My Best Thanksgiving Tips, Part 1

Ideas on perfect wine pairings, festive drink recipes, and a time saving, step-by-step plan.

The view from my balcony on Monday. Believe it or not, this is a colour photo.

In Like a Lamb, Out Like a Lion

I made my first butternut squash soup of the season on Monday.

It’s finally feeling like fall, after a hot – like, high 20s/feels like 30s hot – most of September. But then, as if on cue, the first “official” day of fall blew in on the weekend, bringing with it low-hanging clouds, grey skies, and rain.

It seems like hot Septembers that follow hit-and-miss summers is this is the new norm in Southern Ontario. Instagram is a terrific record of these events, and looking back at my feed from last year, I was offering recipes for frozen Piña Coladas to deal with the late summer heat wave.

And this year, while June, July, and much of August were mostly a wash-out, September has thus far been a blazing beauty. Of course, September for me means fall, so the unseasonable (new seasonable?) warmth really wreaked havoc on my plans for scarves and sweaters and roasts and braises.

But, complaining about the weather is probably one of the most futile things one can do. Best just to pour a climactically-appropriate drink and get on with it.

A tamarind whisky sour is my fall spin on the classic. Combine 2oz whiskey, with 1 Tbsp tamarind concentrate, 1/2oz maple syrup, 1/2oz lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Shake over ice and pour into a rocks glass with fresh ice.

Speaking of which, this week’s Quaintrelle is all about Thanksgiving drinks. The Canadian holiday is a little less than three weeks away, so the next few newsletters will be a cornucopia of ideas to make the most of your Thanksgiving dinner.

I know not everyone here is Canadian, but for those of you from the US, maybe just save these for your Thanksgiving in November – or better yet – take advantage of today’s tips to get a real jump on your holiday planning.

And for those of you who don’t officially have a Thanksgiving (I see you Brits sneaking in a cheeky turkey dinner alongside your Yorkshire puddings) these next few weeks can serve as your blueprint for a stress free and seamless holiday. Or hols, as you call it.

Step-By-Step Guide to Thanksgiving Planning, Week 1

Canadian Thanksgiving is October 14, though, of course, many of us will be celebrating all weekend long.

That’s the fun of it, right? Shuffling between all the in-laws and blended family brunches, lunches, and dinners, it’s a whirlwind of festivities. Lace up those running shoes, and find your most fashionable elastic-waistband pants, this is no weekend for the weak.

My sister and I co-host our family’s Thanksgiving and have done for the last 15 years. And we’ve learned a thing or two in that time. Layering in our experience in the hospitality industry, and the fact that I’ve run my own wine events company for more than a decade, we’ve got dinner party planning down pat.

I don’t say this to brag (wellllll, maybe a little…) I say this because if there has been a mistake to be made, I have made it. So, for the next three newsletters, I’ll be sharing with you my very best tips for pulling off a day with grace, calm, and, maybe even a little bit of joy.

This week, here’s what you need to do:

1. Guest List Only

Send out your invites and ask who is coming, who is bringing someone, and who has any new dietary considerations.

You may have the same lot around your holiday table year after year, but kids get older, not necessarily wiser, and your nephew may show up at your door with a new and unexpected betrothed. And she’s a vegan.

Your perpetually-on-a-diet cousin may have become a keto devotee.

And it’s possible someone may be pregnant, and has decided to announce it at the family dinner, so when they request non-alcoholic wine and decaf coffee in their RSVP, don’t question it.

Plan Your Menu

Ideally, this will be at least 80% make-ahead or store-bought.

Leave the perfectly pouffed soufflé and the expertly flambéed bananas to the pros. If you want to have fun at your own party, don’t create a menu where you’re sweating in the kitchen all day.

If you’re picking up pre-made dishes from restaurants, caterers, or specialty shops, get your order in NOW! They will be busy and if left too late, you may be out of luck.

If you plan on hosting a potluck, now is also the time to ask your sister to make her amazing apple pie, and your father-in-law to bring his legendary scalloped potatoes. They have busy lives, too, and last-minute requests aren’t cool.

Practice Makes Perfect

Practice the recipes you haven’t made before but are thinking about making on Thanksgiving.

