The Leftovers and The Vegetarians
We know Thanksgiving is a week away—and that we dedicated some serious space to its proud history and weirdness last week—but we're not going to be here for the holiday (because we so rarely get an entire day off) and because we're pretty sure not a single one of you is waking up on Thanksgiving thinking, "WHEN DOES THE FORK GET HERE?!?!?!!" (If you do, we thank you, but if not, we understand.)
Anyway, we're here to talk about something that many of us look forward to perhaps even more than the big day itself: the leftovers. Assuming you have any, that is (and we'll get into what you might do this year if your cornucopia runneth over and you begin to feel guilty about it because we're a garbage country that throws away more food than a lot of the rest of the world can dream of).
Assuming you have the traditional foodstuffs, this-here Food Network slideshow is pretty helpful and pretty surprising, especially in that it describes how to transform whatever you have left into stuff like soup and waffles. Holy smokes, waffles are the best.
Martha Stewart obviously has some great ideas as well.
And let us remind you all that those rolls that come at Thanksgiving (you know the ones—you KNOW the ones) make for great mini sandwiches–just slap some turkey and gravy all up in there. Don't microwave, though, because that stupid box makes everything all soggy and weird and, let's face it, is lazy.
All of this might be moot, though, without a great storage container solution. Thus, we found this exhaustive list of the best containers currently around. Keep it fresh, homies.
We know this sounds like a joke, but we're serious—try to not be wasteful.
Remember as well that some of your guests don't eat meat and, like that office party wherein the carnivores go to town on the non-meat pizza like a bunch of jerks, they can be overlooked. We'll tell you right now there's a paywall for this New York Times piece on makin' meals for the vegetarians in your life, but it's worth it, which we say as vegetarians.
It's here that we'd usually get into what to do for vegans, but we're seriously wondering if they should even engage. But it's not what you think—no judgement—it's really more about how, at a certain point, we're just splitting hairs for the sake of inclusion. Thanksgiving isn't about specific foods, right? It's about fake history and a banking holiday, so we'll advise vegans to just worry about eating something they like rather than getting all weird about being included.
If you can't hang with that, here are some recipes for vegan gravy.
And while we commend anyone who is thinking about donating food to local pantry or shelter organizations, remember that nobody wants your jacked-up turkey dregs or slices of pie you couldn't eat—though many will take non-perishable ingredients you didn't use (again, not counting pumpkin pie mix or condensed milk, ya yahoos). Try contacting Santa Fe's St. Elizabeth Shelter to see what they might be looking for, though it might be more effective to volunteer, now or later.
Remember, also, The Food Depot, one of Northern New Mexico's coolest orgs. SFR participated recently in the annual Cranksgiving event (you can see a little bit about that on our Instagram), which saw weirdos biking around the St. Mike's area and buying food to donate. Just remember them and help if you can. Take, for example, our pals at Buffalo Thunder who, in partnership with The Food Depot, are donating 14 tons of food to help New Mexico families. Nice!
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THE VIDEO JUST BELOW IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU'LL SEE THIS WEEK!
Glorious.
Also
-If you're in a money mood, you can actually invest in the Santa Fe Farmers Market as a member. It helps with sustainability and local-ness and yada yada yada.
-We're also smack-dab in the middle of Vinaigrette's Around the World in 40 Soups program, which does pretty much what you think it would. By the time you read this, they'll have already served soups from Ethiopia and Djibouti, but you never know where they'll go next. They even have a fun li'l passport thing you can get to track what country's soups you've consumed. Oh, and also, Vinaigrette's been open for 10 years now. Wow! Congratulations to owner Erin Wade for not only lasting power but for having the best salads we've ever had.
-We're adding Rio Chama to our open-on-Thanksgiving list. There's a special menu and private dining rooms and probably so much liquor if you're bummed out that day because your mom's "friend" is coming over despite your protests!
-If you're looking for things to do the day after Thanksgiving, Chef Johnny Vee from Las Cosas has a pretty excellent-seeming tamale class which we hear sold out fast last year. We'll be your taste-tester. Just kidding—you'll never unmask The Fork!
