Recently, I received a copy of Martha’s Classic Thanksgiving and was pumped to watch it before the holidays this season. My wife, Cindy, wrote a review, but I liked the DVD so much that I had to add a few comments.

This class of DIY DVD’s is one of the best products I’ve seen in a while. I’m baffled as to why the market isn’t flooded with such products. You can go straight to the section that you’re interested in. Pausing and rewinding lets the instruction move at your pace; there’s no need to get behind. Usually, I get turkey and dressing at both my parents and my in-laws, but this year, I’m thinking of adding my own third turkey to the mix because Martha made cooking one look both easy and fun.

Be sure to check out this video clip on Sweet Potato Pies or this video clip on Elegant Table Settings.

Now, for my wife’s thoughts on Martha’s Classic Thanksgiving:

I’m not Martha Stewart. I’m not blond and super rich, and I can’t normally take a few ordinary cooking ingredients and prepare some kind of miraculous feast. But…when I watched this DVD, for one, brief shining moment (or for 201 minutes–the length of the program), I felt like I could be a kitchen/decorator/party planner extraordinaire.

The DVD is really very simple to follow (there are even printable instructions to help the cooking and decorating impaired–like myself). Martha explains things thoroughly, and you always get to see the items–whether they are uncooked turkeys or cute little pinecone place holders–from start to finish.

There were a couple of segments on Martha’s Classic Thanksgiving that I particularly enjoyed:

1. The turkey carving. I’ve never actually witnessed a turkey being carved properly…until Martha. Now, I’m going to insist that my husband do it this year…the Martha way. We won’t just start hacking at the turkey with the electric knife–we’ll remove the wings, the legs, we’ll cut the breast–all the RIGHT way.
2. Pinecone Turkeys. Okay, these are supposed to be for the kids–they fall under “Kids’ Thanksgiving Crafts”–but the things are just so dang cute! Martha teaches you how to turn pinecones into really, REALLY cute like turkeys–and it takes like five minutes to do! Very impressive!
3. Turkey, Stuffing, and Gravy 101. Let me be honest here…I don’t plan to actually stuff my turkey the way Martha did–mostly because I can’t stand vegetables. But I sure liked the way the woman prepared her bird (uh…other than the stuffing part). She showed how to butter the bird, how to cover it, how long to cook it, and how to make certain it retained its yummy flavor. I got hungry just watching it (of course, I’m nine months pregnant–most things make me hungry these days!).

I’d give this DVD a 5 out of 5–hey, what can I say? It was darn good. And if you want some quick last minute tips on your Turkey Day, I would suggest that you hustle out and pick this thing up.
Happy Thanksgiving!

I really do get tasked with “carving” the turkey at my in-law’s house. I always thought I did a good job, until I saw Martha take the wings and legs off. I guess I shouldn’t just leave them on, and I had no idea that you could get more (and dark) meat from the underside. Just think of all that turkey meat that I had been wasting.