Brace yourself:
The Thanksgiving dinner is a center point of the holiday for a lot of people, and this year I want to help you and yours find a happy balance at the intersection of food and technology. There are countless apps and services designed to lift the burden of work off your shoulders this year, all with the aim of helping you get the most out of your time with family. So, whether you find yourself making piping hot cider for a morning parade, or dining out for Turkey Day Dinner, these suggestions will add some serious fun to your holiday.
Here are my 11 favorite food-oriented apps and services for Thanksgiving:
- All the Tastes of New York: Not everybody wants to stay in on Thanksgiving and eat the traditional meal. If you’re considering dining out this year, check out this app that offers hassel-free dining, no surprise bills, and a good time eating. All the Tastes of New York organizes and hosts themed food crawl dining experiences at Manhattan’s top restaurants.
- Saucey: It happens, we all run out of booze at one point or another. But what happens when you’re three sheets to the wind and can’t drive anywhere? Saucey will bring the booze directly to your front door; and hosts can also find last minute additions at the touch of a button. Currently, Saucey only serves Los Angeles and San Francisco areas.
- Nestdrop: Like Saucey, Nestdrop is available in Los Angeles and San Francisco and will bring alcohol to your front door while you’re preparing for Thanksgiving. However, they have an Android exclusive app that lets medical marijuana patients request marijuana delivery as well: talk about putting some spice in your Thanksgiving!
- Fathometer: Around the holidays it’s always best to practice responsible driving, and what better way to gauge if you should get behind the wheel than with a breathalyzer? Fathometer has a mobile breathalyzer that will give you an accurate fix on your BAC. Drink responsibly!
- Hydro Flask: Not all aspects of Thanksgiving cuisine revolve around the central meal. In fact, a lot of people get into the spirit early in the morning watching their favorite parades around town. The Hydro Flask isn’t your average thermos though, as it’s vacuum insulated, and keeps cold things cold for 24 hours and hot things hot for 12 hours.
- Home Chef: Why go shopping when Home Chef will do everything for you? It operates like a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) after you sign up – they source fresh, local ingredients and deliver them to your front door every week. Make your Thanksgiving healthier this year while supporting local farms and ingredient sources.
- ChefSteps: Built as a cooking site, ChefSteps helps cooks understand the science of cooking so that they might master new techniques. It uses high quality video and step by step instructions for whatever recipe you’re interested in. They even have a feature for Thanksgiving, “Mastering the Turkey” so yours doesn’t come out undercooked or over-dry.
- WeCookit: This app was built by moms for moms, and it focuses on getting your kids involved in the cooking activity in the kitchen. The kids can make the kitchen their playground and learn how to easily make food while sharing creations with friends and family.
- Bean Box Coffee: The tryptophan-power nap is inevitable once the Thanksgiving feast is finished. The usual solutions are high caffeine options like coffee (or energy drinks if you’re hardcore). Bean Box bills itself as the Birchbox for coffee, and they deliver hand-picked selections of 1.7 ounce samples from artisan coffee roasters.
- WISErg: This clean technology startup has made it their mission to help grocers better deal with food waste. In short, this technology turns Thanksgiving leftovers into fertilizer. Grocery stores like Whole Foods, Red Apple, and PCC Natural Markets are recycling their food waste while also getting valuable information as a byproduct, like which departments are wasting, what they’re wasting, and how frequently they’re doing it.
- Moldiv Collage Photo Editor: Once everything is said and done, you’ll be kicking yourself if you don’t have any good pictures. Further, you’ll want to get them up on social media ASAP. Moldiv is one of the most popular photo collage editors for iOS and Android, and they want you to be able to show your Thanksgiving in style this year.