Since it’s now November, we can officially start doing Thanksgiving editions of The Fork. We do this for two reasons. First off, do you know how hard it is to write a food newsletter every week? It’s so hard! And we’ve been doing it for YEARS! YEAAAAARS! Second, everyone else starts doing it and we don’t want to be left out. But also, we don’t want you to be bored. Hahaha! We just realized we’re smack-dab in the middle of an annoying YouTube-esque life story thing when you really just want to get to the meat of the thing. So let’s go, dear readers—weird-ass Thanksgiving food!
Jell-O Salad
Mostly relegated to cartoons these days, Jell-O salad is literally any damn thing encased in gelatin. Why does it get the brand name treatment? Hard to say, but have you ever bought a non-Jell-O brand gelatin? You have? Lots of times? Shut up. We’re talking here. Anyway, we asked our grandma if she ever did this, to which she said, “Oh, yes, darling, of course. We all did. I realized, though, that I’d gone too far the time I was making a gelatin thing with hot dogs. It seemed disgusting.”
brianna@sfreporter.com
Ham and Banana Casserole
We heard about this one from our mother, didn’t believe her, and then we looked it up. And it’s true—there was literally a creamy, cheesy, hammy, banana-y casserole—that sometimes also had hollandaise on top—out there beginning in the 1970s. “Was it good?” we asked mater. She took a long drag from her cigarette and stared out the window over the darkening city. She glanced at her hands, weathered with age and a lifetime of regret. With her eyes glistening and a catch in her throat, she finally looked up again, world weary and exhausted. “Nope,” she replied.
Cranberry Surprise
This 1950s abomination looked like little deep red gelatin cranberry domes, but lurking underneath its pleasant exterior was a nightmarish ingredient that no surprise should ever contain—mayonnaise. Basically, you’d mush cranberry sauce, gelatin and mayo into one horrible melange of jiggly garbage and serve to anyone you hated, we guess.
Orange/Olive Turkey
This one we just found during our research, and it’s literally olives on toothpicks sticking out of an orange in a vague turkey feather shape. There are, like, radishes all up in there, too, and parsley or something? It’s not particularly gross in and of itself (assuming you wouldn’t eat the olives and orange at the same time), but, like...why did it ever exist?
brianna@sfreporter.com
Anything in Loaf Form
From whipped turkey loaf to some kind of veggie loaf, we have to wonder why the people of yesteryear loaf’d so many things. We won’t get into the photos we’ve seen, but we’ll probably never be OK again. And while we’re at it, no, a Field Roast is not good. In fact, anything that takes perfectly good things and smashes it all into a squishy texture nightmare probably isn’t worth your time—yeah, we’re talkin’ to you, McRib! Anyway, according to our sources (being our mother and grandmother), you’d be shocked by how many things came in loaf form around the holidays circa-1950-something. We’re not shocked. We’re not mad. We’re just disappointed for our loved ones that they had to grow up that way.
And how about you, dear readers? What are the weirdest foods your family ever served at Thanksgiving? Oh, please tell us they’re gross and please tell us you have photos? Write us ASAP to dish, grrrl!
‘Twas a simpler time.
Also
-Didja hear there’s a new executive chef at the Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi? Seems Daniel Hurtado is taking over with his more than 20 years of experience, and he’s diversifying the menu with new items representing Mexican, Mediterranean, Caribbean and Latin American cuisines.
-Seems like it’s Pizza City, population: you around here lately as we heard tell of a weekly pizza pop-up at The Betterday coffee shop. Known as Cosmic Pie Pizza, proprietor Chris Van Dyne reportedly hails from Santa Cruz (that’s in California) and might just go brick and mortar someday. For now, find him from 5-9 pm at Betterday on Saturdays.
-The Gayatri Kitchen Vegan + Vegetarian Indian Pop-Up returns on Nov. 7 and Nov. 14, and if you follow this link, you’ll find out how to order ahead of time and how to pick it up later. Huzzah!
-After closing the kitchen at its original location so long into the pandemic ago, Second Street Brewery announced this week that it’s hiring both there and at the Rufina Street location. Far as we know, it’s a cool place to work and its owners and beer-champs are award-winning masters of cool. Also, the fish and chips are pretty great. Just saying. Anyway, they’re hiring.
-We’ve also heard tell of a new (to us, anyway) food truck dubbed Bo’s Authentic Thai. Here’s a link to the menu, and here’s a link to the Facebook page. Two friends who don’t even know each other have separately told us they’re obsessed now, so...you should go. Hell, we should go. And so we shall.
-Remember how we were just telling you that Marquez Deli was talking about unveiling a new menu? Well, they’ve done just that and it looks amazing. How do you see this new menu? Why, follow this link, of course.
More Tidbits
-If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant, you know it’s a tough business with lots of standing and walking and lifting and stuff. According to writer Jaya Saxena, though, it needn’t destroy your body.
-History-dot-com highlights seven foods developed by Indigenous folks in a recent piece, including such hits as corn and beans. If you’re in New Mexico and reading this, you’re lucky because you can find foods from Indigenous folks all over the place.
-According to Bon Appétit, everyone has a Thanksgiving side dish personality, and if you take this-here quiz, you can learn where you rank. We haven’t taken the quiz yet, but we’re on team Pour That Mushroom Gravy on Literally Anything.
-Martha Stewart released a whole mess of taco recipes over on her website, and while many look pretty good, we’re still probably more down with picking any local taco truck at random and eating there. We still love you, Martha!
-Thrillist-dot-com released a list of its 28 favorite American pizza purveyors, and New Mexico isn’t on the list. A shame, though as our friends from New York keep telling us, pizza is apparently better in New York. We’d never heard that before, buds, so thank you.
Somehow still appetizing?
A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork’s Correspondence
In this week’s print edition of SFR, it was a brunching bonanza as our Culture Editor hit up Zacatlán and fell deeply in love.
Number of Letters Received
30
*Stew versus soup doesn’t matter, friends!
Most Helpful Tip of the Week (a barely edited letter from a reader)
“Unsubscribe, please.”
*Hurtful, but fair.
Actually Helpful Tip(s)
Everyone says that if we want good soup, we’ve gotta hit up Saveur Bistro in Santa Fe. So we will—even despite the baffling ‘90s website.
*We’ll continue to take any soup recs, thank you.
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Saucily,
The Fork
