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Food for Thought Friday: T-day advice after planning the best gathering of my life 🥰
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Hello!
It’s the FFTF before Thanksgiving, so I feel like the pressure is ONNNNN to give you REALLY good advice for your Thursday preparations…!
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, but I am actually skipping out on it this year as my husband and I are headed off on our honeymoon next week!
(...I can’t remember what I explicitly told you all in my emails, but I got married recently, and twice, haha! We had an Islamic/Pakistani wedding outside Chicago on Aug 13th that my husband planned, and a Catholic/American wedding in San Francisco on October 30th that I planned to a T. I will probably write about them in more detail soon 😍.)
Anyways - I’m very excited for our trip, but also a little sad to be missing my favorite feast with my family. As such, I’m feeling especially nostalgic for Thanksgivings past and was just looking up photos from the past 5 years of Thanksgivings on my phone, reminiscing.
Almost 2 years of pandemic times plus the fact that I recently threw the best party of my life have had me reflecting a lot this year on the importance of gathering. For me, bringing people together in a meaningful, caring way is one of the most important sources of joy in my life. Despite the fact that it can be a lot of work to host events, now more than ever it feels SO WORTH IT.
I’m sure(/I sure hope!) you’ve experienced at some point this year that deep joy of reuniting in person with people you love… the soothing feelings that arise from flowing conversations in the lingering time after a meal… the depth of things that can be communicated with a long hug or the physical squeeze of the hand… the relief or empathy that’s experienced when you realize through an in-person conversation that that person who hasn’t been calling you back is actually going through something really hard and that’s why they’ve been out of touch…
Brené Brown often says “It’s hard to hate people up close,” and I don’t know about you, but I can tell that our world is seriously suffering from our lack of gathering in person.
So this year, as someone who is both A) still overflowing with joy from the best gathering of my life and B) still exhausted from planning out every detail from the best gathering of my life… my advice for your Thanksgiving this year is three-fold, and sort of contradictory…
- Make your gathering as easy on yourself as possible!
- A lesson I’ve learned: when you care about something and put effort into it, people really do NOTICE. They can feel your effort, your care, and your LOVE in that act, so therefore…
- Whether you’re hosting or attending Thanksgiving - or for ANY gathering: pick the part(s) of the meal/event that YOU care MOST about and that bring YOU the most joy to delve into. Focus your efforts on those pieces, and share that with others. Your people will notice, and it will be beautiful and magical. For everything else - take the easy path, delegate it, ask for help, or just let it go and don’t worry about it.
For me, of course, the most effort goes into the food, but for you it might be the table layout, the flowers, the seating arrangement, a game so people can get to know each other, a reflection question to discuss, or a party favor. Focus your effort on what feels most exciting to YOU this year, and try to make everything else as easy on you as possible. (Also, I find that asking guests to bring specific items or help with specific tasks is the best for everyone!)
And on the “easy” note… here is a SUPER easy and light, fall-themed appetizer that I love. Found this photo of it on my phone from 2018 and that reminded me to write it up for you. I’m calling it the “Easy, Fancy Apple-Bites Appetizer” and you can make it with or without the meat :).
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If you want more GPJ Thanksgiving advice, here’s my pro-tip round up from 2019, and a squash-side-dish plus wintery salad recipe from last year’s email around this time.
Happy early Thanksgiving, and I hope you get to safely and healthfully enjoy gathering with the people you love most.
All my love,
Jess
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Easy, Fancy Apple-Bites Appetizer
by Garlic Press Jess, inspired by the many "passed apps" I used to assemble when I worked in catering!
Note: You'll want to make this right before serving because if you make it ahead, the apples will get brown - not really a big deal but it doesn't look as "appetizing." If your guests have already arrived, recruit a small assembly team to help you! It'll be fun!
Ingredients:
- apples (1 apple will make about 8 bites, calculate accordingly!)
- 1 container ricotta cheese (for my non-dairy/vegan friends, Kite Hill makes a pretty good one!)
- 1 pack or several large slices of prosciutto, and/or toasted pecans for veg option
- large handful baby arugula
- about 1 cup pomegranate seeds
- balsamic syrup/glaze (or vinegar)
- olive oil, optional but always great
- dash of nutmeg (especially if doing veg version), salt/pepper, optional but always great
Instructions:
- Wash apples and remove any stickers. Prepare the platter(s) where you'll serve these bites and place near your cutting board. If you have a whole pomegranate, break it down to remove seeds. (Note - there are many ways to do this. I prefer cutting it the way they do in this video, and then breaking up the seeds and membranes in a bowl of water, as shown in this video, but to each her own pom-method!)
- Slice apples as thinly as possible into large, thin circles, starting from one side and cutting towards the core, and then from the opposite side and in towards the core. Depending on the size of the apple, you'll get about 4 thin slices on each side, so 8 per apple. You'll have some weird-looking apples with edible parts left. Store in the fridge for snacks later or just cut up to snack on as you work.
- Lay out your apple slices on the platters. Now place a generous spoonful of ricotta on each apple and spread it around in a thin layer. Sprinkle the ricotta with a little nutmeg if you wish.
- If using prosciutto, break up into small pieces and add a small pile on top of the ricotta on each apple slice. If doing veg version, top with some toasted, roughly-diced pecans on top of the ricotta instead.
- Drizzle a very small amount of balsamic syrup on top of the slices. Balsamic syrup/glaze works better than vinegar here, as it's thicker/syrupy and thus stays in place better once drizzled. If you don't have it, just use vinegar. If using vinegar, use a very small amount and hold your thumb over the spout as you drizzle it so you have better control over how much comes out.
- Drizzle a thin amount of olive oil on each or all over the platter, if you wish.
- Place a few pieces of arugula on each apple slice.
- Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.
- Finish with salt and/or pepper if you wish.
- Serve and enjoy!
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All photos are taken by me and recipes written by me, unless otherwise noted.
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Hi, I'm Jess! I help health-conscious, busy people transform their cooking from chore to lifestyle through intuitive cooking, which I teach through online classes, free content, coaching and more. This is my newsletter, Food for Thought Fridays, where I share highly actionable tips and inspiration to help you cook more intuitively (which makes cooking feel easier and SO much more fun!). Once a month, I share a recipe that's really worth making, and I only share those with my email subscribers. Sometimes the text above may include affiliate links, meaning (at no additional cost to you) I get a commission if you click through and make a purchase. This helps me to continue to share free content, so I would love it if you buy through my link! Thank you for supporting Garlic Press Jess!
I currently work + live on land that is the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone. And I can't wait to eat at Cafe Ohlone! Check out this article about them.
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