-If you've been all huffed up and full of fury over our vegan jokes from before, you're probably a vegan, but you also might want to know about this-here ThanksLiving Vegan Potluck in Santa Fe. We're told it's annual and a pretty great gathering—just remember to bring something that'll serve eight people, plus the recipe for folks with allergies, plus the place setting you'll need (they don't have dishes). You're welcome!
-We're adding Modern General to our list of places that'll make pies for you because you work hard, dammit, and you don't have all the time in the world to be making pies for your ungrateful friends and family! They've got cakes, too, and rolls … and stock—dang, Modern General is killing it. Just know that you must get your orders in by 5 pm on Tuesday Nov. 20 for pickup on Wednesday Nov. 21. They'll be doing stuff in December, too, and we'll get to that then.
-Fork reader Mike wanted everyone to know that Midtown Bistro is also open on T-Day, and a very nice woman from the restaurant told us on the phone that that's true—from 1-7 pm. You may want to make reservations. We'll also add that there are probably plenty of other places to be found open in Santa Fe, and we wish we had the time and wherewithal to phone every single eatery in town to publish a comprehensive list. If we missed one (which we're aware we most probably did), drop a line and we'll do our best to include more options next year.
-Lastly, in local food news, Florida-based Menaker Developments (which we know isn't local, but stay with us here) has entered a deal with the Santa Fe Railyard wherein a fancy old train car will be fully renovated into a restaurant, open-air boutiques and such. We'll provide more details when we know them, but we think it seems pretty cool.
More Tidbits
-Like you, The Fork isn't getting any younger, so we most definitely perused this US News article on how it's hard to lose weight the older you get. First of all, duh. And second, we're not planning any changes to how we eat, we're just looking for good party banter. Besides, when you read the next little piece of information, you'll see why we're feeling disheartened.
-In also incredibly bummer news, a recent study says there aren't enough fruit and vegetables in existence for the planet's population to be engaged in healthy dieting practices. Yikes. The Fork will take one for the team, though, and continue eating these lemon ice cream sandwiches we found at Natural Grocers. You're welcome, everyone.
-Another study to be filed under "duh" states that if the world's red meat were to be taxed as a harmful product (think cigarettes), it would save a lot of lives. But this is America, where we do stuff that's bad for us so we can die a horrible death because freedom! Naw, just kidding—we honestly think it's a great idea even if cattle ranchers potentially reading this are sending goons to The Fork's secret bunker.
-With that in mind, we also read this Washington Post piece about how junk food impacts your body. It ain't pretty, but it also turns out our bodies are pretty resilient, and if we just eat healthier, like adding plenty of fruits and veget—OH NO! WE ARE DOOMED!
-Here's just a breakdown of sushi you probably didn't know existed that we kind of liked because why wouldn't we? If you did know it existed, don't worry about sending us emails to let us know. We think you're very impressive already.
-In more sciencey news, this-here device called Hertzstück can analyze the molecular content of your food. So, like, if you aim it at food, a scanner/sensor thing will be like, "Yup, that's cow's milk, alright." It's in the early phases of development, but if it doesn't wind up on our phones at some point, we'd be shocked.
Finally
Don't forget that we'll be taking the day next Thursday and hope you all can as well. We know we joke a lot, but The Fork is sincerely thankful that we'll be warm enough and have enough to eat. It wasn't always this way for us, so we try to remember how fleeting such good fortune can be. We hope you all have places to go if you want, and would like to remind you that if the holiday isn't your thing, that's OK and valid, too. Not everyone has a great relationship with their families and this time of year can be incredibly stressful. We hope you can lean on your friends and chosen family during this time if that's the case.
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A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork's Correspondence
Number of Letters Receieved
49
*And so many from white people who feel like The Fork was too hard on white people last week.
Most Helpful Tip of the Week (edited slightly for length)
How we never should have pointed out that Thanksgiving history might not be completely accurate.
*You’re right. WE are the monster.
Actually Helpful Tip (only slightly edited for content)
The one that pointed us to great vegetarian and vegan gravy recipes.
*It’s one of the few things we miss about meat.
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In this week’s print edition of SFR, get a helping T-Day hand if you’re one of those procrastinators with tips on places to eat, pies to buy and places to go.
Anyway….
Forrrrrrrk yes,
The Fork
PS: Who do we hope has a great holiday?
What news do you want to see in this newsletter? We want to hear from you! Let us know! Email thefork@sfreporter.com
