weekly, just sayin'! So, let's revisit one of my fave parts of the trip - THE FOOD!!!

I spent my time in Paris tracing the steps that my characters took, taking copious notes, and eating my body weight in pastries while trying new and fabulous foods and all sorts of food combinations that I would never have thought of on my own. Things that I discovered that I love: warm brie and fig jam on fresh bread. 

And things that I did not love - rose flavored macarons (but the pistachio was excellent).

Other adventures in eating included every cheese available - a personal favorite being Roquefort paired with red wine in the evening, chocolat chaud (hot chocolate but amazing), pastries until I exploded, escargot (natch, but also curiosity satisfied I'm good), and chocolate, chocolate, chocolate. 

Traveling with teenagers required frequent stops at the Franprix, where we learned that the French prefer to eat their cereal in chocolate milk, because of course they do! The hooligans got behind that - and how - and the dudes practically lived on the city's favorite lunch jambon-beurre (a buttered baguette stuffed with sliced ham). Here are some pics of our food adventures from the trip:

Pastries!

Espresso and Chocolate Chaud!

Pain aux raisin (my personal fave)!

Hooligans loading up on street food: A baguette stuffed with skewers of steak or chicken and a sausage with onions and peppers all together for only six euros. So good!!!

 Okay, Reds, what are some of the weirdest food combinations you’ve ever tried? 

HANK PHILLIPI RYAN: Oooh, brie and fig jam, love that so much! Strawberry jam and cream cheese on a hot toasted sesame bagel. Once I put doritos on a turkey sandwich, and it was great. Plain unflavored yogurt with cinnamon and sugar. Deelish! Total dessert. And --I know it sounds crazy: but applesauce and cottage cheese. Yes. Somehow, it works--it’s a chemistry thing, I guess.It does not taste like either one of those ingredients. (I recently heard tell of margaritas with sugar instead of salt. I mean--gah. Isn’t that sacrilege?) 

JENN: Yes, yes, it is!

 RHYS BOWEN: I was served fig jam with a cheeseboard recently and loved it! I’ve always served Brie with chutney. But I’m not big on too outlandish flavor combinations. I would never eat garlic ice cream as served at the garlic festival! Not bacon ice cream. But yay to salted caramel. The weirdest combination was my daughter, aged 2, who insisted on dipping her iced bun into ketchup when we were in England. And I hate eggs with pancakes. Never. 

 HALLIE EPHRON: When I was a kid, my sister Amy invented a snack: carrot sticks dipped in tomato juice. And my daughter Molly invented what we called “Molly Mix” - cranberry juice, orange juice, and bubbly water. I second salted caramel. Yum. And a margarita with sugar instead of salt is gross. 

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Totally agree on the margarita with sugar. Obscene! But there's a restaurant here that makes a margarita with grilled pineapple and jalapeno, and it is absolutely delicious. Now I want one. Maybe we'll have to get takeout with cocktails. And speaking of jalapenos--and figs--I made fig and jalapeno jam a couple of weeks ago and that was delicious, too. It is the perfect thing with cheese. My mom loved bananas with peanut butter and mayonnaise, so that's probably totally weird. I still like it, but Rick thinks it's absolutely disgusting!

LUCY BURDETTE: My mother ate onion and mayo sandwiches--ugh! But the weirdest food I ever had was in Japan. I was disappointed with myself, but I simply don't like fish that's raw or slimy. It started with eel tempura one of the first nights and went downhill from there. John and I took to calling their adorable little lunch containers "bait boxes."

But those pictures of Paris make me swoon with homesickness. I'm clinging to the hope that I'll be going next fall...

All right, Readers, you're up! What weird food combos have you enjoyed or despised? Or what's a food adventure you'd like to share?

