DAILY DIRT: It’s the peripheral offerings that can often create culinary chaos on Thanksgiving

Concerning thought No. 2 today, anyone wishing to defend Pete Davidson, feel free me to contact me  … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 439 of The Daily Dirt.

1. OK, Halloween’s over. It’s time to start concentrating on Thanksgiving, particularly the food aspect.

I think we’d all probably agree that turkey (white meat only, please) and mashed potatoes are givens, and that the large percentage of Thanksgiving eaters like those two items. After that, it can be a crapshoot. It’s the peripheral offerings that can often create culinary chaos, and the following are the worst to find at a holiday table:

• Sweet potatoes/yams. They don’t look good, and taste even worse. For a decorative side dish, OK. But these things are not edible.
• Stuffing. No, no, no, no. It’s like eating boiled cardboard.
• Anything dealing with cranberries. Seriously, is a cranberry a legitimate fruit?
• Salad. It simply seems out of place, looking for a steak dinner to help support.

On the other hand, the ensuing items are highly underrated and deserve more appreciation:

• Green bean casserole. Yep, the kind has the little onion ring-ish things scattered across the top. This is a quality side and should never be ignored.
• Macaroni and cheese. This is a must, if for no other reason than satisfying the kids at the table. Kids can be picky eaters, but they all love macaroni and cheese. And so do I.
• Potatoes Au Gratin. For some, these fancy spuds are an acquired taste. I acquired it at about age 4 and been a fan ever since. A scoop or of these is the absolute pefect complement to that large slab of turkey breast.

2. Is it just me, or is Pete Davidson in about every other commercial that appears on TV right now?

Or maybe that same commercial just gets repeated a lot. Either way, I can’t figure out why any company would want him as a spokesman. I can’t even figure out what talent he has, other than liking tattoos. Even more remarkable is his list of his ex-girlfriends — Ariana Grande, Kim Kardashian, Kate Beckinsale and about a half-dozen others. One of the great mysteries of life — how has Pete Davidson become famous and what does he do — or not do — to maintain that celebrity.

3. The Great Plate Debate of 2022 rolls on.

No changes among the medal winners for a third consecutive week. There’s roughly two months left before we crown the winner for the year … and on New Year’s Day we’ll start it all over again. The current top three:

Gold medal: IMDUMB. Week No. 3 atop the medal stand. This one still makes me laugh.. 

Gold medal: OHYO ST8. The ore I look at this, the more impressed I am.

Silver medal: 1 KWIKI. Go ahead, snicker.

Best of the rest from the past week:

• SUEY
• SAX 14
• GRMA 50
• BGBOYS 4
• POOH 106
• MY JUDY 1
• JWL BOX 1

Steve Thought O’ The Day — Even though it’s the season for turkey consumption, chicken makes up 43 percent of all meat consumed by Americans. That’s according to the USDA.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River news. He is not the president of the Pete Davidson Fan Club.