This includes (what you think are) the simplest of dips, cookies, and salads. True story: last week I had an idea for a corn dip that I thought would be a slam dunk … and it was. A slam dunk right into the garbage. Everyone has kitchen fails, but you don’t want yours happening when you’re hosting 14 people.

Count On It

Take an inventory of your plates, glassware, cutlery, serving ware etc.

A living room full of family is not the time to remember you threw out your spare folding chairs when you cleaned the garage last summer in a fit of Marie Kondo rage.

Take a look at your guest list, and count your plates, cutlery, glassware, napkins. Find the leaf insert for the dining room table, dig out the extra chairs, examine the tablecloth for holes and stains… oh you are missing something? Terrific. You still have a stress-free three weeks to go out and pick up whatever you require.

After you’ve taken inventory of the things you will need to serve and host Thanksgiving, look at your menu and write next to each item what you plan to serve it in. By writing it out, you can see if you’ve accidentally double-booked grandma’s antique serving platter for both the green beans and the mashed potatoes.

If the serving bowls have been in the back of the cupboard since last year, give them a wash, so check one less to-do item off your list. I even place a sticky note on each dish of what its being used for so I am super-duper organized.

You may laugh at my orneriness, but I’m never sobbing in the kitchen come Game Day.

Grocery Run #1

Yes, I said, Number One.

In my neighbourhood, which is fairly bustling with three large grocery stores and countless bakeries, green grocers, and butchers, the high-demand items are gone by the time the holiday rolls around. I can only imagine those lucky enough to live in smaller cities would be facing the same dilemma, but even quicker.

This week, add all the shelf-stable items you will need for Thanksgiving to your regular weekly shop: canned cranberry, dried breadcrumbs, pumpkin pie filling, frozen pie crust… heck, even extra toilet paper, paper towel, coffee beans and candles.

Not only have you got your holiday items safe and secure, but by dividing up some of the shopping, you’re making it easier on your wallet, as well.

Booze Run

I’m going to say something scandalous here:

Get your wine and spirits for the entire holiday season now.

While things are relatively calm, and the selection is good, get a case or two of red, white, and sparkling (the amount obviously depends on your crowd’s needs), and store the boxes in the basement with a big label that reads, “Holiday Wines.”

This is what you will use for all your holiday dinner hosting, from Thanksgiving through to New Year’s Eve, plus be the bottles you grab for hostess gifts on your way to someone else’s party.

This is a pro move that saves a bunch of time and stress.

So that’s this week’s to-do list.

See? It’s not so bad when you break it down to manageable tasks.

Next week, we have the second round of prep, but it gets easier and lighter from here.

Thanksgiving Drinks

I am a huge fan of signature cocktails. HUGE.

A signature cocktail sets the tone for the party, offers a talking point, and supports a theme. (I am also a lover of themes. In this case, the theme is Thanksgiving.)

I am also a lover of big-batch, make-ahead cocktails. A host is already busy on the day, so one more item to scratch off the to-do list is a great thing.

As guests arrive, I prefer to serve drinks that work as aperitifs. Cocktails that are bright and fresh and stimulate the appetite.

With that in mind, here are three options that are seasonal, festive, and elegant.

Cosmopolitan

Believe it or not, I think an SATC-era Cosmo is brilliant for Thanksgiving.

Cranberry, of course, is de rigueur on any autumn holiday table, whether they’re bobbing beside the floating candles, or woven into a twiggy wreath.

You are forgiven if your initial reaction is to recoil, horrified by memories of the hip-hugging, low-cut-jeans of the ecstasy-laced 90’s, but let me assure you, a Cosmo is very tasty: tangy and tart with cranberry and lime, balanced by sweet orange liqueur, and just enough kick from the vodka to help you deal with Aunt Bessie’s thoughts on natural childbirth.

Makes: 8, 5 oz drinks
Bartender level: easy

Ingredients:

• 2 cups vodka

• 2 cups cranberry juice

• ½ cup orange flavoured liqueur

• ½ cup fresh lime juice

• 3 Tbsp water (this will make up for the dilution that a single drink gets from shaking over ice)

• Lime wheels and cranberries for garnish

How to Make It:

1. Into a fashionable pitcher, add vodka through water. Stir to combine and chill in the fridge until needed.

2. When ready pour into coups or martini glasses, garnishing with lime and cranberry.

Apple Cider Sour

Calvados is a delicious apple brandy from Normandy, a northern French region that grows more than 200 different varieties of apples. Unlike brandy, which is made from wine grapes, Calvados is distilled from apple (and sometimes pear) cider.