Poutine Done Right

INGRID THOFT

Last week I arrived in Montreal a poutine skeptic.  I'd had it before, the Canadian comfort food of french fries topped with gravy and cheese curds.  My first and only experience with the dish was in Vancouver, which seemed like a reasonable place to try it.  I wasn't wowed by the concoction, but my niece in Montreal insisted that I hadn't had good poutine, and she knew just the place to remedy that.

At Dirty Dogs, the lighting was low and the menu extensive.  French fries, gravy, and cheese curds were just the bases of the poutines on offer.  My niece opted for the Soprano:  bruschetta, bacon, mozzarella, and pesto.  My mom—always up for an adventure, culinary or otherwise—opted for the Eastwood.  It was topped with caramelized onions, barbecue sauce, cheddar cheese, monterey jack cheese, and bacon.  The Dirty Sanchez featured crushed corn tortillas, four cheese sauce, sour cream, salsa fresco and green onions.  I decided to go all in or whole hog as it were:  Le Pig Mac was a heaping bowl of the french fries, gravy, and cheese curd base  topped with mac n' cheese, pulled pork, barbecue sauce, and caramelized onions.

It was very dark in Dirty Dogs, hence the poor photo

Did I lose you?  Probably.  You're probably thinking that the combinations I've described sound disgusting and weird.  I thought the same thing, but I put my hesitation aside and was rewarded for it.  It was delicious.  We sampled one another's, all of which were great, but I have to say that my Le Pig Mac was so tasty, I had to stop myself from eating the whole thing.  Sure, my arteries had hardened and I'd ingested enough calories to fuel a Canadian hockey team, but it tasted fantastic!  This weird, messy heap of food was just the ticket for a cold Montreal night.

My mom, of course, wanted to learn about the origins of the dish, but an online search netted little information.  The best we could find is that in 1957, a truck driver in Quebec asked that cheese be sprinkled on his french fries, and a tradition was born.  It seems a bit flimsy to me, so maybe some of you Canadian readers could enlighten us?

Lest you think that all the food in Montreal falls into the drunk or hangover category, I can assure you that we had many delicious meals with nary a cheese curd in sight.  At a Spanish restaurant, I had a bowl of bright orange carrot cumin soup that was creamy and flavorful.  A plate of jet black squid ink pasta at the art museum was delicious as was the salmon tartare.  Before heading across the border, we tucked into eggs benedict that was as beautiful as it was tasty.

I would return to Montreal in a heartbeat.  It's a beautiful city with friendly people, amazing street art and fabulous food.  And I would definitely make a return visit to Dirty Dogs.  I need to try Le Angry Goat (roasted red pepper, arugula, baby spinach, goat cheese, pesto, and balsamic glaze)!

Have you tried poutine?  Or is there another dish that made you a believer, despite your reservations?

Rhys's Sunday Recipe

RHYS BOWEN: One of my favorite parts about my time in Europe every year is visiting my sister in law in Cornwall. I love staying in the old manor house, slowing down to the rhythm of country life AND eating the wonderful food. Cornwall, for those of you who don't know, is the far Western and Southern tip of England, a Celtic-speaking land bathed in history and mystery. Rebecca, Jamaica Inn, Doc Martin... and clotted cream and pasties. Two of my favorite things in the world.

When I am there I eat cream teas with scones hot from the oven, home made strawberry jam and Cornish clotted cream on top. So thick and golden you'd think it was butter (but it tastes much better).
And pasties! Yum. They were made for the miners going down the tin mines. They couldn't come up to eat their midday meal so they couldn't wash their hands. The rim of the pasty was designed to hold it and then throw away that part.

So I thought I'd share the recipe with you today. They are time consuming but so worth it.

Half a pound of good quality steak, sliced wafer thin

Carrots, turnip, potatoes all sliced very thinly

1 big onion chopped finely

small amount of beef bouillon

short crust pastry.

Pre-heat oven to 425

Make short crust pastry dough to your favorite recipe. Roll it out very thin and cut into circles about 8 inches diameter.

 on one half place thin layer of potato, carrot, turnip, onion and then top with thin slices of meat. Sprinkle some bouillon over it, or use better than bouillon or even Marmite if you are British. If you are not, you won't have it in the house!

