Unlike her character in the new HBO dramedy Divorce, Sarah Jessica Parker keeps her family affairs strife-free, though they can get crowded. “Everybody’s married; there are grandchildren, in-laws, boyfriends, and girlfriends. Each year it’s like we’re throwing out a net and seeing who we can catch.” She delegates some of the Thanksgiving cooking to her husband, Matthew Broderick and focuses her attention on side dishes like baked sweet potatoes and baby peas. Parker is just like the rest of us, finding moments of calm in the storm that is Thanksgiving and looking forward to the pumpkin pie.
Do you have any non negotiable dishes that in your opinion would make Thanksgiving incomplete without?
I really, really, really love pumpkin pie. I didn’t think I was a pie person, but we have been buying our pies at a place in New York called the Little Pie Company for 10 or 15 years. You have to order them well in advance. I have a niece who loves their sour cream apple walnut pie so we get that because we’re very fond of her, but the truth is we get way too many pumpkin pies and we can’t fit them anywhere. We put them on the floor of the laundry room or in the back of a minivan where it’s cold. We put them outside because they don’t fit in the fridge, and we eat the pies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. My daughter, Tabitha, goes crazy for them.
I wonder what makes them so special.
I’m sure they’re not at all interested in telling us.
Is it always traditional Thanksgiving food at your house?
My son has a severe peanut allergy and he’s never eaten Chinese food, which is a fundamental New York experience, or a lot of Asian food for that matter because so much of it uses peanut oil. One year we had an amazing Chinese Thanksgiving so that we could cook that food in the safety of our home. When you go to a true authentic Chinese restaurant you can’t ask them to make sure the wok hasn’t touched peanut oil. No one could ever assure you of that. We had an amazing Asian Thanksgiving two years ago and it was freakin’ delicious. We’ve done Moroccan Thanksgiving. We’re all very attached to the conventions of the holiday, but it’s fun to shake things up, too.
Can you recall any of the dishes you served at Chinese Thanksgiving?
We had beautiful bok choy, we had dumplings, we had noodles. We had pancakes, and a turkey cooked in the style of peking duck. It was beautiful.
Have you ever experienced, personally or otherwise, and Thanksgiving cooking mishaps?
No, but I remember the first Thanksgiving I was going to cook. I was working and living in Los Angeles at the time and my boyfriend’s family was going to come for Thanksgiving. I was so scared. I had never cooked a turkey in my life and I was really, really young and I remember having a dream the night before that I had only cooked a carcass. I pulled it out, revealed it, and it was a carcass.
I’ve had varying degrees of success cooking turkeys. One thing I like about that day and taking on that burden is that you’re up, alone in the very, very early morning. An overcast November day can be kind of sad but also very peaceful. That quiet solitude before the storm is so special.
Do you have anything that you really like to cook each year, or is it more of an anything goes type of holiday for you?
Yeah, anything goes. My siblings are really good cooks and everyone has their own job. I always cook baby peas with sour cream, salted butter, and grainy mustard. It’s crazy good. People love it and want to inject it into their bloodstream. It’s so easy. And then we put some fresh cracked pepper on top. Recently, I made up this dish: I love yams and sweet potatoes. I boil them and then I put them in a baking dish with olive oil, butter, lemon juice, and cayenne. It’s quite nice. My mom makes beautiful mashed potatoes. My husband is a fantastic cook, so he’ll always make something. My brother Tippin is a really gifted cook in many ways, and my sister-in-law Tiffany makes amazing desserts. Matthew’s niece makes fantastic deviled eggs everything Thanksgiving. They’re straight out of a 1940s cookbook—like the Fanny Farmer cookbook. Truly 1940s. Then people bring whatever they want, and we always have to think about kids and dietary issues. It’s nice to give everyone an opportunity to contribute and cook something that makes them happy.