Oprah is so wise. When she speaks, people know to listen. We rely on her advice to decide what books to read, what to cook for dinner, even who to vote for. So when she releases her list of favorite things every year, we are all ears. This list is basically the ultimate Christmas hack. What Oprah chooses, your friends and relatives are guaranteed to love — awkward Christmas morning gift exchange avoided. And this year, Oprah’s list includes some covetable food items.
If you missed out on Starbucks’ free, reusable red cups last Friday (and we know people were MAD about this), there’s still a way to get into the reusable holiday spirit.
Starbucks kicked off its 90-day Countdown to Christmas in September by introducing new reusable holiday cups and mugs, and they are all pretty fantastic. There’s a black sequin one that is gorgeous, and a rose gold tumbler that seems to be pretty popular, but there’s one tumbler in particular that is blowing up on Instagram and Starbucks’ secret Facebook group, the Leaf Rakers Society: the iridescent cold cup.
If you thought Trader Joe’s had a lot of pumpkin-flavored stuff for fall, it might not surprise you to learn that the grocer has even more themed stuff for Thanksgiving. In addition to general ingredients you’d expect (turkey stock, turkey gravy, cranberry sauce, etc.), there are also tons of more surprising snacks, side dishes, and desserts. There’s even a frozen Turkey & Stuffing en Croute (a Beef Wellington-like turkey tenderloin with sweet cornbread stuffing, rolled into puff pastry)!
I decided to try five of the most Thanksgiving-themed groceries ahead of time to see if I’d want to serve any at my family’s celebration. (Note: I skipped the Turkey & Stuffing en Croute because I figured we’d want to have our traditional turkey.)
Here’s what I tried — and what I thought.
It’s a good thing I really like green beans. That’s because this month — as part of Kitchn testing out some of the most famous Thanksgiving recipes on the internet — I cooked a ton of them. I wanted to figure out which celebrity chef (out of Alton Brown, Ina Garten, and Ree Drummond) had the very best green bean recipe.
And if you think all green beans are the same, these three recipes proved that’s definitely not the case. Alton turned them into a classic casserole, Ina went the fancy route, and Ree made sure to toss in some bacon. So, which is the very best recipe to bring to your Thanksgiving table? Here’s how they ranked, from my least favorite to most favorite.
Quick! Grab your phone, set a timer for 30 seconds, and see how many cheeses you can name in that time — we’ll wait.
Did you get five? Maybe 10? Maybe 20, even? Well, if you’re wondering, your competition is this woman, a Milwaukee Bucks fan who named 27 different types of cheese in 30 seconds — with a microphone in her face and an arena full of people watching. She’s a curd nerd of the highest order!
For the past four or five years, my friend has hosted a pre-Thanksgiving dinner that he calls “Sidesgiving” because everyone brings their favorite holiday-season side dish. Even though he sets the date and sends invitations several weeks in advance, every single year I’m late because, at dinnertime, I’m still leaning down and peering into the oven, wondering whether hissing “OMGGGG COME ONNNNNN” will make those sweet potatoes cook any faster.
Of all the weird and wonderful items available for purchase at Costco (including a year’s worth of emergency food in case of the apocalypse, and a $6,400 bottle of cognac), this might top the list of the wackiest. For just $99, you could be the proud owner of a four-foot-tall wine glass, which is intended to be used for decorative purposes only. Obviously.
Around here, we enthusiastically celebrate any opportunity to save on All-Clad, one of our favorite high-end (and high price point) cookware brands. So we were thrilled to see that their popular VIP Factory Seconds Sale is ongoing through this Wednesday, November 7. Hosted by Home and Cooks Sales (you just need to provide your email address to view the sale), this promotion happens a few times a year and features a huge variety of All-Clad’s classic and specialty styles of cookware. All items are final sale, and while most are priced generously at 40 to 50 percent off, you can score discounts of up to 80 percent off on certain items.
If you or anyone you know lives with celiac disease, then you know how difficult eating and cooking can be. Gluten is everywhere! It’s in your breads, cereals, pastas, cakes, cookies, pastries, beer — and it can be hard to avoid. You need to check all your food labels and, in extreme circumstances, make sure that your housemates don’t put gluten on kitchenware you regularly use.
That’s why it’s especially exciting to find out that there might be a vaccine that could effectively cure most sufferers of celiac disease. People reports that a vaccine called Nexvax2 can target the immune system to stop the inflammation that usually happens when a celiac sufferer has food with gluten in it.
With Halloween over, it’s time to pack up the wigs and get started on planning for the big winter holidays. Now, before the party pressure begins, is the best time to get started; it’s still all about dreaming of amazing appetizers and planning the best bites, with endless scrolling through dreidel-shaped desserts and ombre popcorn strands.
And if you — like 62 million other people around the world — are using Pinterest to help plan, they’ve got a new board setup to help get you from imagining low-carb latkes to cooking keto stuffing.