. Fold dough in half to make a pasty shape.  Fold over, crimp and seal the edges.

Bake  on baking sheet at 425 about 40 minutes or until it turns golden.

(The steam of cooking vegetables keeps the meat moist)

This recipe was given to me by a Cornish woman! Others cut steak into cubes but I like mine this way.

Pasties these days can contain other ingredients, chicken, lamb, curry, potato leek but this is the original.

And the best pasties, after an extensive search, are to be found in Marazion, across from St. Michael's Mount. And this is a photo of one just before we devoured it.

What's Your Recipe for Thanksgiving?

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Today I'm packing, picking up the rental minivan, taking the dog to the kennel and girding my loins for the eleven-hour drive to Alexandria, VA. (That's eleven hours with stops but without traffic jams. It has been known to take up to 14 hours.) We're going to be sharing Thanksgiving with my sister and brother and their families and dogs. (We are all dog people, averaging 2 per household.)


We try to keep the holiday in Washington every third year or so. We love our visits. Ross and the kids and I stay in a suite hotel so everyone can retreat into their corners after a long, active day together, and we always do fun things in DC. There's a huge age spread among the cousins - from 26 to 2 - and one of the aspects of our visit Ross and I love is what we call "fake grandparent outing." That's when we take Max and Xavier, or baby Robbie (all of whom are young enough to easily be our grandkids instead of our nephews) to the zoo or the Air and Space Museum. Since we'll probably be in our seventies before we have actual grandchildren capable of enjoying tapas followed by a tour of the National Geographic headquarters, we're getting our time in now. 

 
There's always a football game at Uncle Pat and Aunt Julia's, the highlight of which is their dog, Dakota, who gives double high fives when anyone says, "Touchdown!" Truly amazing. We all eat at my sister's, where she never ceases to amaze everyone with her ability to pull a full-sized Thanksgiving Day feast out of a kitchen the size of a queen bed. The meal is always excellent, as is the one the next day we'll have at my brother's (he and his wife are gourmet cooks) but the food is never really the point. Instead, it's reconnecting with our far-flung family, giving the cousins time to know each other, and cracking jokes about events that happened in 1975.


How about you, Reds? What's the recipe for your Thanksgiving?


HALLIE EPHRON: That sounds like so much fun, Julia – it would almost get me in a car for an 11-hour drive. 

 
Usually we have Thanksgiving here with family and friends, but this year we’re going to our kids in NY rather than everyone coming here. Daughter #1 has the top floor of a brownstone in Brooklyn, Daughter #2 has the floor below her with her husband and adorable daughter. We’re getting there a day early so I can cook. With another grandbaby on the way, we’re looking to forge new traditions.

 
The food: Butternut squash soup, roast turkey, gravy, stuffing (Pepperidge Farm with celery and onions added), cranberry sauce (canned, whole berry, please), mashed potatoes, green beans, apple pie, and pumpkin pie. Champagne and sparkling cider. As a treat I’m making ahead and bringing frozen, ready to bake Regina’s Butter Biscuits.


 
LUCY BURDETTE: All those celebrations sound wonderful, especially Hallie's menu:). But travel on Thanksgiving weekend is so agonizing, we've kind of given up trying to force the family to meet up. (Many are coming to Key West for Christmas instead!) My mother and her sisters shared all the holidays, rotating who would host. But in those days, everyone lived within an hour of each other. Harder now with the family spread across the country. This year we will probably join a gang of John's tennis-playing friends for a potluck at the courts. It may sound odd, but it's very festive and the food is delicious!







HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN:  Thanksgiving was a command performance for my family every year--with two kinds of stuffing, and black cherry jello , and champagne and Oysters Rockefeller. Now we've dispersed across the country, but some things will never change. There are certain must-haves that--no matter where we are--make it be the real holiday. And now I just email my brother Chip and tease him about black cherry jello.

