By OWEN MORRIS
Former New York Times dining editor Regina Schrambling has it right: Food writers (and bloggers) hate writing about Thanksgiving. It's been the same damn meal for 200 years!
By the time you've reached 30, you've had a full month of nothing but Thanksgiving dinners and should be able to mash some potatoes, follow the recipe for Stove Top stuffing and put a turkey in the oven.
Instead of writing yet another Thanksgiving-themed post that would just blend in with the thousands of other ones on the Web, I've decided to make a list of Thanksgiving articles that are actually somewhat helpful.
Not being a vegetarian or a fan of meatless substitutes, I did not feel qualified to write about a vegetarian Thanksgiving. Juliet Lapidos of Slate is a vegetarian, though, and she went through the unglamorous job of trying several turkey substitutes to find the best-tasting. Her winner is Whole Foods' Garden Protein stuffed veggie turkey roast.
If you're struggling with cooking traditional Thanksgiving fare, maybe these links will help you. Especially if your problem involves green beans or the perils and joys of making pumpkin pie from scratch.
Also from the NY Times is this great video about cooking a full turkey in 45 minutes (35 minutes in the video) using no secret cooking methods but just removing the backbone.
If you need the whole meal in a rush, not just the dinner, Chef Jonathan Waxman explains to New York Mag in 18 steps how to do the whole shebang by yourself for up to 10 people in just under two hours.
My Thanksgiving dinner, on the other hand, is more along the lines of a Hillbilly Thanksgiving.
I'm moving S-L-O-W this morning. Thanks to bottle of wine, Shaun of the Dead and about three-and-a-half hours of sleep! That's my excuse. What's yours, Derek Donovan? The Star ombudsman misspelled Abu Ghraib -- he spelled it Abu Ghraid -- in this post about, uh, misspelling names. I've made the correction for Donovan following his handy dandy guide to correction writing: "An entry on Derek Donovan's blog on Nov. 26 misspelled Abu Ghraib." Feel free to use that, Derek.
Not sure where my favorite TV news reporter Micheal Mahoney was going with this in his blog: "It's hard to point to anything involving the British Royal family
as anything other than a living example of the dangers of inbreeding. But the Mark and Gloria story may have stumbled on to something." Inbreeding? I. Am. Totally. Lost.
Crime fighter/super hero creator Alonzo Washington is not happy with my co-worker Peter Rugg for his search for Omega Man comics. Among Washington's complaints: "Omega Man wears body armour [sic] not spandex." Washington also notes that he's "had Hollywood's attention" for the last 16 years. Can't wait for the movie!
BlogKC
nicely teaches us how to park in a big city. To those in KCTV-5's
story bitching about their cars getting towed from a lot marked "private," SHUT
UP. Downtown isn't a field party.
Sexy NBC Action News reporter Keith King has a sexy investigation about sexy models getting taking advantage of by unscrupulous sexy local photographers who advertise on sexy Craigslist. I love the sexy, bearded, dune buggy shop owner who is new to the business but tells the sexy undercover model that she should pose topless.
By OWEN MORRIS
Let's face it. A lot of people don't want to go through the hassle of cooking a special meal at home but also don't-want-to/can't-afford-to pay $30 a plate (not including booze or taxes or tip) for a Thanksgiving dinner out. In fact, let's give this portion of the population a name: my family.
As long as your family doesn't consist of traditionalists who can't stand the thought of trading rolls for naan, there are plenty of Ethnic restaurants that are open normal hours on Thanksgiving. Below is a list originally published in Pitch Forks yesterday along with two additions.
South Asian food:
Masala's [Overland Park]
Korma Sutra [Westport]
Ruchi [Overland Park]
Kabab & Curry [Lenexa]
Paradise India [Overland Park -- this year, we named Paradise India Best Indian Buffet]
New Cafe Tandoor [Midtown: Heads up shoppers! New Cafe Tandoor is doing a Black Friday buffet the day after Thanksgiving until 4 p.m.)
Eastern Asian Food:
New Peking Chinese Restaurant [Westport]
Pho 97 Restaurant [KCMO: Independence Avenue]
Matsu Japanese Restaurant [Westport]
Hopefully one of those places will fit your budget or schedule. Who knows, you might even see my family there.
KANSAS CITY - NOVEMBER 25, 2008
Two decades after forming, the Smashing Pumpkins are still transcending grunge and alternative rock. Problem is, those genres no longer exist. Grunge has given way to post-grunge, which is growing too stale for even modern-rock radio. Alternative is now indie, found in dorm rooms and Volkswagen commercials nationwide. In the '90s, the Smashing Pumpkins sold more albums than God. Only a few devoted followers, however, bought 2007's Zeitgeist. Billy Corgan, the Pumpkins hairless leader, clearly appreciates his most loyal fans, but he has a vendetta against the corrosive forces disfiguring the music industry.
It's Billy Corgan's world. You're just paying 50 bucks to spend three hours in it. With such a consuming message, a reunion tour can sound an awful lot like a manifesto. It can be hard for Ahab to rock out when he was chasing that damn white whale.
Click on photo for slide show.
By OWEN MORRIS
and Genessee in the space once, a long time ago, occupied by the Nutty Girl. The
Duchess in this case is Vivianne Berghman, a native of Belgium who
moved to the States eleven years ago and brought some of her home
cooking with her.
"In Belgium we call it a traiteur, it means to treat
people," Berghman says of her concept. "It started out with butchers in Belgium who would cut up meat
and they started to make stews in the store.
They have the meat right there, and on and on it went to now they have
full meals. Women started working more in the '70s and it allowed
people to still eat well... Do you know Dean & Deluca? This will be a small-scale Dean & Deluca."
Berghman says The Duchess of Flanders will focus on carryout business with sandwiches and two soups at lunch every day and one different home-cooked meal every night.
After the jump, a look at everything I'm thankful for. Click here or here or I'ma put a CAP IN YOUR ASS, GRANDMA:
Yesterday, Nada Surf released all five of the band's albums together on vinyl in a limited edition box set. Along with the records, the $110 collection also comes with a repressing of the band's debut 7", a 24-page book, and the corresponding MP3s including 16 b-sides. Only 1,000 copies were made and each box set will be numbered. Fans and eBay entrepreneurs alike can purchase it at the Nada Surf store. Thanks to Indie Blog Heaven for posting up this bit of bonus material that was previously only available on the European pressings of Let Go.
Nada Surf - "See These Bones" on MySpace Transmissions
MP3: Nada Surf, "No Quick Fix," Nada Surf Vinyl Box Set/1994-2008
By OWEN MORRIS
By DAVID MARTIN
Middle-aged white guys who cover sports in Kansas City are getting harder to find.
Earlier this year, Fox 4 sportscaster Frank Boal stepped away from Crunch Time, the 810-WHB radio show he hosted with Dave Stewart (pictured). Jeffrey Flanagan's Page 2 column appeared in The Kansas City Star for the last time on November 8, a casualty of McClatchy Co. downsizing. Last week, Crunch Time disappeared altogether. And today comes word that Jack Harry's 38 Sports Spot will no longer run on KMCI Channel 38.
Boal, Stewart (Metro Sports) and Harry (KSHB Channel 41) remain visible. Still, the moves eliminate a level of grouchiness and hidebound thinking that sports-information consumers may not miss.
By OWEN MORRIS
In Pitch Forks this week I included a list of some nicer restaurants that will be open on Thanksgiving. Unfortunately I made an error in one of the listings -- but fortunately someone caught my mistake.
Here's the real deal info: McCormick & Schmick's is serving a choice of a ham or turkey dinner for $18.95 and $19.95 respectively along with its regular menu. Also, its hours are from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
As of 3 p.m. Tuesday, the following restaurants still have some openings for Thursday:
M&S Grill is also serving ham and turkey dinners for $16.95 and $17.95 respectively. At Plaza III, the turkey dinner is $21.95, and at and Capital Grille Thanksgiving meals are between $26 and $30.
Off-Plaza locations with openings on Thanksgiving still include the Bristol's downtown location (the Leawood location is booked for anything over two people), which is serving a Thanksgiving buffet for $17.95 per person. Yahooz in Leawood was the only placed I called that still had seating still available at the traditional Thanksgiving-dinner time of 3 p.m. It is serving a Thanksgiving buffet from noon to 4 p.m. for $24.95.
Voltaire - the saloon, not the philosopher - opens tonight
Big Rip Brewing Co. expands the Northland's beer universe
A consultant tells KC that big retail could save Citadel Plaza
Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper are headed to Cricket Wireless Amphitheater
WWE's Monday Night Raw returns to Kansas City October 14
Courtney Cole, Greater Kansas City Women's Political Caucus executive director, answers The Pitch's questionnaire
Yo La Tengo is at Grinders tonight
Shawn Ratigan and Bishop Robert Finn face two new civil lawsuits