It’s that time, my Wondercader…. Let the countdown to the culinary coma commence!

In precisely one week and one day from today, most of us here in the U.S. will be gathering amongst friends, family and/or furry animal companions for a day of gorging and goodness: Thanksgiving. It’s such an amazing holiday. My family is everything to me, and to have a day where I can celebrate with them, and celebrate how thankful I am for them — well, that is a gift I look forward to every year. Plus…mashed potatoes. Mmmm.

In other words: I’m ready to get in the Thanksgiving mood now. Stuff me with stuffing! Turn on a football game! (Go Giants!) Plop a cornucopia on the table! (Sidebar: I prefer the term "horn of plenty.") Heck, all the stores are already playing Christmas music anyway…and Santa hasn’t even ridden his sleigh down Sixth Avenue yet. So, it’s time to give this special day the credit it’s due. Down with Christmas creep, up with Thriving Thanksgiving. #SaveTurkeyDay! 

Today we’re going to shine as bright a spotlight as we can on the annual turkey fest. It’s going to start with a yummy recipe from a dear friend to all in our Burtka-Harris clan, the one-and-only culinary mastermind, globetrotter and all-around amazing human being, Andrew Zimmern. Ever the clever dude, Andrew’s sharing a side dish that he believes is almost always overlooked at every Thanksgiving table. Nope, I’m not talking about purposefully overlooked canned cranberry sauce. Gross. (FYI, Andrew has a newsletter of his own, so be sure to check that out as well!) Then, Wondercade’s super sommelier Kate Dingwall is back to give us recommendations for wine pairings for every Thanksgiving staple and situation. Down in The Emporium, it’s stuff you can get now — whether you’re attending dinner or hosting it — to make next Thursday much, much easier. Oh, and of course, we close out with Last Call.

In short, we’ve got you covered: food, drinks, goodies, games. You’re welcome.

Gobble gobble,

P.S. Looking for something stress-free to talk about over turkey and taters next week? Might I suggest…Wondercade? After all, topics like food and drink, theatre and magic, and travel and games are a heck of a lot safer than politics and relationships. Just click the button below, enter their emails and we’ll get them all signed up, nice and easy. Not spammy. Boom.

A SIDE TO RIDE

ANDREW ZIMMERN’S THANKSGIVING SALAD

Hi, it’s Andrew Zimmern here. When Neil asked me to share a Thanksgiving recipe this week, I thought: everyone forgets about salad at Thanksgiving. And you shouldn’t. (Neil Note: Andrew’s right, of course, but I now have an excuse to share this masterpiece of animation. Good luck getting that out of your head.) Because with all those rich foods on your table, you need something bright, acidic, fresh and green to cleanse your palate. 

This is the salad I serve most often at Thanksgiving, and it pairs well with almost anything throughout the fall and winter. It’s a base of bitter greens, topped with grapefruit and orange slices, red onion, fresh dill and a slightly sweet citrus vinaigrette to balance it all out. For a nice textural crunch, I add a healthy dose of seasoned bread crumbs. Tip: Make a double batch of these lemony herbed bread crumbs and keep the leftovers in your freezer — they’ll transform your salads, pastas, roast vegetables, you name it. (Looking for more amazing side dishes for Thanksgiving? I’ve got plenty.)

ANDREW ZIMMERN’S CITRUS SALAD WITH WINTER GREENS

Yield: 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

SALAD:

• 4 heads endive, sliced thinly, cores discarded
• 1 head frisée, trimmed, root end discarded
• 1 small red onion, halved and sliced
• 2 cups of julienned radicchio
• 3 Persian cucumbers, sliced
• Assorted orange and grapefruit supremes, juice reserved
• 2 Tbsp. fresh dill, chopped
• 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs…I like freshly made, see below

CITRUS VINAIGRETTE:

• ½ cup citrus juice from the supreme process
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• ¼ cup citrus vinegar (I like the ones from Huilerie Beaujolaise)
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

LEMONY HERBED BREAD CRUMBS:

• ¼ pound day-old Italian bread, torn into chunks
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Pinch of chile flakes
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• ¼ cup lightly packed parsley leaves
• 6 basil leaves
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. 
2. In a food processor, pulse the bread with the garlic, chile flakes, lemon zest, parsley and basil. With the machine running, pour in the olive oil. Process until coarse crumbs form. Season with salt and pepper, then spread on a large rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, until golden and crisp; let cool.
3. Arrange all of the bitter greens in a large salad bowl. Top with sliced red onion, Persian cucumbers, citrus supremes, fresh dill and the seasoned bread crumbs.
4. To make the citrus vinaigrette, place the juice, honey, vinegar, olive oil and mustard in a canning jar or salad cruet. Season with salt and pepper. Shake to mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
5. Drizzle the dressing over the salad to taste. Reserve any remaining vinaigrette in the refrigerator for another use. Serve immediately.