 

This year , we may be going to a friend's house for the actual day. But leftovers are so key, I'll make the whole spread myself, just for Jonathan and me. A turkey, because it smells SO good, with the butter-in-cheesecloth method. Pepperidge Farm stuffing with celery and onions. Cranberry sauce, with orange peel and real cranberries, easy and SO tart and wonderful! Mashed potatoes, my one time of eating them per year.  Champagne and Oysters Rockefeller, toasting my mom for beginning the tradition.



 
and then--leftovers! And I can make my special secret Turkey Tetrazzini. Turkey white meat, sauteed-in-buttery-garlic mushrooms, all in white sauce. Put in casserole with pasta. Bake, topped with toasted golden parmesan. Oh, my gosh. DEE-licious.

 

RHYS BOWEN: Every other year we have the big Thanksgiving in Arizona and the whole family comes. This year it will just be daughter Clare's family, maybe our daughter Anne from LA and us, along with our son-in-law's mother and sister. Clare always makes the most amazing stuffing, roasting french bread and vegetables then combining it with good stock. I have to make my mother's recipe apple crumble. We buy pumpkin pie (because I'm not keen on it so won't make it from scratch). We usually play bocce ball on the lawn, corn hole toss and ping pong before sitting down to dinner. In Arizona we can pretty much guarantee fine weather. 


I suppose because I didn't grow up with Thanksgiving it doesn't mean as much to me as Christmas. I would hate it if the family couldn't all get together for the Christmas holiday.


SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: Love, love, love Thanksgiving, which we'll be celebrating this year with a gaggle of puppeteers, a few odd Brits (in both senses of the word), an author, an actress, maybe a ballet dancer, and really anyone else who wants a place at the table (Hallie? Want to swing by for dessert?). We're in NYC for it, as Hubby is usually on the Sesame Street float for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as one of the muppets. This year he's going to be Big Bird.

 
The Sesame float is always one of the first out, so he's up by 4 a.m. and off to Macy's. Meanwhile, we've both prepped food the day before, so my job is basically to get everything in the oven at the right time. The menu includes turkey and gravy, homemade cranberry orange sauce, homemade cranberry-apple chutney, collard greens, corn soufflé, biscuits, sweet potatoes, and Pinot Noir (I like it with turkey). For dessert, we let guests bring things — true fact, Broadway actors/actresses always bring Junior's Cheesecake — there's one in Times Square. So we tape the parade, puppeteers come over, lots of them have been up since four, so they nap where they can.... Then we watch the parade, and then there's dinner! Much to be thankful for....

 
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Oh, what fun, Julia! And Susan, how cool is it that Noel is in the Macy's parade. I'll be watching this year for sure. All this makes ours sound a bit dull, but still we are really looking forward to it. Many years we've done Thanksgiving at my aunt and uncle's, but my uncle passed away last year and the crowd is getting smaller. Things are changing in our family, too. With the grandbaby on the way, my daughter is wanting to establish her own traditions. So we're having Thanksgiving at my daughter and son-in-law's this year, just the four of us and our friend and neighbor. (Although I suspect that there will be open-door at their house after the meal with their crowd coming and going.) 


We're having honey-glazed ham and have ordered a smoked turkey from our local (terrific) barbecue place. I'm in charge of the dressing (Texas is the South in that regard, and it must be cornbread) and gravy. We're still planning the rest but there will be sweet potatoes, potatoes, broccoli/cheese casserole (from scratch), and my cranberry orange relish. And pies! As Susan says, much to be thankful for this year.

JULIA: When we watch the Macy's parade on Thanksgiving morning, we'll all be looking out for Noel! I may get extra cred with my young nephews when I tell them I know Big Bird's wife!

How about you, dear readers? Friends? Family? A restful day at home eating turkey breast and watching the National Dog show?