In most years, November 9th would not be too early to start thinking about Thanksgiving. But 2020 is not most years, so if you haven’t even thought the words “turkey” or “stuffing” yet, trust me, you’re in good company.
That’s why, in this—the first of the handful of Thanksgiving missives you’ll receive from me over the next few weeks—I want to start the conversation in a safe, comforting place. By which I mean I want to start the conversation with macaroni and cheese.
Mac and cheese is not a just-for-Thanksgiving dish the way that stuffing or cranberry sauce is; it’s much more ubiquitous, says chef Erick Williams. Mac and cheese “could be at a wedding. It could be when a child’s born. It shows up at Thanksgiving and all these festive opportunities. And it shows up at funerals. So the highs and lows of your life are coupled with the security blanket” that is mac and cheese.
Doesn’t a security blanket sound good right now? My colleagues and I strongly encourage you to consider Williams’s mac and cheese, which he developed as part of this exclusive menu, for your Thanksgiving table this year. But I’m sending you the recipe right now so that you can make it tonight, or this weekend. It’s been a long year. Heck, it’s been a long month, and we’re not even ten days in. A mid-week mac and cheese is perfectly warranted.