PERFECT PAIRINGS

PICKING WINES FOR THANKSGIVING DINNER

Hi Wondercader, Kate Dingwall here again. Thanksgiving is an exciting holiday for wine pairings. Why, you ask? Simple…you know exactly what’s going to be on the table. Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and a seasonal veg, like a green bean or squash. Even if you’re an unconventionalist and you’re digging into takeout, you’re gonna plan that in advance. So either way, you know what you’re eating. I’m here to help you take the guesswork out of what you’re drinking, with perfect wine pairings for the big meal.

But Thanksgiving isn’t just about consumption. It’s also about company. Does that red pair well with politics? Will that white wine work with weird small talk with your cousin’s new boyfriend? Will those bubbles move you from the football game into appetizers?

The following are my break-glass-in-case-of-wine-emergency bottles that pair with everything and everyone. But the real secret? More is more. I recommend starting off the night with bubbles (twist our arms!), then moving into crunchy, crowd-pleasing whites and a complex red or two. Keep a few options on the table and let everyone choose their own adventure.

For Starting Off Right: Vouette & Sorbée Fidèle, $100

Champagne is a lovely way to greet guests — pour a half glass as soon as they open the door, de-coat and settle in. Made entirely with Pinot Noir, this grower Champagne (meaning the producers grow all their own grapes instead of buying them) is precisely made and evocative, with rich herbaceous notes. 

It’s fun enough to start the party, and those slightly savory notes will also cut through charcuterie, nuts or whatever you’re snacking on. Why am I even convincing you to drink Champagne?! Drink Champagne.

For Turkey: Jean Foillard Morgon, $24

There’s no better turkey wine than Beaujolais, a region in the smack-dab center of France that grows almost entirely Gamay grapes. Refreshing, bright, juicy, bodied, but not too big or tannic (a characteristic in wine that leaves a drying sensation on the back of your tongue) — it’s crowd-pleasing at its finest. To underline: it’s straightforward, delicious and will complement everything on the table.

While any Gamay will do, I’m partial to winemaker Jean Foillard’s version of the grape. He’s one of the members of the Gang of Four, a group of Godfather-ish French wine producers who act as the patriarchs of the region when it comes to quality production. Très cool, non? Foillard’s Morgon tends to be my favorite of his — wines here from the Morgon micro-region are mineral-driven, flinty, and fresh and full of more complex cherry notes and velvety tannins, plus they age beautifully. (Drop these facts — your in-laws will be impressed.)

For Every Veggie Dish: Denavolo Dinavolino, $35

Orange wines work beautifully with Thanksgiving. The deep gold color and rich tannins are bold enough to punch above a usual white wine’s weight, plus, those qualities allow it to pair well with all of your favorite sides, from stuffing to roast Brussels sprouts to carrots — the list goes on. And the color is highly autumnal. 

Onto the bottle…winemaker Giulio Armani (not that Armani) makes beautiful whites high above the ocean. After harvesting, the grapes spend months resting on their skins to give the wine a big energy and body — meaning the flavors of the wine won’t get lost with big veggie dishes. Keeping those skins on is also what gives orange wine its color.

The Crowd-Pleaser: Familia Torres Salmos, $40

In the richer reds, Familia Torres Salmos is made high up in the mountains of Priorat outside of Barcelona — arguably an insane place to make wine due to the high altitude and super steep vineyards. It pays off; it’s an utterly unique bottle, with a deep ruby color, bright minerality and intense notes of spice and red berry. And unlike marshmallows on top of sweet potatoes, everyone at the table will like this bottle. 

Budget (But You Wouldn’t Know It): Monte Rio Cellars Sauvignon Blanc, $23

If your Thanksgiving dinner is full of loud and crowded tables, well, firstly, you might be at my house. Secondly, you’ll likely need several bottles of easy-but-delicious wines to fill glass after glass after glass.

California’s Monte Rio Cellars is the perfect companion to a full-family Thanksgiving. Sommelier-turned-winemaker Patrick Cappiello makes great budget-friendly (roughly $20 a bottle) wines for every kind of drinker. Think old-school California swagger turned into slick Sauvignon Blancs and energetic reds made with Mission, a Spanish grape that’s punchy, bright and full of smoky cherry notes.

