With finals approaching and the holidays just around the corner, Thanksgiving has snuck up on us. Forget family, the most important element of Thanksgiving is all the delicious dishes that you didn't have to cook or pay for. The following foods are what The Scene is looking forward to the most on Nov. 27.
10 Mashed potatoes
When so many varieties of the popular potato are available, from French fries to the baked potato, it's hard for one variety to compete. This difficult dish is hard to master, often served lumpy and timed poorly. However, when it's good, it's damn good - good enough to garner mashed potatoes a spot on this year's top ten. Barely.
9 Mulled wine
Nothing says family like the aroma of hot alcohol. For some, going home is an event anticipated all semester; for others it's something best not remembered. And that's where mulled wine comes in. Either way, drinking at a family function is, for many, a mark of adulthood. So live it up.
8 Apple cider
The apple, in all its glories, has never fulfilled its biblical potential better than in its preeminent form - cider. Its dark, smooth visage comes out of hiding during the early sad days of fall, and after three seasons of tepid and unsatisfying juice you gulp down cider, greedily hydrating yourself with cartons at a time. The stomachaches are worth it, because cider will disappear this winter when you need it most, with a wistful promise that it will return again when the leaves change colors.
7 Turkey
Showing a marked decline from last year's numbers, turkey is in a desperate hunt for innovation. Its top competitor, turducken, has been increasing in popularity exponentially while even ham has made an appearance on the list. Turkey-touters claim that the problem is in the kitchen, where more and more fathers yearn to prepare this declining classic holiday meat.
6 Cranberry sauce
Real cranberry sauce has nothing to do with real cranberries. What's better on Thanksgiving morning than sliding a perfectly formed maroon masterpiece from a can? Name another fruit that has ridges. And is a holiday classic. Enough said.
5 Yams
Yam, yam, yam! More like, yum, yum, yum! The yam is often mistaken for the everyday sweet potato, but this veggie delight actually comes from the tuber of a tropical vine and is sweeter than sweet potatoes. Not only does its sweet orange flesh just make your mouth water, the yam can grow over seven feet in length. After all, you know what they say, bigger is better ...
4 Stuffing
A staple dish that varies in ingredients depending on the given cook, stuffing is, simply put, where it's at. Leftovers are dependable Thanksgiving perks, and a sandwich with a layer of stuffing, paired with turkey and cranberry sauce, is a sure-fire foodgasm. Stuffing is a deceptively simple dish, primarily composed of breadcrumbs, but if you throw in some spices, onions, carrots and peppers, you've got yourself an intoxicating cornucopia of edible bliss.
3 Corn beard
Dry, heavy and filling - no, we're not talking about a weekend at grandma's - corn bread can do a number on your stomach. A perfect complement to the aforementioned holiday delicacies, corn bread also boasts a plethora of dipping opportunities. Lather it up with toppings - from gravy to cranberry sauce - you chose and absorb the inordinate amount of wine you'll consume while accidentally getting drunk with your family.
2 Pumpkin pie
With ice cream. Even with gravy. It doesn't matter. You can't screw it up. Throw in some freakin' yams. And some more gravy. There's a reason the saying goes "easy as pie."
1 Gravy
Thanksgiving is the only time - and Christmas, if you gentiles are lucky - all those cooks in the kitchen take the time to make gravy. Sure, you can crack open a can of Swanson broth and call it a day, but done right, gravy is a pain in the ass - and worth it. Cornstarch, gizzards and turkey carcass juice sound vom-worthy on their own, but food processed and lovingly tended to over an open flame (or mama's electric stove), it's a magical solvent that makes even Aunt Alice's brussels sprout casserole disappear. Basically, it takes gravy to make a Thanksgiving dinner go right.