For this recipe, I strongly recommend trying your apple cider before using it. I always get a specific brand – which is delicious, of course – but though it’s labelled as unsweetened, I find quite sweet.

Because of this, I don’t need any other sweeteners to balance the drink. Depending on your brand of cider, you may need to bump up the sweet, in which case I recommend a brown sugar simple syrup – just dissolve brown sugar in an equal amount of water over low heat.

Makes: 8, 5oz drinks
Bartender level: easy

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Calvados (brandy will do in a pinch)

• 2 cups unsweetened, non-alcoholic apple cider

• 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

• ½ cup brown sugar simple syrup (optional; taste for sweetness first)

• 3 Tbsp water, for dilution

• Dried apple slices for garnish

How to Make It:

1. Combine all ingredients except apple slice in a punch bowl or pitcher and chill until needed.

2. When ready, pour into a coup or martini glass and garnish with dried apple.

Fall Sangria

Sometimes I think Sangria can take on an ugly connotation. And lawd knows, under-performing bars have not helped its reputation by just throwing whatever they’ve got into a jug, like a gigantic, boozy slop-bucket.

However, when you think of Sangria as it’s intended: light, refreshing, flavourful, and bright, this is actually a delicate and elegant drink, any time of year.

I think Riesling is the obvious choice for this autumnal version: it has the same orchard fruit flavours as well as a slight honey note to really hum along with the rest of the orchestra. If you feel nervous about it, I first must remind you to do one thing every day that scares you, and following that, I will recommend a neutral, crisp white, like Pinot Grigio, as an alternative.  

Makes: 8, 6oz drinks
Bartender level: easy

Ingredients:

• 2 cups unsweetened, non-alcoholic, apple cider

• 1 750ml bottle white wine, such as Riesling

• 1 250ml bottle ginger beer

• 1 pear, sliced

• 1 apple, sliced

• 1 cup cranberries

How to Make It:

1. Into a large pitcher or punch bowl, combine the apple cider and Riesling. Chill until needed.

2. When ready, add the ginger beer and the fruit and ladle into wine goblets, being sure to spoon a mix of the fruit into each glass.

Thanksgiving Wine

I just discussed this on my company newsletter, and I know many of you subscribe to both, so I don’t want to repeat myself.

However, I do want to warn you to ignore all the “Perfect Wines for Thanksgiving” articles that are about to be unleashed on your every algorithmic move.

Trust me when I say there is no such thing as perfect anything when it comes to food and wine pairing. Forcing it to happen for the Thanksgiving dinner is an actual joke.

There are so many flavours, textures, and temperatures weighing down that holiday buffet no one and no wine can bullseye the match.

However, there are some guiding principles for maximizing the wine and food pairing:

• Select reds with low, smooth, and soft tannin like Gamay, Pinot Noir, older Tempranillo, even mature Bordeaux in some cases.

• Aim for rich and silky white wines that can stand up to the hefty weights of gravy, mashed potatoes, and stuffing. Think Chardonnay, Semillon, and Marsanne/Rousanne blends from the Rhône.

• Whites and reds with elevated acidity help bring energy, nerve, and uplift to an otherwise heavy meal: Riesling, Champagne and other dry bubblies, Chablis, easy going Chianti and the above-mentioned Gamay and Pinot Noir all fit here.

Next Week …

Sharpen those pencils, Party Planners, we’ve got work to do and lists to make!

I’m back next Wednesday with our second round of to-dos, that, I promise, if followed, will make the actual day easier, simpler, and way, wayyyy, more fun.

We’re also discussing a plan for excellent, elegant, and easy-to-manage apps and snacks to get the party started. I’ve got thoughts …

Make sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a drop.

Thank you for reading Quaintrelle.

This newsletter is written by me, Erin Henderson, journalist-turned-sommelier-turned-entrepreneur. I literally drink and throw parties for a living. Every Wednesday, I share my best tips and tricks to easy, elegant entertaining.

For the next few weeks this newsletter will remain free, with an option to upgrade to a paid membership coming in October for special perks and privileges.

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