For the Abstainers (or Over-Served): Studio Null Blanc Burgunder, $27

Odds are there will be folks at your table who don’t drink, whether they’re teetotalers or have to drive Grandma home. No matter the reason — and no one needs a reason, nor owes you one! — every time I’ve put a bottle of non-alcoholic wine on my Thanksgiving table, it gets emptied.

This bottle from Studio Null founders Catherine Diao and Dorothy Munholland is beautiful. It’s a mineral-driven Alpine white blend of Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc: crisp, acidic and bright enough to cut through all the buttery dishes on your table — and radiant, regardless of proof.

Pair With Leftovers: Cancelli Rosato, $31

While summer may have come and gone, rosé season springs eternal. But when the temperature starts dropping, I lean towards a deeper rosé. Cancelli from the eastern Italian region of Abruzzo spends a little bit longer on the skins compared to a regular summer water rosé…it’s pomegranate-colored and acidic, giving it a tart, almost crunchy texture, like biting into an apple. Consider it a rosé masquerading as a red.

It pairs well with pizza on the couch if that’s your kind of Thanksgiving shindig, but I personally like it with anything roasted. Especially warm turkey sandwiches made from leftovers — the most delicious of all Thanksgiving dishes.

With Thanksgiving, the food and drinks deservedly garner most of our attention. But the things we use to serve and store the food are also super important. And I’m not talking about our tummies, y’all. I’m talking about some of the godsends in this week’s Emporium, which will help your Thanksgiving day go as smoothly (and stylishly) as possible.

Hecef 3-Piece Acacia Wood Cheese Board Set

Thanksgiving isn’t just one meal. It’s a whole daggum day — your guests and loved ones need a little something to keep hunger at bay during that transition period between the Macy’s Parade and the National Dog Show, well before the turkey hits the table. Try a charcuterie or cheese plate, served on this simply beautiful acacia board, to keep your gang sated ‘til dinner’s served.

When everyone’s stuffed and all of the remaining food has moved from the table into the kitchen…when all the dinner dishes are piled high in the sink…when the tryptophan is doing its thing and everyone is falling asleep on the couch in front of a football game…it’s time to get the dessert and coffee service ready. 

Glasslock 18-Piece Oven-Safe Box Set

If you don’t end up with a ton of leftovers, you’re doing Thanksgiving wrong. It’s both a blessing (turkey sandwiches and stuffing for days!) and a curse (there’s only so much Saran wrap to go ‘round!). These sturdy microwave / freezer / dishwasher / oven-safe containers have snap-on lids and are airtight, keeping your Turkey Day treats super fresh, and stack atop one another in the fridge to be Tetris’d into every available inch of space in your fridge. 

Stasher 7-Pack Starter Kit

Or, perhaps you prefer tossing leftovers in bags, which can more easily be thrown into a backpack or lunch box. These delightful, candy-colored reusable bags are a super eco-friendly alternative to plastic or paper ones, and can be put in the freezer or even in the oven up to 425 degrees.

Have I done a sufficient job of making clear how much I love Thanksgiving? (That’s a rhetorical question. Of course I have.) You know what else I love? If you answered “David,” “the kids,” “the dogs,” “magic” or “cinnamon rolls,” you’d be right, of course, but the answer I was looking for was “puzzles.” This is, after all, Last Call. 

So let the games begin! Here’s last week’s stumper, and its solution.

Much like a momma kangaroo contains a smaller version of it inside its pouch, these words contain smaller synonyms of themselves inside of them!

For example, the word HONORABLE contains the word NOBLE in order (although not necessarily consecutive).

In each line, the definition of the kangaroo word is followed by a series of blanks. The starred blanks are also part of the inner word.

Can you get all 12 words?

The Reveal:

ASTOUND / STUN
BEFORE / ERE
CATACOMB / TOMB
DECEASED / DEAD
ENCOURAGE / URGE
FEAST / EAT

And now, onwards to this week’s challenge!

Insert a word into each blank below so that you create two separate compound words/phrases. For example, if the clue was RED ____ REST, the answer would be HEAD (redhead, headrest).

When you are done, the first letter of each answer reading from top to bottom will spell a word!

LOCK _____ LADDER
BRONZE _____ BRACKET
DOMAIN _____ DROP
HOT _____ HOUSE
FIELD _____ FORCE
CAST _____ CURTAIN
PACE _____ POOL
SEA _____ SENSE

Set your brain to Problem-Solving Mode and get back to me via the big ol’ button below, or by emailing me the solution at contest@wondercade.com. Answer correctly, and you’ll be entered to win a $200 gift card from kitchen tools shop GIR.co. Full rules here. Plus, take 30% off anything on their site with discount code WONDERCADE30 from now ‘til November 30th!