Spotted: My local QFC, Capitol Hill, Seattle, WA
Cost: $4 to $5 per tin for Old Bay, Wondra $2.49, Whip It $1.99 for 3 packets
Attraction: Tried and true results on a day that carries too much baggage
Where to find: Most grocery stores, in the baking aisle (Whip It, Wondra), and where sauce packets and gravy live (Old Bay)
Taking on the Thanksgiving feast is a right of passage most of us endure at some point during adulthood. The dumber among us will take this opportunity to try a new recipe from a glossy magazine or get some cockamamie idea in our head that people might actually like Brussell sprouts cold with soy sauce. (No. They. Won't.) The smart set will invoke the spirit of the holiday and create reliable "mom" dishes, however vaguely pedestrian, that will tug at our guests heartstrings and remind them of home — yours, theirs, Laura Ingall's, whatever. Farm fresh and local may be the mantra of the day, but canned goods and packets remind me of the reality in which I grew up, with French onion soup mix (totally underrated), et al. In honor of my childhood, I present you with my favorite ready-to-use Thanksgiving items that can save you in a pinch, literally:
Wondra: Yeah, making a roux is pretty foolproof. Sometimes, though, you can do everything right to your gravy and still have a soupy, thin mess. Meanwhile, the turkey is cooling, people are staring, and you're starving and about ready to freak out. Enter Wondra, the quick-mixing flour that will thicken any sauce or gravy with a twist of the wrist. No matter your technique or recipe for starting gravy, use Wondra sparingly to get your gravy to the finish.
Whip It: Whether you're going with pumpkin pie or cranberry tartlets, homemade whip cream counts as a Thanksgiving must in my book. After you've finally sat down to eat, will you really want to get up and whisk the heck out of a pint of heavy whip? Get your whipped cream done earlier in the day by using the magical power of science and modified corn starch. Whisk heavy cream as you normally would, but add a packet of Whip It as the cream starts to stiffen. The Whip It will stabilize the whipped cream for at least four hours, like dessert Viagra.
Old Bay Seasoning: I know the label lists an unrevolutionary combo of celery salt, pepper, and paprika, and yes, you could assemble these spices yourself, but that's not the point. The point is that Old Bay comes to play when you need it. Let the kooks waste their time brining, deep frying, and doing who knows what else to their turkeys. People try so hard because, let's face it, the bird is the most underwhelming main course of the year. This year, give your turkey a nice rub down with oil and sprinkle with Old Bay. It adds great color and a subtle savory flavor. I want to kiss the man who put paprika in celery salt.
Maggie Savarino Dutton is an industry veteran who has played bartender, sommelier and line cook and who now consults. She writes "Search & Distill," which appears every Wednesday in the Seattle Weekly, and maintains The Wine Offensive, her blog about wine, food, and anything else that might be discussed over the bar.
Photograph by Maggie Savarino Dutton, "Point of Purchase" photograph by Roadsidepictures via Flickr (Creative Commons), "Pantry" photograph by Áslaug Snorradóttir.
