How to do Thanksgiving like a pro |
 | | Sara Kobos/NYT Wirecutter |
 | By Isoke Samuel Isoke is a newsletters coordinator and a lifelong pescatarian, who shocked her guests (and herself) by presenting a full turkey at Friendsgiving. | |
I recently hosted Friendsgiving for 20 people, and in the two weeks leading up to it, I tried to keep myself grounded by leaning on all the little hosting best practices I’ve gathered over the years. I still panic-bought far too much cheese for my charcuterie board and forgot the potatoes for my mash, but I avoided any major fiascos by falling back on a few hosting tenets that have never failed me: Make tried-and-true recipes, clean as you go, and have a big-batch cocktail ready for guests to enjoy when they arrive. And I reminded myself of something chef and cookbook author Samin Nosrat told my colleague Maki Yazawa in a recent interview: “It’s ultimately more important that we gather and eat than it is that we have a perfect meal.” Over the last year, Wirecutter experts have spoken with a slew of professional chefs and well-seasoned hosts, like Samin, for their best kitchen tools and hosting hacks that make cooking for a crowd easier. Here are some of their best tips. Good luck out there this week! - Make cleanup easy: Samin uses parchment paper for just about everything, including lining sheet pans and covering countertops for easier cleanup. “I’ll often work on parchment if I’m making a mess on the countertop, so then I can just throw the whole thing in the compost,” she says.
Samin Nosrat’s tips and tools for hosting a stress-free dinner party→
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- Focus on fresh flavor: Padma Lakshmi, former host of Top Chef and cookbook author, buys her spices in small 3-ounce quantities and stores them in glass containers for maximum freshness. Then, on the day she plans to use them, she dry-roasts them whole and hand-grinds them in a mortar to unlock the freshest, punchiest flavor.
Padma’s advice for experimenting with new flavor→
- Leave your cutting board packed away: If like Tanya Sichynsky, author of New York Times Cooking newsletter, The Veggie, you hate lugging out and cleaning up a cutting board, you might be able to avoid it. Instead of mincing, Tanya reaches for a microplane. She also uses a mandoline to easily and thinly slice fruits and veggies.
The kitchen tools Tanya uses to make cooking easier→
- Set an intentional — but laid-back — table: When setting her table for a dinner party, recipe developer and author Alexis deBoschnek doesn’t separate the formal from the informal. Instead, she mixes functional pieces that blend old and new, like vintage barware alongside linen napkins and more playful and modern glassware.
The colorful wine glasses and tapered candles Alexis loves→
- For perfectly cooked roasts, poultry, fish, and cake: The Great British Baking Show finalist Dylan Bachelet relies on our favorite instant-read thermometer for consistent cake baking. When the thermometer reads 98°C, he knows it’s perfect.
A thermometer so good, Dylan nabbed it off the set of ‘The Great British Baking Show’→
- A multipurpose platter: Author and recipe developer Molly Baz loves aluminum sizzler platters, which allow you to reheat food on the same dish that you serve on. Plus, they’re dishwasher-safe, and they’ll develop a beautiful patina — only getting prettier with time.
Plus, all the other kitchen essentials Molly Baz swears by→
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24 gifts for people who love food |
 | | Michael Hession/NYT Wirecutter |
Our experts have gathered some of the very best delicious, good-looking, and offbeat gifts for the people who believe that the dining table is where life happens — and already have their kitchen basics covered.
Including a colorful ceramic butter dish and anchovy-stuffed olives→
Today’s very good gift: A versatile buy-it-for-life pot |
 | | Marki Williams/NYT Wirecutter |
One of our kitchen team’s favorite pots, this heirloom-quality vessel has a long handle that stays cool and a flared lip that can pour liquids without slopping. Yes, chef→
One last thing: The most comfortable shoes, according to chefs |
 | | Dana Davis/NYT Wirecutter; source photos by Elissa Sanci/NYT Wirecutter, Jeff Fierberg, Ren Fuller, Aiden Lorns, Molly Coen |
We spoke with professional chefs who regularly stand on their feet for 10 to 12 hours at a time and navigate through fast-paced kitchens with grease-slicked floors. These are the shoes they recommend for anyone who spends long hours standing. Go-to comfy shoes for chefs→
Thanks for reading. You can reach the Wirecutter Newsletters team at newsletters@wirecutter.com. We can’t always respond, but we do love to hear from you. |
