The Ultimate Recession Food (Duh)

One of the great things about publishing a book is that you become an expert of sorts and I, of course, am happy to serve as the authority on casseroles. So when The Daily Beast asked me to write an article on the casserole as the perfect recession food, I was more than happy to oblige.

Read it here.

Day After Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Dinner

Better late than never, right?

I hadn’t cooked Thanksgiving dinner since 2001 and decided that this year, my last year in New York, Thanksgiving was going to be perfect. I had two guests coming into town, my friend Lacey was coming over for dinner and my roommate would be around. That Monday, I went to Whole Foods and bought the smallest organic, free-range turkey I could find (11 pounds), Brussels sprouts, red potatoes and ridiculous amounts of butter.

Tuesday, my roommate and I got into a fight. Wednesday, my friends called to say they had to cancel their trip due to a family illness. Lacey is a vegetarian.

I asked around to see if anyone needed a place to go, but everyone already had plans. Lacey and I, being Thanksgiving orphans, were able to attend another friend’s dinner. But I still had an 11-pound turkey in the fridge.

This gave me an idea: The Day After Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Dinner. I had a turkey to get rid of, people would want an excuse to leave their families early and, damnit, I still wanted to host the perfect Thanksgiving. I sent out an email to a few friends I figured would be around and… forgot to brine the turkey.

In the mean time, I asked the friend who was taking Lacey and me in what she would like us to bring. But she didn’t need a turkey or Brussels sprouts or even mashed potatoes. No, she needed stuffing.

In my family, stuffing came from a box, Stove Top to be exact. I would fill my plate with it as a kid, with a little turkey and cranberry sauce on the side. But, being the casserole queen and all, showing up with a fake casserole would be a little, um, bad? So, I came up with this recipe, headed over to Lacey’s with the ingredients on Thursday morning and crossed my fingers it would turn out okay. What follows is the recipe for The Best Vegetarian Stuffing Ever: