The holidays are stressful! The last thing weary hosts and hostesses need at this point is some overcomplicated turkey preparation technique. Enter San Francisco-based no-nonsense cooking instructor Mary Risley, a.k.a. Tante Marie of Tante Marie's Cooking School, who offers the best turkey advice we've heard to date: "Just put the fucking turkey in the oven. Don't worry about it. Turkey never really tastes good."
Thanksgiving Advice: 'Just Put the F**king Turkey in the Oven' [Video]
Brave Food Writer Eats Turkey Made with Twinkie Stuffing
Exemplary writer Joyce Slaton dares to go where some artisan half-baked food scribes should. Take, for example, the turkey she recently prepared as an assignment for CHOW, prepared using "Twinkling Turkey," a recipe from The Twinkies Cookbook of 2006. Yep. She made it. She ate it. It was horrific.
Film du Jour: Sarah Palin Gives Interview with Blood-Drenched Background
Looking fresh-faced wrapped in a classic Burberry scarf, former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin gave an interview yesterday that can only be described as a pitiful attempt to get back on the Daily Show. In a 2008 news story on KTUU channel 2 in Anchorage, Palin is interviewed at a turkey farm while a man drains the blood from dead turkeys in the background.
Tiger Attack Update: Paul Dahliwal Tells All!
Well, not "all," per se, but on Monday night Paul Dahliwal, one of the three people involved in the Christmastime tiger attack at the SF Zoo, telephoned Carlos Sousa Jr.'s mother, Marilza, to tell her that he and his chums were "dancing, talking, and laughing" moments before the attack. (Doing the Turkey Lurkey dance, no doubt.) It seems that Paul also told her that they were not taunting the tiger, something that has been widely speculated.
Chess King
Hey, a local 12 year old from Foster City just won the world chess championship for the boys 12 and under age bracket. Champ Daniel Naroditsky won 9 games, lost 1, and played to a draw with the previous number 1 ranked preteen male. The Chron was unable to talk to him because of the time difference in Turkey (where the championships were held), but Daniel's proud father reports that Daniel's first question after winning was "do I have to go to school on Friday?"
Thanksgiving Wine Suggestions
Care to avoid be ridiculed by your Thanksgiving hosts following your departure after din din? Good. Then pay attention. (For those of you who have T-Day hosts who regularly gulp Chuck Shaw or Yellowtail, ew, feel free to ignore this post. You're screwed anyway.)
Minn. Craigslist Nanny Ad Results in Murder
A loyal fan of the child-rearing arts -- she had taken nanny jobs at least twice before, even a job in Turkey, after answering online ads in the past; and even recently played Maria in her church community theater's production of The Sound of Music -- Katherine Ann Olson, 24, answered a Craigslist ad posted last week, looking for a nanny. The CL ad ultimately would lead to her death.
Eritrean Community Crime Shocker
Worst. Holiday. Ever. For. Eritreans Near and Far. We’re not joking about the sadness and confusion this Turkey Day crime has wreaked. The shell-shocked East African Eritrean Bay Area community, numbering 10,000 to 12,000 strong according to many reports, is still reeling from the Thanksgiving Day killings that left 3 members of the same family dead in an Oakland apartment shoot out. "This is the worst ightmare for Eritreans,"Yikaalo Gebreselassie of Alameda told the Chron, who said he was a friend of the victims. "We've never had this kind of experience before, and now we have three people dead."
Total Eclipse Of The Sun
Turn around, bright eyes..... -- Eclipse of the heart, eclipse of the moon -- same diff! So at 2:55 a.m. PST tonight, there's going to be a total lunar eclipse. Problem is, the lunar eclipse is only visible in South America and Europe. What's a Bonnie Tyler fan to do?
Well, the Exploratorium's come to the rescue! Local science fans who like to stay up late can check out the Exploratorium's live webcast of the eclipse -- or if you're in the mood for a pajama party, the Exploratorium will be open for partying all night, and broadcasting footage from a telescope they've hooked up in Turkey that'll be recording the whole event (from a Roman amphitheater, no less.) Since the eclipse is traveling over Brazil, the Exploratorium is featuring capoiera dancers, and Turkish dancers will perform too.
Tickets are $15 adults, $10 kids, and $8 members, and will be on sale until either 11:00 p.m. or 2:00 a.m. (it's unclear from the materials we received -- maybe to be safe, reserve in advance at 415-561-0308.) And after the moon comes back, go to the 24-hour IHOP on Lombard to celebrate!
SFist in the Kitchen: Gravy and Stuffing
The SFist test kitchen has come up with a great idea. Sometime in the next week, arrange to see your friends or family at a big meal. Imagine how pleasant it will be to rediscover the quirks and foibles of your kin. You could even take this opportunity to clear up any issues you've let simmer over the last year. You'll thank us for giving you the chance to air out the metaphorical closets.
SFIAAFF: Chinese Restaurants: Three Continents
The scene at the Kabuki for the last night of the Asian-American Film Festival was jam-packed, with three movies all starting at the same time, and people dressed to the nines for the closing party. We were in attendance at the sold-out show for part three of the thirteen-part series Chinese Restaurants, a labor of love for Chinese-Canadian director Cheuk Kwan, who has eaten in Chinese restaurants around the globe -- including Israel, South Africa, Mauritius, Cuba, and Turkey -- and sought to learn the stories of how the proprieters came to live in these unexpected places.
Chinese restaurants are a constant source of fascination -- the co-sponsor for the screening was the Chinese Historical Society, which is currently showing an ecstatically-reviewed photography exhibit of Indigo Som's pictures taken in Chinese restaurants in Mississippi. (You may also remember Som's other project, collecting all the Chinese takeout menus from across America.). The movies screened on Thursday -- Three Continents and two shorts, BBC House Special and Selling Louie's Village -- all explored the role of the Chinese restaurant in representing the Chinese diaspora.
Egg Foo Young, a Chinese restaurant in Norway, and Chinese people with Liverpudlian accents, after the jump.
Images from
A Trimethyldioxypurist Holiday Survival Guide
Steel Cage Match: Caffeine v. Tryptophan
We Read The Weeklies
roundup of the Bay Area weeklies
SFist Watches: Thanksgiving TV This Week
Television has become as a much of a Thanksgiving staple as turkey, cranberries, and drunken uncles. Let's face it: when you've just eaten a week's worth of calories, and you've got a house full of relatives surrounding you, you'll probably welcome the chance to just stare at the soft glow of the TV screen.

