Funny thing about Thanksgiving… Nobody eats until Thanksgiving “dinner,” which occurs around 4pm-ish. Give or take. Add wine or beer to that low blood sugar, a football game, and a Trump election, and we’re headed for a family catastrophe. Fear not–there are snacks. Snacks to unite America. 

Snack 1 – Giada De Laurentiis’ Spicey Nuts

(Sorry, Giada, but we started drinking again.) 

These are awesome–you can make them the night before. You need the following: 

• Vegetable spray (or a Teflon cooking sheet)
• 2 egg whites
• 2 cups roasted and salted almonds
• 2 cups roasted and salted cashew nuts
• 2 cups walnut halves
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons Madras curry powder 
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2.5 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1.75 teaspoon ground cardamom 
• 0.5 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

Oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat to 250 F. Spray baking sheet liberally or use Teflon cooking sheet you bought for your wife that you knew would come in handy). 

In a large bowl, whisk egg whites until frothy. Add nuts, stir until coated. In a small bowl, combine sugar, curry powder, cumin, garlic salt, cayenne pepper, cardamom, and cinnamon. 

Sprinkle over the nuts (tip if you are not used to sprinkling sugar mixtures over nuts – the higher your hand is, the more evenly it distributes). Toss and coat both sides. Arrange in a single layer on the baking sheet. 

Bake for 45 minutes. Cool for at least one hour. Throw into a Tupperware or ziplock and don’t forget the next day.

Snack 2 – Rosemary Flatbread with Blue Cheese, Grapes, and Honey

Prepare for snotty explanation of this: There is a tradition among winemakers to bake bread with grapes to celebrate the harvest. Our explanation of this: warm and gooey and tastes like fall on a slice (plus, it’s very pretty). 

You need a little free oven space for this, but if you are grilling your turkey (as we recommend) you technically have it, so, reap the rewards now.

• It’s Thanksgiving, buy pre-made pizza dough. 
• Preheat oven to 475 F. If you have a pizza stone (worth buying), use it. If not, you’ll be fine with parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
• Roll out pizza dough. 
• Cut the grapes in half (the long way) and press them into the dough. Sprinkle with sea salt (Kosher salt works fine too)

• Slide into oven, bake for about 12 minutes, then sprinkle with blue cheese crumbles, bake for three more minutes, then pull out of oven, drizzle with honey and sprinkle with chives. 
• Cut in wedges and feed to the hungry, drunk people. 

Don’t bring up the election.