One Fakesgiving, 24 guest, 20 dishes and 20 recipe reports later, it's a wrap on this year's Thanksgiving coverage!
We're going to leave you with well wishes, a bit of advice, and some photos from our Fakesgiving party, like the one above of us laying out the food just before time to eat.
First, the well wishes: We're thankful for many things this holiday. One of those things is readers like you who choose to spend some time with us, obsessing about what to cook next and dreaming about deliciousness. Your comments and encouragement mean a lot to us. So thank you. We are grateful.
Here's our very best, last-minute advice for Thanksgiving: Take a deep breath and enjoy the moment. Yes, there are onions to dice and pies to brûlée and turkeys to spatchcock. Some of the dishes you make will be epic; others may not be so great. But who cares? It's Thanksgiving. Laugh it off. Don't apologize for your food. Take the compliments guests give you. Be proud of what you put on the table.
As for us, we're planning to spend Thanksgiving day ordering in Chinese food and watching the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD. No joke.
Please send us your Thanksgiving reports and tag us in your Instagram photos! We can't wait to see what you make.
Much love and Thanksgiving wishes,
~ Zach and Clay
Our full 2015 Fakesgiving Menu:
Brown Sugar-Spiced Nut Mix
Sparkling Celery Gimlets
Peanut Soup
Two-Hour Turkey and Gravy
Porchetta Style Roast Turkey Breast
Rye-and-Black-Walnut Stuffing
The BLT Oyster Stuffing
Rustic Bread Stuffing with Fennel and Pine Nuts
Bourbon-Mint Cranberry Sauce
Cran-Blueberry Sauce with Candied Ginger
Braised Celery
Winter Squash Agrodolce
Tex-Mex Green Bean Casserole
Shaved Apple and Fennel Salad with Crunchy Spelt
Mashed Potato Gratin with Manchego & Horseradish
Glazed Sweet Potatoes with Maple Gastrique
Butter Pecan-Toffee Pie
Pumpkin-Caramel Tart with Toasted-Hazelnut Crust
Cherry Spice Cake Trifle
Grapefruit Cornmeal Cake
And here are a few more links for you:
Thanksgiving 2015 Trends: Tips for Your Trendiest Thanksgiving Yet
The 2015 Thanksgiving Index: All This Year's Food Magazine Recipes in One Handy Place
If none of those strike your fancy, there's always Our Favorite Holiday Recipes.
And if you still haven't listened to us on NPR, here's a link to the interview.
Photos from Fakesgiving!
Before guests arrive, the living room set up with snacks and cocktails.
We are surprisingly -- unfathomably -- able to fit 24 seats into our dining room. It's a squeeze, but it works.
Tables all set! We print simple menus and give a name tag for each seat, to get a good mix of guests at each table.
The apartment starts to fill with guests, chatting over snacks and cocktails.
Here's the kind of shenanigans that happen in our bedroom while guests are having cocktails. Eggs are being stored on the chair-rail. Desserts are scattered on the floor. And a turkey is getting its glamour shot from Zach.
Clay finishes some prep in the kitchen.
Some of our friends -- Ryan, Reilly-Ann, Scott and Jason -- patiently awaiting food.
Nearly everyone seated and ready to eat!
