InFocus: Thanksgiving

By Cody Laplante, Troy Doetch, and Leah Spagnoli

All the food at Thanksgiving is simply amazing. More importantly, after a semester of dorm food, Thanksgiving means a fresh, home-cooked meal. But every year there is one thing that stands out in my mind and stomach. I just love a well-done turkey. Last year, the turkey my family ate was mouthwatering. Now, personally, I think the key to a good Thanksgiving turkey is the slow cooking. The longer in the oven, the longer it has to marinate in the juices and become that perfect holiday feast. That tender light and supple dark meat…excuse me, I’ve got to clean the drool off my keyboard.

Cody Laplante

Columnist

By far, my favorite Thanksgiving dish is my Aunt Lisa’s homemade macaroni and cheese.

To my knowledge, this is just ordinary pasta, cheese and Japanese breadcrumbs baked in an oven. But the symphony of all these ordinary flavors is something that can be called extraordinary.

This dish combines the nostalgia of boxed Kraft with the quality of homemade food, the combination of which creates a feeling of delight in any American child.

Now, I know I did a column Monday on food addiction and here I am talking about the pleasures of a relatively unhealthy dish.

Well, you can call me a hypocrite, but I’ll call myself addicted.

Troy Doetch

Columnist

I assume my uncle started bringing his green salsa to Thanksgiving as an act of rebellion. In which case, it must have been confusing for him when my family finished the entire serving bowl—then the entire Mason jar. And today, while most Americas are dreaming of turkey legs and cylindrical pillars of cranberries, I’m thinking about salsa with a seedy base of lime juice, tomatillos, chili peppers and onions. Though it may not sound different than the generic squeeze-bottle salsa verde on every table of every Mexican restaurant, it’s set apart by gargantuan chunks of avocados that can only be lifted by extra thick corn chips.

Leah Spagnoli

Managing Editor

Many groups of friends and family sit down to a festive table full of typical Thanksgiving goodies—turkey, green bean casserole and mashed taters. My family is no different with the sweet and tart addition of cranberry sauce. My Aunt Jill makes the most amazing cranberry sauce. She mixes fresh cranberries with strawberries and Jell-O mix; it’s to die for. The succulent, mouthwatering mixture is good both warm and cold, on sweet potatoes and turkey or even on that second-day “Thanksgiving sandwich.” Thursday cannot come soon enough. If my aunt doesn’t make extra to save I will be incredibly disappointed.