Side Hustle

We’re losing daylight, the weather is taking a turn for the chillier and apparently pandemic supply chain disruptions dictate that everything on your Christmas shopping list is either already sold out or sitting on a container ship off of the port of Los Angeles awaiting Spring 2022 arrival at a store near you. Wait whaaat? All of these frustrating Chicken Little prognostications shamefully and broadly paint Americans as helpless cogs in a consumption economy based to stuff and things. How presumptuous, no? Above all else, we enjoy epicurean delights. Especially this time of year. Our good friends at Zippia are at it again this Fall analyzing regional Google trends from the last full Thanksgiving cycle; you remember — the ONE that Covid tried and failed to cancel. The results in the above image are interesting, listing crowd-sourced favorite Turkey Day sides by state. Generally it all seems to check-out. A few standouts, though. Charcuterie Tray in Minnesota and Missouri? Delicate, Fancy and VERY European, if not quite rib-sticking. Side salads in New Mexico and Idaho? Healthy unless we’re talking Ambrosia side salad? You know, that classic Americana staple studded liberally with mimi-marshmallows and swimming in canned fruit cocktail (with juice). Yes please LOL 😊. BUT It’s the emergence of the humble potato as the starchy tuber of choice in 17 States that perhaps best restores sensibility and comfort to a sides map that is, well, all over the map. Wonderful is the fact that we have an annual sides map. Crazy is the fact that Thanksgiving is just TWO weeks from today! Gobble gobble.