"Martha's Classic Thanksgiving The Holiday Collection"

A perfect DVD to get you in the festivities of Thanksgiving.

You can never go wrong with Martha Stewart and all the cooking advice she has shared over the years. That all included interior decorating and table design which meshes nicely with any upcoming holiday or event. I'll go as far as to say this: We are very fortunate to have and know all about her, as I don't think many people realize the creativity and the artistry she brought to us is truly one-of-a-kind. Martha is a rare woman, as I don't think any other woman will ever come close to the knowledge she has. In this case, the beautiful holiday of Thanksgiving is no exception.

This is one of those DVDs that small shops play and loop on their TVs over and over again, due to the comforting nature of the presentation. On this DVD is a compilation of video clips straight from Martha's TV series Martha Stewart Living. Along with cooking tips from her show, you get to watch and learn some arts and crafting presented later in the DVD. You learn every technique when preparing a turkey, and all the side dishes that often go with the famous holiday dinner. Majority of the segments feature a second guest along with Martha, and they are as follows: Phoebe and Sam Allen, John Barricelli, Todd English, Jane Heller, Rina Prentice, Judy Morris, Tamara Bodar, John Carloff and Sara Foster. Although the clips were featured from her TV series, it looks like a presentation that holds up today, as her TV series ran from 1993 to 2004. (Every now and then, Martha's show Martha Stewart's Cooking School often gets aired on public TV.)











The feature presentation is everything you need to prepare for Thanksgiving, from food to the decors. Like any other festive holiday, these are things you can start and prepare ahead of time as I don't think this is something you can pull off at the last minute (i.e. brining the turkey). However, even if you are a complete beginner, Martha's teaching style is easy to grasp so there's no excuse not to jump in and decorate/cook for the holidays.

Along with the main feature, titled Classic Thanksgiving, is the Bonus Idea section. These are short clips of tips in addition to your Thanksgiving preparation—carving a turkey, platter presentation, and my personal favorite, Martha visiting a cranberry bog. These are designed as quick refreshers (think Top 10 series on So Yummy!, or clips shared on BuzzFeed and Instagram) and are easy to pick up on. Yes, the clip of Martha visiting a cranberry bog was my favorite because it's a sole reminder how Martha made 'field pieces' popular. A field piece is when the host ventures and travels outside their kitchens to local shops, markets and exclusive farms and crops interviewing owners and experts on [food] production. In other words, it dissolves the illusion away from being just another cooking tutorial from inside the kitchen and nowhere else. Besides that, cranberry juice is one of my favorite beverages of all time, along with orange juice.

Another DVD bonus is the Tips and Techniques section. These are tips demonstrated to properly prepare your dishes before and/or during your Thanksgiving feast, such as how to carve a turkey, how to store your china sets and many more. These clips are worthy of being circulated around the internet for folks who need a fast refresher (I'm sure it could be re-done and remade by today's standards). Heck, I'd say these techniques still work today! We can't thank Martha enough.

Last but not least, the Printouts section features full tips that may be beneficial to your Thanksgiving preparation. However, accessing these brings up this screen:



Given how old this DVD is, this isn't surprising. However, this disc also works as a DVD-ROM and can access the files from your computer. Sadly, nowadays, a DVD drive isn't as common with computers as they were years ago, let alone its compatibility with today's operating systems (you may still have an older [desktop] computer lying around that may be able to run this DVD, or you can purchase an inexpensive refurbished one online). Having checked, unfortunately, the URL www.marthastewart.com/dvd does not work anymore. If such content and tips are crucial to you or to anyone you know, it shouldn't be too difficult, nor expensive, to find and purchase this DVD. The warmth, comfort and excellent tips and techniques taught by Martha takes me back to a time when things were normal, and everyone was happy. I hope we get back to a time like that...soon.

This DVD was encoded with MPEG-1/2 (mpgv) at a frame rate of 29.97 interlaced. The audio is in stereo compressed with A52 Audio (AC3) going at a sample rate of 48000 Hz and 32 bits per sample. Closed captions are under the EIA-608 (c608) codec.

A very simple DVD that presents itself quite well. Besides all the legal trouble that Martha has gone through, I still think she's truly a gift to us all. Given the times we are living in currently, I think it's time to pay back our respects to fellow elders on how to live and survive, and cooking should be number one on that list. Here at KCUN, we feel that there's no excuse not to cook. It's sad living in a time witnessing how people didn't know who Paul McCartney is, and how trees *should* give off Wi-Fi instead of oxygen to help us breathe. All this "adult-ing" complaints need to stop: Be an adult, and live like one. Learn to cook, and Martha has you covered. Being the social "outlier" is a good thing.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! HUGE thank you to Martha Stewart, her family and her entire crew!

Kris Caballero

Founder and operator of KCU Network, Kris has been writing since he managed a personal blog made back in late 2005. Officially retired from video production and going back to the computer sciences, Kris enjoys studying Math, Quantum Computing, playing old video/DOS games, and listening to sports radio.

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